Pizza night

After the successful Argentine Flatbread last weekend, I felt in the mood to make more homemade pizzas. Tonight, DH had pepperoni and mozzerella cheese on the dough from the Flatbread recipe. Excellent!! he says. Mine was garlic, steamed collards, broccoli, and roasted red pepper on Eating Well's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough. Again excellent!! For the sauce, I used the Pizza Sauce recipe from Vegan With a Vegeance. It is the yummiest sauce!

5 flamingos for taste
2 flamingos for time and effort. DH didn't want a whole wheat crust but I did. I really didn't mind making 2 types of dough, roasting the red pepper or prepping the veggies as it was a snowy icy day. The glass of wine was nice too!

Pizza Sauce
adapted from Vegan With a Vegeance

1 teaspoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic- minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1 can (15-ounce) tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, saute the garlic in the olive oil a few minutes being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the herbs and the remaining ingredients. Simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Let cool to room temperature before using on pizzas.


Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Eating Well
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/ww_pizza_dough.html

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.

2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.

3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack;preheat oven to 500°F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired(we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes. Serve immediately.

Makes 12 oz dough, enough for one 12-inch pizza or two 10-inch pizzas

My new favorite bread!

I made a new whole wheat bread, Pecan Wheat, this afternoon and it's my new favorite. It was so good and the crust had a nice crispness. I made the bread in my bread machine as directed using the walnuts. I made one regular sized loaf and 4 little personal loaves. You can find the recipe here.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/recipe.jsp?recipe_id=R140

Curried Cauliflower and Yummy Bread

Tonight's dinner was a nice veganish/meat lovers blend. DH had a sandwich made from leftover flank steak from last night. We shared Braised Cauliflower with Three-Seed Sauce from Vegan with a Vengeance served over whole wheat couscous. I also had a spinach salad. Lovely for both of us.

I tried to take a pic but, well, still need some practice!!

Harvest Grains Bread

This bread is one of my faves from King Arthur but I made some significant changes. I played with it to remove the powdered milk, reduce the fat, and then added some oatmeal. The oatmeal makes the bread thicker but tender.

Here is the link to the King Arther recipe and below is what went into the bread machine!
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/recipe.jsp?recipe_id=R381

My version! And I liked it- it will be a repeater although I might try adding a bit more of the Harvest Seeds Blend next time to see how that goes.

1 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon veggie oil
2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup bread flour
1 tablespoon bread dough enhancer
1/2 cup Harvest Grains Seed Blend (sold by King Arthur)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons SAF yeast

Place the ingredients in the order rec by your bread machine manufacturer. Select dough cycle. After about 1 hr 20 min and the beep, remove the dough and shape it to fit into a bread pan. Let rise until doubled and then bake at 350F for about 35-40 min. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Chickpea Salad with Provencal Herbs and Olives

I wanted something for dinner tonight that included chickpeas. I love them but DH doesn't and tonight he has the leftover cassoulet (that was a beautiful dish from Mastering the Art of French Cooking). I went to the Cooking Light recipe finder and found this. The idea of a salad was appealing with the warmer weather- a high of almost 70F in Jan in Washington DC!! The chickepea recipe can be found here
http://food.cookinglight.com/cooking/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1065515

I made some changes- onion powder instead of the onion (I was hoping DH would try it and like it) and I subbed dried oregano, rosemary, and thyme.

Well, he didn't try it but it was delicious over a bed of romaine lettuce. It definitely turned colder here but this worked as a salad topping for lunch.

Cardamom coffee

I had the most delicious coffee at a friends house- she added several cardamom seeds to the coffee grounds before brewing. So simple and so good! I now keep a small jar of the seeds next to my filters.

Book Club!

The book- The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living by Martin Clark

The restaurant- brunch at Whitlows on Wilson

We wondered about the supernatural aspects in the story. I must admit that I didn't get too far in this story- I was too busy with the holidays and with my nutrition reading. The white tears seemed odd, I kept thinking they were glue or some sort of pills or I don't know but after the discussion I get it. I think that I would like to finish this story-

Next book- Marley and Me by John Grogan