(cheeseless!) eggplant pesto pizza

so will has been doing pretty darn good in the kitchen since i've been gone!  i've asked him to be a guest writer for the month, so hopefully for the next few weeks you'll be getting an archive from me and a recent creation from him :)  i'm so proud ;)

for now:

i was going to stop by the store after work to get cheese for pizza, but a seriously apocalyptic looking storm was coming in so we skipped it.  cheese free pizza: i’ve faced bigger challenges.

we got a few different kinds of eggplant in our farm share this week.  one that looked like what i’m used to, a couple that were long and slender in a lavender shade, and one sort of in the middle.  i chose that one, slicing it into circles about 1/3 inch thick.  (for anything other than pizza i make them a bit heftier but wanted these to be easily bitable.)  i put them on medium low in the large pan with a bit o’ butter.

now that i’m thinking about it i remember hearing that it’s good to have your pan already heated up when eggplant goes in, or else it will just soak up all of the oil.  (but maybe that’s ok!)

i got the idea to make pesto for the sauce, and braved the torrential rain for a few chard leaves (AND to check on the babies, whom i had closed up in their roost in preparation of the storm...mama was terrified, but i think they were more annoyed at being cooped up before twilight! :)  

while the chard was getting a few long minutes in boiling water i chopped up a good handful of basil, a big clove of garlic, and grated two small yellow zucchinis into the blender.  i thought it would thicken the sauce up (regardless of knowing that anything in the blender has to have a certain amount of liquid or it won’t work!  stubborn :)

i also began heating up (though hardly necessary, since it was going into the oven) the small amount of okra tomato bean leftovers.  i didn’t want the beans, but it was a package deal.

i added the chard, along with a bit of the water to the blender, and gave it a go, adding olive oil and liquid ‘til it would blend (also stirring it with a spoon between whirls).

between all this the eggplant received all sorts of tender flips, a splash of bragg’s, and about 1/3-1/2 cup of water to make sure it softened up properly (enough to have a small layer in the pan).

oven was preheated and onto the pizza went pesto, okra tomato bean stuff, and eggplant rounds, placed strategically to minimize needing to cut through them.  i cracked some salt over the top and sprinkled ground flaxseed, which really made it look beautiful!  very rustic ;)

(cheeseless!) eggplant pesto pizza

i confessed to will later that i kind of wish he had walked in on me earlier, as those beans i didn’t want on my pizza got eaten off one by one as soon as they were spread on it.  it was a silly moment :)

approximate price: $7  

salsa-cooked quinoa with tofu and garlic spinach sauce

needed to use: a bowl of too-watery-to-actually-dip-chips-into homemade tomatillo salsa

well....it was slim pickin’s this night (as you can perhaps guess from the text above!).  our farm delivery was coming in the morning so i hadn’t bulked our produce back up.  no matter, i am not swayed.  i had the idea to cook some sort of grain in the salsa, so i went with quinoa (as opposed to a wild rice mix).  quinoa is a 1:2 ratio of grain to water, so i measured 2 cups of the salsa and still had a bit left, so i downsized the container and put it back in the fridge.  (downsizing is just fun, no matter what it’s pertaining to ;)

i wasn’t sure if the quinoa would cook properly in a liquid thicker than water, but i was prepared to add some extra H2O if necessary.  i brought it to a boil and then brought it down to low heat with the lid on to retain as much liquid as possible.

we had two carrots, an onion, some baby spinach, and half a block of tofu.  (we also had celery and jalapeno peppers, but i opted out of those.)  i sliced the carrots and put them in with the cooking quinoa (saved me an extra pan) and started an onion sauteing in a medium frying pan with a little butter.  i crumbled (aka smooshed and tore) the tofu in with the onion and added some bragg’s, both for a little color and flavor.  

i almost burned the quinoa, as it’s very quiet about turning sticky and black at the bottom of the pan while the top looks deliciously light and fluffy.  two good things to do in that moment of discovery: turn of the pan and douse it with a little water.  not enough to drown it, but just enough for the hot dry grains to have a drink.

i sat down and read for a few minutes while everything cooled a bit, then abruptly announced that i had an idea and walked back to the kitchen, ignoring will’s inquiry as to what it was.  (i like to keep him guessing a little....it’s part of the fun :)  

i took the remainder of the salsa back out of the fridge and put it in the blender, along with a few good handfuls of spinach (that appeared to get the unintentionally boot from this meal and still lay quiet and hopeful on the counter) and a minced clove of garlic.

perfect.  bright green things are really fun.  i put down a layer of the spicy quinoa and carrots, followed by the tofu and onions and a generous drizzling of green garlic salsa stuff.

salsa-cooked quinoa with tofu and garlic spinach sauce

despite the fact that will was not sure what he was eating at first he gave it a verbal “thumbs up” and nod of approval.  

approximate price: $5

Garden Pasta Salad

i love pasta salad because it can’t possibly even begin to be limited by a recipe, other than maybe what to use for a dressing (and even then.....)  yup, right up my alley :)

we were still in somewhat of a food coma from spending the fourth of july afternoon with will’s folks (we eat like the gods there, and we eat a lot) so finally by the time dusk was setting in and the chicks were putting themselves up for the night we were ready for something, as long as it was light, “like a salad.”  done.

i have been fighting like mad to reclaim our collard and kale crops from caterpillars (as i push out of my mind both my childhood favorite book “the very hungry caterpillar” and the fact every single one of them will “grow up to be a beautiful butterfly someday,” as long as they feast on every single tender cell of my collards, that is!)  a few weeks of diligence on my part has brought some lovely foliage from these toughies and we had yet to eat a single leaf of their gifts, so i happily plucked a few each of collards and kale and went inside to execute the next crucial step of our sustenance, so joyfully named by yours truly :)

i think any kind of small pasta is ok for this kind of thing.  i opted for the spiral-y kind and put enough water on for half of the pound box (6 cups or so?), as i was not ready to be responsible for a whole pound of cooked pasta again just yet!  the last pound lasted the two of us (in various outfits--both us and the pasta ;) for three dinners, plus my lunches for two days in between; the gift that keeps on giving.  

while the water was boiling and pasta was hitting the jacuzzi, i rounded up all of the veggies i had at my delicious disposal to make an assessment.  baby spinach, red onion, banana pepper, celery, and cilantro (it’s green; it counts), plus the collards and kale from the garden.  sure.  i’ll take ‘em.  normally i would always cook kale and chard (it breaks them down a bit, and makes them more palatable and digestible) but these leaves were rather young so i just chopped them up and started the salad engine (it runs on biodiesel for sure ;)

the rest of the veggies got chopped up and tossed in the bowl.  use your creativity and inspiration (or just best judgement :) on how big or small to cut things.  not to play favorites, but some veggies are just prettier than others, and sometimes i make those ones a little more, uh, visible.  raw onions and garlic, and cilantro if you feel that way about it, ought to be minced pretty finely so certain mouthfuls don’t get dominated by it.

in went the noodles, and then came decisions for dressing.  the only organic mayo i had been able to find at the neighborhood grocery store was roasted garlic, which i figured couldn’t hurt anything (least of all the evening’s pasta salad!) so i dropped in a large spoonful, along with a bit of juice leftover from our last olive indulgence, and a few good drizzles of bragg’s and olive oil, as well as a dusting of cracked salt, and mixed it all together.  mayo will hide in clumps in you aren’t careful, especially in the hide-and-seek folds of durum wheat spirals, so mix well.

garden pasta salad

approximate price: $5

Peach Mint Cobbler

stuff to use:

peaches

mint

we had a few peaches that were ripening (or not?) a bit funny so  i opted for cooking them rather than not.  we also had some fresh mint from our farm share and i knew just what to do :)

cobblers (or crisps?) or whatever else you could call them are super duper easy.  i did actually purchase some granola for this, which is totally not my style, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

i cooked ours in a glass baking pan, and chose a small round one due to our small amount of the star ingredients.  after preheating the oven to 300 degrees (it sounded good at the time....hot enough to brown the top a bit, but allow it to sustain enough time for the peaches to soften up? :) i sliced up the peaches fairly thin, no more than 1/2 inch thick (just ‘cause i’m impatient when it comes to baking, especially when it smells delicious! :)

then i melted some butter down, perhaps a stick or so, on the lowest heat i could manage, as butter burns quite easily, and poured it over a bowl of granola.  i really confess, there’s not a lot of measuring going on here.  the fruit to granola ratio is not terribly important, and if you didn’t melt enough butter the first time you can always add some more.  no stress :)

i put the peaches in the pan first, laying them out evenly.  you can drizzle some honey or maple syrup over them if you wish, or sprinkle some sugar, but i usually find it to be sweet enough (just right, in fact ;) without it.

i finely chopped the mint, mixed it in with the buttery granola, and spread it out over the peaches.

i let it cook for about half an hour (again, the impatience!).  you can check to see if things are getting soft, or dried out, or burnt.  (you can always put tinfoil over things to protect the surface layer.)

peach mint cobbler

we put it in bowls with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream on top.....it’s best warm and fresh, but i so look forward to it for breakfast the next day!  (it rarely lasts more than one of those :)

approximate price: $5

Egg and Flax Quinoa with Stir Fried Veggies, Stuffed Peppers and Kale Chips

i swear it seems the nights when i’m either the least motivated, or i’m not expecting very much, end up with the most amazing meals.  this one just so happened to blow my mind just a little bit.  as i handed will his plate i let him know that i very much expected praise for this one (based on looks and execution alone; i hadn’t tasted anything yet.  have i mentioned that will’s first rule of cooking is to never serve anything to anybody that you haven’t made before? :)

i had some veggie stir fry leftover from lunch (made with some leftover rice from the night before....y’all know how i roll).  i had asked will to look through the kitchen while i showered to see what he thought needed to be used.  he found some quinoa.  good.  

i was thinking about peppers, ‘cause i do that these days.  we had done a taste test with our farm share bag, ‘cause some of them sure looked like they could set some things on fire, and discovered that what we thought might be habaneros were actually amazingly sweet mini bells.  i was glad for that ‘cause there are only so many hot peppers a gal (and a guy) can use.  the other two unidentified frying objects were indeed, um, hot.  we’re planning for a chili dinner party tomorrow night ;)

i preheated the oven to 250, and cut the sweet mini bells and the banana peppers in half, removing the seeds and saving them in containers on the side.  we’re on a planting kick, and after we had fresh watermelon seeds sprout a few days ago we just can’t resist.  growing shit is just really, really cool.

i made a “stuffing” from finely grated cheese, a little olive oil, and minced garlic and basil.  this was a rather lazy attempt, but i really couldn’t think of anything else to add to it.  it’s ok, because honestly the pepper is the best part of stuffed peppers (and really, you aren’t going to go wrong with cheese and garlic and basil ;)  i used my fingers to get a good portion into each pepper half and put them uncovered on an aluminum pie pan in the oven.  (my other baking pans are bigger than what i needed.)

next i put the veggie stir fry in a pan on low to heat up and measured out the quinoa, using up the rest of what we had.  it’s a 1:2 water ratio, so it didn’t matter that i didn’t have an even measurement.  i just doubled it for the water.  i put it on to boil, then covered it and let it simmer.  i think it’s a pretty safe bet that quinoa is done cooking when all the water is soaked up.  just keep stirring it every few minutes and keep an eye on the water, ‘cause it will quickly start to burn when it has dried up.

i had finally pulled our kale plants from the garden today, with reverence and respect.  they just weren’t doing well.  the colors looked sickly and withered (and EATEN!) and the aphid kingdom had come to conquer some time ago.  i brought all the plants inside though because i wanted to salvage anything from them that i could.  that was how i could really show my respect.  i got a handful of small leaves, and half leaves.  just enough to make some chips :)  the times i’ve done this before i think i used too much oil and they didn’t crisp up, so i was careful of that.  i realized that the bowl harboring the remnants of my pepper stuffing would be perfect.  i took the back (spine side) of the leaves and rubbed them in the cheesy, garlicky, basily goodness and lay them oil side up on a cookie sheet with a light sprinkling of cracked salt, putting them in the oven next to the peppers.

when the quinoa water had disappeared i put some in a small frying pan with a little butter and cracked a couple eggs in in (as per will’s nonspecific request :)  i then added some ground flaxseed and cracked salt and called for the boy!

a scoop of stir fry went over a scoop of quinoa, and with it two each of the two kinds of stuffed peppers and an elegant pile of kale chips.  it was beautiful, and the kale chips were crunchy enough that i had to take a video of them being consumed.  my eyes were wide and i was a tad speechless.....a lovely meal indeed ;)

egg and flax quinoa with stir fried veggies, stuffed peppers and kale chips

approximate price: $6

Watermelon Gazpacho

we were excited because the all night diner in austin that serves amazing local and organic food had a special tomato menu for the season, and among the delicious splendors on it was a watermelon gazpacho, which, of course, we had to try.  i didn’t ask anything about the recipe, but made a few assumptions.  one being that i would never in a million years make something that incredibly good, and the other that i definitely had enough ingredients on hand and i didn’t think i could mess it up that bad.

we had a fresh watermelon from the farm share (the chicks had yet to be treat-ed with the whole thing! :), as well as a stock of heirloom and roma tomatoes; that’s the start.  i didn’t make a very big batch, as it was a true experiment: a few small tomatoes and maybe 1 1/2 cups of watermelon.

we did check with a few online recipes just to see if there were secret crucial ingredients i wasn’t aware of: there weren’t :)  olive oil, cilantro, cucumber, salt.  that’s all i remember anyway, and that’s what it got.

the tomatoes, melon and olive oil went in the blender, while the cucumber and cilantro went chopped in a bowl.  after contents of the blender were poured, i added another good dose of crushed watermelon chunks.

the one thing the internet said that i didn’t do was add some sort of vinegar or lemon juice.  i’m not sure why i didn’t, but will actually commented that lemon juice would give it that last nudge into SUPER delicious.  next time :)

watermelon gazpacho

approximate price: $3 

potatocorntofublackbeanchard stir fry with mint carrot soup

i did it!  i made soup in my blender!  i probably should not be quite so excited about this, but sometimes things like “make soup in my blender” show up repeatedly on those to-do lists that accumulate and weigh down my poor soul (though not really poor at all, seeing as how i have SOUP! :)  the very act of making it was a big step.

we have carrots.  my goodness do we have carrots.  we get plenty from our farm share and they tend to last longer than the other goodies so i tend to keep them for the end, and often we get more before i’ve used them.  we ALSO have pulled up a few of our own from outside!  (which i hold onto while the chicks feed happily on the feathery green tops :)

we also had mint leftover from a vietnamese breakfast earlier this week, as well as some growing out on the porch.  i always think i should (and will) know what to do with mint, but i continue to find myself passing over it out of sheer lack of confidence.

carrots and mint go together.....i swear i’ve read that...  i couldn’t actually remember the label of all those delicious carrot soups....is it just ginger....i swear there’s something about mint in there....

regardless!  i was determined.  i sliced up about 8 carrots (not wanting to blow the whole bit if i happened to, um, mess something up :) and boiled them in water for about ten minutes.

while that was happening i chopped up half of an onion and put it in a saucepan with some water instead of butter, to get it to soften up instead of blacken.

when i decided they both were soft enough to blend, in they went to the blender (with about a half cup of the water i cooked the carrots in) and then i got to decide what else went in the blender with them.  i went with a drizzling of Bragg’s (why not?), a large (minced) clove of garlic, a handful of chopped mint, salt, and some yogurt.  the only kind of yogurt that graces our kitchen is most often the greek gods’ honey variety.  i went with it.

it was still warm when will got home, so that’s how we ate it, garnished with a bit of fresh mint from our back porch pot.  i let him guess for a while what the spice was, and i don’t actually blame him for not getting it right away.  the mint had a particularly spicy bite to it.  

we both agreed it might be better chilled, but that it was a very good soup debut!  i mused that, just like his songs, anything i make in the kitchen will never be quite the same twice.

mint carrot soup

approximate price: $2

mostly what i had to work with for this one was leftover blue rosemary potatoes.  and not very many of them i might add!  it was towards the end of our farm share cycle and pickings were a little slim for the next couple days.  i am never discouraged.

since i was making mint carrot soup at the same time, and actually stole some of the onion i was heating up for that.  i foraged in the freezer and found some corn (which excited me as i had just come in from fertilizing our soon-to-be corn plot! :)  there was also some tofu to be had....and some black beans in the pantry.  and guess what we also still have growing incredulously in the yard?  i swear we’re breaking some sort of cosmic chard rules here, but until the wrath falls, we will continue to obliviously enjoy the heck out of it! (and so will our chicks :)

really everything just went onto The Big Pan here.  i did start with the tofu, as some of the other things had already been cooked previously, and it’s best if it gets to soak up some heat and flavor on its own first (i think :)  

i gave that a few minutes, then put the potato leftovers in, followed closely by the corn and beans.  the only thing i saved ‘til the end was the chard.  i picked three good sized leaves, cutting them once lengthwise and then into half inch or so strips.  chard makes everything just a little happier (have i mentioned those chicks yet?? :)

i did put a little bit of water into the pan, maybe a quarter cup, just so the chard would have some liquid to soak up, and i covered the pan on low heat while i went outside to hang out with my chickens....assuring will it was ok for a few minutes :)  

potatocorntofublackbeanchard stir fry?

it was a good meal, teamed up with the soup :)

approximate price $5