When Kiddies Cry for Pizza

Friday, the traditional pizza night in families everywhere. Until you talk to individuals. When the kids came home Friday afternoon, my son raised the question of why we don't have a weekly pizza night in the hope of us ordering pizza that night. I refused, but by this time all four of us were craving pizza. I didn't want to spend any more money on that week of shopping, let alone ordering pizza, and I certainly didn't want the calories. So I took the basic flavors of pizza and created this sandwich. It's not pizza, it's better. My littlest picked out some of the veg, but it was all very well hidden inside and went over with the family pretty well.

Roasted Veg Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients

4 heaping spoonfuls of roasted tomato pieces (or use whole, canned tomatoes chopped up finely without any of the liquid from the can)

1 onion (minced and sauteed)

2 cloves garlic (finely sliced and sauteed)

8 roasted bell pepper strips (see separate recipe)

8 slices of bread

pre-shredded low fat mozzarella cheese

1 lemon

a dash of oregano

1/2 jalapeno pepper

a bunch or two of herbage (optional)

olive oil

Run your knife through the prepared veg (tomatoes, onion, garlic, and bell peppers). The trick to hiding them is how finely they are chopped. It should be like a thick, chunky sauce. Squeeze the juice of your lemon into the bowl and add the oregano. Stir to combine. Cut the jalapeno in halve (not stem-wise, but through the middle of the pepper) and grate it on a micro plane for very fine bits of jalapeno until you have about a teaspoon.  Run your knife through your fresh herbs, if you're using them. Stir this and the jalapeno into the marinating veg.

In a hot, non-stick pan, pour in a little olive oil. Press the first slice of bread in and sprinkle a little cheese on the top. Spread some marinated veg corner to corner to fill the whole sandwich. sprinkle on a little more cheese and top with another piece of bread. Press down on the sandwich while it cooks. When the bottom slice of bread is browned to your liking, flip the sandwich (you may wish to use a plate to help, sliding it out of the pan and flipping it back in). Add a little more oil around the bread. Continue pressing on the sandwich until it's browned. After this fist sandwich, repeat this paragraph on following ones unless you have a larger pan than I and can cook two or three at a time. Keep the sandwiches warm in the oven as you go and serve them with a salad or some fruit. 

Eating Alone

In my house eating alone means eating with one or two other people. The concept of eating absolutely alone is mind boggling, but wonderful. I began to read a book called Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler which is about how different people feel about eating alone and what they eat by themselves. All these writers put together little tiny chapters about their experiences and the food that they love. 

Of course, it's impossible to get through a full essay before something happens to get you away from the book. I imagine that it would be perfect to read while at a restaurant alone. I dream of congee, an Asian rice porridge with spicy, sour, smoky, salty toppings. Plenty of broccoli, peanuts, chilies, and garlic over the top of the creamy, delicious base. That's what I would eat alone! The book took me into that world for a few minutes. My whole being relaxed and the stress of the last few years melted away. I strongly recommend it.

My congee with all it's delightfully not child-friendly toppings (at least I don't know any kids who like pickled or spicy veg on top of rice porridge) takes several hours of simmering to make. As if it needed to be a further dream, less of a possible reality. So when I actually eat alone (without friends or children or any family members or other people at all, just me) I make chili. I start with a can of vegetarian chili, probably hormel unless I chanced to splurge on organic at the health food store, and I don't buy it with extra veg because I'll add my own. It can be served over left over corn bread or rice or with saltine crackers or however you like your chili. Eat it exactly how you prefer yours. Use the recipe as a template, not a law. This is all about personal preference without worrying about others, so take it where ever your taste buds tell you to. Enjoy alone and savor.

Chili Alone

Ingredients

1 can vegetarian chili (we'll be adding extra veg, so buy regular to your heat specification, favorite brand, etc. don't stint yourself, do it well)

one handful of frozen bell pepper and onion slices (or chop your own, but be aware that you only have so much time to yourself)

1 cup of corn (frozen or canned whatever's convenient)

LOTS of garlic (sliced or left in whole cloves)

1 large jalepeno (or more to taste, minced)

a dash of oregano

a spoonful of tomato paste (add some sauce or diced tomatoes or whatever you have on hand, but not too much)

In a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat, cook the peppers and onions with the minced jalepeno and the thick garlic slices. Be careful that the garlic is softening without coloring. When the veg is thawed, break up the pepper and onion strips a bit in the pan (careful of the non stick coating) and add the corn. When that is warm, add the chili, oregano, and tomato paste. Stir well to combine.

To serve: Crumble corn bread into a bowl and heap on the chili. Dig in. Or, scoop some leftover rice in, brown works great, before adding the chili. Also good over potatoes (baked, panfried, even boiled). Served with grilled cheese (if you can take the dairy) the chili is indulgence beyond belief. For something different, try it with whole wheat pasta in a curly shape. 

Whatever starch you serve it with should be smaller than your heaping of chili and, even more importantly, a left over. Just pop it into the microwave or the pan with your chili at the end of cooking  (unless your serving with bread which is great broiled or toasted with this). Serve in a large bowl and dig in with a large spoon for maximum enjoyment.

Tucking into Recipes

Whenever my kids get the day off from school, Maria (the youngest) and I always browse recipes, looking for something special to make. I always have a lot of cookbooks on hand, especially the sort with lots of pictures. On a whim, a few days ago, I picked up quite a few cookbooks and books about food from the library. As it turned out, yesterday when school was cancelled for bad winter weather and Maria and I were skimming my latest finds. We were all tucked in on the sofa with a heap of books between us, sharing a quilt and our favorite recipes that we came across. We almost never find things that we can make with what's on hand or that all the kids will eat. Maria and I love broccoli, but Shasta and Lily won't touch it, etc. We all love great big casserole dishes that have the veggies right inside as the kids aren't too fond of salads and anyway it's got much more interesting flavors than everything would be separate. These also make handy lunches as they are often great cold or lukewarm in a wide soup thermos. The problem come in that only about two of us eat the same veg to slip into the casserole. So I hide the garlic, onions, and peppers in very small dice in tomato sauces, but I'm not allowed to vary this combination. The rare meal where it's just me and one or two other people is wonderful in that I can pump up the veg content with some different ingredients. So there we were, reading and sharing recipes. Jamie Oliver is one of our favorites, though we never can cook his recipes as they are. His food always seems to require all those vegetables that we can't get everyone to eat. We read a lot of cookbooks about Italian food. Pasta is always comforting on a winter's day. In the end we came up with a recipe of our own. A warm, rich, comforting casserole, a perfect winter dinner, all bright and cheerful while the wind howls and the snow blows outside. The power went out just after we made it, so we set the table with candles and the casserole was warm and comforting.

Chicken and Tomato Casserole

Ingredients

2-3 chicken drumsticks (or a scant cup left over protein of some sort such as veggie sausage)

3/4 box pasta (rottini or other ridged pasta is nice, but you can just throw the remains of a couple of boxes together for this one)

a little onion (minced very finely)

2 cloves garlic pressed

1/2 a red pepper (red blends in better, also mince finely)

2 scallions, if no one will notice (mice the white and greens separately, cook the whites, and add the green on top so that you can say that it's an "herb," basil is a good lie)

1 can tomato sauce (or 1/2 a can of sauce and a can of whole tomatoes)

a light grating of parmesan (highly optional)

dried oregano

salt & pepper

a pinch of sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Begin to boil water for pasta. Saute chicken for about twenty minutes (unless using left overs or a different protein). Cook pasta according to directions on box. Finish the chicken in the oven in your casserole dish. Use the pan you had been cooking the chicken in to cook the onion, whites of scallions, garlic, and red bell pepper. Add the tomato sauce and simmer until it is somewhat reduced and has picked up the good bits at the bottom of the pan and incorporated the veg enough that people won't notice them too much. If using whole tomatoes, break them up with your spoon. These are softer than diced so they blend in better with the sauce. Chop up cooked chicken and toss into the sauce with oregano, salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Pour pasta into casserole dish and stir sauce in. Grate cheese on top if desired. Top with scallion greens, minced up finely. Stick in the oven for a bit until the sauce bubbles a bit and the cheese on top melts.

Inside-out Quesadilla (Dairy free)

I was going to make a quesadilla with leftovers from taco night, but didn't want to use cheese. So I toasted tortilla wedges and made two salsas (one spicy, one rather filling). To make this a bigger meal, add rice or serve it on a mix of your favorite salad greens. As it is, it's a wonderful light meal with plenty of veg.

Tortilla Chips

Ingredients

1 tortilla

salt

pepper

olive oil

Brush one side of the tortilla lightly with olive oil (can omit, if desired). Cut the tortilla into roughly 12 wedges. sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a glass pie plate toast under the broiler for five minutes then flip wedges and toast for three more. Cool wedges slightly before eating.

Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

1/2 jalapeno

1 roma tomato

1 tablespoon cilantro

3 scallions (dark and medium greens only)

1 clove garlic

a squeeze of lemon juice

some lemon zest

1/8 red bell pepper

Mince jalepeno, scallions, garlic, and cilantro. Dice bell pepper and tomato. Toss all cut ingredients in a small bowl. Squeeze on lemon juice and grate on lemon zest. Let marinate for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of your food.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Ingredients

1/4 cup black beans (if canned: rinse thoroughly and drain well)

1/4 cup frozen corn kernels

3 scallions (light greens and whites)

a dash of dried oregano

In a non stick pan cook the green onions and frozen corn with the lid on (be careful to use a lid with vents on it or that fits loosely). When corn is no longer frozen, add black beans and oregano. Cook until the black beans are warm.

Serving: Put black bean salsa on the plate and top with tomato salsa. Place four or five chips around this and eat.

chop extra veg at the same time and make

Tortilla Soup: Cook black bean and corn salsa with jalapeno and bell pepper from tomato salsa. When vegetables are tender, pour in 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 cup vegetable stock. Add garlic and either 1/2 cup rice or 1/2 boiled potatoes. Simmer until warmed through. Toss in minced cilantro. Cut tortillas into thin strips rather than wedges, then follow chip recipe. serve along side the soup.

These salsas are also good on vegetarian taco pizzas. Use a little less sauce than normal if you're making your own pizza. If not, you could top a frozen pizza with the salsas.

Cheesecake: an easy, impressive dessert

Whenever I tell people that I cook, they want to know about my desserts. The difference between the verbs "bake" and "cook" is often forgotten or ignored in our society that relies so heavily on microwaves. So here is a really easy dessert that should be prepared a head of time. While it does require the oven, it isn't like baking a cake from scratch. Flour doesn't get everywhere and there is very little measuring. Even the graham cracker crust is easy if you want to try making it.

Ingredients:

2 (8oz) packages of Neufchatel cheese 

                    (aka lower fat cream cheese)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs (beaten)

1 store bought graham cracker crust 

                    (or fresh one, it's very easy, see note)

preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix room temperature cheese with yogurt, eggs, vanilla, and sugar in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Don't be afraid to use a motorized kitchen tool to do this. Pour into crust. Bake on 400 degrees until set (about 40 minutes). This should be thoroughly chilled in the refrigerator before eating. Try topping it with a compote such as my blueberry recipe that follows.

Blueberry Compote

This should be thicker than normal in order to fit with the cheesecake's texture. It just can't be watery or runny!

Ingredients

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

In a small saucepan, simmer blueberries, sugar, and water. Stir to dissolve sugar. Simmer until slightly thickened. Cool and serve over cheesecake (or other desserts, if serving with a non-dessert, reduce sugar at least to 1/4 cup sugar).

Graham Cracker Crust

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter (or substitute)

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

                  (about half a box of cookies)

In a large tightly closed ziplock-type bag crush graham crackers with a rolling pin. Measure crumb amount in a measuring cup and return to bag. Melt butter in a small saucepan (or a bowl in the microwave) and add it to the ziplock. Close the bag tightly and mush until the two ingredients are combined. Press into the bottom and sides of the pie plate for your cheesecake. Pour in filling. Bake. It's just that easy.

Roasted Bell Peppers

These can pump up veg content and flavor in a few little sweet strips. I've got to credit the Improvisation Cook (a wonderful book by Sally Schneider which I strongly recommend) for the recipe because that's where I first got the recipe from. Too many other books wanted me to own a grill in order to roast peppers and I can't afford one so I felt a lot of despair till I read this recipe that uses the broiler. I changed some little bits of the recipe around but how much can you change a recipe for broiling bell peppers? This is wonderful to make ahead.

Ingredients:

red bell peppers*

olive oil

salt

pepper

Standing the peppers upright on a cutting board, cut them into quarters, trying to leave the membranes and seeds and everything inside what is left of the pepper. Cut these slices into strips and toss them with a little olive oil. Salt and pepper them a little, too. Roast on a cookie sheet skin side down under a medium broiler until fork tender. Cool and remove skin (it should come off easily). Use in sandwiches (heaven in grilled cheese, but wonderful on everything else, too), on pizzas, in pasta sauces, etc.

*red bell peppers are very much superior to green ones and less expensive than yellow ones, so they are my pepper of choice. Green and purple bell peppers are the same plant as red and yellow, only unripe, so they are less sweet.

Bread salad with Italian overtones

This salad is warm, heavy, and comforting, it suits winter wonderfully. Yet, it's ingredients are fresh in the summer. So frozen corn and canned tomatoes bring this salad into winter. This recipe provides two servings.

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen corn
1 cup bell pepper and onion frozen
1 can whole canned plum tomatoes (broken up into large pieces)
1 diced courgette (zucchini)
plenty of garlic (to taste) sliced thinly
2 slices broken up cornbread or thickly sliced white bread (please not pre-sliced!)
fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, or sage
extra virgin olive oil
jalapeno (very finely minced)
grated cheese (very optional)

Brush crumbled bread with extra virgin olive oil and toast under broiler. Once golden, divide the bread between the two bowls. In a pan on medium heat heat some olive oil and cook frozen bell peppers and onions with the garlic. After a few minutes, add the courgette pieces and the corn. When the veg begins to color, the tomatoes and a little of the juice from the can. At the end of cooking, add fresh herbs, roughly minced. Also add jalapeno at this point if desired. Pour the tomato mixture over the bread to serve. If desired, grate a bit of cheese over the top.

Easy Peasy Chicken (or Vegetable) Potpie

This is a pie for those who do not bake. You can make your own crust, but I just don't have time. By the way, left over chicken or potatoes (preferably baked or boiled) will make this a lot  faster if you've got them.

Ingredients:

 2 store bought pie crusts

    1 egg

2 chicken breasts

2 large potatoes

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup peas

1/4 cup diced celery

1/2 an onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 can chicken stock

2 tablespoons flour

minced fresh herbs*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Salt and pepper chicken. In a medium saute pan, cook the chicken, onions, and celery. While this is cooking, wash, peal, and dice potatoes. Boil them in water to cover until fork tender. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan, leaving the vegetables. Add carrots and half of the chicken stock. 

In a small bowl, combine the flour and two tablespoons stock. Stir until smooth. Mix this into the stock and veg in the pan. Cook until no floury taste remains. Meanwhile, dice the chicken and put it in a large bowl with the potatoes. Stir the veg and gravy into this bowl. Add the garlic. 

Spray pie plate with cooking spray and press a pie crust into the bottom and sides of the pan. Fill this shell with the chicken mixture. Put the top crust on and roll the edges of both crusts together tightly. Beat the egg with a little water and brush on the top of the pie. Cut five slits in a star shape to vent the top of the pie. Bake on 400 degrees for twenty minutes or until golden  brown on top.

*Fresh Herbs: try rosemary, thyme, chives, parsley, etc.

Note for poultry eaters: Three meals can easily be made instead of one. Extra chicken and potatoes at the same time become excellent leftovers to be eaten the next night. Boiled potatoes panfried with onions and peppers are a wonderful companion to the left over chicken breast or served with eggs for a "breakfast for dinner" meal. Or the chicken can be used in a soup with leftover potatoes, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and peas all in more chicken stock.  Please add fresh herbs to either of these dishes liberally.

For a vegetable pie entirely without meat, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock (making your own is easy or you can use store bought) and add another vegetable such as parsnips or mushrooms to the body of the pie. Use plenty of herbs in your pie and your stock, if you make it yourself.

Vegetable stock

Ingredients

quartered onion with skin, well washed

carrot cut into thirds

celery rib cut into quarters

several garlic cloves in their skin

mushroom stems

potato peals

fresh herbs on the stem

any clean well washed veg scraps 

that complement the flavor of the dish

whole peppercorns

any whole spices to compliment the dish

Simmer all the veg bits, scraps, herbs, and spices for about an hour or until you like the flavor. this isn't something you have to baby sit, just set it on the stove and leave it be.

Cranberry Ginger nonalcoholic cocktail

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cranberry juice

1/3 cup ginger ale

a squeeze of citrus*

4 tablespoons holiday syrup

finely grated ginger to taste

Into the bottom of the glass, grate ginger very finely to taste. Pour in holiday syrup, cranberry juice, and ginger ale. Squeeze in citrus. Stir to combine. Garnish.

*oranges, clementines, and lemons are all appropriate especially if their peal was used in making the holiday syrup

Garnishes

1) candied fruit, ginger, or citrus peal from the holiday syrup

2) free floating fresh cranberries

3) dried and fresh cranberries alternating on a toothpick

4) cranberry filled ice cubes, see note

Cranberry Ice Cubes

Several hours before serving (at least four), fill an ice cube tray half full of water and add two or three cranberries to each cube. Freeze. When each cube is well frozen, top off the cube with more water. Serve when well frozen.

Holiday Syrup

All the flavors of the holidays in a little syrup that can be strained into my nonalcoholic cranberry ginger cocktail or spooned with the candied ginger and fruits onto desserts or oatmeal or even plain yogurt. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons thinly sliced ginger

1 teaspoon whole cloves

1 teaspoon whole cardamom seeds

1 cinnamon stick (optional)

the peal of one citrus fruit (cut into strips)

dried fruit (such as apricots, pears, cranberries, etc.)

4 cups of water

1/2 cup sugar (more to taste)

In a sauce pan over medium heat combine the ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, fruit, citrus peal, and water. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar until dissolved. After this comes to a boil, reduce to simmer. Check sugar level and adjust if needed. The syrup is done when it is slightly thickened and the flavor of the spices is fairly strong and the dried fruit is plump and moist. remove and discard cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon stick. Strain the syrup for use in nonalcoholic cocktail and store candied fruit, ginger, and peal in the refrigerator until needed.