Even Better Whole Wheat Pizza Crust!

Hello! You're thinking another pizza recipe?? Yawn...Well stop doing that because this one is much better!! The taste is gentler because I mixed in regular flour and the consistency is a lot better. You can find, what I call number 2 best here, along with our homemade pizza sauce. 

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

via here

1 tsp. white sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tbsp. active dry yeast

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. salt 

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.

Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

2.When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.

3.Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.

Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

Yumo!! I think we'll have this tonight except on the grill. You know because we're not supposed to run major appliances during peak hours due to the desert like temperatures outside. Enjoy! 

Curried Zucchini Soup

*This is the second post today so don't forget to scroll down and see even more soup goodness!*Now onto zucchini soup- Kevin made this for me a couple of weeks ago and it knocked my socks off (I know I have the best hubby ever :))!  I ate almost all of it myself and then made it the next week. It is so light and delicious but still savory with the curry. It is good hot or cold which is great for summer. It's also REALLY easy to throw together. One thing I will say is an immersion blender would be clutch with this recipe. Seeing as we do not have one it got a little messy around the kitchen. It may have been the fact that I was salivating while making it and did not let it cool completely before putting it in the blender. But nevertheless I informed Kevin right away that it is a necessity we have an immersion blender. He as you can imagine did not see the emergency of the situation i.e. just so soup can go from the pot into my mouth faster- and we still do not have one. So that being said you can make it with a regular blender just let it cool- trust me. 


From our kitchen to yours :)

Curried Zucchini Soup
adapted from here


cooking spray
1 large onion
1 tablespoon curry powder
salt to taste
4 small zucchini (organic if possible)
1 quart veggie stock

Heat the pot and spray with cooking spray. Stir in the onion and season with curry powder and salt. Cook until tender. Stir in zucchini and cook until tender. Pour in veggie stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes. If your lucky enough to have a hand blender you can remove from heat and blend until smooth.  If not, remove from heat, COOL and blend until smooth. 




Until next time! 

Chickpea and Kale Soup

First of all, sorry for the month long hiatus. I have been super busy with the end of school, a wedding, two bachelorette parties, another wedding this weekend, getting ready to start grad school (!), two hs graduations, a preschool graduation, etc. Kevin has since started a new internship and started summer school. Soo we have been busy which means the blog took a back seat. But don't you worry- while all this craziness was going on I was eating delicious vegan/vegetarian meals. I haven't been able to prepare as many thoughtful vegan meals so we kept it simple- which is sometimes better. For example, over memorial day we had a delicious simple vegan feast: vegan hot dogs with homemade sauerkraut (made by Kevin), sweet potato fries, and roasted corn. Who wouldn't love that meal?! Yesterday we grilled out again at the lake and we had portabella mushroom burgers, beans, and roasted corn. Kevin has a wonderful trick with the corn that keeps it so moist without any butter. Maybe he'll share that with you. 


One thing I do when we are so busy (to avoid eating out) is make soups. Also, a couple of weeks ago I was having a break down of eating too many carbs. I realized I needed more soups (not to be confused with more cow bell). So I found this recipe just in time. It's delicious and so good for you. Kale is a superfood that I definitely need to eat more of. 

from our kitchen to yours :)


Chickpea and Kale Soup
adapted from fat free vegan


1 large onion diced
2 carrots
4 large garlic cloves
spices:
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8-1/4 teaspoon chilli powder or cayenne
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 bay leaves
2 3-inch cinnamon stick
3 cups cooked chickpeas (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
8 cups vegetable broth (or water plus bouillon)
1 large bunch kale, thick center ribs removed and chopped (at least 8 cups)
about 2 cups water
salt to taste


Add the carrots and onions. Cook until brown. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Next add the spices and cook for another minute. Add the chickpeas and coat in the spice mixture. Pour in the veggie stock, bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 20 minutes. I did this part ahead of time and left to simmer until I was ready to add the kale. Add the kale and cook until desired tenderness is achieved. Enjoy :) 


This recipe has wonderful taste from the cinnamon and spices. It's super healthy because the nutrients in the kale are cooked into the broth. Can't beat it!


Oh and the original recipe called for saffron. I'm sure this would be a welcome addition but we didn't miss it one bit. Ok next post will be another soup (I wasn't kidding about soups!) that you HAVE to try! 

if you can't decide between Italian or Mexican...

Might I suggest taco fettucini?

Hillary found this wonderful whole wheat, taco flavored pasta while galavanting around the Texas Hill Country this weekend. We then used our friend Google to see if there was a Mexicanish pasta sauce we could make with the taco fettucini. Sure enough, others have braved the challenge of taco pasta. We used the sauce from this recipe in constructing the dish. 


It came out really good. If you can get past the oddity of Mexican flavors and fettucini together, it really is uniquely delicious. It reminded me a bit of a bolognese sauce because of the heartiness of it. It also reminded me of areas of the country which serve chili over spaghetti (here's looking at you, Cincinnati). And once the flavors melded in your mouth, it is very reminiscent of the taste of enchiladas-- with the pasta replacing the corn tortilla as that soft carby element. And, it is a vegan dish as well!


Taco Fettucini
- 1/2 pound pasta, preferably our delicious taco fettucini

- dash of olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup salsa
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 1 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Dice up the pepper and onion and saute in oil in a pan on medium for about 10 min.

2. Add corn, drained beans, diced tomatoes and juice from can, salsa, black olives, taco seasoning, and salt and pepper. Simmer on low for 5-10 min.

3. Prepare pasta according to directions. Drain. Toss with sauce and serve.

Enjoy this Italian-Mexican mash-up!

easy weeknight veggie meals

Here are some easy meals that can be thrown together in no time. The first one is a traditional stir fry recipe. At Costco this past weekend I bought a big bag of stir fry vegetables. One night this weekend we were running around like crazy and it was easy to throw everything in the pan and cook it. The thing that took the longest was the brown rice. We buy ours in bulk so I'm sure the heat up bag kind would be much faster. 

From our kitchen to yours :)


Vegetable Stir Fry
adapted from veggie stir fry


1 bag of stir fry frozen vegetables
brown rice
STIR FRY SAUCE:
1/3 cup veggie stock
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. lime juice
5-7 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. liquid honey
2 tsp. corn starch dissolved in 4 tbsp. water
1 tsp. chili sauce


Start by making the stir fry sauce. Place all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium-high heat- except garlic and cornstarch. When sauce begins to bubble, reduce heat to medium-low. Now add the garlic and cornstarch(dissolved in water). Stir until sauce thickens- about 30 secs to 1 min. 


Saute frozen or fresh veggies over medium heat. Adding stock as necessary. When cooking almost thoroughly add stir fry sauce. Serve over cooked brown rice. Enjoy :)


Spinach with Chickpeas and Fresh Dill

When I think of dill I usually think of potato salad. However, since it has taken over our garden (who knew it was a weed!?) I wanted to find or come up with some main dishes that used it. I stumbled across this recipe and thought it looked interesting. I had never had dill with spinach before but I have to say it was a nice party in my mouth :). The dill with the lemon juice, spinach, and earthiness of the chickpeas all worked well together. It also is a great low carb vegetarian meal. I am finding that when traditional protein is not an option we tend to fall back on carbs. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as we should eat many whole grains, but it can get old. One of the books I read on my turning vegetarian path is Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet. I know what your thinking...the girl from Clueless is probably not the smartest cookie in the jar and doesn't need to be giving any sort of eating advice. But upon further research (thank you wikipedia) Alicia didn't write most of the book, a ghostwriter nutritionist did. This made me feel much better about liking it so much. Any who, in the book Alicia (or nutritionist) says to try to eat three key ingredients at ever meal: whole grains (quiona, brown rice, rolled oats, etc.), protein (lentils, black beans, chick peas, etc.), and veggies (preferably green veggies i.e. green cabbage, bok choy, etc.). We try to follow this as much as we can, at least for dinner. She is a super vegan who eats green vegetables for breakfast. I'm just not there yet. But here is a easy weeknight meal that can be served with quinoa or brown rice. We ate ours with whole wheat pita bread. Enjoy!

Spinach with Chickpeas and Fresh Dill

Olive oil for pan

1 large onion thinly sliced

1-2 cans of chickpeas, drained and washed

1 pound of fresh spinach

1/2 cup fresh dill

2 lemons, juiced or 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste 

In a large skillet heat olive oil or cooking spray over medium heat. Saute onions until soft. Add chickpeas and coat in oil. Add dill and spinach. Cook until tender. Stir in lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve warm. 

homemade "pizza"

One of my new found favorite meals is homemade pizza. I didn't realize how delicious crust could be until I made it myself. I had always thought of homemade pizza crust being some impossible thing that had to rise and would take forever. However, when we were snowed in for a week I made a couple of batches and it turned out so delicious and was SUPER easy! I have combined a couple of recipes that I have found around the internet and in some of my cookbooks. Here is the recipe that works for me:


Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
(Vegetarian)


1 tsp. yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon honey


Pre-heat oven to 350. Combine the yeast and warm water and let sit for about 10 minutes or until creamy/foamy. Meanwhile, mix flour, wheat germ, and salt. When the yeast mixture is ready mix in honey. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add the wet mixture. Stir to combine until dough starts to form (sometimes I did it in my mixer with a dough hook attached but stirring works fine.) Cover and set in a warm place to rise.* Roll dough onto pizza pan and poke with a fork. Allow to rest a couple more minutes if time allows(if not pizza will still turn out fine). Bake without toppings for approximately 10-15 minutes until it starts to pull away from pan. Take it out and put on toppings. Bake a few more minutes until toppings are hot. Enjoy!


* I usually put a bowl of water in the microwave and heat it up to boiling. I then take it out and put the dough mixture in the microwave to rise. 

So Friday we had planned on having pizza. Kevin made the pizza sauce (recipe at bottom of post) during the day so all we needed were the toppings! Now I put pizza in quotes above because I'm not 100% sure it's OK to call it pizza if it doesn't have cheese but we make ours without cheese. We could make it with soy cheese but Kevin says he would rather have it without. We loaded ours with so much we didn't miss the cheese for a second! Here is what we topped ours with but the possibilities are endless.


-zucchini 
-onions
-peppers
-mushrooms
-olives
-sun-dried tomato 
-artichoke heart
-pepperoncini
-fresh herbs from our garden: basil and parsley

Homemade Pizza Sauce (quick and easy)

You want your pizza sauce to be smoother and thicker than normal tomato sauce or marinara sauce.

-3 small cans hunts tomato sauce

-1 can tomato paste

-Oregano, garlic powder, basil, 2 teaspoons each 

-1/3 onion, very small chop

-2 teaspoons minced garlic

Spray pam in small saucepan, brown onion and add garlic in last minute of browning. Add the 3 cans of tomato sauce and spices, simmer for 15 minutes. Add tomato paste, simmer for 10 more minutes.

From our kitchen to yours :-)

homemade crunchy granola

I have been looking for a homemade granola recipe for quite some time now. I recently purchased How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. One of my best vegetarian purchases to date. Most of the recipes are simple and all look pretty delicious. In the book he has a super granola section, among others, that has maybe the best granola recipe ever. I have been looking for a recipe that doesn't use oil or butter. This is not an easy feat as most recipes I have found use one or both. So last night after dinner I decided to make some granola. Man was that a good decision. This granola does not compare to any store bought kind at. all. Here are some of the adjectives Kevin and I have been using to describe it: salty, crunchy, sweet, buttery (so strange since it has not butter), salty, roasted, and delicious among other things. It's so fresh and the flavor has so much depth. I was so amazed at how it tasted that I was eating dry last night by the spoonful, standing up at the stove. As it cooled it became crunchier and the flavors mixed together. Since last night's stand at the oven and scoop in your mouth moment, we have had it with vanilla soy milk. I look forward to having it with our greek yogurt and in pancakes. Oh the options! Here's the breakdown. Enjoy!

First, I added 3 cups of rolled oats to a cake pan. It called for a 9 x 13 roasting pan with 6 cups of oats. I cut it in half. I put my pan directly on top of my stove top. I roasted (?) the oats on medium heat until they were fragrant (kinda smelled like pop corn) and started turning dark. I then added slivered almonds and roasted for about 2 minutes more. Then I added coconut and continue cooking, about 2 minutes. Side note: I really do not like coconut but in this recipe it is delicious. When roasted the oils release, flavoring the granola nicely.  After the coconut I added cinnamon, salt, and honey for my sweetener. Stir throughout the process. 

After all is combined I baked it for 20 minutes. 

When I removed it from the oven I place it on a wire rack and stirred in raisins and cranberries. 

I let it cool to room temperature- while I ate spoonfuls- and then bagged it up. Sooooo easy and soooo worth it. There's no comparison!! 

From our kitchen to yours :)

Crunchy Granola (Full recipe)

I halved mine. 

6 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking or instant)

2 cups mixed nuts and seeds like sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, etc.

1 cup shredded coconut

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste

dash salt

1/2 to 1 cup of honey or maple syrup, to taste

1 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit

Preheat oven to 300. Put a 9x 13 roasting pan over medium-low heat. Add the oats, stirring occasionally, until they become fragrant and start changing colors. Add the nuts/seeds and continue to stir/cook for about 2 mins. Add the coconut and continue to cook for 2 more mins. Add the cinnamon, salt, and sweetener. Stir and bake for 20 mins, stirring once or twice. Add the dried fruit and cool on a wire rack continuing to stir while the granola reaches room temperature. Transfer to airtight container and store in refrigerator. Will keep indefinitely! 

In the cookbook, Mark has some amazing variations on the above recipe. I'll share a few with you. 

- peanut butter granola with chocolate chips

- tropical with macadamia nuts, coconut milk, chopped dried papaya, mango, pineapple, banana chips

- real vanilla granola with vanilla bean

- spiced granola with ginger, ground anise, more cinnamon cardamom, grated nutmeg, ground cloves, and vanilla extract

- ginger-molasses granola with crumbled gingersnaps (yum!!) 

- almond-orange granola with orange zest, almond extract

Also, is a no bake granola bar using the above granola. The original recipe was so good I can't imagine what adding any of these additions will do! I might eat the whole thing before it makes it out of the pan. 

sweet potato and leek casserole

This is also a really easy recipe that would be good served as a side dish around holiday time. We had ours as our main dish with a side salad. It is super healthy as I omitted all the oil the original recipe called for. Because it didn't have any oil or butter in it I could really taste the naturalness of the veggies and fresh rosemary. The sweet potatoes were sweet and tender but balanced out by an mild onion taste given by the leeks. All around a very delicious dish. 


I had never cooked with leeks before so naturally I googled how to chop a leek and found a wonderful video. It said to cut the leafy green part off and use only the white stem part.

Then to cut it long ways, turn and cut again, making sure to not cut off the root part or the vegetable will fall apart. When the leek is cut this way it makes it much easier to clean.

Next, I sautéed my chopped leeks, fresh rosemary(from my garden), garlic, and cooking spray with a little vegetable stock to keep it moist.

I then layered my sprayed casserole dish with peeled, cut sweet potatoes and my leek mixture. 

Topping it all off with Panko bread crumbs and a little vegetable stock poured over it. I baked it at 400 for about 20 minutes covered and then uncovered for an additional 10 minutes. It came out crispy on top and moist inside. 

From our kitchen to yours :)

Adapted from Ultimate Everyday Cookbook by Kim Barnouin (also known as the Skinny B*&^% but I just don't like that word :))

Sweet Potato and Leek Casserole 

3 medium leeks

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

salt and pepper

2 medium sweet potatoes

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 400. Spray casserole dish with cooking spray (or rub with olive oil).

Sauté the chopped leeks with the garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper until soft. Arrange one-third of the sweet potatoes across the bottom of the dish. Spread one-half leek mixture on top and alternate ending with potatoes on top. Sprinkle bread crumbs and pour vegetable stock on top. Cover and bake 30 minutes. 

homemade black bean burgers

This was my very first experience making any sort of bean burgers (i know what have I been doing with my life!?) They were SO DELICIOUS! I'm so excited to have found a hearty recipe that is quick! I have to say I feel like a legit vegetarian now :)  They are NOTHING like the store bought black bean patties i.e. moist and flavorful and so much healthier. I did figure out to make sure they are cook thoroughly before flipping or they fall apart. Go make these today! They are wonderful.


All I did was combine my ingredients in the food processor and pulse until chunky but not pureed. 

It was a little runny at first so I put it in the refrigerator for about 15 mins. I then shaped out my patties and but them back in the fridge for about 15 more mins. Next, I fried them up in the pan. The recipe called for olive oil but I just sprayed cooking spray in the pan to cut out the fat. It worked great!

We ate it with broccoli. Does anyone else love broccoli as much as I do? 

Bon appetite! 

From our kitchen to yours:

adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

Black Bean Burgers

1 14 oz. can bean (black, white, red, chickpeas, or lentils) drained

1 medium onion quartered

1/2 cup raw rolled oats

1 tablespoon chili powder or spice mix of your own

Salt and pepper

1 egg

liquid if necessary

Combine all ingredients in the food processor till it's slightly chunky but not pureed. With wet hand shape patty and let rest. Spray pan with cooking spray and cook until nicely brown on one side, about 5 minutes; turn carefully and cook on other side until firm and brown. Serve with any buns. We use sandwich thins and sriracha chili sauce. 

Note: I  didn't make these vegan because of time and ingredients. But it looks easy enough and seems like it would still have the same taste. To make these vegan obviously omit the egg. Instead, you could add any one of the following: 1/2 cup mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup cooked oatmeal or short grain rice or 1/4 Vegannaise or 1/2 cup tofu. 

White Bean and Swiss Chard Fettucine

I have been scouring my cookbooks/magazines lately to find new vegetarian meals. I found this recipe in this months issue of Shape magazine. It was really simple and very delicious. 

Wouldn't you know that I forgot the beans. I used soy beans instead of white beans because it's what we had. But I almost used chickpeas as well. Any white bean would probably be delicious. 

How beautiful is this? There was one pink among the yellows. I combined everything in my saute pan. I will say that I used Pam spray instead of the oil to saute the garlic. Because of this we squeezed lemon juice on ours before we ate it. 

And bon appetite! 

From our kitchen to yours. 

White Bean and Swiss Chard Fettuccine

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp oil

1 large bushel, swiss chard

1/2 medium red onion

1 can white beans (rinsed and drained)

3/4 box whole-grain fettucini
Lemon to taste 

Saute garlic and oil. Add swiss chard, onion, and beans. Saute until chard is wilted, about 6 minutes. Toss with cooked whole-grain fettucini.