You Knew It Was Only a Matter of Time...

I love pizza! It's always a fast way to get dinner on the table, leftovers are tasty, and the possibilities are endless! When it comes to making pizzas, I am a bit of a rebel. Rarely do I make your standard tomato sauce and mozzarella pizza. I am always up for trying unusual and surprising toppings. So I was feeling like pizza last week, but I wasn't feeling particularly creative. I skimmed through allrecipes.com (go figure) and found this Caramelized Onion and Gorgonzola Pizza. To add some veggies to my meal, I paired the pizza with this Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing.

I pretty much followed the recipes exactly, only making small changes here and there and I will note them as I go along. To start out, I slice one large sweet vidalia onion.

After heating a bit of olive oil in a warm skillet I add the entire onion to start the caramelizing process. This takes a total of about 20-25 minutes.

As the onions are doing their thing in the skillet, I have Ronnie spread the pizza crust out on a cookie sheet for a little pre-bake and I start to prepare the salads. To save some time, I did not make the homemade lemon poppyseed dressing the recipe calls for. I used bottled dressing instead - and I have to say it was still a mighty tasty salad!

I top some romaine lettuce with shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, and raisins (I didn't have any dried cranberries on hand - so I figured raisins are an okay substitute!) You'll notice Ronnie's salad in the back - he would never go for all this stuff on his salad (though he would totally eat all of it on it's own - it's a mixing thing possibly)... I guess I am lucky he eats salad at all!

This part isn't in the original recipe, but I felt like the pizza needed some type of base... So I brush a light coating of olive oil on the crust after it comes out of the "pre-baking" stage. I pre-bake my crust for about 6 minutes allowing for a crispier crust in the end!






Once the onions start to brown I add a little over 1 teaspoon of sugar and let the onions cook for a couple more minutes. When I first saw this part, I was like, WHAT!? Sugar? But seriously, it worked out great and I wouldn't skip this part!




I spread the now fully caramelized onions over my pizza crust... Notice Ronnie's corner: onion-free! I laugh with Matt all the time how as Ronnie gets older I am sure I'll be the talk as the mom who makes all the weird food in the neighborhood... Oh well! They don't know what they're missing!




Per some suggestions I read about in the review section of the recipe, I halved the gorgonzola cheese, only topping it with about 4.5 oz. Then I stick it in the oven for about 8 more minutes.

While the pizza is in the oven I chop my pear and apple and add it to the salad!

When the time is up I remove the pizza from the oven. The cheese is nice and melted, the crust is a perfect shade of brown and we are all getting hungry!

Topping the salad with the bottled poppyseed dressing and mixing it all together is my final step before we all dig in! What a tasty meal! Thoughts: The pizza really was fabulous! The taste was very unique BUT the next time I make this I will prepare it for like a party appetizer or snack by cutting it into smaller, easy to handle, squares. It just wasn't satisfying enough to be a meal-type pizza - but Matt and I enjoyed it a lot so I definitely want to make it again, just in a different setting. The salad was AWESOME! Even Matt, who doesn't normally like "fruity" salad or poppyseed dressing, really enjoyed it and asked me to make it again soon!

I start classes up again next week.... I have to be honest and say I am not 100% looking forward to it. I took a break from the early fall term and now I am spoiled again! BUT - we are going to Pittsburgh this weekend to watch Notre Dame (hopefully) kick some Panther butt! Should be a fun weekend! I am making a mock tuna salad for the tailgating. I am excited about that too!

My next post will be a spicy vegan potato curry I have been making for a while now. It is so good and easy, anyone can make curry with this recipe! Get ready for it!

A German Veggie

Along with pizza, Mexican food, and breakfast, another food I LOVE to make are sandwiches. They are versatile and are great for both lunch and dinner! The following dinner consists of a veggie-take on a classic sandwich, the Reuben! Instead of using corn beef, I use tempeh and the results are delicious! My corn beef-loving-fiance still devours this swap-out! Sometimes, depending on how high you stack your sandwich, a fork and knife is necessary to eat this mean-guy! But as Matt always says, the messier the sandwich, the better! I paired the sandwich with some rosemary red potatoes. These are a simple and delicious side that can compliment almost any meal!

I start by scrubbing and quartering the red potatoes. No need to peel the skin for these! I then mix the potatoes with some olive oil.

Next comes the flavor - a simple mixture of a quartered onion, minced garlic, dried rosemary and a bit of salt and pepper. See - I told you it was simple!




I then spread the potato mixture out in a 9x13 pan that has been lined with foil. It makes clean-up so much easier! The potatoes are then placed in the oven for about 40 minutes. *Tip - the smaller you cut your potatoes, the shorter the cooking time will be!*

As the potatoes are cooking in the oven, I begin my work on the Reubens. I took a picture of the tempeh package in case some of you were unaware as to what tempeh is / looks like. Tempeh is a fermented soy bean loaf that has a bit of a nutty taste. You can fry it, bake it, grill it, crumble it, slice it, marinate it - anything your heart desires! It is usually found in the produce section of the grocery store, close to the organics and other "fake meat" products.

As you can see, the tempeh comes in a long block. All I simply do is slice it for this particular recipe. Other times I will crumble it - like when making tacos or a chili.

After everything is sliced, I transfer the tempeh to a Ziploc bag that I fill with about 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Similar to tofu, tempeh will take up whatever flavor you are cooking with and marinating it is especially rewarding. I use soy sauce for this particular sandwich because corn beef has a salty flavor. This makes for an excellent substitute! I let this marinate for about 15 minutes, flipping the bag over every few minutes to evenly distribute the soy sauce.

It is not suggested that you eat raw tempeh, so my next step is to fry it up a bit. It doesn't take long, just a few minutes on each side till it starts to brown.




On my griddle, I start to assemble the sandwiches. I butter one side of some rye bread and place it on the hot griddle (buttered-side down). I then spread some 1000-island dressing onto the bread.

Next up, the marinated and cooked tempeh.




The tempeh then gets topped with a slice of swiss cheese.

And to finish the sandwich off, sauerkraut and a bit more 1000-island dressing. I use canned sauerkraut, it's easy and it all kind of tastes the same to me...




And of course I top the sandwich with another slice of buttered rye bread. I flip the sandwich several times until the bread is browned and everything inside is nice a gooey!

I pull the rosemary red potatoes out, plate them, and slice the sandwiches and dinner is served! As I usually will do, I HIGHLY recommend you try out this normally meaty swap! I think you will be quite surprised by the great flavors! Unfortunately, Ronnie won't eat this sandwich; maybe it's the sauerkraut? I don't know. But otherwise, this sandwich is a regular enjoyment of Matt and myself!

Cool kids BBQ post has been postponed (obviously). As soon as I get everyone's pictures uploaded to my computer - I'll get crackin' on that! Last night I made another tempeh dish that includes BBQ and burritos! I am super-excited to share it as it turned out DELICIOUS! Coming soon! I promise!!!