Vegan Potato Pizza

I was looking at my cookbook collection and I realized that I have made a big progression over the years in selecting cookbooks. I bought cookbooks from places you wouldn’t even think to look for books. The first cookbook I bought “Indian cooking” was from Costco and it has very limited vegetarian recipes. I remember just glancing at the book cover and the next thing you know; book was home, didn’t even bother to see what was in the book. My next cookbook was from “Marshalls” and the same thing happened again.

I collected quite a few books that have not much use to me as they have minimum vegetarian recipes. But with time I realized (and a nice little discussion with my DH) that I’m amassing all these book to gather dust and that’s when I started to research a little bit before actually buying (and if you want to know, the last 4 cookbooks I bought were from amazon). I bought all of Isa Chandra’s vegan cookbook collection recently and I’m very very happy with all 3 of them.

I also have to mention about the great library that I have in town; it is a part of a co-operative library system and if my local library doesn’t carry a particular book (which is 9 out of 10 times), they can borrow it for me from any of the 75 other libraries… how cool is that!!! I might have borrowed about 25 books till now using this (or should I say misusing this). If I think I like the book and I should have it, then I buy on amazon. Its been working great for me.

So now coming to the recipe, this is my entry to Vaishali’s (@ Holy Cow-Earth Vegan) Vegan-Italian event. Recipe is from Isa’s Vegan With a Vengeance (VWaV) and has two very unusual pizza toppings: Potato and Tempeh crumbles.
And what do you know Pillsbury Pizza Crust is vegan; and I had Bertolli’s tomato and basil pasta sauce on hand; that cut my prep to practically nothing. I changed the recipe just a little bit since I didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand, but both DH and I liked the pizza very much.

Ingredients:
Pizza Crust – 1, homemade or store-bought (I used Pillsbury brand)
Potato – 1 medium, thinly sliced
Tempeh crumbles* – 3 tbsp (Recipe follows)
Pizza sauce – 1/3 cup
Garlic – 3 cloves, thinly sliced
Onion – 1 small, thinly sliced
Olive oil – for brushing
Method:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
  
• Rinse potato slices until the water runs clear, 2-3 times to remove any excess starch.
  
• Roll out the dough onto a pizza stone or foil covered baking sheet.
• Spread the tomato sauce with the back of a big spoon on the crust. As per Isa you should still be able to see some of the crust through the sauce-otherwise pizza might get soggy, so that’s what I did.
  
• Scatter all the other ingredients on the crust making sure that potatoes and onions lay flat for even cooking. Drizzle little olive oil on potato, onion and garlic to make sure that they don’t dry out in the oven.
  
• Bake in the oven and check after 8 minutes. Once the crust is lightly browned the pizza is ready, takes about 12-14 minutes.
  
• Remove and let cool before enjoying this unique pizza.
  

Tempeh Crumbles:
Ingredients:
Tempeh – 1 pk, any variety
Fennel Seeds – 1 tbsp
Dried Basil – 1tsp
Dried Oregano or marjoram – 1tsp
Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
Soy sauce or Tamari – 2tbsp
Olive oil – 1tbsp
Lemon juice – 1tbsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• In a small pan, crumble tempeh; add enough water to almost cover it. Over medium-high heat, simmer until most of the water evaporates; about 12-15 minutes.
  
• Drain remaining water; add the rest of the ingredients and cook on medium heat stirring occasionally till lightly browned; about 10 minutes.

Les Recettes pour A.W.E.D France

I took French classes for almost 5 years long long long time ago and don't remember a whole lot now, except for a few words here and there. My only aim was to get a passing grade and get over with it. I struggled to understand why the French had to have genders for every "thing". But now that I think about it, may be I should have paid attention in the class; knowing a second language is such a plus nowadays.

So for this month's A.W.E.D DK @ Culinary Bazaar chose French. My entries are Crunchy Croque Provencal and "French" fries.


Crunchy Croque Provencal:

This recipe is from vegetarian times magazine. Traditionally a Croque sandwich is a hot grilled sandwich made with ham and cheese. This vegetarian version is baked and has tomatoes & onions along with cheese. I made some changes to the recipe since I didn't have some of the ingredients on hand. Click here for the original recipe.

Adapted from Vegetarian Times magazine.
Ingredients:
Rosemary & Olive bread (or French bread) - 4 slices
Coarse-grain mustard - 1 tbsp
Reduced fat Cheddar cheese - 4 slices
Red onion - 2 thin slices, rings separated
Tomatoes - 4 thin slics
Egg - 1, beaten
1% Milk - 1/4 cup
Method:

• Preheat oven to 450F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Spread mustard over 2 bread slices. Top each slice with cheese, 1 onion ring, 2 tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper. Top with remaining bread slices.
• Whisk together milk and egg in shallow dish. Season with salt and pepper. Soak both sides of the sandwiches in the milk mixture until liquid is absorbed.
• Transfer sandwiches to prepared baking sheet, and bake 10 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

These turned out to be one of the tastiest sandwiches I ever had and with my Sweet Potato "French" fries made it a complete meal.

Sweet Potato "French" Fries:

These fries have become my absolute favorite. These are baked instead of fried; they are sweet and savory at the same time which makes them irrestitable. My sweet potato hating husband also likes them. They can be flavored in many different ways, for the french themed fries, I added 'herb de provence'.

Ingredients:
Sweet Potato - 1 medium
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Herb de provence - 1 tsp
Salt & pepper - to taste

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450F.
  
• Cut sweet potato into thin slices.
  
• Add oil, herbs, salt and pepper into a bowl. Add the potato slices, toss around to coat.
• Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet (covered with foil for easy clean up) and bake for 15-20 minutes.

These are not as crunchy as regular potato fries, but they are much more nutritious and delicious.

Potato Quesadillas

This is my entry to Recipes for the Rest of Us-Dinner being hosted by lovely Siri @ Siri’s Corner. This event is started by Ramki @ One Page cookbook and the rules say that the recipe should be easy enough for a 10 year old to make.

I’m sure almost all 10 year olds like potato (I sure did and my DH says he could eat potato everyday even now, so I can imagine how he was when he was 10 J) and they would want these for themselves.

Coming to the recipe, its nothing but spicy aloo bhaji tucked in a tortilla (roti) with lots of cheese.

Ingredients:

Potatoes – 1 medium, cubed

Onions – ½ small, chopped

Red chili powder – a little bit or a lot (depending on how spicy you like)

Garam masala – to your taste

Salt- to your taste

Cheese – you 2 handfuls

Tortillas – 2 (I used sundried tomato-basil flavored, but any flavored tortilla would work. Chapati/ Roti would be great too)

Method:

• First make aloo cury: Heat few drops of oil in a pan, add onions and potatoes; sauté till onions are tender, will take around 5 minutes.
• Add a small glass of water, cover and cook on medium-low flame till potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Add chili powder, garam masala and salt; mix well and keep aside.
  
• To make the quesadillas: Heat a griddle or tawa on medium heat; spray with non-stick cooking spray; add the tortilla and let it brown a little bit on one side; then flip. Add palmful cheese on half the tortilla, and then add half potato curry then another palmful cheese. Fold tortilla in half and press lightly with a spatula, so the cheese melts and sticks. Flip and cook on the other side till brown spots appear. Remove and let cool** for at least 5 minutes and then cut into wedges.

** If the quesadillas are cut when the cheese is still hot, then the cheese oozes out.

Sweet Potato Soup

My 16 month toddler has just started to get used to real food (not that bland baby food anymore.. yay), he keeps me thinking of what new to make for him. Wholesome baby food website has been very helpful for me with lot of recipes and nutritional information.

I try to feed him the same food that we eat except when I think it is too spicy for him to handle. For cases like that I make a little extra of some of the dishes and freeze for later use. This is one of those recipes that freezes extremely well and comes in handy when needed. This soup is full of yummy veggies-sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and leeks.

Ingredients:
Sweet potatoes – 2 medium, peeled and chopped
Carrots – 1 medium, peeled and chopped
Leek – 1 medium, chopped and cleaned (see how to here)
Parsnip – 1 medium, peeled and chopped
Onion – 1 medium, chopped
Bay leaf – 2
Chili powder – ½ tsp (or to taste)
Brown sugar – ½ tsp (or to taste)
Vegetable Broth (preferably low-sodium)/ Water – 3 cups
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Heat 2 tsp oil in a medium sauce pan; add all the veggies and bay leaf with a pinch of salt. Let the veggies sweat for 10-12 minutes on medium flame.
• Add water/ broth, cumin powder, chili powder & brown sugar; bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
• Puree into smooth consistency either in a blender or immersion blender. Pour back into the pan, add half & half, season with salt and pepper; simmer for 3 more minutes. Serve warm.
• To freeze: After the soup is completely cool, pour into ice cube trays; cover with plastic wrap and freeze until set. Once frozen, transfer them into freezer safe plastic bags and use within 3 months.

This is my very Orange entry to Aparna’s @ My Diverse Kitchen “Food in Colors-Orange”, an event started by Sunshinemom @ Tongue Ticklers.