Pesto, Cherry Tomato and Raw Cashew Cheese Pizza
I was never a fan of “real” pizza aka tomato and cheese. The cheese was always so gross and stringy. Even with the advances in vegan cheeses like Daiya and the new and improved Teese I’m still not much of a fan. I like those brands of vegan cheese but not on my pizza! My favorite all time pizza is a new one for me. It consists of homemade Basil-Miso-Walnut Pesto, some homegrown still warm from the sun cherry tomatoes and a raw cashew cheese.
The process is very simple:
Roll out dough (I like the whole grain one from Whole Foods)
Spread pesto over pizza
Thrown on some halved cherry tomatoes
Pop into the oven…400 450 degrees…whatever you fancy.
When the crust is nice and brown and the tomatoes are nice and bubbly take the pizza out and drop on the raw cashew cheese in random places.
Cut.
Serve!
Its basically the best pizza ever. Peter and my Maa are hooked. Reno will just eat pieces with the tomatoes and cashew cheese taken off…she’s only 3 so what does she know..right? I insist that you all make this pizza. Your taste buds will thank you.
p.s. the cashew cheese is from Ani Phyo’s new book: Raw Food Essentials. I’ll be posting a full review of her new book in a few days!
August 30th, 2010
Summer Rolls
Some people call them Spring Rolls and some call them Summer Rolls (some people even call them Autumn Rolls depending on the season and what ingredients are used inside). To me they are Summer rolls always and forever. Anyway..Summer Rolls! I haven’t had these in ages! Its probably because at one restaurant job of mine I would have to make a ton of these every morning for lunch and dinner service and sometimes I’d have to make even a ton more for a catering job or two or three. That’s a lot of summer roll making and it can get old really fast. So when I went to my friend Jen’s house the other week for a little get together my other friend Jen brought along some rice paper sheets and all the fixings to make our own summer rolls and good lord they were delicious! We (the 3 of us Jennifer’s and 1 Rachel) were devouring them and I knew that I would be making the same summer roll set up for my family really soon.
Fixings
A week later I had my parents and sister up for dinner. One part of that dinner was make your own summer rolls. It went over really well and I think it’s fun to have people interact with food at the dinner table sometimes. For the filling I finely shredded some carrots, zucchini and thinly sliced some swiss chard leaves then placed them all in one bowl to make it easier for everyone to grab what they wanted for their own personal summer rolls.
In separate bowl I served precooked and cold rice noodles and a ginger almond pate. For the pate I used the same recipe that my friend Jen used. Its a Ani Phyo recipe that she saw on one of Ani’s YouTube videos. It is easy to make and it’s delicious. The only thing not shown in any of the photos is the fresh mint that we sprinkled onto the fillings before wrapping them up. I also would serve fresh cilantro leaves as well but unfortunately cilantro didn’t feel like growing in my garden this year so we had to do without.
Fixing’s all piled up just before rolling
I demonstrated to everyone at the dinner table how to make their own summer rolls by soaking a rice paper roll in warm water until just soft, laying it out on a plate and layering a little bit of each ingredient in the center of the wrapper before rolling it up. Once everyone knew what they were doing we all got to it making them ourselves and eating them up! It was so delicious and so much fun that Peter and I had them for lunch again the next day.
These summer rolls would be perfect to bring to a potluck or serve as an appetizer at a party, already filled and rolled, served with a peanut dipping sauce.
August 2nd, 2010
Pecan-Date Truffles (raw)
There has been a few times recently that I needed to make a dessert or snack for a potluck or trip to a friends house. I was always delayed in figuring out what to make and before I knew it I had to leave for the event in less then a half an hour! One option when that happens is just to head to Whole Foods and pick something up. The other option, my favorite, is to make Raw Truffles. From start to finish they take maaaaaaaaybe 10 minutes and what’s even better than that is that I ALWAYS have the ingredients for them. The ones above are made by throwing a handful of raw pecans in a food processor and pulsing them until they are broken down a bit but not too much. I then add about the same amount of pitted medjool dates, a few dashes of cinnamon, a few tablespoons of raw cacao powder and a tablespoon or two of water or juice and blend away until all the ingredients are combined. If it’s not blending well or the ingredients keep getting stuck I just add more water or juice to help get it going again. Once everything is done I take a small cookie scoop and scoop up some of the dough into my hand and roll them into balls and place them into mini cupcake or candy liners that should be ready and waiting on a serving plate. Once all the truffle making is complete cover them with some plastic wrap and stick them in the fridge, taking them out 5 minutes before you are going to serve them. OR if you are anything like me lately just cover them while your running to your car hoping you won’t be too late for the vegan dessert potluck you just made these for!
Now if you have all the time in the world to make these and want to make them extra decadent you can dip them in chocolate and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet tray, stick them in the fridge to set the chocolate and then drop them into individual liners. YUM!
July 31st, 2010
Zucchini Muffins (Vegan Brunch)
When your garden gives you an over abundance of zucchini you have to come up with different ways to use them all up. I’ve been making lots of raw zucchini crackers, shredding them into rice and beans to get extra veggies into Reno and sauteing them all different ways. I’m basically turning into a giant zucchini. The other day I needed to use up some more zucchini and didn’t want to do my usual tricks with them so I opted for Zucchini Muffins. The recipe is from Vegan Brunch and I’m so happy I made them. Peter and Reno were pretty happy too. It was a nice change from our usual breakfast or snack. Easy for Peter to grab one (or two!) on his way out the door to work in the a.m. and then maybe he ate another one on his arrival home. They kept really well for a few days individually wrapped and let in a bowl on our dining room table. Thankfully the cats didn’t try to eat any of them.
On Tuesday I pulled the last of my zucchini out of my garden. Sadly all of my zucchini and acorn squash plants were afflicted with squash vine borers that were killing all the plants. Last year I didn’t get a single zucchini. This year I was able to grow and eat a few dozen of them so even though I won’t have anymore for the rest of the growing season I’m still considering this a success. One of the last zucchini’s I harvested was literally 2 feet long and would feed a Duggar size family. I’m not even kidding the thing is huge so it looks like more zucchini muffins will be coming out of my oven real soon!
July 29th, 2010
Kidney Bean Tacos
I love tacos. I won’t make them for awhile but when I do make them I end up making them a lot. Like a lot a lot. Then all I think about is when will I get my next taco fix. I really really like them.
My favorite filling is the simplest thing in the world, which I also explained in my Taco Burrito post. Its 2 cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed, sauteed in a small bit of oil and then I dump in some taco seasoning mixed with water and cooked until it’s nice and creamy. It is obsessive. I’ll also cooked chopped seitan or a mixture of seitan and beans the same way for taco night.
Lately I’ve been enjoying my tacos in hard shells with some fresh made salsa and slices of avocado. Its perfect summer food.
I’ll be posting another taco post in a few days about Raw Tacos! Which I’m just as obsessed over.
July 27th, 2010
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