Archive for April, 2010

28 Apr Spring Onion Pizza

Spring Onion Pizza, otherwise known as The Last Supper.

I often forget that pizza is one of my favorite dishes. Surprisingly, I rarely think to make it, but when I do, I am reminded how much I love the versatility (you can make it light and refreshing or thick and hearty), the creativity (slow cooked tomatoes and an egg? or how about green garlic and pears?), and the practicality (got some left over Indian food? how about some bell peppers and arugula that didn’t make it into last night’s salad?) of a good pizza pie.

May 1st is the first day of my annual month-long cleanse. One thing I won’t be eating in May is pizza. So, in part to celebrate my upcoming break from certain foods (more on this to come) and in part to use up some whole wheat pizza dough and other produce I had on hand, I tossed together this super simple spring dinner.

Spring Onion Pizza

1 whole wheat pizza dough

4 spring onions

1 quart organic cherry or grape tomatoes

half bunch of kale

2 oz grated hard cheese (e.g. parmesan or something stronger)

nutritional yeast

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If using store bought pizza dough (which is what I did here – mastering homemade dough is on the agenda for this summer), unwrap and let rest for 20 minutes on a lightly floured surface (whatever flour you have on hand will do – white, whole wheat, spelt, etc).

Meanwhile, prep the vegetables: halve and chop spring onions, halve the tomatoes, wash kale, remove tough stems and julienne the greens. Heat a large pan, add some olive oil (one or two turns with the bottle will do) and onions, cooke on medium-high heat. When onions have started to soften, add tomatoes and a little salt and pepper.

While onions and tomatoes are cooking, prep a pizza pan or baking sheet (you can line it with parchment paper or lightly mist with olive oil, which is what I usually do). Sprinkle top of dough with a little flour and carefully roll or toss (gently stretch with hands, turning frequently) to desired thickness. Gently arrange on baking sheet. If I’m using moist, precooked toppings (like for this dinner), I pre-bake my crust for about 10 minutes, just to keep the center from getting soggy or being undercooked.

When tomatoes start to break down (or if you want them more saucy wait longer until they’re really broken down), add kale to the saute. The pre-baked dough should be done by now. When kale has softened and turned a brilliant dark green, turn off heat and start to assemble the pie!

If I’m not using a tomato sauce base, I usually start with a mist of olive oil, but that’s purely optional. Sprinkle on grated cheese (I used Old World Portuguese), spread onion, tomato and kale mixture evenly over dough, and top with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast (has a tangy cheesy/nutty flavor that I like to enhance the cheese base).  Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crust starts to turn golden and cheese is melted. Let pizza rest for 10 minutes or so before slicing into it (among other things, it helps prevent burning off the roof of your mouth – trust me, I speak from experience).  Serve with a big ol’ green salad and savor the sweetness of these spring veggies.

20 Apr A Berry Good Banana Bread

I have to say, being a health counselor and nutrition educator and having a serious sweet tooth is a huge bummer. Yes, there are a lot of healthy sweet snacks (fruit, carrots, pureed yams, baked apples, etc) and I love them all, but sometimes I want a baked sweet snack, and making or finding one that is both yummy and not loaded with sugar, that?, that can be a challenge (especially since I recently broke up with agave nectar — oh, the nutrition drama never ends).

Anyway… over the past couple of months I’ve come across some very good looking banana bread recipes with lots of interesting and healthy ingredients. Last weekend, it was time to give them a whirl. This recipe for Blueberry Coconut Banana Bread incorporates the parts I liked best (blueberries and coconut!). For example: no sugar (brown rice syrup is kinder to your digestive system and blood sugar levels), no dairy, no eggs, no soy (although you can substitute soy milk for the almond milk) and, yes, coconut (which, if you haven’t figured it out, I really, really love).

This is a very moist bread (I think it would make great muffins, too). The over-ripe bananas and brown rice syrup give the bread its base sweetness; the berries, of course, give each piece little bursts of juicy sweetness. The riper the bananas, the better, but you can get away with barely ripe (I did last week when I made this particular batch), the bread just won’t be quite as sweet (not necessarily a bad thing) or have quite as rich of a banana taste. (Next time I make it with less ripe bananas, I want to add some lemon zest to give it a little zing that won’t be overpowered by banana.) One note on brown rice syrup: it has a buttery quality to it and isn’t as intensely sweet as honey or agave. If my bananas are less ripe, I use a little more brown rice syrup (up to 3/4 C). If you haven’t broken up with agave, and you don’t have brown rice syrup, you can use it instead.

Blueberry Coconut Banana Bread

3 large overripe bananas

1/3 plain almond milk (soy, plain or flavored, will work too)

1/2 C brown rice syrup

2 T lemon juice

2 C white whole wheat flour

3/4 t baking powder

3/4 t baking soda

1/2 salt

1 C blueberries

3/4 C shredded or flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×5 loaf pan (I lightly spray with oil).

Toast coconut on a small sheet pan while oven heats (approximately 10 minutes, but be careful to check regularly after 5 minutes to prevent burning). I used large flaked coconut this time (it was available), but you can definitely use a smaller flake or shredded coconut, depending on your texture preference (I usually prefer something a little finer).

Add 1 T of lemon juice to almond milk to curdle it.

With an electric mixer, combine bananas, curdled almond milk, brown rice syrup and remaining lemon juice, and mix until well-combined.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, add to wet ingredients and stir to combine. You don’t want to over mix, so best to switch from electric mixer to wooden spoon. Fold in blueberries and coconut. Pour (actually, it’s a little too thick to “pour”) into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a knife or wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Cool before serving. Although, the combined smells of baked bananas, warm blueberries and toasty coconut wafting through your kitchen will make it hard not to immediately dive into the loaf and bite into a steaming slice. Not like I did that or anything….

16 Apr Roasted Cauliflower

I didn’t always love cauliflower. I have a horrible childhood story of vicious deceit and subterfuge involving my mother and a pot of so-called “rice” that was really cauliflower. Years of therapy and this recipe healed those deep psychological wounds. It was a few years ago, on my birthday and during my first visit to Pizzeria Delfina when, starving, I dove into the cauliflower appetizer. It was nutty, spicy, savory, crunchy… delicious. I have no idea what they really did to the cauliflower (we spent most of the dinner trying to deconstruct what, how and why it was so freaking yummy), but this is my best approximation and it’s become one of my favorite quick, healthy veggie dishes.

Roasted Cauliflower With Capers and Red Pepper

1 head of cauliflower

1 T red pepper flakes (more or less, to taste)

1 T capers (more or less, to taste)

olive oil

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash cauliflower, cut out a good chunk of stem and cut or break head into bite-sized or two-bite-sized flowerets.

In a large bowl, toss cauliflower with the red pepper flakes, capers and olive oil (three or four turns of the bottle) — a wooden spoon or just your hands work well. (Sadly, I was out of capers when I made this for dinner the other night, so they’re not pictured in this post, but they add a nice zing to the dish, so I highly recommend including them.)

Spread cauliflower on a large baking sheet (I like the cauliflower a lot room, so I can shake the pan a few times without shaking any of them loose). Lightly salt and pepper (just a couple of cranks of the grinders). Roast for 20 minutes or until as browned as you like, shaking the pan every 10 minutes to roast the cauliflower pieces evenly. I like the cauliflower to get pretty crispy, so sometimes I shoot the temperature up to 450 for the last 10 minutes or so.  The roasting really brings out the cauliflower’s nuttiness, and the red peppers spice up a cold spring night.

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