Spinach, Onion, and Mushroom Whole Wheat Pizza

 So I was trying to decide what to do with my leftover caramelized onions, and I realized that with all the bread books I've checked out from the library, I cold combine the onions with baking and make a pizza. Of course I had this brainstorm at work on Friday, when I wouldn't have time to throw together a crust for dinner that night. But on Saturday I got up first thing and threw one together--I selected the recipe from the Cooks Illustrated Baking Illustrated book, because it had an option for whole wheat and had instructions for kneading by hand.

Dough Ingredients:

1/2 c warm water (110 degrees)
1 envelope instant yeast
1 1/4 c room temperature water
2 tbs olive oil
11 oz bread flour
11 oz whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

The warm water and yeast is combined in a large measuring cup and left to sit for 5 minutes until it had foamed and activated. Then the rest of the water and oil are added in to combine. Add half of the flour and salt to a large bowl and all of the liquid ingredients and using a large spoon combine. Then add the rest and mix until all the flour is absorbed, then dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Then knead the dough until smooth, about 7 minutes.


 The dough goes into an oiled bowl and rises for about 2 hours, or until doubled. At this point it can be divided into three portions and refrigerated or frozen or baked into a pizza! I froze two portions, and put one into the fridge for pizza!

Before I got to making my pizza, I put my pizza stone in the oven and cranked the temperature to 500 degrees. It needs time to preheat so the stone will have the heat to get a crispy crust. The dough also needs to come out of the fridge and come to room temperature.

Toppings:

1 1/2 c chopped frozen spinach thawed and drained
8 oz  brown mushrooms chopped
1 c caramelized onions
3 cloves garlic finely diced
red pepper
thyme and rosemary
salt and pepper
1/4 c lowfat ricotta
1/3 c 2% Italian cheese blend

The minced garlic, red pepper, and mushrooms go in a frying pan and are cooked until fragrant and the mushrooms start to brown. Then the onions and spinach are added, with the rosemary, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. This cooks for a bit to get the flavors into the onions and mushrooms.

While that is cooking, the dough which has to be brought to room temperature before being used, can be spread. I put some flour on the counter and used my hands to spread it--the Baking Illustrated has a really nice illustration of how to do this.

It goes on a cornmeal dusted surface--I don't have a pizza peal, so I used the back of a sheet pan.It didn't work well for transferring to the oven. Once the dough is spread the spinach mixture is added to the top of the dough, leaving an edge around. I dotted the top with ricotta and transferred the pie to the stone, which is easier said than done, and let it cook for 12 minutes. My nicely shaped pie got all distorted, but it still tasted good! Once it was out of the oven, I sprinkled on the mixed Italian Cheeses.

The Verdict: This is a delicious pizza, with a nice crispy crust, and a good balance of toppings. When I make the next one I think I'll add some olives to give it a bit of a salty kick. It is nice to have the two balls of dough in the freezer, so I can pull them out and have pizza that evening.

Naughty Sarah's Salmon in Phyllo

Top shelf is books I've cooked from so far.

So yesterday was epic--EPIC, as in I chased after the police to get them to come back to handle a second issue requiring police intervention (also required an ambulance and for some reason a fire truck). Today on my day off, I treated myself to a bit of  shopping spree, going a little crazy at the thrift store and then at the grocery store. I once again failed to buy the clothes I need--but I have some new (and used) cookware, lots of fabulous ingredients, and the one guilty indulgence a whole stack of new cookbooks. Yes, I still haven't made it half way through the ones I have, no I have not even made all the recipes I want from the ones I have, but cheap cookbooks! Retro cookbooks! Healthy cooking cookbooks! Local cookbooks! I went a little crazy--but to make up for it, I came right home and looked through them and found a recipe that I actually had everything for in my house, and made it for dinner. I was going to have leftovers, but this was actually really easy and so delicious and fancy looking. Perfect for a party or a post shopping spree dinner!

Ingredients:

3 Salmon Filets (4oz each)
1/2 lbs asparagus
4 oz brown button mushrooms
2 oz Greek yogurt cream cheese
1 tbs egg substitute
1/2 tsp capers chopped
1 tbs chopped onion
quarter of preserved lemon
1/2 tsp Greek seasoning
garlic powder
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes
6 sheets of phyllo dough 
cooking spray

I'm still kind of surprised I had all of these ingredients to make this with no planning ahead--but I've had phyllo dough defrosted in my fridge waiting to be used, and I'd bought some salmon on sale and frozen it. It is entering asparagus season and I couldn't walk past it at 1.28 a pound!

Anyway, assuming your salmon and phyllo is defrosted this comes together really fast. The recipe calls for parboiling the asparagus, but I prefer mine roasted. I put mine with the sliced mushrooms under the broiler, tossed with some very finely diced preserved lemon, some extra seasonings, and let that cook for about 3 minutes--though I like it pretty crispy, and mine was super tender young asparagus.

While that cooked, I mixed the cream cheese with the egg substitute, the chopped capers, onions, seasonings, and preserved lemons. Both the capers and lemon are pretty salty--even after I rinsed the lemon off, so I did not add any extra salt. This becomes a nice paste that brings together the rest of the dish.




Next is assembly time! On a baking sheet, lay out a layer of phyllo dough and spray with the cooking spray and then lay another. Spoon a third of the cream cheese mixture over the bottom, then lay a bunch of the asparagus on top of the cheese, and some mushrooms. On top of that goes the salmon filet, flesh side down. I did generously salt and pepper it and spread a little left over cheese mix on it. Fold the phyllo dough up over the salmon and carefully roll it up towards the top, making a little bundle. I tucked in the ends, though the original recipe says to trim off the ends.

These delightful packages are sprayed with the cooking spray and go in a preheated 400degree oven for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown. It really depends on how thick your fillets are how long you want to cook it.

The Verdict: I have had a lot of salmon a lot of ways, and this has moved to the top of the list as one of my favorites. I love that there is no need for an extra carb, this one package was enough for my whole meal. The creamy cheese with the bite of lemon and capers, the crispy phyllo, the crunchy asparagus, it is a spring time meal fancy enough for company, but easy enough for an everyday dinner! My one caveat is that it is a little tricky to eat--since it is all together you need to cut it up to get a bit of everything in each bite. I might in future chop the asparagus into bite sized pieces before it goes on the cheese. But go forth and try this wonderful portion controlled salmon dish--you could add your own seasonings to the cream cheese to make this your very own! EDIT: I reheated the leftovers in a hot pan and it re-crisped the phyllo and actually made it even easier to eat.

A Pot Pie by Any Other Name...

So I started off with a plan--lots of veggies, chicken, a savory sauce, a nice top layer of crust. I even had two different recipes marked to follow, but as is typical, I wandered off and made something pretty unrecognizable to the makers of the recipe. The one really appealing factor in this recipe is that while I ate it all week long (it made enough for 11 lunches/dinners, and I added veggies to my eggs a couple of breakfasts as well), there was quite a bit of variation in what was on my plate. A versatile base, with lots of ways to build off of it. Take this as a model and build your own!

Ingredients:

 Veggies:

1 small acorn squash
8 oz baby bella mushrooms
1 red pepper
1 red onion
2 bunches asparagus
4 small carrots
4 stalks celery
1 large head cauliflower
2 small bunches broccoli
4 small red skinned potatoes 
1 clove roasted garlic

Meat:

2 chicken thighs
2 chicken breasts

Sauce:

chicken broth
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
3 tbs flour
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tbs spicy brown mustard
dash cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste

The first step is epic amounts of chopping--each vegetable needs to be diced pretty small, so it will be small in the pie. I had pre-roasted the squash and cooled and peeled it. Once that was prepped, I heated the butter in the pan and added the butter and oil to make a roux. That cooked until nice and golden, and I whisked in the broth and the seasonings and let thicken. Then I added the longer cooking veggies--the carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower. The chicken was chopped and added along with some more broth (I shouldn't have added as much as I did, next time I'd go easier on it.) This cooked down until the chicken lost that pinkness, and I added the broccoli, asparagus, and squash. This continued until the chicken was fully cooked, and the veggies had a little bite.

I divided the mixture into individual oven proof dishes (a new purchase that I LOVE--got them BOGO in a 6 oz and 12 oz sizes) After I'd split them up, I changed my mind and ended up just cooking 4 pies the first day and baking off 3-4 at a time through the week. The rest of the filling went into the fridge.

I used 4 completely different toppings for my top only pies--phyllo dough sheets, cauliflower mash, yogurt biscuits, and cornbread stuffing. The most successful, in my opinion, for eating over the week were the ones topped with the mash and the stuffing. Each baked for 15-20 minutes until the tops were done.

The Verdict: This is a comfort food classic for a reason--it is warm and satisfying. The variety of veggies provide a nice contrast of textures and flavors, and it allowed me to give into my desire to experiment whole heartedly. I love that I can eat a huge bowl of veggies, and have room for a biscuit or stuffing!

Yogurt Harissa Marinated Chicken and Veg

 So once I made that lovely pot of harissa I wanted to find ways to use it, so I found a way to add it to one of my very favorite dishes roasted veg and chicken. I ate masses of roasted veg and chicken the entire time I was losing weight, though usually I did more of a southwest flavor. The thing I love about this is that you can have a lovely large portion of veggies with a little protein and the whole thing can be eaten in a whole bunch of ways over the course of the week.

Ingredients:

1 giant eggplant
3 medium/small zucchini
1 medium yellow onion
2 bunches of asparagus
1 1/2 cups butternut squash
8 oz baby bella mushrooms
2 large chicken breasts
2 small chicken thighs, skin and bone removed.

Marinade 

2 cups greek yogurt
3 tablespoons harrisa
lemon zest and lemon juice
1 cup cilantro chopped
1 tsp ras al haunot
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander ground
salt and pepper




This is a pretty basic recipe. Mix the harissa with the yogurt, spices, and lemon. Chop the chicken and veggies and toss them all in the yogurt marinade. I did do the chicken earlier than the veggies and did it separately because I didn't want the veggies to break down or spend as much time with the chicken juices. I stuck them all in the fridge for a couple of hours until I was ready to eat.





I put all the veggies on sheet pans lined with foil and stuck them in a 395 degree oven. I cooked them for 10 minutes and then added the chicken and asparagus I had reserved (since it doesn't need as long to cook), and cooked for another 20 minutes, or until the chicken looked done.

The Verdict: This simple dish has so much flavor from the harrisa, the lemon, and all the spices--the chicken is incredibly tender and moist, and the veggies are good cold or hot. I served it with a wedge of my crusty 4 grain bread, and have been eating it all week. I made enough for lunches and dinners, and have yet to get sick of the incredible flavors and textures. The eggplant is really flavorful, and the squashes are tender, and it is just one of those easy dishes that tastes so much better than the amount of effort it takes to prepare--plus it is super healthy!

Many Mini Quiches

Making Quiche, Julia's way!

So even though the cheesecake cupcakes turned out delicious, my older sister vetoed all of my cooking ideas for our bridal shower except one. Mini quiches! I already had fillo shells that I'd bought intending to make something for work, so I wanted to use them up to free space in my freezer. Plus they are best for occasions where they are served right away, instead of needing to be made in advance.

I am using a method explained in a nifty Julia Child cookbook I bought--Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom. The book has some specific recipes for quiche, but it also has the ratios for making your own recipes. Really, that is my style--a general guideline that lets me innovate!

Ingredients: 

fillo shells
Eggs
Half and Half, Milk, light cream
salt and pepper, nutmeg
spinach
mushrooms
garlic
green onion
red bell pepper
sharp cheddar cheese

So Julia explains that the ratio for the custard of liquid to egg--whether milk, cream, or half and half--is determined by cracking the eggs in a measuring cup and adding liquid to get to the right amount. So for one egg you add up to the half cup measure for two eggs you fill up to the one cup measure. My liquid measuring cup only goes up to one cup, so I did 2 eggs twice. I'm not sure how much mixture I'll need for the amount of shells I have, but I figured better more mix than less.

The book has a list of different filling options, but helpfully lists other possibilities as well as encouraging experimentation. For a 9 inch pie it says one cup of filling--that is a 3 egg mixture. So that is the amount of filling I aimed for.

I first put a head of garlic in the oven to roast, along with a red pepper. Then I sauteed the white part of some green onions and a few mushrooms--both diced really fine. While that was cooking, I defrosted some frozen chopped spinach, and drained it really well before adding it to the mushrooms and onions once they'd both softened, sauteing it all together with a good dose of salt and pepper. Since this is going into pretty small shells I chopped the mix really fine after it had cooled a bit. Once the garlic and pepper had roasted, I chopped four cloves of the garlic and half of the pepper and added that to the spinach and mushrooms mixture. After that had cooled completely, I added it to the egg custard and whisked it well.

Since I was making these for a party, I made the filling the night before and cooked them at my sister's house right before the party started. I did make two before to test the seasoning and decide what kind of cheese to use. In one I added some feta and cheddar and the other just the sharp cheddar, but the feta didn't really stand out to me, so I didn't add it in the final batch. 

These were actually quite quick to throw together at the party--I sprayed two cookie sheets with cooking spray, laid out the shells, put a pinch of cheese in each, and then using a liquid measuring cup poured a little of the mixture in each shell. They go in a preheated 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes and can be served warm or room temperature. I finished them off with a shake of salt over the top to give a nice finishing touch.

Add caption

The Verdict: The tray was empty at the end of the party and there were none left half eaten, so I suspect that people liked them. My older sister said that she liked the filling, and my younger sister said I was creative (I'm not sure if that is a complement!) I thought the combination of flavors was just right--the sweet garlic and pepper, the sharp cheese, the mushrooms, onions, and fresh spinach, and the crunchy shells added a nice texture. I've never made quiche before, and this was a pretty successful first attempt! I like the idea of trying different fillings and flavors, and it was a nice party dish!

Stir Fried Pork and Broccoli

When I first got all my cookbooks, I dog eared the pages of all the recipes I thought I'd like to try (I am not ashamed of my dog ear habit, and most of these books were pre-dog eared by library patrons!). I marked this recipe in the Everyday Food Light cookbook, but didn't make it because I wasn't sure what pork to use. Plus, I've made a lot of recipes from this book, and thought I should diversify.

Today, however, I realized I had bought more broccoli before I'd even used what I already had--so I decided it was time to give this dish a try. The dish calls for pork tenderloin quartered lengthwise and sliced, but that is an expensive cut of meat where I live and is usually sold in bigger amounts than the 1 pound called for. So I decided to use some pork loin chops. They were already sliced thin, so I figured it would work.

 Ingredients: 

Zest and juice of one orange, about 1/4 cup
1/4 c light soy sauce
1/4 c rice wine vinegar (unseasoned)
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp ginger
red pepper and ground pepper to taste
Around a pound of pork loin chops, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves
6 scallions
1 1/2 to 2 lbs broccoli
1/2 pound mushrooms
Water

Since I cook on my days off, I tweaked the original recipe and turned the sauce into a marinade for the pork, letting it soak for several hours. I'm not sure that it made a big difference in this case, but I do like marinating things. So to make the sauce/marinade, I mix the zest and juice of one orange, the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, oyster sauce, ginger, red pepper, and a good helping of ground pepper. I also grated the garlic and added it as well. I took the thin sliced chops and cut them into smaller strips, and placed them and the sauce in a plastic zip bag. It was more marinade than I'd usually use, but I'll cook it off as sauce later on for a whole lot of broccoli.


I stuck the bag in the fridge for a couple hours and made some goodies in the mean time. Around 5:30, I got out the broccoli, mushrooms, and scallions and chopped them. The broccoli was all chopped including the stems--which were peeled and then thinly sliced. The stem is actually one of my favorite parts in a stir fry, it really absorbs the sauce and is tender and flavorful. I usually don't spring for the extra money for the broccoli crowns because the stems are so good.

The scallions are divided, with the white parts going in the stir fry and the green parts reserved to top the finished dish. I added the mushrooms, even though the recipe didn't call for it, because I love mushrooms, and had a container of them that needed to be used up.

 Once all the veggies were chopped, I sprayed the pan with cooking spray and heated it up on medium and quickly browned the pork on both sides. The pork was really thin, so it cooked all the way through almost immediately. I'm not sure why they cut it so thin--next time I'll buy thicker chops. I wonder if these might be used like the turkey cutlets for wrapped/rolled dishes. The directions called for browning on both sides, and resting while the veggies cook, and then a final cook together.

So after all the pork had been browned/cooked, I put the onion and mushrooms in the pot and let them cook off a little until the onions were soft.  Then all the broccoli is added. I poured 1/4 a cup of the marinade/sauce and a couple tablespoons of water to the pan, and covered and cooked until the broccoli was crisp/tender, stirring occasionally. A lot of the liquid cooked off during this time, steaming the broccoli.

The pre-browned pork is added to the pan, once the broccoli is cooked. I also added the cornstarch to the remaining sauce/marinade, squishing it around the bag to get it mixed in, and then pouring it and all meat juices on the pan. I let that cook until the sauce started to thicken and all the pork had cooked through. The final step is to top with the freshly chopped green scallion tops.

The Verdict: Flavorful and fresh, this is a quick and easy dish (even though I made it more complicated than it needed to be). I like a fair amount of strong flavors in my dishes, so I love the complex layers of flavor--the red pepper, ginger, orange, fish sauce, sesame oil, garlic--and the fresh scallions really give it a fresh edge. It is perfect for me because the leftovers make wonderful lunches for the next day. This made enough for 3 generous portions, but if served with rice or noodles it would easily serve 4 or 5. But I don't feel like rice is necessary to enjoy this.

A Few of my Favorite Things: Or Leftovers!

 So this is one of the yummy dishes I sometimes throw together and then regret that I don't remember what I did so I could make it again later. It is leftovers--but completely different than the original dishes. I had leftover chicken breast, left over jalapeno, part of a bag of frozen spinach, an onion, and a bunch of mushrooms--along with a couple of portobello mushrooms.

There is a local food co-op nearby that buys food in bulk and sells it out of a warehouse at low prices. The veggies are of mixed quality, sometimes good, sometimes bad--but one thing they do very well is local foods. They have a variety of meats, cheeses, dairy, eggs, and these mushrooms--all from local growers. Unlike most of the other locally grown products, these mushrooms are actually a LOT less expensive than what you'd find in the store. These mushrooms were 62 cents each--as compared to 2$ for one at the grocery store. Plus local and fresher!

So I diced the onion and set it all to fry in a skillet sprayed with cooking spray--once it had started to soften I tossed in the diced mushrooms, and leftover jalapeno. I added chili powder, cumin, garlic, and salt and pepper--along with some red pepper. I chopped some leftover shredded chicken and added it to the pan. That sauteed while I defrosted and drained the frozen spinach, which was stirred in. The portobellos were grilled on the George Foreman grill one at a time and tossed in the oven to keep warm after. While the mushrooms cooked, I stirred in some cream cheese to the saute pan.

Once the mushrooms were grilled, they were topped by the sauteed vegetables, with chopped avocado sprinkled on top.

The Verdict: A quick and healthy meal--heavy on the veggies, with some lean protein, healthy fats, and a good dose of heat! Stuffed portobellos are among my favorite foods--and I'm so glad I found a source for them on the cheap so I can eat my fill without feeling guilty! I made enough for dinner tonight and lunch at work tomorrow, which makes this a success in my books. Plus there was some extra topping that I'll put in my breakfast eggs. This is where the good eating is at!

One Pot Wonder--Chicken Marbella

There are so many recipes in the Glorious One-Pot Meals cookbook that I want to try, that it was hard to narrow it down to the one to try first. I settled on Chicken Marbella, because I had both Brussels sprouts and portobello mushrooms to use. The recipe calls for prunes (my sister says to call them dried plums to make it sound better) which I'm unsure of how I'll like, but the author actually says her husband shares my skepticism for fruit in savory dishes and that he liked this. So in light of trying new things, I'm going with this!

Chicken Marbella (Somewhat adapted from the book to fit my larger pan )
Cooking spray
Chicken breast (another monster one from Costco)
1/4 c chopped, pitted prunes 
1/4 c chopped pitted Spanish green olives
3 TBS capers, with a bit of juice
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1 TBS olive oil
1 C chicken broth (was wine, but I don't ever have wine around)
1 TBS dried oregano
2 TBS finely chopped fresh parsley
6 fingerling potatoes (small)
sea salt
2 portobello mushrooms chopped
7 baby portobello mushrooms chopped
16-20 brussels sprouts (about 12 oz) trimmed and haved lengthwise
3 bay leaves

 I pulled out all the ingredients, and realized that it didn't call for any garlic--which seemed like a travesty, so I pulled out the garlic to add. After setting the oven to 400, I begun chopping with the dried prunes, which I have never ever in my life tried before this. I snuck a teeny piece and it was not bad.

I'm very glad that I finally broke down and bought some new knives a couple of months ago--it has made all of this chopping so much easier to have sharp knives! The prunes, olives, capers, and caper juice were mixed together, and set aside while I prepared the chicken. Since my two chicken breasts were so large (quite the image!), I decided to break them down into smaller pieces to fill up more of the pan.

At that point, I got a call from the Dominican Republic--my mom is finally feeling better after having some kind of tropical fever for several weeks, and we caught up about Thanksgiving goings-on. I'm getting excited to visit them in December for Christmas! Because of the skype call, I didn't get pictures of the rest of the prep, but the prune mix went on top of the chicken. The broth, vinegar, parsley, oregano, and extra garlic and red pepper was mixed and half poured on the chicken. I sliced the potatoes and layered them on top of the chicken slices, and then cut up and layered the mushrooms, and then sliced and covered everything with Brussels sprouts. Bay leaves and the rest of the broth completed the dish, and into the oven it went to cook for 45 minutes.

 The book says it is done when you can smell it outside of the oven, and sure enough when the buzzer went off I could smell it through out the apartment. Here is the finished dish--after I'd checked the chicken was cooked through.

The finished meal--Chicken Marbella

The Verdict: Good, but not great. Some of the chicken was overcooked, and a little dry, even though it basically poached in the liquid. The best bites were those that had the mushrooms, olives, capers, and prunes. Once again I would have liked more veggies to the amount of protein, and I wish I'd gone ahead and added the whole bag of Brussels sprouts! If I made it again, I think I'd marinate the chicken with the prune, olive, caper mix with some of the liquid before cooking, and increase the amount of veggies, and not slice the chicken into strips.