Homemade Organic Pizza

Homemade Pizza with Vegan Cheese, Asparagus, Arugula and Heirloom Tomatoes.

Nothing like saying "Would you like to try my Homemade Organic Pizza made entirely from scratch that just came out of the oven?". Or is it just me who gets an enormous sense of self-pride in saying things like that? I guess some people would much rather hear that sentence right as they walk into your kitchen...
Either way, this pizza turned out great and I thought I should share the recipe. The whole preparation and making took about 2 hours, but only because the dough has to rise, so it isn't labor intensive at all.

Pizza Dough Ingredients (Make it Organic like me by using all ingredients organic...)
- 3 cups unbleached flour (could be bread flour) + more for kneading
- 1 cup Warm Water
- 1 envelope Active Dry Yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar (to help activate yeast)
- 1 tp salt
- 1 tbp olive oil + more for brushing dough

Start by mixing the yeast in the cup of warm water with the sugar. Wait about 5 minutes and check to see if it created a foam layer on the top. If this did not happen, discard it (you will need to try again with a new packet of yeast).

In a large bowl mix the 3 cups flour and salt. In the center, create a depression and pour in the oil and foamy yeast mixture. Gently stir, slowly incorporating flour from the sides of the bowl.  
As soon as dough starts to take a firm "doughey" shape, turn it out on a floured counter top, or large cutting board and  knead for about 5 minutes while also gradually adding about 1/4 cup flour.

Best way to knead is by using the heels of you hands to push dough away from you, and then folding it back in half, shift it a quarter angle and repeat.

After you've added the flour, continue to knead for another 10 minutes. The dough will become a little shiny and smooth. (It might stick a little to the board but don't continue to add more flour at this point, use a knife to scrape dough off the board and incorporate it back)

Form a ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Spray or brush dough ball with oil and cover bowl with a plastic wrap or moist towel. Let stand for 1 1/2 h or until it's doubled in size.
Once it's risen, squeeze the dough down.

If you are going to use the entire dough, you may start to roll it on a floured board to your desired thickness. If you want to save half for tomorrow you can wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for maximum 24hs. OR, you can freeze it for up to 2 months, also in a tightly wrapped plastic.

I rolled my dough with a large water glass.  You may use a wine bottle as well, if you don't happen to have a dough roller lying around.

Assembling and Baking:

Preheat oven to 450-500F.
Once dough is rolled out place it on a cooking sheet or pizza pan and spread the tomato sauce and all other ingredients you may be using.
Bake Pizza for about 10 minutes, but start checking after 5 minutes since ovens can be tricky.


 Enjoy!

 

More Arugula, Please.

(Eruca vesicaria)

Arugula is now in season!!! 

Tangy and peppery, Arugula is a great leaf to use in salads throughout spring and summer.  It goes well with light lemony dressings and especially well with avocado, yum. 

Aside from having a great distinctive taste, arugula has many important properties that improve overall health. It contains vitamins A, C, K, Iron, Potassium, Calcium and Manganese. (complete nutritional info)


Arugula has also been known for centuries for containing aphrodisiac properties. Additionally, its yin, alkaline and bitter properties, support energy and have a positive effect on the liver and blood according to ancient Asian traditions.

Will be posting some arugula recipes soon!

Reference

     Pitchford, P (2002). Healing with Whole Foods. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. www.healingwithwholefoods.com.

eating pretty flowers

by Cathy Wilkinson Barash, April/May 1998

by Cathy Wilkinson Barash

from chefsblade.monster.com

Cathy Wilkinson Barash - Edible Flowers: From Garden to Palate

from Kathy Brown

Another Vegan Breakfast !

My breakfast this morning consisted of tofu "egg salad", homemade sesame bread, soy chorizo and a kiwi! Yum!!

"Liver" Pate (Vegan)

Ingredients:

- 8oz Tempeh package
- 1/4 -1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 cup chopped Onion
- 1 chopped stalk Celery
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 cup Button or Portabella Mushrooms (I used marinated mushrooms)
- 1-2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Pinot Noir or other not-too-sweet red wine
- 4 tbsp Butter (Earth Balance butter substitute in my case)


Seasonings I used:
- 1 tp Salt
- Black Pepper to taste


Sautee in medium-hig heat the onion and garlic in butter for a couple of minutes, then add celery, mushrooms, walnuts and tempeh. Let tempeh lightly brown and add the 3 tbsp red wine. The wine should reduce almost immediately, continue to stir and add the soy sauce, and seasonings.

Turn off the heat and let it sit covered until it cools a little so that you can blend it in the food processor. * I used a blender and it was really difficult to get the whole mix into a paste, I had some big pieces of celery and walnuts here and there.
Take the mixture to the food processor and add at this point the Tahini sauce, if using. Blend until it becomes a light brown paste.

Place it in plastic wraps to make logs (like mine), or put it in small containers with covers. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or until cold before  serving.

Enjoy!

Amaranth Breakfast

This one is pretty simple to make:

-1 cup Amaranth Seeds
-3 cups water

- Vanilla Almong milk or other milk substitute
- Fruits, nuts, cinnamon, natural sweetener, etc

Bring to a boil in high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high, pan covered with a lid, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Once grains are soft like cooked rice, you may want to store a portion of it for your next couple breakfasts.I prefer mine cold, which makes it more practical, but I'm sure it's also great if served hot.

Mix a couple spoonfuls of the cooked amaranth with a 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk, or to your liking. You can add whatever sweetener you prefer but I don't even think it's necessary with the vanilla milk being already a little sweet..

Amaranth - Superfood for All, Gold for Vegans

Shopping for Quinoa the other day, I noticed the "Amaranth Seed" package sitting right next to it. So I decided to give it a try.

I came home and proceeded to make my breakfast as I was going to, with quinoa (I make something similar to oatmeal, except I use quinoa, or now, amaranth seeds).

The result was even better than I thought, I think I even prefer the amaranth taste over quinoa.

Later on, as I was doing some research on other properties amaranth might have I discovered this is a Superfood. So here are some of my surprising findings!

        

Protein:

Amaranth          16g 

Whole Milk         3g

Yogurt                 3g

Eggs                   3g

Rice                    7g

Tofu                     8g

Cottage Cheese  14g

Beef                    17g

Quinoa                17g

Calcium:

                    Amaranth            222mg

Cottage Cheese   60mg

Tofu                      100mg

Milk                      119mg

Yogurt                  121mg

Quinoa                 141mg

Other Facts:

• It's Gluten Free!
• Contains lignins and other factors that inhibit Candida growth;
• Removes arterial residues of fat and cholesterol because it contains Niacin and Vitamin E;
• Dried, powdered sprouts of amaranth are used in Mexico as baby food because of its high calcium content (higher than milk!);
• In Asian herbal and dietary traditions, the "sweet and bitter" quality of amaranth, amongst other grains, is helpful in long-term weight reduction because of it's Yin (deficiency) quality, that balances out one's Yang (excess) quality. It also suggests that its bitterness can heal a stagnant and swollen liver.

I am surprised that this seed isn't as popular as its sister-grain Quinoa. It is undeniably a great way to supplement a healthy diet with more than the suggested daily amount we need of Protein and amino acids, including hard-to-get Lysine, and minerals like Calcium and Magnesium that are so important especially for women and children.
I have a few more recipes with Amaranth I want to try, like: Amaranth Flour Tortillas, and Amaranth Suffle.. Yesss!

Recipes: Alegrias (Mexican Candy), Tabuli (Coming Soon!), Breakfast Amaranth

References

• Pitchford, P (2002). Healing with Whole Foods. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. www.healingwithwholefoods.com.
  

• www.traditionaloven.com/tutorials/l-lysine_amino_acid.html

• Helena Kloosterman; USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. "Essential Amino Acids Search, amaranth". Retrieved 2010-10-10.
• www.livestrong.com