Snow day 2!

February 3, 2011 by 1 Comment

We’re on snow day two here and we’re going stir crazy!  We have no nice healthy foods in the house- no salad, spinach, fresh veg of any kind left.  Yikes!  And we’ll be trapped again tomorrow because they’ve already closed campus.

The closest I could get to a healthy lunch was some leftover pizza dough and some cherry tomatoes that were starting to get a bit wrinkly in the fridge.  So I did the best I could, and it ended up being quite tasty!  This would be awesome to serve as an appetizer at a party!

Garlicky cheesy breadsticks with roasted cherry tomato marinara

here’s what you need…

leftover pizza dough
a clove of garlic
big spoonful of Earth Balance
Daiya vegan cheese
cherry tomatoes
italian seasoning
olive oil for drizzling
salt and peper

For the roasted tomato marinara…

Put your tomatoes in a pan and drizzle with a little EVOO.  Sprinkle with italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

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Roast in a 475 F oven for around 20 mins (keep an eye on them!) till the tomatoes look deflated.  There will be some liquid, it’s okay you need it- don’t toss it!

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Get your potato masher out and mash them up.  If you don’t have one you can use a fork.  If you don’t like chunks of tomatoes you can give them a whirl in a food processor or blender.

 

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For the breadsticks…

Take your leftover pizza dough and roll it out into a rectangle and put it in your pan.

Mince a clove of garlic- I used my microplane for it so that I didn’t end up with big chunks of garlic.  Add a big spoonful of earth balance and melt them together.

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Brush the dough with the garlic butter…

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Sprinkle with a little Daiya and put it in the oven (still on 475 F) and bake till golden brown.  (I forgot to put the timer on, my best guess is that it was around 10-12ish minutes)

Cut it into pieces and serve with your dipping sauce!

 

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I’m sure I’ll not only be vitamin deficient, but also insane by the time all this snow business is behind us.  If you don’t hear from me in a few days, send help, but more importantly send some green juice cause I’m jonesing for one bad!

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Pizza Pie

January 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Saturday was national vegan pizza day!  We celebrated a day early because we had other plans on Saturday.  I do believe that this may be the most perfect pizza dough you’ve ever had.  And of course, you’re welcome! 😉

Perfect pizza crust (makes two pizzas)

Ingredients:
2 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (you can use regular whole wheat flour but it won’t be as fluffy and light… go for the pastry flour!)
1 Tablespoon Canola or EVOO
1 packet yeast
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of sugar

Directions:
(I use my food processor with the bread blade for this.  Or you could use a stand mixer.  Or you can even mix by hand if you want.)

Dissolve yeast in warm water with a pinch of sugar.  Let it dissolve until it starts getting foamy.  (if it doesn’t foam your yeast are most likely dead) 

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Add your flours and salt.

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Let ‘er rip!

As its going, stream in your oil.

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Let it go until it comes together and looks like dough.  If it’s really sticky you may have to add a little more flour.

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Form it into a ball and put it in a bowl.  Let it rest covered in a warm place for an hour.  It will be all nice and puffy like this.

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Divide it in two.  I like to freeze one for later.

Roll your dough out.  Be careful not to over work it or it will be tough.

Top with your fav toppings.  We did ours margherita style.  A little sauce, Daiya Cheese, torn basil leaves, and slices of Roma tomatoes.

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Bake at 425 F until the crust is a nice golden brown and the cheese is melty.

NOM!

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Enjoy!

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Sundays are for pancakes!

January 30, 2011 by 2 Comments

Happy Sunday!  I love having brunch on a Sunday, it’s like one of the best things in the world to me.  My favorite veg restaurant (Spiral Diner) has an awesome Sunday brunch that we hit up after church sometimes.  But we are on quite a tight budget, so there’s not always room in the budget for brunch out.  So it’s always good to have a great pancake recipe in your arsenal.  Here’s mine.  I think they’re maybe the best pancakes ever(even better than Spiral!), but I might be a bit biased! 😉

Blueberry pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup oat flour (you can use all AP flour, but I think that the oat flour adds that magical little something that makes these better than everyone else’s pancakes!)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup water
1 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons agave nectar (optional but oh so tasty!)
1-1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:
Stir together dry ingredients- flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Whisk together wet ingredients- oil, water, milk, vanilla, and agave nectar.

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Then add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Mix until just combined.  (don’t over mix- lumps are our friend in pancakes)

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Gently fold in blueberries.  If your batter is a little too thick for your liking, add a little more milk.

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Pour onto a hot pan or griddle (use a little nonstick spray if you need to) and cook till you see little bubbles around the edges.

Flip pancake and cook until nice and brown on the other side.

Keep cranking them out till you have used all of the batter.  This makes about 10 pancakes (depending on how big you make them).

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I’m a purist when it comes to my pancakes.  No fancy toppings.  Just a little Earth Balance and REAL maple syrup (grade A only.  yes, I’m a syrup snob!)

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Served up with a nice cup of Guatemala Antigua from my french press! 

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Now that’s BRUNCH!

Have a great Sunday!

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Chick-un soup for the vegan soul

December 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

No chicken was hurt in the making of this soup!

 

Chick- un noodle soup

(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
2 carrots, diced
3-4 celery stalks, diced
1 small onion, chopped
Olive oil
3 not-chick’n bullion cubes + 6 cups hot water (or 6 cups veggie broth)
2 cups cooked pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat spaghetti)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Drizzle a little olive oil in a stockpot and heat over medium heat.  Add the onion, celery, and carrots and sauté until tender.  Add the bullion cubes and hot water and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.  Add the pasta and serve.  I added some sautéed gardein chick’n scallopini at the end when I put the soup into the bowls.

Simple, but delicious!

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Homemade Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas

July 20, 2010 by 1 Comment

Oh boy, these are SO good!  After you eat one of these you’ll never ever buy them from the supermarket again!!

Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas

(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose four
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons canola oil
3/4 cup water (if you want them a little fluffier you can use soy or almond milk instead of the water)

Directions:
Mix together the flours, baking powder, and salt.

Add canola oil and water and stir until a loose ball is formed.

Knead on a floured surface until the dough is firm.

Put the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Divide dough into 10 balls.  Cover and let rest for 10 more minutes.

Roll out each ball on a floured surface with a rolling pin.

Cook each tortilla in a cast iron skillet about 20 seconds on each side.

Devour tortillas!

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Enjoy the tortillas- they’re awesome!

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