Veggie Calzones

I went a few weeks ago to Olympia to hang out with my BFF Mallory and her Fiance Aaron.  Aaron jokingly said I could only stay if I cooked for them…lol. Mallory is Vegetarian, so I did what I always do and FoodGawker’ed  “vegetarian” looking for something new and exciting, that’s when I saw it, Vegetarian Calzones….Holla! This was super exciting!

My recipe was very roughly based off this recipe. However, I’m not really a “make your own dough” kinda girl, so we headed to the magical land of Trader Joe’s. We didn’t have Trader Joe’s in Colorado, so I’m very excited to add them to my weekly shopping, as I hear nothing but good things. We got everything for this meal there, including Whole Wheat pizza dough.

INGREDIENTS:

-Fat Free Ricotta Cheese

-Low Fat mozzarella

-Red Pepper

-Onion

-Garlic

-Basil (fresh)

-Italian ToFurky Sausage

-2 packages of Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

 

DIRECTIONS:

-Let the dough sit out for 20 minutes, as the package says to do so.

-Chop onions, garlic, peppers, and Sausage

-Saute vegetables in olive oil, add sausage and Saute that too.

-Meanwhile mix the Ricotta and the Mozzarella and Chopped fresh Basil into a large mixing bowl.

-When the veggies and Sausage are cooked, mix them into the cheese bowl (its fine if they are still a bit hot).

-Set aside the “insides” and separate the dough into 4 balls, roll out with a little flour into ovals. Put a big scoop of the “inside” mixture int he center of the dough, fold over and crimp. Bake based on your dough’s instructions. We also added little bowls of marinara for dipping.

 

7 Layer Mediterranean Dip

I find it super annoying that everyone always brings a 7 layer dip to parties…always…like you could bet money on it. The overall concept of a 7 layer dip sounds pretty good, but usually its a disgusting mush ball of refried beans and sourcream…gag! I hate refried beans a lot, they might be my least favorite foods.  Anyway for the Superbowl I wanted to make a new modern (refried bean-less) 7 layer dip, show people that it could be really good and not disgusting. When searching FoodGawker I stumbled upon something even better!And so I present to you (in pictures) 7 Layer Mediterranean Dip:

(ingredients from this recipe) modified slightly

-1  tub of Hummus
-1 peeled and diced cucumbers
-3/4 cup shredded romaine lettuce
-1/2 diced red onions
-1 diced tomatoes
-1/2 cup diced kalamata olives (these are much cheaper if you buy them at a grocery store that has an olive bar)
-1 cup crumbled feta cheese

-Tzatsiki Sauce
-pita chips

And there you have it! We made ours in Tupperware (for easy travel) but it looks very cute in a glass Triffle dish so you can see all the layers!

A little of this, a little of that.

Since we are moving across the country in 2 months, I’m trying to slowly eat all the freezer and pantry stuff. This means having really random (but yummy) dinners. Last week we had Pesto Pearl CousCous, Spicy Black Bean Burger patties (with shaved aged cheddar) and Steamed Kale with onions Garlic and mushrooms. We have had Kale a lot lately, as it is Kale season, sigh…I love it lightly salted and Steamed…yum! We had Kale Pizza twice this week too! Tonight will be another scrounging night, I know I have some leftover BBQ Chicken and Dirty Rice….hmm…maybe add Kale to that too!

 

Started Like this...

 

 

...And was turned into this...Im a food mixer.

 

 

 

Sweet Potato and Kale Hash

This was an “empty the fridge” kind of night that just happened to turn into something wonderful! Mr. Gaunt loves Sweet Potatoes, so I buy them and try to use them in recipes that make them a bit more interesting to me. Now I kind of winged this one, so I don’t have exact measurements or directions, but it goes a little something this:

INGREDIENTS:

2 Medium Sweet Potatoes

1 Avocado

1 Large bunch of kale chopped up

1/2 a diced onion

Parmesan Cheese

1 Chicken Sausage (optional)

Olive Oil

Minced Garlic

Red Pepper Flakes

Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

-Peel and dice (into dice size cubes) Sweet Potatoes. Chop Kale, Put both into a large pot of boiling water.

-You only want the Sweet Potatoes al dente, not mush. Watch them carefully and pull one out to verify its al dente.

-Get a separate LARGE pan and heat up olive oil. Add minced garlic, onions and red pepper flakes. Cook until onions are clear-ish.

-Cut sausage into small chunks and add it to the pan.

– When sweet potatoes are ready drain them (and the kale) and put into the pan.

-Turn heat up and cook like you would frozen hash browns. Letting them sit for a bit to fry up then turning them. Let them get slightly brown. If they seem to not be getting mushy enough you can cover the pan and let them steam a bit.

-When everything is nice and cooked add chopped avocado, sprinkle with salt and pepper and parmesan. Let cheese melt and serve.

Sorry the directions are kind of crappy. Feel free to edit them to work best for you. The Garlicy Cheesy Kale and Sweet Potato makes such a nice combo. This makes a fair amount too, and the leftovers are great! Will make again!

Yellow Squash and Black Bean Skillet

This had so much flavor I was shocked that I could make something this good and easy! We happened to have all the ingredients too, love that. It’s also a pretty cheap meal if your on a budget, and it makes tons! It also can be easily altered to be vegetarian or even vegan. And its Gluten Free, which isn’t something we focus on, but I know its important to a lot of people.

I got the recipe by searching my love of loves www.foodgawker.com for Yellow Squash. The recipe came from a blog that is dedicated to Gluten free recipes, and I only edited it a little bit. The recipe is here.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 a large onion, chopped

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

1 tsp cumin

2 cups cooked black beans (or 1 can)

2 tomatoes, diced with juices saved (or 1 can)

1 large yellow squash, cut into 1/2″ chunks

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 Cup already ground Extra Lean Turkey (optional)

1 Box of Whole Grain Brown Rice Pilaf (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Saute onion in oil until tender, and then add garlic, jalapeno, and cumin and cook an additional minute. Stir in beans, tomatoes, squash, ground turkey and salt and pepper, cover with foil and let simmer until squash is very tender (about 20 min), stirring occasionally. Top with cheese. Meanwhile cook Rice Pilaf according to box directions. In a bowl put in rice and top with skillet mixture.   Serves 3-4.

NOTES:

I already had cooked the ground turkey a few days earlier so I just threw that in to use it up. I also had “Jalapeno Slices” from Sunflower Market Deli so I just used about a 1/3 of cup of those and diced them up. The Rice Pilaf was not in the original recipe, but I added it because we had a box on hand and it made it so there was enough for us to take some for lunch tomorrow.

Super easy and yummy. I will make this again for sure. Next up I have some recipes saved that I want to share with you. I feel lots of cooking will be done in the next few months! Yay!

Portobello Love

Apparently I am completely in love with Portobello Mushrooms, who knew? I had never had them, although I’ve heard many a times that they are delish as a burger replacement. This past weekend while the boys make steak, Jenny and I tried our hand at Portobello Burgers.

Holy grail were they amazing! For real I didn’t even kind of miss the meat! We used this recipe, although I’m pretty sure we did balsamic vinegar not red wine vinegar. We also made the mayo using that Olive Oil Mayo, so yummy! I would eat these all summer!

On the Grill

with fresh Mozzarella

Topped with Baby Spinach, Rosemary Mayo on a French Roll

I also made a little Strawberry Shortcake with home made whip cream. Lets just say Liam was a huge fan of the whip cream, rubbing his chest (baby sign language for please) ferociously after each bite…lol…too cute!