Meatless Monday: Zucchini Pizza

Hey guys! Back after a bit of an absence - things have been busy and I often find that after coming home from work, going to the gym and then making (and eating) dinner, I’m too tired to blog. But fear not! I spent part of my off-day last week at a neighborhood coffeeshop working a couple of posts, which will be going up over the next week.

But in the meantime, a special Meatless Monday guest post by MG!

Pizza can be a great and healthy weeknight meal if you make one critical move. That move is making the crust the night before. Esther and I discovered this step when I realized we wouldn’t have enough time to make the dough the night-of as we normally did. So I whipped it up the night before, let it do its first rise and then put it in the fridge to sit until the next day.

Blank canvas.

The result of our little time saver was a wonderfully malleable crust that crisped up nicely and still retained its chew. With our crust settled, we then turned our eyes to the toppings. We went with a zucchini pesto pizza from Serious Eats, overflowing with delicious late-summer produce. There were a few modifications to the pizza, as I suppose you’ve come to expect.

 

In addition to feta, we upped the cheese quotient by using a reduced-fat provolone-asiago-mozzarella-parmesan cheese blend. We also substituted summer squash for half the zucchini. Finally, we used my homemade pesto (from a batch in which I had forgotten to put parmesan) and reduced the amount of pesto to only ⅓ of a cup. The end result was delicious and we happily consumed over our customary 2 nights with salads on the side.

Zucchini and Pesto Pizza
from Serious Eats, with minor modifications

Makes 8 slices

1 ball pizza dough (homemade or purchased - if homemade, the overnight second rise will give more of a "pan pizza" texture, as opposed to thin crust)
1/3 cup of basil pesto
1 medium zucchini and 1 summer squash, very thinly sliced
4 ounces fat free feta cheese, crumbled
½ cup Italian cheese blend, shredded
about 16 kalamata olives, sliced

Pre-heat your oven to 450F. Roll out your pizza dough onto your chosen baking sheet (we use a rectangular cookie sheet). I just use my hands (sprayed with some handy Pam) to spread out the dough on the pan.

Top the dough first with the pesto, then the feta, layer on the sliced zucchini and squash and finally top with the Italian cheese blend and olives. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the crust is golden on the bottom and the cheese is nice and bubbly on top. Let cool a little, slice and enjoy.

Farmers' Market Art

Some pictures I took this morning of the vibrant colors at the farmers' market:

We picked up a boatload of produce for some yummy dinners this week: sweet corn, onions, zucchini, summer squash, those pretty cherry tomatoes, peaches, a yellow watermelon and a jar of hot pickled carrots.

Hope these pictures inspire you to go out and make something this weekend with some of the amazing fresh produce that's available now!

OPP (Other People's Produce)

There are many great things about living in Washington, D.C. I love having access to museums, history, some beautiful parks (haven't been to Meridian Hill Park? Change that this weekend!), theater and some seriously excellent restaurants. Great inventions like ZipCar and the granny cart have made grocery shopping easier, and it seems like every year there are more farmers' markets cropping up, so you can get fresh, locally-grown produce almost every day of the week.

That said, I am a midwestern girl, and there are times that I miss the relative space that living there provides. Don't get me wrong, I grew up in a city. But the city I grew up in was not like D.C. - even college student apartments were often duplexes, and virtually everyone I knew growing up lived in a single-family home. And while I love the hustle and bustle of urban living, there are times I kind of wish I could live in a smaller city, where I could afford a house and a big back yard and do some REAL gardening (not that I don't love my balcony garden! But you can't grow pumpkins on a balcony garden.)

For now though, I must live out my idyllic dreams vicariously through other people - in this case, my mother. She and my step-mom have been working hard on a lovely garden in their backyard in Akron, and the other day she sent me some fantastic photos of what they've grown!

"Everything in the garden is a lot bigger now than when I took the pictures - it kind of looks like a tomato/cucumber/potato jungle."

In the raised bed they are growing:

beefsteak tomatoes

grape tomatoes

pickling cucumbers

potatoes

My mom reports that they've been pickling some of the tomatoes and cukes, so fingers crossed I get to have some when I go home for Thanksgiving! She offered to send some back when we go out to Ohio over Labor Day, but I think the TSA might have a few thoughts on that.

Perhaps fried?

They also have a garden along the side of the house, where they are growing:

yellow and red bell peppers

cherry tomatoes

heirloom tomatoes

purple basil

green basil

cilantro

Do you have a balcony or backyard garden? Send pictures to cookiesandkale@gmail.com and tell me what you're planning on making with your harvest!

The Lunch Box: Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

For several weeks now, I've been eyeing the beets at the farmers' market. Over 4th of July weekend, MG's aunt made a fantastic roasted beet dish with walnuts and goat cheese, and I've been wanting to do something similar for lunches ever since.  So, when a recipe for a salt-roasted beet salad appeared in my Google Reader feed, I decided to put my plan into action for lunches this week.

Last Saturday morning, MG and I headed over to the Great Commonwealth of Virginia (as a member of the bar there I'm required to call it that) (just kidding) (sort of) to check out the farmer's market at Courthouse and procure some beets. It was great! Not quite as extensive as the one at Dupont on Sundays, but I did notice that prices on some items were a little more reasonable. And breaking from routine is always a fun thing to do on a weekend morning, so we'll probably go back from time to time.

But on to the salad! The recipe I found called for salt-roasting the beets with fresh thyme, and then making a salad of baby spinach, arugula, beets, barley, walnuts, goat cheese, and topping the whole thing off with a creamy lemon and vanilla buttermilk dressing.

Starting off with my produce and other necessaries. (Balcony garden thyme!)

Getting ready to roast, with some kosher salt and sprigs of fresh thyme.

I didn't have barley, but I did have quinoa, which I had yet to cook with. Now seemed as a good a time as ever, and a great way to put some protein into my salad! Turns out it's incredibly easy to make, and a good "blank slate" grain, just like rice or cous cous. I'm excited to try it out in new variations.

Looks kind of like cous cous! But yummier. And healthier.

I could not resist these suckers at the farmer's market. 

So sweet and flavorful, you'd wonder how anyone could NOT realize they are actually a fruit.

After roasting, the recipe said to "slip skin from each beet." 

Turns out this is just as easy as it sounds - they just peel right off!

Gloves would not have been a bad idea here. 

I didn't have gloves, hence the Dexter-like appearance of the kitchen counter.

All packed up the night before for an easy Monday morning.

The final product: spinach, red onion, roasted beets, quinoa, walnuts, goat cheese, yellow cherry tomatoes. Although I enjoy a good creamy dressing from time to time, I felt like the dressing in the original recipe would be too heavy for the different flavors already in the salad, so, sticking with the lemony theme, I whisked together a simple vinaigrette with lemon juice, red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.  Light and acidy, it worked perfectly!

Salt Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Inspired by the Guilty Kitchen

Serves 4.

1 lb. beets, whole with skins on and tops and tips removed
3 sprigs fresh thyme
kosher salt
1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
4 oz. crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 whole red onion, thinly sliced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
6 cups baby spinach
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar (I eyeballed this)
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I eyeballed this, too)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400F.

Spread a thin layer of kosher salt in the bottom of a glass baking dish.  Place the beets and the thyme in the baking dish, cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour.  When the beets are done, you should be able to easily insert a knife into them. Allow the beets to cool for 10-15 minutes, then peel off the skins. Chop into bite-sized pieces (not too specific here...it's your salad!)

Meanwhile, prepare the quinoa.  Put 1/2 cup of quinoa and 1 cup of water in a medium pot and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed. The cooked quinoa will still have a bit of a bite to it, but shouldn't be overly crunchy. Allow to cool completely before preparing the salad.

When the quinoa and beets are done, prepare your salad! This is the fun part. For mine, I put about 1.5 cups of spinach in my bowl, and topped it with 1/4 of the cooked quinoa. Then I put on my sliced onion, the beets, 1 tbsp of chopped walnuts, 1 oz of goat cheese and halved my cherry tomatoes before putting them on last. I really like the way my combo came out, but you can absolutely play with the ingredients. Like pecans instead of walnuts? That'd probably be good too.

For the dressing, I just whisked together the lemon juice and red wine vinegar in a small bowl, and then slowly streamed in the olive oil while whisking to make the emulsion. Dress the salad and enjoy!

A couple of notes on making this salad for work lunch: 1) it's a good one to take to work, because you can assemble it the night before. I put the dressing in a separate small tupperware so that the salad wouldn't get soggy. 2) However, the beets are, well, beets, so while the salad held up nicely, the goat cheese was a little more purple when I opened up my lunch on Monday than it had been the night before. Not a problem for lunch, but if you're making the salad to serve guests, you might want to wait until the last minute to top with the goat cheese. 3) There are a lot of awesome flavors going on in the salad, so I found that a little of the vinaigrette went a long way. 4) The quinoa, nuts and cheese make this a pretty protein-rich salad, so I found that I didn't need anything on the side besides a small plum! But, of course, a slice of whole-grain bread would be delicious too, you just might find you're too full to finish it!

This salad was definitely a winner and will be making it into the summertime work-lunch rotation. If you make it, let me know what you think! And now, I'm off to eat up the last serving of my salad.

Reader Survey: Your Must-Make Summer Recipes

As I mentioned in a recent post, summer seems to be flying by.  Somehow it feels like yesterday I was excited to go outside without a coat, and now it's August, and soon the corn will be gone!  And that will be the saddest day, when the corn is gone.  Also the okra and tomatoes and eggplant and peaches.

Photo Source: Slash Food

The Kitchn had a post the other day about "must-make" summer recipes.  I think this is a really good exercise for a recipe horder collector like me.  Ever since about April I've been thinking about what recipes I want to try with summer fruits and vegetables.  I've actually managed to cross quite a few off my list (Grilled Eggplant with Goat Cheese and Tomatoes, Strawberry-Rhubarb Muffins, Blueberry Muffins, Tomatillo Chicken Soup, Roasted Eggplant with Cous Cous and Fig, Arugula and Cheddar Paninis), but trust me my list is WAY longer than that.  So I realized that with August starting in and a few weekends of travel on the agenda between now and the official first day of autumn, I should probably whittle my list down to 5 "must-makes" - and then, of course, make them.

So here they are, my Top Five Must-Make Recipes of Summer 2011:
(in no particular order)

1. Pasta with Italian Sausage, Broccoli Rabe, Olives and Tomatoes - combo of a couple of recipes

2. Grilled Shrimp and Grits with Corn, Goat Cheese and Tomatoes - The Kitchn

3. Bhindi Masala (Okra and Tomato Curry) - Spicy Tasty

4. Pesto, Plum and Fontina Panini - Iowa Girl Eats

5. Strawberry-Sour Cream Coffee Cake - Serious Eats

Also, a bonus 6th: my favorite Epicurious lemon-raspberry cupcakes. They are definitely a permanent fixture in my dessert repertoire, but I haven't gotten around to making them since last Columbia Heights Day! 

Now that I've posted this, I have to make them all, right?  I can't let my readers down :)

But now, a reader survey!  What is your "must-make" summer recipe?  It can be something new you've been wanting to try or a favorite dish you've been making for years.  Post answers in the comments!

Check out the original post from The Kitchn here! The Final Stretch: Must-Make Summer Recipes

The Lunch Box and Dining In: A Week in Review

It was a pretty quiet week in the Cookies and Kale kitchen - we made a lot of travel purchases this month, so we were trying to keep our grocery budget to a minimum at the end of the month and work with what we had (as well as clean out our freezer before the beginning of the month cooking spree that is upcoming).

Lunch this week was a simple but classic fix: pb&j!  Deliciousness, protein and nostalgia all rolled into one.  The jams were two that MG's mom sent us (she cans her own, and they are fantastic): strawberry-rhubarb and blueberry-plum.  The bread was a little fancier than what I got in kindergarten - half a brioche loaf from one of the vendors at the farmers' market by my office that we had frozen for a slow cooking week just such as this one.  One of these with a juicy peach on the side is really kind of just an awesome lunch.

This never gets old.

Homemade > Smuckers.  Period.

Dinners were equally low key.  First, we had some leftover produce we needed to use up.  What does one do when one buys 2 bunches of parsley and then forgets to put it in the dishes it was intended for?  One makes fattoush!  Luckily, we had two pitas and a bunch of chicken thighs in the freezer waiting for just such an occasion, so with a little assistance from our balcony garden mint, MG put together a fantastic weeknight dinner.  

That was only HALF of the salad. 

MG marinated chicken thighs in a yogurt mint marinade, plus a little tahini with lemon juice on the side.

A glass of sauvignon blanc on the side and cherries for dessert - fantastic summer weeknight dinner!

The rest of the time we had leftovers for dinner, plus a couple of work lunch events.  This week off from cooking has been great, but I'm ready to get back in the kitchen!  Luckily, we have fairytale eggplant, a boatload of green chiles, and some farmers' market beets that are on the agenda for the weekend (not all in one dish).  And if I'm feeling really ambitious, there is a recipe for zucchini brownies I want to check out.  Be sure to stay tuned!

Day Trip to Annapolis

Yesterday I surprised MG with a day trip to Annapolis - he knew we were going somewhere for the day, but he didn't know where until we were on our way there :)

Despite the heat, we had a fantastic time.  The city is only about 30 minutes away, so we drove up in the morning, and arrived about 11:30.  After parking the rental, we walked down to the waterfront to start the trip off right - with a dockside lunch!  I had some delicious fish tacos and steamed veggies.  MG had jerk chicken and let me have a bite - also delicious!

I forgot to take a picture of the food, but this was a lovely view.

We knew generally that we wanted to see the State House, the Paca House and Gardens and the U.S. Naval Academy, but other than that had no real agenda, so after lunch we started wandering.  Luckily, a turn down a small street led us to Capital Teas - we though it was just a tea shop where we could buy iced teas, but it was SO MUCH BETTER.  There were no brewed teas, but every flavor (scent?) of loose leaf teas imaginable.  We smelled quite a few, but as soon as we found the chocolate mint flavor and the toasted almond flavor, we knew we'd found our winners.  It's way too hot to think about actually having any right now, but I'm starting to daydream of cooler (possibly sweater?) weather and a glass of hot toasted almond tea.

So happy we discovered this place!

Next we toured the Paca House and Gardens, an historical 18th century home built by one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  The house itself was lovely, but the real highlight was the extensive gardens.

Pears!

Peaches!

A beautiful trellis.  I felt like I was in the Secret Garden.

Possibly a pomegranate?

After the house and garden tour we decided to have an ice cream break.  I had a scoop each of sugar-free butter pecan and sugar-free moose tracks, and MG had a scoop of raspberry truffle and a scoop of chocolate peanut butter.  It was fantastic, and fitting way to start my 1 week ice cream/froyo self-imposed moratorium, since I've had one of the two every day for the last 4 days (and twice on Friday).  Oops.

Essential on a hot day of walking.

After our frozen treats we walked the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy, which were beautiful.  There was a whole row of houses where the senior officers and deans live.  They were all in a row, with white porches and red, white and blue bunting and perfectly manicured yards.  I think if I lived there I'd pretend I was in the Music Man every day.

After the U.S.N.A. we wandered the streets for a few more hours, stopping at some antique stores and a book store or two.  Finally, we decided it was time to have dinner before heading back to D.C.  We lucked out and found a tapas restaurant called Level that features locally-sourced produce and meats.  Although Thai food sounded good too, we figured we didn't get a chance to sample locally produced Maryland food that often, so tapas it was.  Excellent decision!  Unfortunately the picture quality below isn't great - it wasn't well lit and I didn't want to disrupt other diners with the flash all the time.  Nevertheless, photo documentation was in order.

Rehydrating.

Potato gnocchi with a pea puree and bison satay in the background.

P.S. apparently they raise bison in MD?!

Japanese eggplant with goat cheese.

Grilled calamari with crispy capers.

Cuban pork spring rolls with habanero sweet dipping sauce.

Sauteed wax beans with red pepper and garlic - clearly we enjoyed these.

The gnocchi and the sauteed wax beans were our favorites.  The grilled calamari was probably our least favorite - MG is not a seafood fan (but was being a good sport in the spirit of trying new things), and I found the squid a little tougher than I'd like.  But everything else was fantastic.  

Why is this book on the table?

Secret check holder!  Fancy :)

If you're in Annapolis, I recommend this place. 

Middle Eastern Inspired Dinner Party: Roasted Eggplant Cous Cous

Friday night we had MG's cousin and his wife over for dinner to welcome them back to DC after living for several years in Macedonia (and even more years in several other countries).  Originally we planned to eat on the roof, but the recent warm-up made that seem like a less than desirable idea.

Nonetheless, we still decided to center our dinner around grilled rosemary-lemon chicken kebabs and I cooked up two Middle Eastern-inspired side dishes, a moroccan carrot salad and roasted eggplant cous cous.  Thursday afternoon I hit up the farmers' market by my office to get some necessities for our feast.

Produce.

Crazy carrot!  It was hard to cut.

Roasting up the aforementioned produce.

The finished product, waiting to be consumed.

The moroccan carrots.  There was a final prep stage that involved topping them with toasted pine nuts and fresh mint.  It looked super pretty, so of course I forgot to take a picture.

Devouring my work-product.  

Check out those awesome looking kebabs!  Thanks, MG, for braving the heat to stand on the roof in front of an open grill and cook these for us.

We had a great time relaxing with MG's family and enjoying our dinner with a nice Macedonian white wine.  Dessert was vanilla ice cream and berries.  I don't know about you, but that's basically my idea of a perfect summer Friday evening.

Roasted Eggplant Cous Cous

Adapted from Big Girls Small Kitchen

Serves 8 as a side dish

2 lbs eggplant, quartered and cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 large red onion, quartered and cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 summer squash, halved and cut into 1/4 inch slices

5 tbsp olive oil, divided

1 tsp salt, divided

1 tsp cumin

juice of 1 lemon

zest of 1 lemon

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 cup cous cous (or Israeli, or pearl, cous cous)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves (optional - you could also substitute parsley, or you could buy parsley to substitute, and then forget it in the refrigerator)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees - the original recipe set it at 450, but my first batch of onions burnt to a crisp, so I dropped the heat the second time around. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggplant, red onion and summer squash, plus 3 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp of salt, and the cumin.  Toss to coat the veggies completely.

Spread the veggies out on two foil-lined baking sheets, making sure to get them in a flat layer for even roasting.  Roast veggies in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Remove the pans, flip the veggies over so the other side gets roasted nicely, and replace in the oven, making sure to rotate and switch the rack positions of the pans for even cooking.  Continue roasting for another 10 minutes, and then check on them.  The veggies should be soft and golden brown.  Note: if you have a normal sized apartment oven, you'll probably have to do this in 2 batches, so budget your time accordingly.

Meanwhile, cook the cous cous according to the directions on the container.  For regular cous cous (what I used), you'll want to boil about 1.5 cups of salted water.  Add cous cous, cover with a lid, remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

While the cous cous is doing its thing, make the dressing.  In the bottom of the serving bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, minced garlic, and remaining 1/2 tsp salt.  Slowly add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil while whisking.   Fluff the cous cous with a fork and add to the bowl with the dressing.  Add the roasted vegetables and mix until everything is covered with the dressing.  

This can be served warm or at room temperature.  Just prior to serving, top with chopped cilantro or parsley (or don't, remember after the fact, and then have a fun time thinking up a way to use an entire bunch of parsley).*

Enjoy!

*Dinner this week: fattoush.