If Warm Weather was a pizza flavor, this would be it

For almost as long as the husband and I have been together, we’ve made pizza from scratch on the weekends. Our first pizza was made in my tiny post-college apartment and baked on a cheap aluminum pizza pan from Big Lots. He used a crust recipe he found online. We topped it with canned sauce, pre-shredded mozzarella cheese and cheap pepperoni, and thought it was awesome. It had a thinner crust and was much less greasy than pizza shop pizza. Also, there’s just something satisfying about eating a pizza that you have made yourself, from scratch.

Over time, we graduated to a pizza stone and fresher ingredients. The husband has perfected his crust recipe. Usually, I’m the baker. But he always makes the pizza crust because he does it so well. We’ve both started playing with pizza toppings. We’ve made macaroni & cheese pizza, chili dog pizza, taco pizza, buffalo chicken pizza and used any number of traditional toppings in various combinations.

Usually, though, he makes a standard pepperoni or Genoa salami and cheese pizza. My usual go-to pizza was loosely inspired by Greek salad (incidentally, it’s one of the pictures in the rotating header for this blog). I use olive oil and thinly-sliced tomatoes as a base. Then, I top it with mozzarella and feta, onion, kalamata olives, pepperocini and a light sprinkle of lemon-pepper. No red sauce and generally no meat.

You see, I’m not a huge fan of traditional red tomato sauces. I very rarely eat spaghetti with marinara or anything similar. When making pizza, I often completely skip the red sauce. My favorite substitute is pesto, which brings me to this pizza. It is a thin, slightly crispy crust topped with pesto, freshly-roasted red peppers, mozzarella and lots of vegetables. This pizza is perfect for a warm day when a traditional pizza can seem too heavy. I made it for dinner last night and am already looking forward to the next time we make pizza so I can repeat it.

A quick note before I get to the actual recipe and method. The crust recipe will make 2 thin 12″ crusts. You can use the second crust to make another pizza, or freeze it for another day. As I previously mentioned, we use a pizza stone. Since the stone has to be be heated up gradually, I just left it in the oven while I roasted the peppers. Also, I would recommend prepping the pizza toppings while waiting for the dough to rise. That will make the whole process more efficient.

Pesto Pizza with Fresh Vegetables
Makes 1, 12″ pizza

Ingredients
For the crust:
1 c. warm water
2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
2 tbsp. white sugar
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
3 c. bread flour
1 tbsp. oregano
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. crushed red pepper

For the sauce:
1 c. fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 tsp. dry oregano
1/8 c. pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 c. freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

For the toppings:
1 tomato, sliced very thin
1/2 white onion, sliced very thin
1/2 c. baby spinach, washed
6-8 kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half
1 red bell pepper, roasted and cut into thick slices
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Make the crust
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer affixed with a dough hook, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Add sugar, olive oil and salt and combine. Add seasonings. Finally, add flour a little at a time until dough is thick.
3. Divide dough into 2 balls, coat each lightly with flour and set aside. Allow dough to rise until it has doubled, about one hour.

While the dough is rising, prepare the pesto and toppings
1. Preheat the broiler on your oven. Wash and chop all vegetables. Shred Parmesan cheese.
2. Place sliced red peppers on an unlined baking sheet and broil for 4-5 minutes. Flip peppers over and broil an additional 4-5 minutes. Place peppers in a tightly-sealed bag to steam for 20 minutes. Set aside.
3. Toast the pine nuts by placing them in a dry pan over medium heat. Gently shake the pan over heat for about 30 seconds, until nuts are lightly browned.
4. Make the pesto sauce. In a small food processor, combine basil, oregano, pine nuts, garlic, salt, and olive oil. Process until pureed, then grated add Parmesan. Set aside.
5. Finally, remove the peppers from their bag, peel them and set them aside.

Spinach, roasted peppers, tomato slices, onion rings & olives. Yum!

By this time, your crust should be ready to finish
4. Reduce oven temperature to 500°.
5. Turn dough out onto a pizza stone and roll it out to about 1/2″ thickness. Bake for 3-4 minutes.
6. Remove pizza from oven. Spread with pesto sauce, sprinkle with cheese and arrange vegetables. Bake for an additional 5-6 minutes. Enjoy!

Burritos themselves aren't very pretty to look at. But I think that lots of colorful veggies are. (and yes, that is my trusty jar of Adobo in the corner).

Though my husband and I aren’t vegetarians, we eat meatless meals several times a week. We do this partially for health reasons, partially for cost reasons and partially because vegetables are so darn tasty. I’m also biased in favor of them because I think food should be attractive. Veggies are generally prettier than chicken breasts or bacon. The problem is that produce doesn’t keep for very long. So I’m often looking for ways to use it up before it goes bad. Soups and stir-fries are obvious options. But there are times, like tonight, that neither of those sounds appealing. So I raided the fridge and cabinets for a few staples, starting chopping and sautéing, and came up with these veggie burritos. I had no idea they would turn out as well as they did.

Black Bean & Veggie Burritos
Makes 4 large burritos

Ingredients
1 large zucchini
1 large yellow squash
1 large onion
1-3 jalapeño peppers
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp. Adobo with cumin
1 32 oz. can of black beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 c. frozen corn kernels, thawed
Juice of one lime
Large flour tortillas
1 1/2 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
Sour cream & salsa, for serving

Directions
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Wash and dice zucchini, squash and onion. Wash, seed and dice peppers.
3. Add onions, garlic and peppers to skillet. Cook until slightly softened. Add zucchini and squash and cook an additional 3 minutes. Finally, add black beans and corn and cook until everything is heated, about 5 minutes.
4. Heat tortillas. Fill with vegetable-bean mixture, cheese, salsa and sour cream (if desired). Enjoy!

My thoughts & suggestions

• OK. I realize that I’ve now contradicted my recent mini-rant against premade spice mixes. But there is one mix that I keep around – Goya Adobo. This mixture of salt, pepper, cumin, garlic power, oregano and turmeric is a staple in my kitchen. I use it in chili, on grilled chicken and in almost anything Mexican-inspired. It’s also great on home fries and french fries. Be careful, though, because it is salty. A little goes a long way.
• I used 3 jalapeños and still thought the filling was a little mild. I actually think a habanero pepper would be quite good in this.
• I don’t have a whole lot else to say. Cooking doesn’t get much easier than this. I did consider adding more Adobo, or at least more cumin. But the vegetables have so much flavor on their own; and I didn’t want to overpower them. I know that I’ll be playing with this idea in the future. I’m sure lots of other vegetables would be good in this. I’ll probably throw in some diced tomatoes next time. I definitely think the filling could use fresh cilantro. Avocado would also have been a great addition. But those are things that tend to get eaten quickly, meaning I didn’t have any lying around. Since this recipe was, above all, a way to clean out the crisper drawer, I’m not too worried about it.

Dinner on the patio. Warm weather is here again!

Grilling season is here! Yesterday’s sunshine and warm temperatures had me dying to grill some burgers and vegetables for dinner. But, for the first grill meal of the season, I didn’t want to do plain old beef burgers. So I came up with these buffalo chicken burgers and cheese-stuffed jalapeños instead. Now I realize this meal probably isn’t for everyone, at least not both items together. But the husband and I are lovers of spicy food. After all, I’m the girl who, at age two, thought it perfectly acceptable to drink straight salsa. My husband will eat even hotter foods than I will. So for us, it was a fun way to eat something different on a lazy Sunday evening.

One of my favorite things about grilling is how easy it can make food prep. That was definitely the case with this meal. The most time-consuming part of the whole process was cutting and seeding the jalapeños. And it dirtied very few dishes, which is a definite accomplishment for me. To make things even easier, you could use this Jalapeño Pepper Roaster from Williams-Sonoma. My uncle has one, and gives it rave reviews. Since I don’t have a special pepper-grilling gadget, I had to adapt. Here’s what I did.

Buffalo Chicken Burgers
Serves 4

1 lb. ground chicken
1/3 c. breadcrumbs
1/3 c. hot sauce (I used Valentina
1 egg
1 tbsp. minced garlic
8 oz. bleu cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
4 large burger buns
1 onion, sliced
Green leaf lettuce
4 tbsp. mayo
4 tbsp. ranch dressing

Directions
1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, hot sauce, garlic and 4 oz. blue cheese. Shape into patties.
2. Grill over medium-high heat until done, approximately 5 minutes on each side.
4. While burger are grilling, combine mayo and ranch dressing.
5. Once burgers are done, sprinkle with the remaining bleu cheese. Garnish with lettuce, tomato and the ranch sauce.

Cheese-Stuffed Jalapeños
Makes 8 peppers

8 large Jalapeño peppers
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. Adobo w/ cumin.

Directions
1. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and Adobo. Set aside.
2. Cut a vertical slit down peppers. Remove seeds while keeping peppers intact.
3. Stuff each pepper with approximately 1 ounce of cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. Grill peppers over medium-high heat until done, approximately 10 minutes.

Peppers waiting to be grilled. I'll definitely be playing with this idea in the future. Chorizo, bacon or veggies would all be good additions.

When I was 17, I went to Mexico City with my Spanish class. I loved everything about it – the hotel overlooking the Zócalo, the pyramids, the sense of history, the colors, the energy and the food. While some of my classmates were happy with KFC, my mom I tried all sorts of new things. We had grilled corn with chili powder and lime from a street vendor and decadent pan dulce from the bakeries. But my favorite new food experience was a meal of chiles rellenos served with red and green salsas and refried black beans. Ever since then, I’ve considered chiles rellenos one of my favorite foods.

In spite of my love for these deep-fried, cheese stuffed poblano peppers, I had never attempted to make them myself, until recently. I can’t think of a better way to start this blog than with a recipe for my favorite food.

Chiles Rellenos
Makes 6

Ingredients
6 poblano or Anaheim peppers
12 oz. queso fresco or monterey jack cheese
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 eggs, seperated
1 cup all-purpose flour
canola oil, for frying
red and/or green salsas (I used canned tomatillo & homestyle salsas, though I will probably make my own salsa next time I make these)

Directions
1. Cut a slit down the side of each pepper. Place peppers in a broiler or dry frying pan until skins blister.
2. Place the peppers in a plastic bag and seal the top. Let steam for 20 minutes.
3. While the peppers are steaming, cut the cheese into thin, 2-3″ strips.
4. Once the peppers are steamed, remove their skins and seeds.
5. Fill each pepper with cheese. If desired, use a toothpick to hold peppers together. Chill for 30 minutes.
6. Whip egg whites into firm peaks. In another bowl, thoroughly whip the egg yolks. Fold the yolks into the whites.
7. In a shallow dish, spread out flour and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
8. Heat oil to 375°F.
9. Coat peppers in flour and then in egg.
10. Fry peppers in batches until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towels.
11. Garnish with salsa and shredded cheese.

My thoughts: These took quite a long time to make, mostly because it was my first experience blistering and skinning peppers. They turned out extremely well, making them completely worth the time and effort. I served them with black beans and margaritas made from scratch.

Recipe Source: Adapted from my favorite Mexican cookbook, Mexican – Healthy Ways With a Favorite Cuisine by Jane Milton. The recipes tend to be time-consuming and probably aren’t as healthy as the title suggests. But the book has yet to steer me wrong when it comes to tasty, authentic Mexican food.