Vegetarian Archives | Page 8 of 9

Kale and Hazelnut Salad with Sesame-Citrus Vinaigrette Recipe

October 28, 2012

Several months ago I was asked to contribute one of my recipes to a new cookbook. I took a look at the project and I was immediately drawn to the theme – recipes from different regions across the US. I gladly took part by sharing my Banana-Bourbon Scones with Walnuts.

After much anticipation, Country Comfort: Cooking Across America by Mary Elizabeth Roarke and Chef Nicole Roarke became available just a few weeks ago!

This is such a fun cookbook filled with recipes from chefs, bloggers and home cooks across the US, along with delicious recipes and tips from Chef Nicole. The book is split into 5 regions, and each has recipes for main courses, salads, sides and desserts.

This cookbook does not contain photos, and you know how much I love my photo-filled books. But honestly, it was easy for me to overlook. There are so many creative recipes in it that the more I read the more I have to make.

My scones can be found in the Southeast section, and my good friend Andrea’s (of Food Embrace) Summer Corn Chowder and Kale Hash can be found in the Midwest. A few others that caught my eye – Shepherd’s Pie with Herbed Mascarpone Polenta (Northeast), Carolina Sour Cream Pound Cake (Southeast), Chilled Pinot Noir and Door County Cherry Soup (Midwest) and Fingerling Potatoes in Smoked Gouda Cheese Sauce (Northwest).

I was excited to receive my copy last week. I quickly set out to make one of Chef Nicole’s recipes from the Northwest featuring the state nut of Oregon, filberts (hazelnuts). This is the perfect winter salad. The spicy flavor of the fresh ginger in the dressings will warm you right up, while the kale and broccoli feel light and healthy. In addition to this salad, I can think of so many uses for this dressing. I loved it.

A couple notes. The recipe calls for blended oil which is explained more in the cookbook. It’s basically two oils blended (such as soy and olive oils). Blended oil can be purchased or made at home. There are only a few oils I use in our kitchen (olive, virgin coconut and sesame) so I stuck with all olive oil along with the sesame the recipe calls for. And as hard as I try, I just don’t like raisins in anything other than a baked good. I substituted dried cranberries, but I’m sure the golden raisins would be delicious if you enjoy them.

Kale and Hazelnut Salad with Sesame-Citrus Vinaigrette

Reprinted with permission

Serves 2; yields 1 cup dressing

Per her sister Liz’s request for a healthy lunch, Chef Nicole created a salad inspired by Oregon’s state nut, the hazelnut, also known as a filbert.

Dressing

¼ cup sesame oil

½ cup blended oil (see my note above)

Paste from 1 clove garlic

Zest of ½ orange

Zest of ½ lemon

¼ cup segments and juice of 1–2 oranges

½ teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon turmeric

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Salad

1 head kale, washed, ribs removed and discarded, and leaves sliced into bite-sized pieces

1 cup broccoli florets

1⁄8 cup thinly sliced red onion

¼ cup hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

¼ cup golden raisins

Dressing

Combine both oils in a pourable liquid measuring cup, and set aside. Combine the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl. To emulsify the dressing, vigorously whisk the mixture while slowly pouring the oils in a constant, steady stream (see tips on emulsification with Chef Nicole Roarke on YouTube).

Salad

Toss all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Prior to serving, add dressing to taste.

Baked Eggs with Pumpkin and Greens Recipe

October 16, 2012

I love eggs just about any way you can make them. No problems with the taste or texture here, I could eat them at every meal. Over the years my tastes have evolved from scrambled and hard boiled only, to fried, and just recently to poached with rich, runny yolks.

I realized recently that one of the only ways I have yet to make eggs is baking them. It had to be easier than poaching, right?

I had some left over pumpkin puree from roasting a pie pumpkin last week, and my mom brought me some kale from their garden this past weekend. I mixed in a few other ingredients and made this the base for eggs.

No surprise – I now love baked eggs too!

Even if eggs aren’t your thing, this combination makes a great baked side dish. I used kale and bok choy, but any hearty green will work fine

Baked Eggs with Pumpkin and Greens Recipe

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped kale
2 cups chopped bok choy (mostly greens)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 eggs
1 tbsp panko bread crumbs (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 F and lightly grease a small casserole dish with olive oil.

Heat the 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high and add the onion and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes, or just until the onions begin to soften. Add the greens and cook only 60-90 seconds, just until the greens begin to wilt. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Stir in the pumpkin, ricotta cheese, salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to the casserole dish.

Make four small indentations in the pumpkin mixture. One at a time, crack the eggs into the wells you created. Sprinkle the top evenly with the bread crumbs.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the whites are set, but the yolks are soft. Less if you like runny yolks, more if you like your eggs firm. Remove from the oven and serve warm. Makes 4 servings.

Spiced Gooseberry Oat Bars Recipe

September 29, 2012

A few weeks ago, a slight freezer malfunction caused a hiccup in my food storage. All is good now, but there were a few things that managed to completely thaw before I was able to catch them. One of these was the gooseberries that my parents had given me earlier in the summer.

I spent a few days staring at them in the fridge, and then decided that baking was the only answer. (I’ve learned that baking is the answer to a lot of things. I recommend trying it the next time you have a problem.)

I decided that these tart little berries would go great in my favorite oat bars. Since this gave me the opportunity to make the recipe again, I decided I’d experiment with a few other ingredients as well.

I made this batch with virgin coconut oil, which worked great. Keep in mind that this makes them a delicate, crumbly bar; one you will want to eat with a fork and not pack in your snack bag. I also had some gluten-free flour. Since this is a recipe that doesn’t need to rise, I felt it was safe to substitute all the white whole wheat flour for the gluten-free mix. Another winner. (Although, as you probably know if you eat gluten-free, oats are a tricky food. So I won’t be quick to name these 100% gluten-free. But you can easily make yours that way, if you need it.)

With fall finally arriving, I decided to spice this batch up a bit with ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. I loved the way the flavors went with the tart berries. If you can’t get your hands on gooseberries, almost any berry will work. Cranberries and blueberries have been two of my past favorites.

Spiced Gooseberry Oat Bars Recipe

Adapted from Blueberry Oat Bars, Bryant’s Blueberries

1 ¾ old fashioned rolled oats
1 ½ cups flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free All Purpose Baking Flour in this batch)
¾ cup mascavo (muscovado) sugar (or brown sugar)
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¾ cup melted virgin coconut oil

2 cups thawed gooseberries
¾ cup raw sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch or arrow root
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with coconut oil.

In a medium bowl combine the oats, flour, mascavo sugar, walnuts, baking soda and salt. Add the ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Pour in the melted coconut oil and stir to mix well. You should have a crumbly mixture that is wet enough to hold when pressed together. Reserve about ¾ cup of the mixture.

Press the remaining oat mixture into the baking dish. Spread it evenly and press it firmly into the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In a sauce pan combine the gooseberries, and raw sugar (you can add more or less sugar to your taste). Bring to a boil, then simmer, for about 2 minutes. Stir to break up the berries.

In a small dish, stir together the cornstarch, water, and lemon juice to make a paste. Add the paste to the gooseberries and stir until the fruit is thickened. Remove from heat.

Spread the fruit over the oat crust leaving just about a ¼ inch edge on all sides. Crumble the reserved topping evenly over the fruit. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the edges of the crust begin to brown. Cool the pan on a wire rack.

Once cooled completely, cut into bars. Makes about 15 bars.

Smoky Tomato Jam

September 25, 2012

You will never hear me use the word guilt in association with food and eating. Personally, I think it is a damaging word that has shaped our thoughts on eating habits, weight and health for far too long.

That being said, I have one exception.

The garden.

When this time of year rolls around and I see hot peppers so heavy on the plant that they touch the ground, and tomatoes that are ripe, but a little ugly, I start to feel guilty. It’s food, I can’t let it go to waste! And while I’m exhausted from thinking of ways to use it, I just can’t leave it out there to rot, or pull up the plants knowing they have some life left in them.

So with a full freezer, I turned to a little more canning this past week.

First up? Tomato jam.

I’d been entertaining the idea of making tomato jam, most of the summer, but never committed. Then I found a recipe from Food in Jars for Orange Tomato Jam with Smoked Paprika. It was the smoked paprika that got me. I love that stuff!

Smoky Tomato Jam Recipe for summer | FakeFoodFree.com

So I gathered up the last of the tomatoes, and got cooking. Our orange tomato plants are done producing, but I still had Better Boy and San Marzano hanging on. They worked perfectly. I also used dried ginger (half the amount) instead of fresh, and skipped the cayenne simply because I didn’t have any dried on hand.

You can find the recipe on the Food in Jars blog. This jam is the perfect balance of sweet, spicy and smoky. Next year, I will be pulling this recipe out early to get a head start during prime tomato season. Yes, it’s that good.

Smoky Tomato Jam Recipe | FakeFoodFree.com

Homemade Garden Chili Slow Cooker Recipe

September 19, 2012

Chili is one of those foods that I get burned out on by December, but every time the next September rolls around, I’m ready for it all over again. My cravings for it this year started this past week, and they are just about spot on, considering we are moving towards the end of the month.

As you can probably tell from my posts, it has been a great garden year. We are still bringing in more tomatoes than I know what to do with, and I have plenty of frozen veggies from harvests earlier in the summer. With the weather turning cooler here, chili seemed like the ideal way to use them up.

My goal was to use a lot of fresh tomatoes, so this recipe does take some prep work. For me, this is just the kind of thing I enjoy doing on a quiet Sunday. Once it’s all in the slow cooker, it’s low maintenance from there on out.

Feel free to substitute different kinds of vegetables. I’ve been shredding and freezing zucchini all summer, and we also had some sweet corn tucked away in the freezer. Both ended up being a great addition to this chili.

Homemade Garden Chili Slow Cooker Recipe

6 – 8 lbs of tomatoes (you’ll need about 6 cups of sauce)

5 cloves garlic

1 small onion, chopped

2 cups black beans, soaked overnight

2 cups shredded zucchini, thawed if frozen

1 cup sweet corn, thawed if frozen

1 cup water

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp chipotle chili powder

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

2 scotch bonnet peppers (or your favorite hot pepper)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut de-stem and core tomatoes if necessary, and cut in half. (I used a mix of San Marzano, Beefsteak and heirlooms.) Arrange cut side down on a baking sheet with the garlic and drizzle with a little olive oil. In batches, roast for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Add the onion and black beans to your slow cooker. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and place the pulp and the garlic cloves in a blender. Blend in batches until a smooth sauce results. Pour the sauce into the slow cooker. Set to high.

Add the zucchini and corn. Add the water. Stir in the chili powders, cumin, salt and black pepper. Take the scotch bonnet peppers and de-stem them. Cut a small slit in the side of each. Place the whole pepper in the soup. Put on the lid and cook on high for about 4 1/2 hours, or until the beans are tender.

Before serving, remove the two peppers and discard. Serve with your favorite toppings. Makes about 6 servings.

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe

September 16, 2012

This eggplant and black lentil soup recipe is one I came up with after a Kentucky Food Bloggers event at Whole Foods. I’ve used black lentils a lot more since then, but this recipe still remains a favorite for cool summer days and for transitioning into autumn. It’s thickened with eggplant puree and flavored with tahini and garam masala.

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe | Fake Food Free

It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a year since our Kentucky Food Blogger group got together. We attempted all spring and summer, but busy schedules wouldn’t allow us to find a date that would work for more than a couple people.

That changed this past Friday night with the help of Whole Foods Market in Lexington. We were invited out to attend a special edition of their Flights After 5 event. Flights After 5 is a Friday night get-together where 5 beer tastings are matched with 5 appetizers at stations throughout the store. Last Friday Kentucky beers were featured including two of my favorite breweries West Sixth and Lore Brewing.

Several area bloggers joined the staff at Whole Foods as they told us a bit about the work that they do, and about the mission of the store. I will admit that I’m not a 100% Whole Foods shopper, but I do appreciate the products I buy there – grains from the bulk bins, my puffed kamut, and Ataulfo mangos, when they are in season.

I really like that on their website you can find Unacceptable Ingredients for Food and their Meat Animal Welfare Standards. That makes shopping easy. Through my work in agriculture, I’ve come across many local meat producers and fruit and vegetable farmers who supply Whole Foods. The combination of local support and global projects makes me a fan. We also learned that they price match with surrounding competitors, which explains why I’ve always felt that many things at Whole Foods aren’t any more expensive than they are at other area supermarkets.

Along with a little education, good beer and snacks, and great company, we received every food bloggers favorite thing – a goodie bag! They kept our cooking in mind and filled it with several ingredients, perfect for putting together a few new recipes. I was happy to see black lentils in my bag. I’ve used their brand before, and I was excited to create something new with them.

Baba ganoush was one of the appetizer offerings that night so I had eggplant on my mind. Lucky me, we just happen to still have eggplant from the garden.

I had no idea what direction I would go with the soup, but the more I tasted it, the more I felt it needed some Indian influences, which ended up making it a lot like daal. (And I’m definitely not complaining.) Tahini and garam masala came to the rescue, and I added some crushed red pepper for heat. It turned out to be a great way to celebrate the start of comfort soup season!

Roasted Eggplant and Black Lentil Soup Recipe

2015-07-09 08:44:21

Makes: 4 to 6 servings

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Ingredients

6 small eggplants (you need about 1 cup roasted pulp)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons tahini
1 cup black lentils
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
If your eggplant is round, de-stem and cut each in half. Longer Japanese style can be roasted whole. Lightly coat the eggplants with 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil and spread in an even layer, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until pulp is very soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In a soup pot, heat the 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high and add the onion and garlic. Cook over medium to medium-high until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add 4 cups of the stock. (Reserve the remaining 2 cups to add later, if you want a thinner soup.) Simmer for about 3 minutes.
Scoop out the cooled eggplant pulp and transfer it to the soup pot. Use an immersion blender to blend the eggplant, onions and garlic with the stock until smooth.
Add the tahini, and bring the soup to a low boil. Stir in the lentils. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Add the salt, garam masala, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Add more or less of each to taste. Simmer for another minute or two and serve.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

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Voting for the Country Living Blue Ribbon Blogger Awards ends September 17, 2012! Fake Food Free is a finalist! If you enjoy my blog, I’d truly appreciate your vote for Reader’s Choice. You can vote here, no sign in or registration required.

Disclosure: Some products in this recipe were given to me free of charge from Whole Foods Market. I was not required to post about them and received no compensation for doing so. Thoughts here are my own.

Thanks for reading! All images and content are the property of Fake Food Free unless otherwise stated. Please do not republish full recipes and images without written permission. What is okay? Feel free to Pin images, share links to my posts or share the photo in a round up post with the title of this recipe and a link back to the post. Confused about copyright and food blogs? Here is some helpful information on Recipe Attribution. If you want to use a photo or full recipe, just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.

Grilled Marinara Pasta Recipe

August 12, 2012

This recipe is one of the most creative things we’ve made on the grill. Grilling tomatoes in packets and then turning those tomatoes into marinara results in a unforgettable smoky sauce.

Grilled Tomato Marinara Sauce | Fake Food Free

We’ve been making grill packets all summer so when I was thinking of how I could put a twist on a classic tomato sauce, they were the first thing to come to mind. Packets of potatoes, onions, peppers and summer squash work on the grill, so why wouldn’t tomatoes, right?

I have to admit when I got all the grilled veggies pureed and took a taste, I was disappointed. The flavor I wanted just wasn’t there.

But then I added salt.

The next bite popped in my mouth! The salt brought out the smoky flavor from the grill which is exactly what I was hoping for.

A few packets of tomato may not be enough for heating up a large grill, but this marinara is the perfect thing to make when you have the grill up and running for other things. (We grilled ours while making a chicken this weekend.) Then you can quickly throw the sauce together and freeze it for another day, if it doesn’t fit on your current menu.

Grill packets with tomatoes for marinara.

This ends up being a basic marinara for any type of pasta. I am a huge fan of homemade, but I went for a quick meal this weekend and used a whole wheat penne.

The veggies only need to be roughly chopped for the grill packets. They’ll be going straight to the blender to puree so there is no reason to spend a lot of time on the prep.

I’ll be doing this with our tomatoes for the rest of the season! The flavor is so much more interesting than when I roast the veggies in the oven.

Grilled Tomato Marinara Pasta Recipe

2015-07-22 23:01:38

Makes: 4 to 6 servings

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Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
~2.75 lbs. tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 red or green bell pepper, cored and chopped
~15 leaves fresh basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon fine ground sea salt
1 lb. pasta, cooked
Extra basil and shaved parmesan for serving

Instructions

Preheat the grill to 325 degrees F.
You will need 3 large pieces of aluminum foil, about 14 to 16 inches long. You want the veggies wrapped well, so be generous.
Divide the onion, garlic cloves, tomatoes, bell pepper and basil evenly on each of the three pieces of foil. Drizzle some of the olive oil over the vegetables in each packet and move the veggies around a bit to coat them.
You can use any packet making techniques, but I fold the long sides in first. Then I pull the two ends together in the center to meet and roll them down, smashing things together as I go. As long as you have a sealed packet, you'll be fine. Need help? Here's a post with instructions.
Place the packets on the grill, and close the lid. Let cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until the veggies are tender. Remove them from the grill and transport them into the kitchen.
Once they are cool enough to touch, place the veggies in the blender in batches. Puree until smooth and pour the puree in a soup pot on the stove. Turn on low heat, and add the balsamic vinegar and the salt. Stir occasionally. You are only warming the sauce again until you are ready to eat it. (If you plan to freeze it, you can skip the heating, mix in the vinegar and salt and portion it for freezing.)
Place the pasta in a serving bowl. Pour the sauce over pasta, and garnish with basil and parmesan cheese.

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

Thanks for reading! All images and content are the property of Fake Food Free unless otherwise stated. Please do not republish full recipes and images without written permission. What is okay? Feel free to Pin images, share links to my posts or share the photo in a round up post with the title of this recipe and a link back to the post. If you want to use a photo or full recipe, just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.

Honey Peach and Tomato Black Rice Salad Recipe

July 31, 2012

Don’t let this combination of ingredients scare you! This black rice salad is full of sweet and savory flavors that uses some of my favorite produce of the summer season!

Honey Peach and Tomato Black Rice Salad Recipe | FakeFoodFree.com

If I had to pick my favorite kind of rice it would be sticky rice. Although, black rice, also known as Forbidden rice, comes in a close second.

The idea of even having a favorite variety seems a bit crazy to me considering that five years ago I only knew of two kinds – white and brown. That’s what a little travel and food blogging will do for you. If nothing else, it opens you up to the world of rice.

Rice at a market in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Jasmine, basmati, glutinous, purple glutinous – and those are just a handful of the varieties I’ve been exposed to the past few years. Black rice really stands out among the crowd because of its purple color, and aromatic, nutty flavor.

A sweet and savory snack or side recipe with black rice, peaches, and tomatoes in a honey dressing!

I’ve had some sitting in the pantry for a while, and I finally cooked it up this past weekend. Since, for me, summer is the season for cold grain salads I thought I’d give it a try with some local fruits.

A natural, savory and sweet snack recipe made with black black rice, peaches, and tomatoes in a honey dressing. At FakeFoodFree.com

I matched up the peaches from the farmer’s market with some of the yellow tomatoes that are growing like wildfire in our garden. The nutty rice called for something a little tangy and sweet as the dressing so a little lemon juice and honey did the trick.

Honey Peach and Tomato Black Rice Salad

2018-06-14 11:36:38

Serves 4 to 6

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Ingredients

1 ½ cups chopped peaches
½ cup chopped yellow or orange tomato
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
2 cups cooked black rice, cooled
2 tablespoons honey
Juice of ½ a lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

In a medium bowl, stir together the peaches, tomato, onion, and black rice. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, lemon juice, olive oil and salt.
Pour the dressing over the black rice salad and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

Honey Peach and Tomato Black Rice Salad Recipe

Coconut Zucchini Pumpkin Pancake Recipe

July 29, 2012

Zucchini in the garden; pumpkin in the freezer.

That’s the current situation at our house.

I went a little crazy with the pumpkin purchases last fall, and now the frozen puree is waiting to be used. With all the tomatoes, peppers and summer squash going wild in the garden, the pumpkin needs to move over so we can create more room in the freezer.

Summer squash and winter squash? It can work, and these pancakes are proved it to me. They are soft and tender with just a hint of that fall flavor that will be in full swing in a few months.

They just happened to end up being vegan if that is your thing, but my husband kindly pointed out that the bacon I served with ours was not. I do like mine with bacon.

And I definitely think these count as having vegetables for breakfast!

Coconut Zucchini Pumpkin Pancakes

2014-10-03 09:24:25

Yields 10

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Ingredients

3/4 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (*very thin)
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp mascavo sugar
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup white whole wheat flour
Toasted, unsweetened coconut for serving

Instructions

In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together the coconut milk and pumpkin. Add the zucchini.
Next stir in the baking powder, salt, sugar, ginger and cinnamon. Fold in the flour just until all ingredients are combined.
Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter onto a heated non-stick griddle for each pancake. Cook pancakes 1-2 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned and cooked through. Garnish with toasted coconut before serving.

Notes

*I used fresh pumpkin puree from previously frozen so my puree was very thin. If you are using a thicker puree, or a different type of flour, you made need to adjust things to reach the right pancake batter consistency.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/

Tex Mex Poblano Eggplant Pizza Recipe

July 18, 2012

Whenever we have a garden, I always grow some variety of eggplant. Then once it’s ready for harvest, I wonder what to do with it! This is eggplant pizza recipe is one I came up with a few years ago and it remains a favorite.

Tex Mex Poblano Eggplant Pizza Recipe | Fake Food Free

Unlike some other veggies in the garden, we aren’t bombarded with eggplant, but we do have enough to cook up a few meals. The type we bought this year is a purple eggplant that is small and round, as opposed to the long Japanese-style we’ve had in years past. Their size reminds me of pepperoni when they are sliced so I guess that is why I thought to use them on pizza.

For this pizza, I used my favorite crust from Food Embrace, this time with whole wheat flour and corn meal. The spicy beans take the place of the sauce. I had white beans to use up, but pinto or black would work great too.

Once the pizza is out of the oven you can garnish it with all kinds of fresh colorful ingredients. I used romaine lettuce, purple cabbage and diced tomato.

Tex Mex Poblano Eggplant Pizza

2015-07-09 08:15:43

Makes: 3 to 4 servings

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Ingredients

3 Poblano peppers, halved and seeds removed
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ cup cooked black, white or pinto beans
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
1, 14-inch pizza crust, rolled thin
3 small or mini eggplants, sliced
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Shredded ettuce, sliced purple cabbage and diced tomatoes for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet, cut side down. Add the onions and garlic cloves to the baking sheet. Drizzle with about a ½ tablespoon of olive oil, and rub over the vegetables. Roast the vegetables in the oven for about 20 minutes, and then set aside to cool.
Add the beans to the bowl of a food processor. Remove any burnt or separated skin from the peppers, and add the roasted peppers, onions and garlic to the beans. Add the salt, cumin, chipotle powder, crushed red pepper and remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Pulse on high until a smooth paste is formed.
Spread the bean paste over your pizza crust. Lay the eggplant slices in a single layer evenly over the beans. Sprinkle with the cheeses.
Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the edges of the crust begin to brown and the cheese is bubbly.
Top with shredded lettuce, cabbage and diced tomatoes before serving.

By Lori Rice

Fake Food Free https://www.fakefoodfree.com/