Vegetable Puffs

Another Meatless Monday has come and gone! 

I wanted something different this week that was not going to be a production, and considering how much we have been going out to eat, I definitely wanted to kick up the healthy factor!  What I really loved about making this dinner was all of the beautiful and rich colored foods that go into it - it was a real pick me up for a gloomy day!  This recipe makes 6 thick slices if you are serving them along side something else, but if you are eating them on their own, I would say it makes 3 generous servings.

I was also beyond excited at the grocery store when I came across two new products that helped this dish along - Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cooking Cream and Pillsbury Seamless Crescent Roll Dough!   So with that being said, let's get to the recipe and pictures!

Vegetable Puffs
Yields 6 hearty slices

Ingredients 
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 broccoli crown, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
6 ounces of spinach leaves
10 ounce container of Philly Cooking Cream in the Italian Herb and Cheese Flavor
2 rolls of Pillsbury Seamless Crescent Dough

To Prepare the Puffs
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Pour the bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, onions, and black beans into a large skilled over medium heat. 
3. After approximately 10 minutes of cooking, add the spinach.  It will look like A LOT of food, but the spinach will cook down quite a bit! 

4. Cook for approximately 10 more minutes, being sure to stir it often. 
5. Add the cooking cream, and coat the veggies completely.

6. Shut the vegetables off. 
7. Spread out one of the crescent dough sheets on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet.

8. Spoon the vegetable mixture onto the dough, being sure to leave a one inch border. 

9. After all of the vegetables or spooned on, fold the dough up onto the veggies to create an edge or barrier.

10. Place the other dough sheet on top of the vegetables, and tuck and pinch it under the puff. 

11. Bake the puff at 350 degrees until it is a deep golden brown color!

 

Pizza Pizza!

Last night was homemade pizza night!  My Grandma Nancy has been making pizza at her house for at least 15 years.  Whenever we would make the ride out to Pennsylvania we would beg for her to make "Grandma Pizza"...it would only be a 5 hour drive to pick up our pizza order hehe!  She loads a fluffy crust with, in this order: sauce, parmesan, pepperoni, sausage, olives, and two kinds of shredded cheese.   It bakes and bakes and bakes, and when it finally comes out of the oven is bubbling, golden brown, and smells something beyond delicious!

When I asked my brother what he wanted for dinner this week, since he goes back to dining hall food this weekend, he said, "Grandma Pizza!"  I wanted to go Grandma's route, but couldn't afford the list of ingredients with the food budget, so I decided to go with a Barbecue Chicken Pizza and a Rustic Vegetable Pizza.

I made a crust from scratch with a recipe from my Kitchen Aid book, which I am now referring to as the Holy Grail.  I doubled this recipe to make 2 pizzas!

Crusty Pizza Dough 
Yields dough for 1 large pizza
Source: Recipes For Your Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer

Ingredients 
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl.  Add salt, olive oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour.  Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer.  Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute.

Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes.  Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Cover.  Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.  Punch dough down.

Brush 14-inch pizza pan with oil.  Sprinkle with cornmeal.  Press dough across bottom of pan, forming a collar around edge to hold toppings.  Add toppings as desired.  Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

I stuck fairly close to the recipe since I am still pretty new to the world of raised doughs, but I did make a few small changes because of what was available to me in my kitchen pantry.  I was out of olive oil, so I replaced it with white truffle oil, which just added to the flavor of the crust.  It did not changed the dough physically.  The only other change I made was the pan I used.  A pizza pan is not something I have added to my cooking arsenal yet, so I split the dough in two balls (remember...I made a double batch!) and spread it across to large baking sheets!  

And for the toppings...

On the chicken pizza, I poured a 18 ounce jar of BBQ sauce, 1 pound of chopped pan-seared chicken, and 2 cups of shredded white cheddar.

On the veggie pizza, I placed a handful of spinach leaves, sundried tomatoes, sliced black olives, shitake mushrooms, and a heavy sprinkling of parmesan cheese. 

The results are in... 

The Barbecue Chicken Pizza was a HUGE hit!  The Veggie Pizza, on the other hand, was good but missing something...I think it is called moisture!  Oops!  I really should have put some red sauce down on it, or opted for a shredded cheese that would have added some moisture while it cooked.  You cook, you learn...I'll have better luck next time hehe!

Balsamic Glazed Pasta Primavera

This dish brings back fond memories of the two months I managed to survive living in Brooklyn without a job or income!  During the summer of 2007, my friend Alex and I decided we were moving to New York City.  Luckily for him, he was able to transfer his job, but I was coming out of a contract at the college I was working at and was struggling with the NYC job market.  We decided to stick to our guns with the hope that I would find work when we got there.  No such luck!

Alex and I circa December 2006 at Elmira College's Relay For Life!

In need of cheap meals so we could spend our money on more important things (like bar hoping and Broadway shows hehe), I started to get a little creative in the kitchen.  There is nothing like a trip to a bodega or city grocery store to heighten one's creative and money saving senses!  Vegetables were beyond cheap, and a box of pasta cost pennies!  The apartment we were subletting came with a stocked kitchen that the owners told us was fair game while they were away.  Fortunately for Alex and me, they were both artistic, and that seemed to translate in their kitchen.  There were spices I had never even heard of before then, fresh garlic, wines, vinegars, and lots of basics like salt, flour, and pepper. 

So, unto us, Balsamic Glazed Pasta Primavera was born! I know this is a somewhat loose interpretation of primavera, especially since it is sans any cream or cheese.  It is, though, much lower in calories, and much cheaper to make!  Dairy products rack up some serious cash at the register!

Balsamic Glazed Pasta Primavera
Yields 6 servings


To Prepare the Primavera
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet to cook your tomatoes.  You will see in the picture below why a little parchment will go a long way.  I used approximately 15 cherry tomatoes.  Cut them in half and spread them out on the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle them with some sea salt and put them in the oven to cook!

I was out of parchment - and am now out a baking sheet. Sigh.

3. Put on a pot of salt water to boil, which will later be used to cook the pasta.   I usually use a tablespoonish amount of salt. 
4. In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat.
5. While your oil is heating, start breaking spinach leaves off of their stems right at the base of the leaf.  You will need approximately 1 pound of spinach.  This will look like a lot when you get it at the store, but it will cook down quite a bit!
6. Add your spinach to the saute pan and stir it occasionally while it continues to cook. 
7. Cut approximately 1 pound of asparagus into 1 to 1 1/2 inch long pieces.  Be sure to not use the very base of the asparagus.  In most cases this will be trash, as it was exposed and has started to dry out a little during its trip to the grocery store and your fridge!
8. Add your asparagus to the saute pan. 

9. Roughly chop 4 cloves of garlic and add it to the mixture.
10. Throw your pasta into the boiling water!  I used 1 pound of whole wheat rotini. 
11. Add 1 jar of drained artichoke hearts to the saute pan and give it a good stir! 

12. In a small sauce pan, heat a 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons of sugar over medium heat.  Be sure to stir this fairly often!
13. Continue to cook the vinegar and sugar until it seems like it is thickening just a bit.  When it reaches that stage, pour it into the saute pan with the veggies and stir.  Make sure everything gets coated well!

14. When your pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the saute pan.

15. Pull your tomatoes out of the oven and add them directly to the saute pan, and stir everything together!