Kale Pesto Pizza

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Just to be clear, it's kale pesto pizza and not kale on pesto pizza. Some say you can make anything into pesto -- I don't know about that, but kale definitely works. This kale pesto is surprisingly sweet, not at all bitter. It's green and creamy and works great on pizza. I think it would be delicious on pasta as well. VB said this is one of the best pizzas he's ever had. All I can say is every cook needs someone like him (but he's MINE! Get your own appreciative, complimentary, non-picky eater).

For this kale pesto, you will need:

• 3 cups (packed) kale, cleaned, stem removed and sliced into 1-inch strips
• 1/2 cup roasted cashews
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 2-inch strip of lemon peel
• juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1-2 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon capers
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste

Chop kale, cashews, garlic, lemon peel and capers in a food processor. While processing, stream in olive oil until paste becomes sauce. Season with salt. Set aside.

To complete the pizza, you will need:

• one portion of your favorite pizza dough recipe (try this)
• sliced mozzarella
• toppings -- I kept it simple and used young asparagus and sauteed portabella mushroom

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees, preferably with a pizza stone in it. Roll out pizza dough. Place pizza dough on a baking sheet. If you have a pizza stone, place dough on a piece of aluminum foil for easy transfer. Spread kale pesto over the top, leaving 1-inch edge all the way around. Top with a layer of mozzarella slices. Then top with your desired toppings. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until top is browned and bottom is crispy.

Beet Goat Cheese Ravioli

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After many nights of Chinese food, it's time for a change. VB mentioned some beets ravioli that he had at a restaurant. I thought, why not?

*Warning: This takes a lot of work. Just saying. But it sure looks pretty. And tastes good!

For this beet goat cheese ravioli recipe, you'll need:

• 5 small (or 3 medium) beets
• 1/2 cup goat cheese
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
• zest from 1 lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 tablespoons butter or butter substitute
• salt to taste 
• freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
• chopped chives as garnish
• 1 portion of pasta, recipe below

For fresh pasta, you will need:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 extra large (or 4 large) eggs
•  pinch of salt

Begin by dumping flour on a clean work surface. Make a well in the flour and add eggs to the well. Using a fork, lightly beat the eggs and slowly incorporate enough flour to make a slurry. Then cut the flour to incorporate all the eggs into a shaggy dough. Knead the dough until smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes. Place dough in a large bowl and cover with damp paper towel. Allow dough to rest for 30 minutes. For more details on how to make the pasta dough, check out my previous pasta making adventure.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Clean and trim ends off beets. Wrap them in aluminum foil and place into a baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes. At that time, check the beets by inserting a pairing knife into the beets. If the knife goes through without resistance, beets are done. Otherwise return them to the oven and continue to check every 10 minutes. Unwrap cooked beets and allow them to cool until they can be handled. Peel beets and quarter them.

Add beets to a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add goat cheese, ricotta cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt. Pulse until mixed. Do not over process. Set aside.

Cut the pasta dough into approximately 8 equal pieces and pass each though a pasta machine. Make sure that each piece and the pasta machine are well floured. I did not get the pasta to the thinnest setting because I like my pasta with more bite to it. You should get 8 2-foot strips. Brush the surface of 1 strip gently with egg wash. Place about 1 tablespoon of beet mixture about 2-3 inches apart. You can get about 5 dollops on each strip. Gently layer another strip on top, pressing the air out of pockets one raviolo at a time. Cut out each raviolo. I used a biscuit cutter, but a knife and square ravioli will do just fine. Gently press out any air pockets. Repeat the process until you use all the pasta strips.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Season with salt. Drop 5 ravioli at a time. In a non-stick skillet, melt 1 tablespoons of butter or butter substitute over medium heat and allow it to brown slightly. After about 5 minutes, strain out ravioli and place into skillet with browned butter. Toss quickly to coat with butter. Serve with grated parmigiano reggiano and chopped chives. Repeat until all ravioli are cooked. You should be able to make about 20 ravioli with this recipe, but you will get more if you do not discard your scrap dough.

Farro Risotto with Butternut Squash

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I expect my next few food posts to feature orange colored food. Because it's that time of the year -- the time when we get orange produce like sweet potato, butternut squash, pumpkin and, well, orange. Today, we have a farro risotto with butternut squash. Farro has less starch (but more protein and fiber) than rice. So farro risotto doesn't have that creamy, viscous consistency that a rice risotto has. But it's slightly nutty and chewy. So, it's different and good for you. Of course, you can always replace the farro with rice if you want.

You'll need:

• 2 cups of small diced butternut squash (1/3-inch cubes), about half of a medium butternut squash
• 2 cups farro
• 4 tablespoons butter or butter subsitute (I use Earth Balance), divided
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (toasted pine nuts would be good here too)
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 4-6 sage leaves
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• juice from half a lemon
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• salt to taste
• chopped parsley for garnish (optional)
• grated Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

In a sauce pan, bring vegetable stock to boil. Keep the stock hot and simmering. In a separate large skillet fitted with a lid, melt 3 tablespoons of butter or butter substitute over medium low heat. Add shallot and sweat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and sage leaves. Toss gently until fragrant, about a minute. Add diced butternut squash. Allow it to cook for just a couple of minutes. Season with salt. Add white wine. Bring liquid to simmer and reduce.

Gently mix in farro. Add a cup of hot vegetable stock. Cover and simmer undisturbed for 5-8 minutes. Remove lid and stir. Allow the liquid to reduce. Add another cup of hot vegetable stock. Cover and simmer undisturbed for 5-8 minutes. Remove lid and stir. Allow liquid to reduce a bit. Add the final cup of hot vegetable stock with lemon juice and chopped walnuts. Season with salt. Gently stir. Cover and simmer for another 5 to 8 minuets. Remove lid and stir. Allow the liquid to almost completely evaporate. Stir in a tablespoon of butter or butter substitute or grated Parmesan cheese (optional). Garnish with chopped parsley and/or grate Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

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I've had a love-hate relationship with gnocchi -- I love to eat them, but hate the ones that I make. There are a couple of times that they turned out alright, but most of the times, they're either mushy and weird or really dense. I was stubborn about making them with nothing but potatoes and flour. But I can never quite get the dough to stay together in boiling water. Or I end up overworking the dough and turning out little hockey pocks. Now, for the first time ever, I made gnocchi that I find acceptable. I dare call it... good! The key, as you probably guessed, is egg. A beaten egg added to the dough made a whole world of difference. I actually made fluffy gnocchi! For a change!

This sweet potato gnocchi is perfect for fall. Slightly sweet, it pairs so well with a sage and butter sauce. I'm not gonna lie -- this recipe takes some time, but most of it is spent baking sweet potatoes. Otherwise, it's actually fairly easy and has very few number of ingredients. I think you will like it.

For this sweet potato gnocchi, you'll need:

• 3 small to medium garnet sweet potatoes
• 1 medium Russet potato
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
• pinch of nutmeg
• 2 sprigs of sage, leaves only (about 12-16 leaves)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• salt to taste
• chopped parsley for garnish (optional)
• grated Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

Perforate potato and sweet potatoes on all sides with a fork. Bake in 400 degree oven until you can easily pierce them with a fork, about 45 minutes. Let cool until they can be safely handled but still warm. Peel and chop into large chunks. Pass chunks through a ricer and into a bowl. Add beaten egg, flour, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Mix together. Once the dough comes together, gently knead a few times. If the dough becomes sticky again, add a little bit more flour. Turn dough out to a floured work surface. Roll dough into a long thin roll about 1/2 inch in diameter. You may want to work in batches.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to boil. Season with salt.

Portion the dough so you'd get pieces of dough that are roughly the size of a Sour Ball. Roll each piece gently in your hands to form a ball. Press each ball down lightly with a fork. Remember to dust with flour liberally so dough doesn't stick to work surface. Drop gnocchi in boiling water. Boil for 3-5 minutes. They will float once cooked. Strain and set aside.

Melt one tablespoon of butter in a nonstick pan. Once butter has melted, add about 4 sage leaves. Let the butter brown slightly and sage leaves get crispy. Toss in about one quarter of the gnocchi that you've set aside. Quickly coat gnocchi with butter. Repeat. You should get 4 portions out of this recipe. Garnish with grated Parmesan and/or chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Happy Halloween!!

Onion Focaccia with Roasted Tomatoes

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I bake when I don't have a lot of fresh produce on hand (too lazy for the grocery store run). For dinner, I had some left over tomatoes and some jalapenos that didn't make it into the pickle jar. So I baked an onion focaccia and roasted some tomatoes with some garlic and thyme from our herb garden. As for the jalapenos, I made some jalapeno poppers with some leftover soy cheese and soy cream cheese.

You can find the onion focaccia recipe in The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook: 350 Essential Recipes for Inspired Everyday Eating. As for the roasted tomatoes, simply combine some diced tomatoes, thyme, garlic, olive oil, salt and sugar and roast in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. The jalapeno poppers recipe is the same one as the one that VB made a long time ago. But this time, we have better pictures!

Homemade Pasta

Pin It Happy Fourth of July! I wish I can say that we're doing something fabulous today, but I caught a cold (yes, in the middle of summer... weird) and feel pretty lousy at the moment. So no big barbeque for us today, but I did try my hands at making fresh pasta a few days ago and here are photos from the process.

3 eggs and 2 cups of flour.

After incorporating enough flour with the eggs, I cut the egg mixture and flour together to form a shaggy dough.

Kneaded the dough for a few minutes into a smooth ball.

The dough rested for 30 minutes and then cut into 4 pieces. Then each piece was passed through the pasta machine.

I could only get the pasta to the second thinnest setting (6). Close enough. Then the pasta sheet was cut into strips.

Boil pasta immediately for 3 to 5 minutes. Mix with pesto, baby arugula and paper thin shaved fennel. Ta-da!

It turns out, making pasta is not as hard as previously imagined, although it did take a lot longer than I expected. The hardest part by far was trying to get a thin sheet of pasta without the pasta sticking to itself. Setting 6 was good enough for me. I actually wanted a thicker pasta after tasting the final product. So maybe it doesn't have to be paper thin. Overall, great success! Certainly heck a lot better than our last attempt. Let's never speak of that again.

Vegan 'Meat'ball Sub

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VB's love of "turd dogs" is well documented. Despite the resemblance to poop, they are very delicious and full of herbs and spices. I made it again recently and thought to myself: why not make some meatballs for a change? To make these meatballs, I tweaked the original turd dog recipe to improve upon the texture so they are firmer and 'meatier." I'm quite pleased with the result! I think it will be a favorite around here. Of course, these do not resemble poop. Whether that's good or bad really depends on your personal feelings about poop on plate -- hilarious or gross?

For this meatball sub recipe (adapted from turd dogs from Yeah, That Vegan Shit), you will need:

• 1 French baguette, sliced open and scooped inside
• slices of mozzarella or provolone (in this case, I used soy mozzarella)
• 1 portion marinara sauce, recipe below
• 1 portion meatball mix, recipe below

For the meatballs, you'll need

• 1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained, rinsed and mashed
• 4 ounces firm bean curd or extra firm tofu, finely crumbled
• 1 cup cold vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for greasing
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
• 1 1/4 cups wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oragano

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Begin by combining all the ingredients. Mix well. Knead mixture by hand until it has some elasticity, about 5 to 10 minutes. Roll mixture into balls about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. Place balls in an oven-proof pan greased with olive oil. Roast in oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turn the meatballs over once at the half way mark. Meatballs are done when browned and slightly crusty on the outside.

Uncooked Vegan Meatballs

For the marinara sauce, you'll need:

• 2 medium shallots, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 sprigs thyme, minced
• 1 sprig oregano, minced
• 1 sprig rosemary, minced
• 1 26-ounce can skinless whole tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Begin by sweating shallots and red pepper flakes in olive oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, thyme, oregano and rosemary. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes to an hour. Break up chunks of tomatoes throughout the cooking process with spoon or spatula.

To assemble, place slices of mozzarella or provolone at the bottom of the sliced baguette, add meatballs and top with marinara sauce.

Roasted Chickpea and Cauliflower Indian Pizza

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In a diverse region like the Bay Area, culinary hybrids like Indian pizza are bound to happen. You might think it's a kitschy oddity, but there are quite a few nearby restaurants that put an Indian twist on the classic pizza pie.  Here is my take on an Indian pizza.

You'll need:

• 1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite sizes
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 8 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, sliced
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• cilantro for garnish
• salt to taste
• 1 portion Indian tomato sauce, recipe below
• 1 portion your favorite pizza dough recipe (I used Peter Reinhart's Napolenata pizza dough)

For Indian tomato sauce, you'll need:

• 1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, medium diced
• 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 26-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 green chili (optional)
• salt to taste

Begin by pureeing garlic, onion and ginger into a paste in a food processor. In a heavy medium pan, heat up canola oil until fat shimmers. Add mustard seeds, cumin and coriander. Stir for 2 minutes or until spices become fragrant. Stir in garlic, onion and ginger mixture and chili if desired. Cook for 2 minutes. Add canned tomatoes. Bring to simmer. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, garam masala. Season with salt. Let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning, if necessary. Use a blender or an immersion blender, puree into smooth sauce.

While the sauce is cooking, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Separately toss cauliflower and chickpeas with 1 tablespoon of canola oil and 1 tablespoon of curry powder each. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes. Stir half way through the process.

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. Roll out pizza dough. Add a thin and even layer of tomato sauce. Top with a layer of sliced mozzarella, roasted cauliflower and chickpeas. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Since there isn't a "classic" Indian pizza recipe, I took liberties with what I chose to add to the pizza (which included the entire spice rack). I really liked this pizza. The tomato sauce is subtly sweet and fragrant. The roasted chickpeas are slightly crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. The curry powder and cauliflower are always wonderful together. Indian food goes beautifully on pizza... apparently!

Spinach and Oyster Mushroom on Creamy Polenta

Pin It For Christmas, I got myself and VB's mom oyster mushroom growing kits from Back to the Roots. Between the traveling and all the other stuff that's going on, I didn't get a chance to grow oyster mushrooms right in my kitchen until last month. It was really humid with lots of rain, so my first attempt never yielded any edible -- just a blue moldy mess. I contacted BTTR to let them know about my experience and they were kind enough to send me a replacement kit. A few days later, I had some gorgeous oyster mushrooms right on my kitchen counter!

I tried to showcase the fresh, meaty mushrooms by preparing them simply. I sauteed them quickly with fresh spinach, sliced onion, red pepper flakes and some lemon juice and then added them to a bed of creamy polenta.

Polenta can be a great and quick component to many dishes. It can be done in 5 minutes with a lot of whisking. The star here is definitely the oyster mushrooms, which are meaty and flavorful. Check out BTTR for more information on these neat little kits.

Orecchiette Two Ways

Pin It I made some mao er duo (cat's ear noodles), the Chinese cousin to orecchiette, Italian little ear pasta. That got me curious about the Italian orecchiette. I gotta say that these were not very successful, possibly because I accidentally used corn meal instead of semolina since I never got around to labeling everything my pantry. Ahem.

Anyway, I made orecchiette with broccoli by simply sauteing broccoli with some shallots, garlic, red pepper flakes and red wine vinegar. For a different take, I also made some orecchiette with some roasted butternut squash, pine nuts, and fresh herbs. I think both were equally delicious, but certainly would be better if my pasta come out a bit better.

Live and learn. And organize pantry!

We're Back! + French Bread... Pizza?

Pin It Call off the rescue team! I haven't fallen into a hole for 2 weeks with no food or drinks. In fact, quite the opposite. We traveled to Taiwan and had lots and LOTS of vegetarian buffet. For about a week straight, we ate at a buffet everyday. It has been an exciting and wonderful trip, but I can't wait to spend some time in the kitchen and cook some dishes inspired by what we've eaten on this trip.

But in the meantime, here's a VB classic -- something that he enjoyed as a bachelor short on time but long on pizza craving. It's a baguette sliced in half, smeared with marinara sauce and stuffed with mozzarella, chopped spinach, sliced mushrooms and artichoke hearts. The sandwich is then wrapped tightly in aluminum foil and baked in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. The result? A delicious, hot, melt-y, chess-y sandwich that tastes like a pizza but handles like a sandwich. I guess that is what you call best of both worlds.

Kale and Mushroom Gnocchi

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Gnocchi is one of many things that I haven't quite mastered, but not for lack of trying. For whatever reason, mine either comes out dense and gummy or disintegrates in boiling water. This batch came out okay, but I think I may have boiled them a bit too long. My other problem was actually getting those damned potatoes cooked. I followed a recipe that requires baking whole Russet potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour in 400 degree oven before ricing them. I'm sorry, but not even I have that kind of time. Besides, even after 45 minutes, mine were still completely raw inside. I got frustrated, chopped them into large chunks and nuked the heck out of them. And that seemed to have done the trick. For future reference, I'm going to microwave potatoes before baking so they get done a lot faster.

If you're not up to making gnocchi from scratch, just plain ol' dried pasta will work here. I think this would be particularly good with whole wheat pasta because of its nutty flavors. I particularly like the earthy qualities of the mushroom and kale combination and that little bit of spiciness from red pepper flakes really wakes up the palate.

You'll need:

• 1 bunch of kale, stemmed and cut into 1-inch strips
• 4 ounces of mushrooms (I used a combination of fresh shiitake and oyster mushrooms), sliced
• 1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced
• 1 big pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup of white wine
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine (I use Earth Balance)
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, saute onion slices and in olive oil until softened. Add red pepper flakes, kale and white wine. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until kale turns bright green and becomes wilted. Add cannellini beans and mushroom slices and toss together. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes until mushrooms soften. Add butter or butter substitute and lemon juice just prior to tossing together with cooked pasta. Serve immediately.

Goat Cheese, Roasted Piquillo Peppers and Tomato Focaccia

Pin It You know how sometimes for weeks, you wake up looking like crap and there's nothing you can do about it? Well, the same thing happens to me when it comes to cooking. There are weeks when I can't make an edible meal to save my life. I burned two pots recently -- first, I melted a silicone steamer right into a pot that I've had since college. Then I burned the replacement pot after reducing poaching liquid for way too long. The enamel at the bottom of the pot came up with the black burned on mess. I'm still having trouble saying goodbye to my almost brand new but now toxic and useless pot.

After professional athletes get out of a slump, they always look back and define the turning point of the season -- the one key event that brought their groove back. I think I've hit my proverbial turning point. I made some easy mac-n-cheese plus corn muffins for a friend's early Thanksgiving dinner. Both items came out pretty good. Then, the very next day, I made this --

Hellllllloo, Good Looking! I'm really pleased with how this turned out. And it was pretty easy to do with a bit of planning ahead.

You'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cup of warm water (80 - 100 degrees)
• 2 teaspoons (one envelope) of instant yeast
• 2 teaspoon of salt, divided
• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 1 jar of roasted piquillo peppers (or roasted red bell peppers would be fine too), drained and rinsed
• 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 medium/large beef steak tomato, sliced thin
• 2 ounces of goat cheese
• 5 to 6 sprigs of thyme

Add yeast and olive oil to warm water and set aside until yeast dissolves. Mix together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon of salt using stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. While the mixer is on low, slowly pour in the warm water mixture until dough comes together. Replace paddle attachment with hook attachment and knead for 4 minutes on medium-low.

Spray large prep bowl with olive oil and then transfer dough into the prep bowl. Turn the dough once over to ensure it is well covered with olive oil. Cover the dough with wet paper towels and set aside for 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in size. Punch down the dough and then spread it flat into a baking pan greased with olive oil. Cover with wet paper towels and set side for another 1 1/2 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

While the dough is rising, combine piquillo peppers, garlic, red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Process the mixture until it becomes a smooth sauce using either stand blender or immersion blender.

Once the dough has risen, dimple the dough in two inch intervals. Season with salt. Spread enough of the piquillo pepper sauce to cover most of the focaccia dough, leaving about one inch all the way around. You may have leftover piquillo pepper sauce, which can be served as dipping sauce. Add tomato slices on top. Add nubs of goat cheese and sprigs of thyme on top. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on top. Bake for 25 minutes until the bottom of the focaccia is crispy and the edges are golden brown. Serve with extra piquillo pepper sauce on the side.

The piquillo peppers really add a nice balance to the tart tomatoes and the creamy goat cheese. (Yes, that tomato was from our "harvest".) Watch out, I may have gotten my cooking groove back.

Our "Harvest" + Creamy Tomato Fennel Pasta

Pin It When we planted tomatoes a few months ago, I had fantasies of making awesome sauces and chutney from plump, sweet tomatoes that we grew ourselves. Or that I would can them and enjoy delicious tomatoes year round. Or that I would make my own ketchup or barbeque sauce for family and friends. Or all of the above. I just imagined baskets and baskets and sweet tomatoes, so much so that we'd joke about opening our own farm stand. Basically, I hoped to be a pig-in-shit happy, except with tomatoes. Instead, we got this --

This is truly pathetic. In fact, perhaps one of the most pathetic in the history of harvests. Thank goodness we have day jobs that enable us to actually buy food instead of relying on our "farming" skills to feed ourselves. I blame the poor result in part on the weird weather pattern this year. We hardly had much of a summer at all, then it got ridiculously hot for two weeks in September and now the temperature has plummeted to the 50s and 60s. Also, we planted way too late into the season. There are still a few that may ripen over the next week or so, but the plants are slowly dying and we still have a lot of green tomatoes that may never ripen.

Well, at least we can get something out of this, right? (besides a cautionary tale of "what not to do next year.") I made this delicious pasta dish to showcase the freshness of these tomatoes. Unfortunately, I had to supplement our "harvest" with store-bought and canned tomatoes. Big sigh.

For this creamy tomato and fennel pasta, you'll need:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of butter or dairy-free butter substitute (I used Earth Balance)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 fennel bulb, diced
• 5 medium tomatoes, diced
• 16-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1/4 cup of cream, half-and-half, milk or soy milk (I used unflavored, unsweetened soy milk)
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 pound of dried pasta, cooked
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, saute diced onion in olive oil over medium heat until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add diced fennel and stir to combine. Add white wine and lemon juice and allow liquid to reduce to half. After the liquid has reduced, add fresh tomatoes and canned tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium high and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft. Stir frequently. Stir in cream/milk/soy milk. The sauce should be a nice bright pink color. Cook for another minute or so. Just prior to adding pasta, stir in butter/butter substitute. Toss with pasta and serve.

Summer Panzanella

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Californians are absolutely spoiled rotten. While the rest of the country sweat it out in record heat waves, we've been enjoying temperate and comfortable weather all summer long. It's 76 and fabulous every day here. Another great thing about California is the quality and abundance of fresh produce. Since moving back to the Peninsula, we've been reunited with my favorite local grocery store -- the Milk Pail in Mountain View. It is always well-stocked with the freshest local produce and some exotic finds as well.

(Now if we can just do something about the horrible traffic, high cost of living and state budget shortfalls...)

When you have access to amazing produce, dinner practically cooks itself. I made this super simple panzanella with the freshest seasonal vegetables and added some canned ingredients. This dish offers so many different textures and tastes -- each bite has a different combination of the sweet tomato, crunchy cucumber, tangy lemon vinaigrette, creamy cannellini beans and fragrant basil.

For this recipe, you'll need:

• 1 15-ounce can of white navy beans or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15-ounce can of artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
• 3 medium/large ripe tomatoes, diced
• 4 or 5 medium cucumbers, cut into half-inch slices with skin on
• 1/2 cup of basil leaves, torn
• 1/2 cup of Italian parsley, chopped
• 3 tablespoons of capers, drained
• half a loaf of crusty bread, cut into 1 inch cubes and toasted
• juice from two lemons
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 spring of fresh thyme, minced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Whisk to combine lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, thyme, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Add the lemon vinaigrette. Toss to combine. Adjust seasoning. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for half an hour before serving.

Ta-da!

So easy and so delicious. And no stove required.

Tofu Picatta

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Conventional thinking says I've clearly got the better end of the deal when we dine out. As an omnivore, I have many more options to chose from and I'm never weary of chicken broth or fish sauce or gelatin or lard or any number of non-vegetarian ingredients that tend to creep onto the plate.

But what I've learned from dining out with a vegetarian is that good restaurants serve delicious food and bad restaurants serve crappy food. Period. It doesn't matter whether there's meat on the plate; VB and I are generally equally happy (or unhappy) with our respective meal.

Well, that's true most of the time...

Occasionally, we would go to a restaurant where one of us loved the food while the other ate nothing but the bread. We had that experience recently at a fine dining eatery. I ordered pork two ways with pork tenderloin and pork belly. VB ordered tofu picatta. No contest, right? I thought so too. But it was VB who loved his food and me who hated my pork both ways. It just goes to show that a meal with meat doesn't always taste better than a meal without.

That was weeks ago, but I still think about the terrible pork that I barely ate. The only way to atone for crime against the piggies is to make some tofu picatta. I think that would give me some closure and make me feel better -- a symbolic return to the scene of crime and exorcise one's culinary demons of sorts...or something.

Anyway, it was what we had last night, okay?

It was a pretty quick meal and full of flavor. The mushrooms were meaty and robust while the lemon and capers bring a nice balance to the dish. I can see why this could be more delicious than pork two ways. You can find the recipe here.

Sausage and Mushroom Pizza + New Blog Feature!

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VB's birthday week continues with pizza, his all-time favorite. Pizza is pretty much the only food that keeps him from giving up dairy, because, let's face it, soy cheese tastes pretty gross. I have yet to taste a soy cheese that's a good enough substitute for dairy cheese.

While we're on the subject of soy products, over the last couple of years, I have sampled various 'meatless' meat replacement products like veggie sausages, soy hot dogs, chicken-less chicken strips, tofurkey and the like. I don't like them for two reasons. First, I'm generally averse to frozen or processed composite food (meatless or otherwise) -- if at all possible, I like to cook my food from fresh ingredients so I know exactly what's on my plate. Second, these imitation meat products generally taste artificial, bland, mushy, or chewy. The vast majority of the products out there do not remotely taste like meat, or worst yet, taste like anything from nature.

Even though I don't like them, I have (begrudgingly) come to accept that they are important to a vegetarian diet and good for days when we're hungry and short on time.

So from now on, I will occasionally post my reviews of these imitation meat or cheese products. I will comment on their overall taste, texture and resemblance to meat. I guess I'm uniquely situated for this task since I regularly eat meat -- VB hasn't had meat in 9 (or 10, 11?) years; the taste of meat is probably a distant memory to him.

(photo courtesy of Food Frenzy and Adventures in Fake Meat)

To start off this new feature, today, I'm reviewing Trader Joe's Italian Sausage-less Sausage, which went on our sausage mushroom pizza. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I prepared the sausage according to package instruction -- by microwaving on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds. I sampled the sausage twice, both as-is and on the pizza. The texture was spot on -- not too mushy or too firm and very similar to medium cooked meat sausage. There was no casing on the sausage, so in that sense, it was dissimilar to a real sausage.

I thought it tasted pretty good as-is. It has a faint soy aftertaste, but not terribly obvious from the first bite that it's not meat. Despite being labeled as Italian sausage, it wasn't very spicy. It was notably bland on the pizza -- the flavors were overpowered by all the other ingredients.

Texture: 5 out of 5 stars
Taste: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

In A Nut Shell: As I ate it, I actually wondered if I accidentally bought meat sausages. I don't mind this on my pizza and I would certainly repurchase it.

Grilled Polenta Cake

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We just got back from an extra indulgent weekend in Buffalo, where all things fatty and delicious were consumed. I had A LOT of chicken wings (Anchor Bar over Duff's -- I don't care what the Travel Channel says) while VB took down La Nova's famous Papa Joe's pizza. We both consumed glasses of robust Cabernet and enjoyed a beautiful weekend of fun and relaxation. But we're back to the grind now and facing the consequences of overeating all weekend long. So I decided to make something easy, delicious and skinny jeans friendly (for me; VB likes his bell bottoms just fine).

You'll need:

• 1 cup of corn meal
• 4 cups of vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of dried herbs (try a combination of rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley and oregano)

Bring the vegetable stock to boil in a medium non-stick pot. Add salt and dried herbs. Slowly whisk in corn meal. Whisk vigorously for 5 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken. Turn heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Prepare a 8 x 11 oven proof baking dish by spraying it with non-stick spray. Pour the polenta mixture into the baking dish. Smooth out the top with a spatula. If the mixture sticks to the spatula (it will), spray the spatula with non-stick spray as well. Let it cool for 15 minutes before covering and chilling in the fridge, for about 1 to 2 hours.

When you're ready to grill, portion the polenta cakes. I got 8 slices out of my pan. Grill gently over medium high heat in a non-stick skillet or on a grill for about 5 minutes, or until browned. I served this with a side salad and some homemade marinara sauce.

I really like the smokey grill flavor and the crunchy crust. The creamy sweetness of the polenta cakes pairs really well with marinara sauce. The consistency reminds me of turnip cakes, but more creamy and less chunky. The best part? They are filling but don't have that many calories. This meal can't undo the whole weekend of gluttony, but at least it makes me feel less guilty about it.

Broccoli and Edamame Risotto

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For the first time in a long time, our fridge is nearly empty. I went home last night to a fridge with a quarter bottle of cheap white wine, a head of broccoli, and a small sorry-looking sprouting onion. It's hard to do a lot with so little, but I tried my best. I made a risotto with what little ingredients I had in the fridge, freezer and pantry. The result was surprisingly good.

You'll need:

• 1 cup of amborio rice
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 1 yellow onion, diced small
• 1 1/2 cups of frozen edamame
• 1 head of broccoli, florets removed and stem peeled and chopped
• juice from 1 lemon
• 6 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of grated Pecorino, plus more for garnish
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• sliced almonds for garnish (optional)

Begin by boiling 6 cups of water. Add chopped broccoli stem and salt. Boil until broccoli stem softens, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli florets. Cook until florets turn bright green, about 4 minutes. Reserve a few florets and shock in ice cold water. Using a blender, process florets and stems with about half of the water until the mixture becomes a bright green soup. Set aside. Reserve the remaining 3 cups of water.

In a large skillet, sweat chopped onions in olive until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add rice. Stir to coat the rice with olive oil. Add white wine and lemon juice. Turn heat to medium-low and cook until most of the liquid is reduced. Stir constantly. Add 1 cup of broccoli boiling water. Continue to cook and stir until the liquid is reduced. Then add 1 cup of the broccoli soup. Continue to cook and stir until the liquid is reduced. Repeat by alternately adding water and broccoli soup 1 cup at a time. After adding 3 cups of liquid, stir in frozen edamame. You'll use about 4 to 5 cups of liquid.

When the risotto is almost ready, stir in a tablespoon of butter and 1/4 cup of Pecorino cheese. Just prior to serving, stir in some broccoli soup for the nice bright green color and garnish with florets, sliced almonds and more Pecorino cheese.

The risotto was creamy yet refreshing at the same time. It had a classic flavor with a nice crunch from the almonds. I thought it was an interesting and delicious take on a classic risotto.

Muffuletta Panini

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The first time VB said he wanted to make muffuletta sandwiches, I said, mofo-what-the-H-E-double-hockey-sticks-are-you-talking-about? Muffuletta sandwiches are Italian sandwiches generally consist of various deli meats and cheeses smothered in olive salad. We made it once on a prior occasion and... it wasn't very good. The main problem was that the olive salad, which is a pureed paste of brined or marinated vegetables, has a lot of moisture that made the bread soggy. Also, we added feta cheese, which unfortunately has a vomit-like taste when mixed with olives. Anyways, I'm going to spare everyone of more cringe-inducing descriptions and leave it at that.

This second attempt, I simplified the olive salad mix and added more fresh vegetables. For the olive salad, I processed 1/2 cup of black olives, 1/2 cup of green olives, 4 marinated artichoke hearts, and 1 cup of Gardiniera (a mixture Italian marinated vegetables), plus juice from half a lemon into a thick paste. To assemble the sandwich, I split ciabatta bread in half, layered in provolone cheese, roasted red bell peppers, broiled eggplant slices, lightly roasted tomato slices, olive salad and a handful of arugula on top. I wrap the assembled sandwich in aluminum foil and turn the oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone and a cast iron skillet inside. I put the sandwich on top of pizza stone and weigh it down with the cast iron skillet for 10 to 15 minutes. The result is a delicious sandwich with crispy, not soggy, bread.

I really like how these flavors work together -- the salty olive salad, the sweet roasted bell peppers, the bitter arugula and the creamy provolone make this a harmonious and well-balanced sandwich.