Tag Archives: Vegetarian/Vegan

The Perfect Health(ier) Pizza!

I haven’t blogged lately, and it’s not because we haven’t been cooking and eating at home. In fact, I’ve cooked quite a bit. We’ve had blackberry-ginger glazed salmon, chicken biryani (these will all appear on the blog, eventually!), and homemade pizzas.

I love Pizza. There is just something so mouth-watering about dough smothered in tomato sauce and topped with gobs of cheese. So mouth-watering…but so unhealthy!!!! Therefore, I don’t eat pizza, or “zah”—as I affectionately call it, very often anymore. Piyush really dislikes pizza (blasphemous!), and much prefers his “pizza” on a crispy tortilla instead of a soft, chewy dough.

I decided to try and change his mind, to convert him into a pizza lovin’ maniac. But, it would not be easy! With the goal of creating a crispy—yet somewhat doughy (and possibly a little healthy)—crust, and a flavorful homemade sauce…I got to work. I scoured the internet and found a couple dough recipes that had possibility. I tried a few, but couldn’t find perfection. So, I mashed them together—taking what I liked from some, and discarding what I hated from others. Some would show promise, only in the end to puff up into a more bread-like crust. That wasn’t going to work!

Eventually I combined recipes to come up with the perfect recipe, and the perfect technique. I think both are really equally important…and you can get a totally different crust using the same recipe depending on how you prepare it. I found that rolling the dough out with a rolling pin yielded the exact texture I was trying to achieve for the crust. After it was rolled out I pricked it all over with a fork to keep the dough from bubbling up. I sprayed it really quickly with olive oil, using my Misto (I love the Misto!). Then, I pre-cooked the crust for a few minutes in a 450 F degree oven using a pizza stone—just to make sure it got ultra crispy.

Next step…the sauce. I wanted something that had a fresh, rustic taste. Something that was everything canned/jarred pizza sauce you find at the grocery store was not. I don’t know how I did it, but I got the sauce right the very first time! Piyush proclaimed it the best he’s ever tasted, and he said Italy would be proud. (Haha—thanks, honey!…but I don’t know if I’d go that far!)

Aside from tasting really good, this sauce is also ultra easy!

fresh mozzarella, basil and mushroom pizza

After I had both the crust and the sauce figured out…I had to decide what to top it with. I wasn’t really in a meat eating mood and I wanted to stick with something simple and flavorful. We had lots of mushrooms in the fridge, and basil too. I knew Piyush loves Mozzarella…and since I was trying to convince him that pizza is a food he should love…that decision was easy. Mozzarella, it was! We bought a 8oz ball, and I used about half of it. I thinly sliced the ball and then flattened those slices even more with my hands. I dried them off with a paper towel (they were a little wet), cut them into halves, and slapped them on the the zah.

This pizza was simply delicious. It was so easy, inexpensive, and flavorful. And the best part….Piyush loved it! In fact, he ate half of it! I had two slices and it left me feeling full and satisfied.

Calorie-wise, each slice is equal to approximately 150 calories. How awesome is that?! I’m not sure how it tastes when it’s reheated yet…but I have a couple slices left for lunch tomorrow! Yum!

Aside from the results…the other thing I love about both the crust and the sauce recipes are that they freeze up awesome! If you keep a little dough and sauce in the freezer, making a pizza will be way faster than waiting for delivery (and just as easy, too)!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

(makes two 12″ crusts—8 slices/ea)

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour (plus more for kneading) I use Indian atta flour, for the best texture
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. warm water
2 1/4 tsp. active, dry yeast
1 tbsp. honey

Directions:

Combine the warm water, honey and yeast in a bowl. Let this sit until it becomes foamy— about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the flours and salt. Once the yeast mixture is foamy add it to the flours. Stir, using a wooden spoon, until the dough begins to come together—then add the olive oil.
Knead everything together, adding additional flour (a little at a time) until the dough is moderately stiff and no longer wet. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about a half hour.
Sprinkle a cutting board or parchment paper with some cornmeal. Divide the dough into 2 portions (freeze one, if you’d like) and place one portion on the cornmeal covered surface. Roll the dough out to a thin circle using a rolling pin.
Poke holes all over the crust using a fork. Then, pre-bake the crust for 5 minutes in a 450 F degree oven (that has been preheated with a pizza stone for about 30 min). Remove. Spread the crust with sauce and the toppings of your choice.
Bake at 450 F degrees (again, on the pizza stone) for about 10 minutes—or until the crust gets a little browned and the cheese gets all melty.

Easy Tomato Pizza Sauce

3 or 4 large garlic cloves
3 medium tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for cooking garlic
5 or 6 large basil leaves
salt and pepper—to taste
1/2 tbsp sugar

Directions:

Peel, smash and chop garlic. Add about 1 tsp. of oil into a pan and saute until garlic begins to turn a little brown (watch it closely—garlic burns easily!)
Put garlic, tomatoes (quartered), 1 tbsp olive oil and basil leaves in blender. Blend until everything is combined, you can leave the tomatoes a little chunky if you want.
Pour sauce into the same pan you cooked the garlic in—add some chopped tomatoes if you’d like. Add sugar and stir everything together. Simmer on medium heat for about 30-40 minutes or until it thickens.
Season with salt and pepper.

So easy…and so perfect!!!

Also…How cute is this?! It’s my cat wearing a mini scarf! I’m starting to get the hang of this knitting thing…

Harry modeling his scarf

Vegetarian Bean Taco Salad

11 Replies

I must be in a Mexican kinda mood, because it seems that’s all I feel like cooking lately! I’ve also felt like eating beans. Lots of beans.

source (you can also click this link to learn about the health benefit of beans)

When I was planning dinner the other day, I decided I’d make a vegetarian taco salad for three reasons:

1. Tacos are delicious.

2. Salads are good for you.

3. I can eat the bowl I serve my salad in. Now, that’s exciting!

I decided to get a little head start on my taco filling. Not that it takes a long time or anything- in fact, it takes hardly any time!- but mostly because I didn’t want to do it later. My theory when it comes to dinner preparation is the sooner the better. The longer I put it off, the lazier I become.

Before I started turning regular cans of black and pinto beans into delicious, taco-flavored delicacies, I chopped up some veggies and had myself a little snack.

I made a simple Indian inspired salad (I’ve blogged about it here), and added a tablespoon or so of aloo bhujia—fried, spiced potato noodles—for a little crunch. I think the weather outside has me craving Summer. It seems like spring and was even 50 degrees today! This salad screams Summer, but sadly the tomatoes and cucumber screamed “out of season”! …Back to reality. I still have over 5 months before Summer arrives!

After eating my snack, I decided to get started on my tortilla bowls. When I lived with my grandparents, after moving home from college, this was a meal I often made for dinner. It all started when I was at the supermarket and had a mad craving for a taco salad. I picked up some ground turkey, grabbed the lettuce and veggies and I found the pre-made taco shell bowls. I flipped over the package, and realized that one bowl was nearly 500 calories! Whoa! Then I got to thinking (I know, right!?!)…A taco shell bowl is really just a tortilla! So I went home and draped torillas over glass pyrex bowls and baked them at 400 degrees, until they were crisp. Genius! I used whole wheat, low calorie tortillas and was able to knock the calories of my taco shell bowl down to a measly 80 cals. Awesome! Now, I have a couple fancy taco shell bowl molds. They make awesome bowls, but they’re really completely unnecessary.

After my bowls were baked, I started on the bean mixture. I used a combination of pinto and black beans because I really love the creaminess of smashed pinto beans. Weird? Probably. Delicious? Oh.My.God.YES! I heated them through, had a fun time smashing them, and then set them aside.

Then all I had to do was chop the romaine and assemble. Easy!

It's a taco! It's a salad! It's a taco salad!

Bean Taco Filling

2 tsp. olive oil (you don’t need much)
2 cans of beans (any kind), rinsed (alternatively you could use dried beans. 3 cups total.
1 small red onion
3 fat garlic cloves
1/2 c. green bell pepper
1 serrano chile
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning (or make your own!)
1 1/2 c. water
lime juice, to your taste
salt, to your taste (you probably don’t need any with the canned beans and taco seasoning, though)

Directions:

Heat your pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the pan is hot, saute the onion, chile and green pepper until they’re all soft and cooked through.
Add garlic and saute about a minute, then add the taco seasoning (or spices, if you make your own) Cook for about a minute until the spices are no longer raw.
Add the beans and the water. Once it starts to boil, smash as many of the beans as you’d like.
Cook until water disappears and the mixture thickens. Squeeze in a little lime juice, and give it a good stir.

I topped my salad with about 1/2 c. bean mixture, some of my Indian salad, a tiny bit of cheese, and a dollop of greek yogurt.

All healthy meals should be this good!

Craving something Indian

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I’m looking more and more forward to my trip to India everyday! I can’t believe it’s under a month away now. I have so many gifts to buy for people, so many things to pack for Piyush and I (note to self: don’t forget the toilet paper), and not a lot of time to brush up on my Indian cooking. My in-laws love that I can cook their cuisine and they boast that their American daughter-in-law can cook things like aloo posto, prawn malai curry, and ladoos. I just love that I can make them happy and we can bond over cooking. I really believe that food has helped bridge some of the cultural differences between us. Food is very important to my husband’s family. Infact, when I hear from Maa or Baba (my in-laws) they usually ask what I made for dinner before they ask how I’m doing. …And that’s alright with me!

Today was a little cold outside. We’ve been eating leftover Bouillabaisse lately,

and although I think it tastes wonderful, I’ve had enough. I wanted something warm, something spicy, something Indian. I love Indian food on cold days, infact, I crave it. It warms up the body, fills you up nicely, and makes your house smell absolutely lovely! This is one of first recipes I learned, and its one of the easiest. I made it for my in-laws when they were here and they told me that they felt like they were back in India! That’s right…it’s that good! It’s also incredibly simple!

How cute are Maa and Baba?!?

If you’re looking for the creamy, fatty, melt in your mouth type aloo matar you would recieve in a restaurant, you might want to keep looking. There’s no heavy cream. Not any half and half. I didn’t even use coconut milk! I cut all that out of this recipe because not only did I think it would taste better without all the milkiness, but it’d be extremely more healthy as well. I promise, you won’t even miss the cream!

The Recipe

1 1/2 lbs. potatoes: peeled, diced & boiled

1 c. green peas (I usually blanch these before using them.)

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 tbsp. cumin seeds

1 tsp. ginger paste

1 tsp. garlic paste

2 roma tomatoes, finely chopped (peeled if you want to get fancy about it)

1 pinch of tumeric

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 pinch white sugar

1/2 tsp or more garam masala (I usually use a more, to taste)

1 tbsp. oil

green chile, chopped- to your taste

salt, to taste

chopped coriander (cilantro) for garnish

Directions:

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan or frypan with deep sides. Add the cumin seeds.
When the cumin seeds begin to pop, add the onions and green chiles. Saute until they are translucent.
Add the ginger paste, garlic paste and tomatoes. Simmer until the tomatoes are cooked are are like a smooth sauce. Once they begin to break down I usually grab a potatao masher and just mash everything together. I tell myself it just helps the tomatoes to break down quicker, but really I’m super impatient! At this point I sometimes throw everything in my VitaMix and puree it until it’s nice and smooth.
Add the turmeric powder, chili powder, garam masala, green peas and potatoes and cook for some time.
Add about 1 1/2 cups of water and salt to taste. Allow it to come to a boil, turn the heat down and let simmer for a good 20 minutes or until the gravy thickens to your liking. The longer you let the curry simmer, the better it will taste. Add some finely diced corriander, and you’re done!

If you think your gravy is too thin or that you added too much water, mash a few pieces of the potatoes into it. This will thicken it up nicely.

Who knew peas could taste so good?!

You wouldn’t need to serve this with rice, infact a chapati or roti would be the better choice. My husband, being Bengali, LOVES rice and has to eat it at almost every meal. I also served this with Indian spiced chicken legs. Basically I just marinated chicken legs with a bunch of spices, and it was wonderful! I’ll post that the next time I make it because really I didn’t write down what I threw in the marinade.