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The Kitchen Recessionista

So, here we are, in a recession. Let's eat!

New Recipe: Grilled Pizza.

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What a wonderful weekend this has been!  From strawberry-picking yesterday (more on that in an upcoming post!) to a preserve-canning session today, it’s been a fresh-foods sort of time.  The weather has been in the 70s, the cat willingly went into the backyard on her leash and harness setup for the first time in nearly a decade (!) – and alongside all of that, it was Cookout Sunday!  What could be better?
Tonight, we made one of my very favorite grillable meals: Grilled pizza!  We laid out a plethora of toppings from which to choose – pizza sauce, olive oil, mozzarella, Daiya cheddar, vegetarian pepperoni, black olives, diced bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, and plenty of herbs from the garden.  Then LeeLee and I set to work in crafting our own individual pizzas, trying to top the other’s creations and win bragging rights.
We each brought the heat with some killer red-sauce pies: pepperoni and herbs, a take on a Supreme, and a mozzarella-and-mushroom duo, just to name a few.  Then we each tried our hand at some olive-oil-based pies with equally good results.  I’ll have to call tonight’s cookout a draw, which is A-OK – every pie was a winner, and we’ve got plenty more where that came from!
Here’s how we did it.
GRILLED PIZZA
Serves four
What you’ll need:
For the dough:
1 cup water
1 packet of yeast
3-3 ½ cups flour
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. cumin seed, optional
For the toppings:
1 jar pizza sauce
1 container sliced white mushrooms
1 bell pepper
1 can sliced olives
1 container vegetarian pepperoni
1 bottle olive oil
1 ball mozzarella cheese (or vegan cheese that melts, like Daiya)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Various herbs (think parsley, basil, oregano, chives, dill, etc.), to taste
First, you’ll want to allow enough time to make the dough, let it rise for an hour, and, ideally, let it cool in the refrigerator for another hour or so minimum.  (Cooling the dough makes it more pliable when the time comes to shape your pizza crusts.)  So, backing up, allow at least two and a half hours – up to 24 hours if you want! – to get your dough together.
To make the dough, add 1 cup of warm water to a large bowl (or stand mixer bowl) and sprinkle the yeast in, mixing gently with a wooden spoon.  Next, add one cup of flour and all of the olive oil and seasonings.  (And by all means, substitute out seasonings as you see fit!  This is an easy mix-in recipe and you’ll hone your personal favorite dough over time, believe me.)
Blend your mixture with the spoon or a stand mixer’s dough hook and continue adding the flour, half a cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and forms a cohesive ball. 
If you’re using a stand mixer, hooray for you – just let the dough hook do its job and knead your dough in the mixer bowl until the dough is no longer sticky.  Next, drop down past the next paragraph and join up with me there.
If you’re doing this by hand, turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and flour your hands well.  Then put a little elbow grease into the job and knead your dough until it’s no longer sticky – this usually takes me about five minutes, with the occasional distraction.
(Stand mixer users, please join me again here!  And by-handers, stick with me too.)  Spray a bowl – I usually use the one I’ve just been mixing in, and let me be honest, I don’t even clean the leftover flour and dough out – with cooking spray and place the balled-up dough in, sealing up with plastic wrap.  Let rise for an hour; your dough will nearly double in size.
Next, spray a zip-top bag with cooking spray (on the inside, people!) and put the dough in, sealing it up nice and tight and doing your best to remove any leftover air.  Place your bag in the fridge for at least an hour, up to 24, and let cool.  If you’re going to be longer than 24 hours, just put it in the freezer and place it in the refrigerator the morning you’re planning on using it.
Once your dough is ready, fire up the grill!  You want your grill nice and hot (as is customary with all my recipes!) for this one.  Full speed ahead, baby!
Bring all of your supplies outside to your backyard table (or what-have-you) and clean your hands up well.  You might want to keep a clean dishtowel nearby because this can get a little bit messy.
Next, grab a hunk (that’s the scientific term) of dough, enough to fit in a fist, and begin to shape it into a small, personal-pizza-sized disc.  Experiment with the thickness to determine what style you like best.  Once it’s ready, just throw it onto the grill – and by all means please do not try to shape it and/or push it around once it’s on the grates!  Your dough will fall through the cracks and it’ll make a big mess.  Plus, you’ll burn yourself, which is hardly the way to kick off an evening al fresco.
Our grill can usually handle up to about four of these discs at once, so get all your guests and/or relatives involved in the pizza-making!  That’s half the fun.
After about five minutes on a super-hot grill, start checking your dough for doneness (on the bottom, at least – the top will still be pretty soft).  Once it’s browned (or blackened, as are some of our creations) to your liking, use a spatula to scoop it off the grill and bring it over to a plate or work surface.  Decorate it however you see fit – with any of the ingredients above, or with some of your own, we won’t judge you! – and place it soft-side down back on the grill for another five to seven minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the bottom is browned.
Next, scoop it up again, place it on a cookie sheet (we actually use a pizza pan), slice it up with a pizza cutter, and voila!  Personal pizzas for all, cut up into sizes suitable for sharing.
:)

Middle-Eastern Tacos With Couscous.

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Twice in one week, LeeLee has peeked into the kitchen before dinner and exclaimed, “We haven’t had THAT in awhile!”
Tonight’s subject?  Couscous!
I don’t know why I haven’t made couscous in months; it’s so easy, versatile, and tasty to boot.  Tonight, with my favorite Middle-Eastern Tacos from the Soul Vegetarian Cookbook as the entrée, I knew I wanted something non-standard to accompany the dish.  Couscous fit the bill!
These tacos couldn’t be easier to make, and they’re a great spin on the traditional taco setup.  I took two cans of kidney beans, drained them well, and mixed them with tahini, lemon juice, garlic powder, and cumin.  (The recipe calls for a puree at this point; I prefer my beans to be intact in the tacos, so I omit that bit.)  Then I let the mixture sit at room temperature for half an hour or so.  Sometimes I’ve done this step and sometimes I haven’t, but I’ve got to say, letting the bean mixture sit really does make a big difference!
When it came time for us to sit down for dinner, I set some water to boil and added the couscous, covering the pot and letting it sit for five minutes to firm up nicely.  At this same point, I filled four taco shells with the bean mixture and heated them up in the oven at 350 degrees.  While everything cooked, I set out a plate of lettuce, tomato, sliced black olives, and Daiya mozzarella cheese as add-ons, and by the time I was done with that prep work, it was time to eat!
The couscous was a great accompaniment to the tacos; not as heavy as yellow rice, but equally flavorful, it carried the Middle Eastern theme throughout the plate.  And the tacos themselves were as tasty as ever.  I love the blend of kidney beans and tahini, and the lemon juice added a great tang!
As for leftovers, we do have a bit more filling for LeeLee to have for lunch tomorrow with some fresh taco shells.  The couscous, however, was obliterated in one sitting.  What can you do?

:)

New Recipe: Vegan “Tuna” Melts With Peas.

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Ahhh, tuna, how I’ve missed you!
Not the real seafood version, of course – it’s been much too long for me to even remember it all that well.  But for years now, ever since Tuno left the grocery-store shelves, we’ve gone without a vegetarian version.  Until now.
While surfing around the Web last week, I stumbled upon an announcement that Sophie’s Kitchen had released a new “Vegan Toona,” and I made sure to stop by Whole Foods on my way home from work earlier this week to pick up several cans to try.  I immediately knew which recipe I would start with: Tuna Melts!
To be perfectly honest, to call this recipe a recipe is a bit of a stretch given how easy this is to put together.  Especially when you get your Toona seasoned, as I did (I selected the Black Pepper seasoning for this go-round).  But bear with me here.  You’ll enjoy it, I promise.
LeeLee and I sure did – by the end of dinner, not a single Toona melt remained, and the pot of peas was depleted as well.  I’ll trade a lack of leftovers for a tasty dinner any day!
VEGAN “TUNA” MELTS
Serves two
What you’ll need:
4 English muffins, sliced in half
1 can vegan tuna (I used Sophie’s Kitchen’s Vegan Toona)
4 slices of cheese, each cut in half (I used Daiya Swiss slices)
What to do:
Lay out each muffin slice on a baking sheet.  Atop each slice, place a spoonful or two of the tuna, spreading it out to cover the surface.  Next, place half a slice of cheese on each muffin half. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the muffins are crispy.  Enjoy!

:)

Sloppy Joes With Steamed Veggies and Mac & Chreese.

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“We haven’t had this in awhile!” LeeLee exclaimed upon coming home from work and peering into the kitchen, eyeing the sloppy Joes simmering on the stovetop.  And he’s right – though it’s one of our perennial favorites, we really haven’t given sloppy Joes their due as of late.  After mowing down nearly a full pan tonight, I wonder why it’s been placed on the proverbial back burner of late?  Who knows.  But after tonight’s successful, quick, and tasty dinner, I can already visualize its resurgence this summer!
I put the water on to boil for the mac and “chreese” – one of my favorite boxed vegan mac and cheese products.  (I’m all for making my own from scratch, but some nights simply aren’t conducive to it!)  As it heated up, I coated a pan with cooking spray and tossed a bag of vegetarian burger crumbles in, flipping the stovetop dial to Medium.  To the crumbles I added garlic powder, onion powder, sliced canned mushrooms, and a jar of pizza sauce, stirred everything together, and moved on with my life.
Finally, the water had heated up and I added my box of macaroni, bringing it back to a hearty boil.  As the pasta softened, I steamed a bag of mixed vegetables in the microwave (how easy is that?  But so tasty!), and by the time the noodles were fully cooked, the veggies were heated through and the sloppy Joe mix had become incredibly flavorful.  To the mac and chreese I added some almond milk and the flavor packet, stirred everything together over low heat, and just like that, dinner was ready.
Sadly, we don’t have any leftovers for tomorrow, but for two good reasons – we both came home from work hungry, and the dinner was just that tasty!  We loved our sloppy Joes, served atop hamburger onion rolls, and the macaroni and veggies both served as great complements to the main event.
So why DON’T we make this meal more often?  Who knows?  Rest assured I’ll make up for lost time this summer.

:)

Memorial Day Cookout: Vegetarian Beer Brats With Asparagus and Baked Beans.

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Happy Memorial Day to you, friends, and my thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones.

Though the Memorial Day holiday isn’t the official start of the summer season, it sort of is, in terms of summertime activities.  Though we’ve been cooking out for weeks already, the Memorial Day barbecue holds a certain gravitas that our typical Sunday cookouts can’t quite muster. It’s the start of something Big, the start of summertime treats and pool parties and beach trips and outdoor movies.  As a result, I’ve been planning for it for weeks!
Tonight was an all-grill feast – no indoor cooking required!  First, I poured a can of baked beans into a grill pan, covered it with foil, and placed it on the grill to heat up, allowing a cook time of about 35 minutes from end to end.  Next up came the asparagus: These spears were just big enough to fit on skewers, so I carefully threaded them through and sprayed each side with cooking spray.  When I knew we had about 15 minutes left in our grilling time, I placed them onto the grates and seasoned each side with some Cajun seasoning.
Finally, out came the beer brats and accompanying sauerkraut!  As the brats cooked, I put some sauerkraut in a foil packet and heated it up alongside for some extra zest.  When dinner was nearly ready, I tossed two buns on to toast.
As for the final result: It was wonderful.  The brats, sauerkraut, asparagus, and beans were all fantastic (if I do say so), and the accompanying beer wasn’t so bad either!  We have a couple of brats left over for lunch this week, which I know neither of us will turn down.  Hooray for summer fun!

:)

Vegan Lasagna Primavera.

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I’m not gonna lie – this recipe has more steps than I usually care to embark upon on a Thursday night.  But the final result was so incredibly wonderful that it makes all the work worth it!
This was yet another recipe from the amazing Robin Robertson’s Vegan Planet, and as is the norm with Ms. Robinson’s work, it didn’t disappoint.  The filling was teeming with zucchini, mushrooms, shallots, carrots, crumbled tofu, parsley, spices; the vegan béchamel sauce that accompanies the filling is perhaps one of the most amazing sauces I’ve ever had, vegan or no!
I went against the rules a bit by not boiling my lasagna noodles before placing them in the pan; that’s a time-saving trick my mother showed me long ago that continues to pay dividends today!  Otherwise, though, I followed Robertson’s recipe to the letter (almost), and I wasn’t disappointed with the results.
What a wonderfully light, yet filling, dish!  The lasagna had so many fresh vegetables inside that we didn’t even serve a side salad as accompaniment, and the béchamel sauce added a wonderfully hearty taste without being overly rich.  The tofu filling was almost ricotta-like in texture and had a very fresh taste, and the noodles cooked down just as Mom always says they will. :)  What else could you ask for!
How about leftovers?  We’ve got those, too – enough to carry us through the weekend.  Hooray!

:)

Pink Beans and Rice With Vegan “Fish.”

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Tonight, we traveled to Puerto Rico – in our little kitchen, that is – with a new take on Old Faithful!  Pink beans, yellow rice, and even some “fish cakes” on the side – what could be better?
We’d never tried pink beans before, but when we spied them in the international grocery store awhile back we knew we had to bring them home for later.  Turns out “later” was tonight!
I steamed the rice by cooking it in the rice cooker along with a packet of Goya seasoning, and as it cooked, I heated the beans on the stovetop as I would Old Faithful.  (Call it a lack of creativity if you must, but I wanted my first enjoyment of pink beans to be pure and unadulterated!)  As everything cooked, I heated some Sophie’s Kitchen “fishless sticks” in the oven to stand in for a traditional codfish cake.  This was our first time trying this particular Sophie’s product, and not to spoil the surprise, but we liked it very much!
Once everything was thoroughly cooked, it was time to serve the meal.  We spooned rice onto each of our plates and topped it with the pink beans, placing the fishless sticks on the side.  Then came the toppings – chopped onion, salsa, sour cream, Daiya cheddar, hot sauce, and black olives, in random order!
The result?  Fantastic!  We loved the mellowness of the pink beans and thought the fishless sticks were great – tasty, and reminiscent of fish without being too overly fishy.  I get the sense that the pink beans will gladly take on the flavors of whatever we season them with, and we’ll definitely experiment with seasoning blends in the future!
And, as usual, our hearts sang with joy at the realization that at least one of us will get to enjoy these leftovers tomorrow.  I love when lunch comes pre-cooked and pre-packed the night before!

:)

Vegan Tomato Pie With Salad.

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Oooh, Memorial Day is almost here! And with that, the start of the summer season!
I’m jumping the gun a tad today by launching in with the year’s first tomato pie, but that’s OK.  I think you can handle it. ;)
I was first introduced to this recipe by Christy over at Southern Plate, and it’s been a family favorite ever since!  Tonight’s recipe was slightly different from the ones I’ve made in the past, however, in that I used vegan substitutes for the cheese and mayo ingredients!  It’s just LeeLee and me dining tonight, so I figured what’s the harm in a little experimentation between friends and loved ones.  So instead of using cheddar, I used Daiya cheddar; instead of full-fledged mayo, I used Vegenaise.
Now, sometimes these substitutions work like a champ; sometimes they don’t.  Tonight, thankfully, was a champ!  The Daiya blended beautifully, and the Vegenaise added the same creaminess that regular mayo would’ve.  And though the tomatoes weren’t farmer’s-market-fresh, they were still juicy and tasty, their flavors enhanced by half an hour in the oven.
Like last night, we paired our entrée with a salad complete with fixins from the garden: Fresh lettuce and homemade creamy dill dressing with backyard limes.  (The cherry tomatoes came from Safeway, but let’s not quibble.)  It made for a cool side, dovetailing nicely with piping-hot pie!
And with that, the season’s first tomato pie is in the books.  There’s more where this comes from!

:)

New Recipe! English Muffin Pizzas.

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Why, pray tell, haven’t I made these earlier?
When you want all the taste and flavor of pizza without dealing with making your own dough, these English muffin pizzas hit the spot.  Dress them up however you would a regular pizza and feel your cares melt away.
OK, I may be overselling that last part – I still have a care or two, even after dinner.  But I can’t express enough my love for these mini-pizzas.  They’re quick, easy, and of course tasty!
Tonight, LeeLee got home a little later than planned, and before he arrived I had occupied myself in our great spring decluttering spree and lost all track of the time.  When he called to say he was on his way, I sprung into action – and dinner was ready almost as soon as he walked in the door!  This recipe is THAT easy.
We served the pizzas with a side salad – but a side salad with extra flair!  All of the lettuce came from our backyard garden, and we topped it with tomatoes, mushrooms, and Daiya cheddar.  The dressing was a homegrown affair, as well – Vegenaise, olive oil, salt, pepper, and backyard dill and lime juice (from a backyard lime tree!) blended together into a creamy, wonderful topping.
Give the English muffin pizzas a try and let me know how you like them!
ENGLISH MUFFIN PIZZAS
Serves two
What you’ll need:
4 English muffins, sliced in half
1 jar pizza sauce
1 package Daiya mozzarella (or the cheese of your choice)
1 package veggie pepperoni
1 container of sliced button mushrooms
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Arrange each muffin half on a large baking sheet.  Top each muffin with pizza sauce to taste (we like ours pretty saucy!).  Next, top each muffin with mozzarella (don’t skimp!).  Finally, add pepperoni onto half of the muffins and mushrooms onto the other half – or in any other combination you prefer.  Or with any other toppings you prefer.  The opportunities are limitless!
Next, place the baking sheet into the oven for 10 minutes, checking after 7 or 8 minutes just to be safe.  Once the cheese is melted and the muffins are crispy, they’re done!  Serve and enjoy.

:)

Sunday Cookout: Vegetarian “Beef” Tacos.

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Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking: Tacos for a cookout?
Well … not really.  In fact, all weekend LeeLee and I had been looking forward to grilling beer brats with all the fixins.  But upon opening the grill at 6:30 this evening, to begin cooking, I was dismayed to see that my ash dump had turned into a concrete pit, soaked as it was in a mix of ash and three-day-old rainwater, a casualty of Friday morning’s deluge. 
I calmly removed the ash dump and, well, dumped the standing water.  But the cement-like ash residue remained, all soggy and clumpy and sad.
As is my way, I took matters into my own hands – literally – and began beating on the back of the ash dump in an attempt to dislodge the wet cement.  No dice.  I slammed it (half out of necessity, half in frustration) onto the patio.  No dice.  That cement had begun to gel, and I knew I was fighting a losing battle.
So I evaluated my options.  How to grill sans ash dump?  I even consulted the wide expanse of the Internet’s barbecue knowledge, to no avail.  An ash dump, it would appear, is a very useful thing to have when generating ashes (and, before that, fire) in a grill.
It took me about 25 minutes to concede defeat, but once I did, it was all systems go toward Plan B.  As LeeLee prepared the back yard for our feast – we may not be grilling tonight, but we were still going to enjoy the nice weather! – I heated up some ground “beef” in one pan, some refried beans in another, and got some rice started in the rice cooker.  As everything simmered away, I chopped up some onion, cherry tomato, fresh lettuce and cilantro from the garden, and some black olives.  Once the rice was finished, so was everything else (I’d put the taco shells in the oven about 5 minutes before dinnertime), and we prepared our plates and carted them outside to enjoy al fresco.
Our menu items may have changed, but the tacos were still quite tasty!  We mowed everything down with the usual fervor and were both so pleased to learn that in the end we had lots left over for lunch tomorrow.  And those beer brats?  They’ll be making an entrance soon themselves – just as soon as my ash dump dries out.

:)