Potato Pizza? Yes!

Confession: Long, detailed instructions are not really my thing.

I'm more of a cut to the chase, give me the big picture kind of person. So when reading a new recipe, sometimes my eyes skip things like "leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, approximately 90 minutes". This means that on occasion, that suppah I thought I was going to whip together in an hour really takes more like 2 and a half, and we're eating at 9 o'clock at night. This was one of those suppahs. But it was worth the wait. Sweet, salty, lovely, roasty toasty flavor awaits those who dare take on the challenge!

**Other details escape me, too, like: make sure the camera has a fresh battery so you can photograph your 2 and a half hour recipe. Hence the missing step by step photos and the one grainy cell phone picture of the final result.**

This is another one from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook that I mentioned in a previous post. This recipe is a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes, and if you have some on hand it cuts the prep time considerably. The mashed potatoes add moisture, volume and a light texture to the pizza dough. Delicious!

I would suspect you could make the pizza dough in the morning, refrigerate it, and pull it out about an hour before you want to bake it, letting it rise while you roast the red peppers and make the caramelized onions. Next time, I will do just that!

Potato Pizza with Onions and Goat Cheese

Prep Time: 40 minutes (PLUS RISING TIME!!!!)
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes

For the dough:
1/2 c. warm milk
2 packets of yeast, 1/4 oz. each
1/2 t. sugar
1 t. salt, divided
3/4 c. mashed potato
1 c. all purpose flour, plus more for kneading
2 T. chopped fresh parsley, or other herbs if you're feeling adventurous
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the topping:
2 T. olive oil
1.5 red onions, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers
1/2 c. sliced kalamata olives
4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled - I used some from a local farmers' market.

Mix together the milk, yeast, sugar and 1/2 t. salt in a small bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes or until frothy. Stir together the mashed potato, flour, parsley, 1/2 t. salt, pepper, and yeast mixture in a large bowl until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes (using more flour as you go) until the dough is smooth and springs back when pressed. I had to use about another cup or so of flour.

Return the dough to a large, clean, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size (60 - 90 minutes).

Meanwhile, make the caramelized onions and roast the red peppers. For the onions, heat the 2T. olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet over low heat. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes until golden and glossy. Remove from heat. For the red peppers, wash and dry, then place whole on a cookie sheet and place under your broiler until the skin is blackened. Turn every few minutes until the entire skin is equally black. Remove from the oven, place in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap for 10 minutes. The steam from the bowl will loosen the skins. After 10 minutes, peel and seed the peppers and slice them into thin strips.

When the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 415 degrees. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and gently knead for another 2 minutes. You can then divide the dough into 2 smaller rounds, or make one large pizza as I did. Generously oil your pizza tray. Place the dough on the tray and press out to the desired size and thickness.

Top the dough with the onion, red pepper, olives and goat cheese. Sprinkle with additional black pepper and herbs if desired. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the dough is lightly and evenly browned on the bottom and the toppings are heated through. Serve immediately.

If you absolutely must have tomato sauce on your pizza, you could definitely add some to this pizza for a little extra zip. And although pizza isn't usually great as a leftover, this one held up beautifully in the fridge for a couple of days.

Polenta Pancakes with Avocado and Black Bean Salad

Confession: In a world of cilantro-averse people, I am decidedly pro-cilantro.

I'm also a big fan of pancakes. Even for suppah. So when I found a recipe for savory polenta pancakes paired with an avocado and black bean salad (with lots of cilantro!), how could I resist?

When I was initially pondering a meat-free summer, I thought it would be inspiring to find a vegetarian cookbook to use for weekly meal planning. I've been pleased with The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook published by Bay Books, which I found on the bargain rack at Borders for $5.99, proof that good cookbooks don't have to be expensive! These 2 recipes come from that book, as will several others I'll be sharing with you in the weeks to come.

In addition to being tasty, this recipe is easy and quick. Mix together the polenta pancake batter, and while it rests for 20 minutes, dice up the veggies and throw together the avocado salad. Drop the pancakes onto your griddle, and it's supper time!

Savory Polenta Pancakes with Avocado and Black Bean Salad

For the pancakes:

• 1/3 cup ground polenta (or cornmeal) - I used Bob's Red Mill Organic Polenta
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/4 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 c. buttermilk - I used Kate's Farm Fresh Buttermilk from Old Orchard Beach, ME
• 2 eggs
• 1 oz. (2T.) melted butter

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

In a second bowl, beat together the butter, buttermilk and eggs. Add to dry ingredients and whisk until the mixture is free of lumps. Cover and set aside to rest for 20 minutes.

For the Avocado Salad:*

• 1 can organic black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 can organic sweet corn, drained
• 2 avocados, peeled and diced
• chopped cilantro, to taste - I used a big healthy handful.

Dressing for the salad:

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• juice of 2 limes
• a few minced jalapenos
• salt, to taste

Toss all veggies in a bowl. Whisk dressing together and then toss with the salad. Let the salad hang out in the fridge while you make the pancakes.

In a skillet, heat a small amount of olive oil. Pour just enough pancake batter to cover the bottom of your skillet. Go easy here - thin pancakes will be easier to flip and fold. Cook until the bottom is slightly browned, then flip and cook the other side.

Place the pancakes on a plate. Fill one side with the avocado salad, then fold the other side over. Yum!

*The Avocado Salad recipe makes much more than you will use for the pancakes. Either halve the recipe (but really, how do you use just half a can of beans?) or you can refrigerate it. The lime juice prevents the avocados from getting too mushy and brown and the salad will keep well for a couple of days. You can make another batch of pancakes to use it up or simply serve it over some salad greens for a quick lunch.

I did feel a bit guilty about using avocados so early in the season when I know they were shipped from California. I can only imagine how good this will be when all the ingredients can be found locally!

Chicken Makhani, sans Chicken

Confession: I don't like to fail.

When I decided this was the week to begin my vegetarian adventure, I thought it best to ease into the new routine with something I knew I liked already. I figure this summer will be full of culinary missteps and surprises, and I didn't want to start things off on the wrong foot.

I modified an Indian recipe called Chicken Makhani, or Butter Chicken, that I stole from this site not too long ago. The chicken version has quickly become a favorite of mine for its complex, exotic flavor. I thought if I replaced the chicken with chick peas, I might be able to turn the whole thing into a vegetarian curry.

The result? Success! A delicious and hearty dish that tastes great served over white or brown basmati rice. And as an added bonus, it's budget-friendly!

Here's my modified recipe along with some pictures.

Chickpea Makhani

1.5 lbs dried chickpeas, soaked overnight*

10 cloves Garlic, Minced or pressed - oh yes, 10 cloves!**
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoons Black Pepper
½ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper, or less if you don't like it spicy
½ teaspoons Ground Coriander
½ teaspoons Cumin
½ teaspoons Cardamom
1 whole Lime, Juiced
1.5 whole Onion, Diced
¼ cups Butter
16 oz. Tomato Sauce (2 small cans)
3 or 4 large tomatoes, diced

1 to 2 c. water
1 c. Half and Half
1 bunch Chopped Cilantro, to taste
2 cups Basmati Rice (or However Much You Want)

Saute the onion and garlic in the butter until soft.

Add the spices and lime juice and cook about 5 minutes until spices are toasted and fragrant.

Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chickpeas and water. Eyeball the water - you want enough to cover most of the chickpeas while cooking.

Cook for 45 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on. If at this point you feel like there is too much liquid, remove the lid and let the dish simmer a few more minutes to reduce it a bit. Add the half-and-half also and cilantro just before serving over Basmati rice.

* you can substitute canned chickpeas if you like. I prefer soaking my own because I can cook them until they are still firm, not mushy, and I can control the amount of salt I add. If you use canned chickpeas, you only need to simmer the dish about 15 minutes.

**The garlic mellows considerably when cooked, so don't be afraid of it!

Here Goes Nothing...

Confession: I'll admit I am *slightly* obsessed with knowing where my food comes from, how it was raised, grown or produced, and what ingredients it contains.

Until recently, I had never given much thought to the stuff that landed on my plate three times a day. I have always liked to cook and bake, but my focus at the grocery store was on what ingredients were the cheapest. I figured organic was for suckers and the paranoid, and that if it was on the grocery store shelves, it must be good to eat.

All that changed about 2 years ago when I discovered the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. And then there was The Omnivore's Dilemma. And then In Defense of Food. And Food, Inc. And Twinkie, Deconstructed. And many more fantastic, eye-opening, thought provoking books on that thing we call supper. Well, you might call it dinner. But in Maine, it's supper. Or more accurately, suppah. But I digress.

So I've been spending the last 18 months or so rediscovering food from the ground up. I joined a CSA and started buying the bulk of my produce and meat, eggs and cheese from farmers markets. I purchased a small chest freezer last year and stocked it full of produce so that we wouldn't have to buy food produced in Argentina and other far off lands in the winter. I've searched out local, pesticide free and organic sources whenever possible. And I've been brave enough to try veggies that I never knew existed, like kohlrabi.

One thing I have not done ... yet ... is to give up meat completely. I know how bad commercial meat production is for the land, for the animals, and ultimately for us, the consumers, but I figure that sustainably raised meat is fine. Even so, I've been toying with the idea of giving up meat just for a summer, just to see how it goes. Well, summer is right around the corner. So the time is now! And the place is here. This is my blog, which I will use to share with you my successes and failures during my *mostly* vegetarian summer.

I'm not going vegan, so butter, eggs, cheese and milk will still be on the menu. I'll try to get them locally and organic whenever I can. This being Maine, I will probably not give up seafood for the entire summer. And yes, I may break down and have the occasional red hot dog. I reserve that right - don't judge me. This is not an ideological stand as much as it is a way to satisfy my own curiosity.

Along the way I hope to share some great recipes and nutritional information as I find it. I'll take some photos of my kitchen creations. I'll let you know the impact on my health, happiness, and wallet. In my posts, I will make grammatical errors and I will use commas with reckless abandon.

Given all the above, I still hope you'll join me in my adventure and share your ideas with me too along the way.

Happy Summer!
~C