Meatless Monday - Tomato Flatbread

Tomato plants across my neighborhood are producing so much fruit that you can often see the bright red produce exchanging hands; "I have so many tomatoes, I don't know what to do with them!"  Pots of herbs are also sprouting fragrant leafs, waiting to be brought into the kitchen to add brightness to dishes.

Here is a delicious meatless meal that can help you use some of them up.  The dough is so moist and delicious, you'd think an Italian chef prepared it himself.

Flatbread with Summer Tomatoes

For the dough:

• 1 package of dry instant yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 & 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 & 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 T olive oil

For the rest:

• 2 large or 3 medium tomatoes, sliced in thing slices
• 4 oz. fresh mozarella or goat cheese
• 2 T chopped fresh herbs, such as chives and parsley
• Handful of fresh basil

To make the dough: Dissolve the yeast in the water and sit for 5 minutes.  Sift in flour, salt and pepper and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.  Add the oil, knead for a bit in the bowl, then turn out to a floured surface.  Knead until a soft dough forms.

Line a large glass bowl with olive oil.  Add dough ball and cover with a warm, damp kitchen towel.  Let rise 1 hour, or until doubled in size.  Punch dough down, and let rise, covered, an additional hour.

Roll dough out to approximately 15x10 inches.  Slide onto a cookie sheet, cover again with damp towel, and let rise for one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Arrange tomato slices on a stack of paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and place a few more paper towels on top.  Lightly press down to remove excess juices. 

Arrange tomato slices over dough and top evenly with cheese.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges.  Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with herbs, arrange basil, and crack additional black pepper on top, if desired.

Slice, and enjoy!

Bad news for basil lovers...

Summer is the time for basil, and boy do I have an abundance of it.  In Barbara Kingsolver's memoir, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, she talks about her annoyance over a local food writer who gives a recipe for making pesto - in January.  Now is the time to gather up your beautifully-scented basil and pesto away!  *Side note- if you haven't read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle yet, you are really missing out on one of the best food narratives I have ever read.

Since my last post, Lemon Basil Cake, people have been commenting to me about how much they love basil.  I hate to be a downer, but I thought I'd share a bit of sad news, or you can see it as a word of caution, for my fellow basilicum lovers...

About a month or so ago, my fiance Ryan came home with terrible news for me.  He had heard on NPR that there is a basil blight affecting the country's basil population.  Quickly, I ran to my back deck to survey my several plants of what just spells s-u-m-m-e-r to me.  I peeked under their leafs (or leaves? - they're actually both correct), wincing in anticipation for finding that "ugly shade of brown" underneath.  Breathing a sigh of relief, I ran to the next plant, and then the next.  I have been saved!  So far....

Read the article on NPR about this enemy wiping out basil across New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and even Florida.  And if you spot any of this "downy mildew" threat on your beloved basil plants, cut what good leaves you have and for the love of God, immediately proceed to make pesto!  Or, tune into Suburban Spoon for upcoming basil recipes...

Lemon Basil Cake

As I've mentioned before, I am growing several basil plants on mt back deck.  I have been trying to make things, other than pesto, to use it up.

This Lemon Basil cake is moist, delicious, and a fantastic summer dessert.  Be sure to try it!

Lemon Basil Cake

• 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. lemon extract (found at food specialy stores - if you cannot find, use 2 T of lemon zest instead)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 T buttermilk
• 1 & 1/2 cups mixed berries, such as raspberries and blackberries

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 9-inch springform pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer on medium speed, until creamy. Add the eggs, basil, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Beat until blended.

Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, alternating with the buttermilk and beating on low speed until smooth.

Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove the sides of the pan and cool completely.

Place the cake on a serving plate and top with the berries.

Meatless Monday - Grilled Eggplant with Pesto and Pasta

Coming up with ways to use seasonal produce is always a fun challenge for me.  With an abundance of basil in my garden, I always have pesto on hand.  This delicious meatless meal will definitely satisfy!

Grilled Eggplant with Pesto and Pasta (serves 8)

• 1 medium eggplant, sliced into rounds
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 1 lb of twisty pasta such as rotini or gemelli
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto (you can find my pesto recipe at the bottom of this page)
• 1 ball of fresh mozzarella cheese

Preheat grill or grill pan to medium-high. 

Brush both sides of eggplant rounds with olive oil.  Season with salt & pepper.

Grill both sides of eggplant for about 3 minutes, until grill marks appear.  Slice into 1/2" by 2" slices.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of salted water to box directions.

Combine pasta and eggplant, stir in pesto.  Just before serving, gently stir in mozzarella cheese.  It will melt into gooey goodness!

Enjoy!

That's some hydroponic basil, dude...

Not really a gadget, but definitely a favorite addition to my kitchen is the Aerogarden. I don't like giving them free advertising, but they're just really COOL.

A couple of Christmases ago, I received this thoughtful gift from Ryan (he'll do just about anything he can to promote my cooking *wink*). I was so excited, I put the seed pods in right away and plugged my new indoor garden in to illuminate the ENTIRE first floor (man, those lights are BRIGHT)! In just a few days, tiny plants began to poke their little leaves up... this was the beginning of something really magical!

The plants lasted for about 5 or 6 months, but they really produced a LOT of herbs. Once fully grown, if I snipped clippings off of a plant it grew back in about 2-3 days. And now I can even pick which individual pods you want to make up my garden for an extra fee (before you could only chose from pre-set combinations). At the present, I am growing 3 basil plants (gotta have a lot for pesto!), thyme, sage, parsley, and chives.

There are two drawbacks to owning an Aerogarden.

1. Recently, delivery on reorders seed pods & replacement parts from their catalog has been EXTREMELY slow (over a month). They apparently are "overloaded" by the mass of orders due to its popularity. Well, in my opinion if your product is that popular and you have such an abundance of orders, you can afford to hire some extra customer service reps. Hello? In case you didn't hear, there are THOUSANDS of people for hire at the moment!
2. Each time you are ready to grow new plants, you must replace the seed pods, the light bulbs and the filters - all which cost about $20.00 per item. The Aerogarden itself was over $150, so it is NOT fun to dish out all of that extra money every 6 months. They really need review their price points!

Aerogarden, if you read me... great product! Let's work on the price though... we are in a recession, after all.

Good for You Grilling - Chicken Sausage

Grilling doesn't always equal healthy, but I am always looking for a take on conventional food with a healthy twist. That is why I absolutely love Trader Joe's (please, please bring a store to Lafayette Hill, PA!). They provide such a superabundance of healthy, scrumptious, and easy-to-make food - I cannot think of a better grocer!

I love, love, love their chicken sausages. They taste wonderful - better than regular pork sausages in my opinion - and they are a much healthier option than conventional sausage. For last night's dinner, I made a delicious, quick but substantial meal with chicken sausage headlining the meal. I served them up along side of a salad and quinoa.

If you are unfamiliar with quinoa, it is a super grain. Super because it contains all eight essential amino acids so it is a complete protein, having the highest amount of protein in any grain. It also delivers fiber, iron, magnesium, calcium and vitamins A and E. It is actually a seed, and it can be used in place of rice, pasta, couscous, bulgar, etc. in just about any recipe.

Quinoa’s flavor is slightly nutty with a pleasing crunchy texture. In addition to tasting great, it’s also very simple to cook. And it’s gluten free - excellent news for anyone with a gluten allergy or sensitivity.

Chicken Sausage Sandwiches

• Chicken sausages (I use TJ's Sundried Tomato)
• Whole wheat hot dog buns
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• 1/2 cup diced onions

Heat grill to medium-high. Cook sausages for about 8 minutes, turning a few times to cook each side.

In the meantime: in a cast iron pan on grill, heat olive oil and butter. Saute onions for 6-8 minutes. I sauteed extra onion and set aside for my quinoa.

Serve sausage in buns and top with diced onion.



Quinoa Pilaf

• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• Salt and pepper

Put the broth and quinoa in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and grain is tender.
Meanwhile, toast the nuts in a large dry skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown and fragrant, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove nuts from pan and set aside.
When the quinoa is done, fluff with a fork and transfer to a large serving bowl. Stir in the pine nuts, the reserved onions from the chicken sausage, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Grilled Pizza

I love to grill. I cannot think of any easier way to prepare a meal and nothing can compare to the taste of food hot off the Weber (except maybe food hot off a charcoal grill!). I even grill in the winter when it's snowing!

When the temps are high, I like to take the heat out of the kitchen and out to my back deck. One of my favorite things to make is grilled pizza. With pre-made dough from Trader Joe's (or I have heard that you can buy pizza dough at many pizzerias - all you have to do is ask!) nothing can be simpler!

The possibilities are endless... I like to try new combinations all the time. My favorite grilled pizza toppings are pesto, bbq sauce, grilled chicken, peppers, onions, & goat cheese. Be creative and play with your favorite toppings. Like Hawaiian pizza? This is an excellent way to make it! Just add pineapple and ham and you can practically hear the ukulele strumming away!


Grilled Pizza with Summer Vegetables

• 1 ball of pre-made pizza dough (I like Trader Joe's)
• Summer vegetables such as zucchini & yellow squash
• 1 red onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup of pre-made pesto (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• Flour (for rolling out dough)
• Cornmeal (for dusting - optional)

You will also need:

• Wooden skewers for grilling veggies (soaked in water about 30 mins)

Heat the grill to med-high (about 375 degrees), you don't need to oil grates.

Lace vegetables onto wooden skewers. Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Grill, turning occasionally, for 3-5 minutes. Remove from grill, set aside.

Flour a wooden cutting board and either side of your dough very well. Roll out to large shape. It doesn't have to be a circle - whatever you feel like - just as long as the dough is no more than 1/4" thick. If you like, dust the top with cornmeal (this will be the bottom of the pizza after you flip the dough).

Slide dough off of board onto grill and cover. When dough comes easily off of the grill and there are nice grill marks, you'll it is time to flip (about 5-8 minutes)! The dough will probably form a big air bubble, just deflate it.

Close grill and let pizza cook on the other side for 3-4 minutes. Spread pesto on dough. Add vegetables and sprinkle with cheese. Cover for another minute or two - until cheese melts. Garnish with oregano.

Slice, serve, and enjoy the smiles on everyone's face after biting into this treat!


Pesto (makes 1 cup)

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

You will also need:

• A food processor (or, I use my Magic Bullet!)

Combine the basil and pine nuts in bowl of food processor. Pulse a few times. Add garlic and pulse a few more times.

Slowly pour in olive oil in a constant stream while food processor is on. Stop to scrape down sides with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt & pepper to taste.

*With the Magic Bullet, I simply add all of the ingredients at once and pulse until combined.

Add to pizza, flatbread, pasta, & more!