Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Vegan Veggie Pizza

There's no better time for a pizza party than the weekend, so that's what we decided to do on Saturday night. It took me like three hours, from start to finish, to make this baby, but it was pretty yummy and slightly inventive, if I might say so. I got the idea from a pretty decent Amy's frozen pizza that I sometimes buy. But eight bucks for a pretty small frozen pizza just doesn't sit well with me, so I figured I could make it bigger and better, for less. I made a whole wheat crust, rolled it really thin, and baked it for a bit before adding the toppings. Instead of the typical tomato-based sauce, I made a caramelized onion base by slowly sauteeing a few thinly-sliced onions with about a 1/4 cup of brown sugar until they are completely gooey and broken down. Then I pureed the mixture and added a bit of red wine and balsamic vinegar. Yum. I love anything that involves caramelized onions! I topped the pizza with diced roasted red peppers, artichokes (I actually used a whole artichoke, rather than the jarred version, for the first time ever! It was quite a process, but definitely a worthwhile experience.), sliced crimini mushrooms sauteed with some garlic, and of course my personal favorite, sliced green olives. Baked it for about 20 minutes, and ended up with a giant pizza, two full tummies, and lots of leftovers.

Oh, here's the pizza that
I was trying to replicate:

Why yes, that IS homemade gnocchi

I know I've found a hit recipe when my boyfriend downs two platefuls in under five minutes. We wanted to make something fun and new for dinner tonight, so I settled on the Gnocchi and Asparagus in Basil Mint Pesto from Isa over on the PPK (I'm beginning to think her vegan culinary skills are not quite of this world). It's a pretty simple dish that combines sauteed onions and asparagus with gnocchi in a lovely, lovely pesto sauce, all topped of with diced tomatoes. The thing that made this meal so exciting to me, besides its deliciousness factor, was that everything was made from scratch. Even the gnocchi. I'm so freakin' proud of myself. Yeah, I'm a dork. I've never attempted to make gnocchi before since it seemed to me on par with making my own pasta, or like, building a computer from scratch--you know, something I possess neither the necessary equipment nor the patience and skill to create. I didn't have a recipe for gnocchi, of course, so I just Google searched for a vegan recipe. I found what appeared to be a really simple recipe on a blog called Spoof (which I definitely have to start reading). Surprisingly, it was probably one of the simplest things I've made: the ingredient list consists of potatoes, flour, and salt. I've had lots of bad gnocchi, especially the kind that can be found in the grocery store. I wasn't expecting much from this, being that it was my first attempt, but the dumplings turned out perfectly chewy and just all around pleasing. Well, I guess I still need to work on the shape/appearance, but I still have lots of dough (or whatever you'd call it) leftover to practice on. Hooray for new favorites!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Banana fana fo fana ...

The reason I didn't get a picture of these bars until the pan was almost empty is that, well, I pretty much just couldn't stop eating them long enough to grab my camera. Earlier this week I wanted to make something sweet and yummy and different, and I also happened to have five over-ripe bananas chilling out in my freezer. I found the recipe on the Post Punk Kitchen, made a few modifications, and ended up with a lovely, cakey, chocolate chip-y version of banana bread. Click the PPK link above for the original recipe; my slightly modified version is posted below.

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
A dash of cinnamon
5 very ripe bananas, pureed
1/2 cup canola oil
6 oz container vanilla soy yogurt
1/2 cup soy milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
12-ounce bag mini chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl mix all wet ingredients. Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan until well-set and nicely browned on top, 45 minutes or so. *My oven tends to burn things on top while leaving the middle mushy, so I covered the pan with foil and ended up baking it for a little over an hour. After 35 minutes in the oven I checked the underside of the pan every ten minutes until I was sure the center was completely cooked.

Vegan Scones


I just came across this photo on my camera (the picture is of some not-so-memorable scones I made a few weeks ago) and it got me thinking about vegan scones. Fantasizing, actually, but not about any scones I've ever made. The most heavenly vegan scones in the world, in my opinion, are made at May Day Cafe in South Minneapolis. I haven't actually been to the bakery yet, for fear of eating them out of house and scone (heh), but the Linden Hills Co-op used to get daily shipments. The scones are moist and chewy, and come in mouthwatering flavors like cherry poppyseed, apricot date, apple cinnamon, and fresh blueberry. I desperately long to recreate these delights in my own kitchen. Nothing I've tried has come close, but I won't give up until I have my own recipe for the world's most perfect vegan scones.