Pizza for Grown-Ups

Recently I made pizza for the G, the Blessings and I again.  I used my typical pizza crust from my Quick Veggie Pizza recipe. I divided the dough in five balls, as usual, but this time for mine and G's pizzas, I decided to go for toppings that the sweet Blessings would not find appealing at all.  Not only could we indulge in spicy goodness, but it also assured us that our leftovers would be untouched by grubby, greedy littler hands.  I usually have a variety of toppings for us all to choose from, but I decided to pull out red onions and jalapenos, which I knew only G and I would have.  Whereas the Blessings top their own crusts, G just trusts my topping instincts to have me make his own.  He was delighted with the finished product.   With onions and hot peppers, at least in our home, this is definitely pizza for grown-ups!

Here's a shot of Pizza for Grown-Ups still on the baking pan after coming out of the oven.

A close up of all those delicious goodies.

Pizza for Grown-Ups

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 pkgs. or 1 and 1/2 Tbs. of active dry yeast
2 cups of warm water
4 cups of flour
1 and 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
2 tsp. salt
1 and 1/2 Tbs. vegan or raw sugar

Grown-Up Toppings:

We used:
Organic pizza sauce
Daiya cheddar shreds
Daiya mozzarella shreds
Red onion, chopped coarsely
Sliced black olives
Mushrooms, sliced
Artichoke hearts, chopped coarsely
Pickled jalapenos, chopped small
Vegan pepperoni slices

Directions:

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let rest for ten minutes. Combine the remaining crust ingredients in a large bowl, along with the yeast mixture, and mix well. Cover bowl with a damp towel, and let rise for 30 minutes. Punch dough down and divide into five sections. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured surface, roll out one section of dough to about the size of a plate. Pick up and gently toss with your hands, until it's at least one and a half times its original size. Put on your baking sheet or pizza pan, and load with toppings. Bake for 20 minutes. While baking, make your next pizza. I can bake two pizzas at a time side by side; a bit of one baking sheet rests on the edge of the other, but it doesn't affect the end result. Remove from oven and let rest for five minutes before slicing. So good and easy! Feeds five hungry vegans or two vegan grown-ups and kid-friendly toppings for the rest of the gang.

Tofu Ranchero

I love spicy food, so I decided to try my take on a classic dish and veganize it.  We loved how this turned out, and I will definitely add this to my breakfast rotation.

Tofu Ranchero

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 pkgs. extra-firm tofu, packed in water, drained
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 packed cup chopped cilantro
1 - 29oz. can vegetarian refried beans
3 jalapenos, either fresh or pickled Mexican-style, sliced in rings
Your favorite salsa

Directions:

In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook for ten minutes, until they soften.  Add the tofu and mash directly in the pan.  Cook for twenty minutes or until tofu begins to brown.  Add the spices and cilantro and cook for another five minutes.  Meanwhile, heat the beans up in a separate small pot.  Serve tofu mixture over the refried beans and top with jalapeno slices and salsa.  This is great with English muffins on the side.  Enjoy!  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Zesty Black Beans with Cooling Tomato and Avocado - and a contest reminder

This is a great dish to warm you up on a cold day.  The farmer's market already has the first avocados in, and I was lucky to find a good tomato in the store.  The spice in the beans is tempered by and paired perfectly with the tomato and avocado.  Served with roasted potatoes, it makes for a tasty, complete meal.

Zesty Black Beans with Cooling Tomato and Avocado

Dinner is served!

Just to remind you that you can still vote in the Circle of Moms contest for the top 25 veggie moms.  I was fortunate enough to be nominated, and I have several bloggie friends in the competition with me.  The nice thing is there's plenty of room for a bunch of us.  So, if you would like to vote (for me?), you can just click on the pink badge in my top left corner, and it will take you to the site.  Just scroll down to find me; I appreciate your vote!  You can vote once every 24 hours.

Zesty  Black Beans with Cooling Tomato and Avocado

Ingredients:

1 lb. dried black beans, sorted for grit
Water to cover
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbs. ground cumin
1 tsp. cayenne
4 Serrano peppers, seeded and chopped (wash your hands after handling)
6 - 8 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 tomato, cut in quarters and sliced thin
1 avocado, chopped small

Directions:

Place beans in a large pot and cover with enough water so that water level is about two inches above beans.  Cook on medium heat for two hours.  (If you want to soak the beans overnight to remove potential gas "issues" from them, you can do that as well.)  Keep water level about one inch above beans during cooking process.  Once they've cooked for two hours, add the salt through the garlic.  Cook another 45 minutes on medium heat. Turn heat to low until beans are completely tender.  At this point, you don't want as much water, just enough to keep them moving around but not soupy, but you don't want them super thick either.  Once beans are completely cooked, turn the heat off and add the tomato and avocado.  Serve with roasted potatoes for a complete meal.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Fried Potatoes with Jalapenos

I love to create spicy dishes, but with my family, I have to usually separate out all the spicy ingredients and add them in at the end for me.  This is one of those dishes - the Blessings are not too keen on onions and jalapenos.  But, lately, JK has been chowing down on pickled garlic, even though he still requires his potatoes to be peeled!  Anyhoo, if everyone in your family likes all the ingredients here, I recommend cooking the toppings with the potatoes, instead of in a separate pan like I did. 

Fried Potatoes with Jalapenos

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. canola oil
6 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 large white onion, quartered and sliced
1 head of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 jalapenos, ends trimmed, seeded and quartered lengthwise, and sliced
Black pepper!

Directions:

In a large pan, heat the canola oil over medium heat.  When hot, add the potatoes and cook for at least twenty minutes, until they begin to get fork-tender.  Add the salt and pepper.  At this point, heat the olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat.  When hot, add the remaining ingredients, except for the black pepper.  Cook for about fifteen minutes, until onions are brownish or beginning to caramelize.  The potatoes should be done at this point - you're aiming for a brown crispiness on their edges.  Serve the potatoes and top with the jalapeno mixture.  Add pepper to taste.  So good.  (If you wish, you can add the uncooked onion, garlic and jalapenos to the potato dish, while the potatoes are still cooking, and cook them together.)  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Zukes with Anaheim Peppers and Garlic

So, if you read my previous post, you will remember that I had a side dish that I really liked.  Here is basically my lunch the next day, an exact replica of the dinner the night before.  I think you'll really like the zucchini dish that I made to go with my Radical Rice Salad.  I've made it again since the first time I enjoyed it.  What's nice about Anaheim peppers is that they're just slightly hotter than bell peppers, so they can suit taste buds that can't tolerate heat, but for those heat-lovin' people that are in the same family as the former, it gives them a little pepper variety beyond the classic bell.

Zukes with Anaheim Peppers and Garlic

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Anaheim peppers, ends trimmed and sliced in rings - you can scoop out the seeds with a spoon and rinse the rest out, or leave a few seeds in for heat, like I do
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
6 medium or 4 large zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pan.  Add the garlic and peppers and cook for one minute over medium heat.  Add the zucchini and cook for five to ten minutes longer, until the zucchini is fork-tender.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve with Radical Rice Salad, above, or another hearty grain dish.  Feeds five hungry vegans.