Chicken Pesto Pizza

Ok, I know I've already posted two pizzas, but it's one of my favorite foods.  This version was incredibly tasty.  Instead of summer squash, you could use a range of different veggies like tomato slices, zucchini, or broccoli, but having the extra veggie there helps cut some of the strong flavors in this pizza.

Ingredients

For the Chicken

1 large free-range organic chicken breast, cut into chunks

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp chicken seasoning

For the Pesto

1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

3 tbsp pine nuts

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the Pizza

1/2 batch of the dough recipe from here

1/2 cup grated italian cheese, I use the "Quattro Fromaggio" mix from Trader Joes

2 small summer squash, finely sliced

1 small yellow onion, cut in half and finely sliced

Method

1.  Combine all of the ingredients for the chicken into a zip lock bag, mix well, and allow to sit at room temperature for at least an hour.

2.  Put all of the ingredients for the pesto into a blender and pulse until mixed.  You may have to stir the ingredients around inside the blender to ensure all the basil leaves get mixed in.

3.  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a nonstick pan at medium heat and add the marinated chicken.  Stir occasionally.  When the pieces are colored on all sides, remove from heat.

4.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Stretch out the dough using the technique detailed here.

5.  Spread some pesto onto the dough with the back of a spoon, leaving a 1/2" border on all sides.  I ended up using about half of the pesto, leaving extra for another day.

6.  Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the pesto.

7.  Arrange the summer squash slices over the cheese.

8.  Add the chicken slices.  I aimed to place them between the summer squash slices.

9.  Sprinkle the onion pieces over the top.

10.  Cook the pizza for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then switch the oven to broil and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes.

11.  Wait for 5-10 minutes before cutting the pizza.  Enjoy!

CSA Box #7

I'm pretty excited about the green peppers and eggplant this week.  Salad mix is also a really nice change from lettuce.  Yum!

This week's box contains:


Beets

Baby Bok Choi

Carrots

Eggplant

Green Kale

Two Bags of Salad Mix

Green Peppers

Green Chard

Peaches

Some Fun Veggie Ideas

Here are photos and descriptions of things I made before my trip to France.  Unfortunately, I can't remember exactly how I did any of this stuff, so no recipes.




Easy Zaatar-Style Flatbread

I took the leftover dough half from making this pizza out of the fridge and divided it into two halves, then left each on a floured surface for about 30 minutes to warm to room temperature.  I heated a large cast iron pan with some olive oil, then stretched out each dough and put one at a time into the hot pan.  I then sprinkled the surface with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dry thyme, salt, pepper, and more olive oil.  Flip it after one side is cooked, most of the spices should stay on the bread.  When it's cooked, remove from pan, let it cool for a few minutes, and enjoy!




Veggie Stir-Fry

I heated a nonstick pan and fried up some onions, then added zucchini.  After, I added leftover roasted new potatoes and fennel, plus some chopped collard greens.  The fennel had such a nice flavor that this didn't need much additional spice.  Yum.




Baked Polenta with Chard, Mushrooms, and Cheese

I more or less followed this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Baked-Polenta-with-Swiss-Chard-and-Cheese-107270, except I used 1.5x the amount of polenta cooked in chicken broth, as well as added baby bella mushrooms.  The result was a bit bland, so I'd add a significant amount of fresh herbs next time.  I'm thinking thyme or oregano would work particularly well.

CSA Box #6

After taking a fantastic two week long trip to France, I've gotten a bit behind on posting.  Here's the box I received last week:

Last week's box contained:

Basil

Green Cabbage

Cucumbers

Red Chard

Red Oak Lettuce

Onions

Curly Parsley

Summer Squash

Sweet Corn

Peaches

CSA Box #5

The box is getting heavier and heavier, but also more varied.  I can't wait to try the cucumbers and carrots in  this week's harvest.  Also, currants are a berry I'm less familiar, so it will be fun to try something new.  They do seem a bit tart for eating raw, however.

This week's box contains:


Carrots

Cucumbers

Green Chard

Red Boston Lettuce

Spring Onions

Raddichio

Zucchini

Beets

Collards

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce

Currants

Goat Cheese and Zucchini Pizza

After posting about the zucchini bread on Facebook, a friend suggested I try this interesting looking pizza recipe with the rest of the zucchini.  I happened to have all the ingredients for this in the kitchen, so it seemed like a real no brainer.  This was quite possible the best pizza I've ever made.  The crust was crispy and tasty, and the goat cheese and zucchini were a heavenly combination.  There's no question that I'll make this again.  And I wouldn't change a thing, since it is amazing as is.

Adapted from: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/lemony-zucchini-goat-cheese-pizza/

Ingredients

1 batch of the pizza dough recipe detailed here, but I used only half of the dough for this pie
Juice of 1/2 lemon
6 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

Small handful fresh basil, finely chopped
3 small zucchinis, sliced as finely as possible
1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2.  Stretch out the pizza dough as described here and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper that is sprinkled with flour.

3.  In a bowl, mix together the goat cheese, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper.  I used a fork to get this mixture nice and smooth.

4.  Spread the goat cheese mixture over the stretch pizza dough using a plastic spatula.  Leave about 1/2 inch of dough around the edges to form the pizza crust.

5.  Sprinkle the basil over the goat cheese.

6.  Arrange the zucchini slices over the goat cheese and basil so that the slices overlap slightly and the cheese is completely covered.

7.  Drizzle olive oil over the top and sprinkle with the rest of the salt and pepper.

8.  Bake pizza at 450 degrees for 12 minutes.  Then turn the broiler to high and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

9.  Wait 5-10 minutes before slicing.  Enjoy!

Open-Faced Breakfast Sandwiches

I adore eating eggs in the morning, and this has been true for a very long time.  I have perfected the art of cooking an egg over medium, and particularly enjoy eating this in the form of an open-faced sandwich.  This time, I wanted to try adding some of the CSA kale to the sandwich, as well as some of the beautiful farmstand tomatoes that Seth got from his aunt in upstate New York.  One of the best parts about eating a breakfast like this is that it keeps you full for a long time!

Ingredients

4 slices multigrain or other favorite bread
8 small slices extra sharp cheddar cheese
4-5 large leaves of curly kale, stems removed and coarsely chopped
1 medium tomato, sliced into 1/3" slices
4 eggs
1/2 tbsp salted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt or more to taste
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Method

1.  In a large nonstick pan, heat the olive oil at medium high heat.  Add the kale, salt, and pepper.  Mix occasionally.  Cook until the kale has wilted.


2.  Toast the bread until slightly browned but still soft


3.  Heat a separate nonstick pan to medium high heat.  Add the butter and spread over the bottom of the pan.


4.  Crack the eggs into the pan with the butter.  Try to get the eggs towards the edges of the pan so they don't overlap much.


5.  When the egg whites have set but the yellows are still runny, carefully separate the eggs from each other and flip each egg.  As soon as all 4 eggs are flipped, turn off the heat but leave the pan on the hot burner.


6.  Place 2 slices of cheese on top of each piece of toast.  Spoon the kale evenly over the cheese.  Place the tomato slices over the kale. Top each piece of bread with one egg.

Enjoy!

Lebanese Feast: Tabouli and Mjeddrah

I wanted to make a cheap, delicious, and hearty meal to bring on a long drive to upstate New York.  Food options along a highway are generally pretty grim, so we packed the car with wonderful food to eat on the way.  In addition to this Lebanese feast, I packed some slices of zucchini bread, blueberries, and red grapes.  Yum!  The tabouli was also a great way to use up all of that gorgeous curly parsley.  Next time, I would want to use a food processor to chop the parsley up smaller.

Ingredients

For the Tabouli

2 cups bulghur wheat
2 cups boiling water
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
The green parts of 8 spring onions, sliced
1/2 cup fresh mint, stems removed and finely chopped
1 large bunch curly parsley, stems removed and chopped as finely as possible

Juice of 2 fresh lemons (about 1/2 cup juice)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

2 tsp salt

For the Mjeddrah

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed

1 cup brown basmati rice, rinsed

5 cups water

2 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

The white parts of 8 spring onions, finely chopped

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Method

For the Tabouli

1.  Mix together the bulghur wheat and boiling water in a small heatproof bowl and cover for about 30 minutes until completely soaked.

2.  In a large bowl, mix together the cucumber, tomato, spring onions, mint, and parsley.

3.  Add the soaked bulghur wheat and mix well.

4.  Add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and mix well.

5.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.

For the Mjeddrah

1.  Add the water and 1 tsp salt to a covered saucepan and heat on high.

2.  When the water is boiling, add the lentils and rice, then replace cover and turn the heat to low to allow mixture to simmer.  Simmer this mixture for 45 min.

3.  Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan at medium heat.  

4.  When the oil is hot, add the onions and stir occasionally.  The onions will be best if cooked low and slow for a long time until browned evenly.  They will take at least 20 minutes to cook, but better if cooked longer.

5.  When the lentil/rice mixture is finished, add the cooked onions, pepper, cumin, and remaining salt. Stir well.  Enjoy hot or at room temperature.

I served the tabouli over the mjeddrah. 

Zucchini Bread

Ok, so there were a ton of zucchinis in my CSA box this week, 11 to be exact.  It's a veggie that I really enjoy, but I've never had so many at once.  2 of the zucchinis ended up here, 2 of them went to Seth, leaving another 7 to use.  So, I decided to try my hand at zucchini bread.  The best part of doing a recipe like this is that I tend to keep all the necessary ingredients on hand, so it's an easy thing to do on the fly.  The recipe I found seemed to have a lot of sugar, so I did dial it down a bit. Since the bread still tastes a bit too sweet, I should have reduced it a bit more.  I'd suggest 3/4-1 cup sugar total, depending on your taste (I don't have much of a sweet tooth).  The texture and flavor of this bread is absolutely phenomenal.  Definitely worth doing again.

Adapted from the recipe in this cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/The-Cooks-Country-Cookbook-Reimagined/dp/1933615346

Ingredients

1 lb zucchini (I weighed mine, and it was 3 small zucchinis)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
2 large eggs
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease an 8" loaf pan with extra unsalted butter.


2.  Remove tops of the zucchini, slice lengthwise, and scoop out seeds.  Coarsely grate the zucchini into a bowl.  Pour the grated zucchini into a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then discard the liquid.


3.  Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.


4.  Mix the yogurt, eggs, lemon juice, and butter in a separate bowl.  Stir in the zucchini.


5.  Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.


6.  Using a plastic spatula, transfer the batter to the loaf pan.


7.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 55 minutes.  The bread is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out with a few crumbs attached.


8.  Remove from oven and wait at least 10 minutes before taking the bread out from the pan.  Wait at least 1 hour before serving.  Enjoy!

Green Pasta and Cheese

I always try to make my meals as colorful as possible, but this week's CSA box had so many green things that my meal had a decidedly unicolor theme.  The fresh basil really comes through in this simple meal and elevates it from something ordinary to a delicious feast.

Ingredients

7 oz. whole wheat elbow macaroni, cooked to package instructions

1 tbsp olive oil

2 spring onions, greens and white parts finely chopped

2 small zucchinis, chopped

4-5 leaves green kale, stems removed and coarsely chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly grated black pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

A handful of fresh basil leaves, cut into small strips.

1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated

Method

1.  Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan at medium high heat

2.  When the oil is hot, add the onion and stir occasionally.

3.  When the onion has started to become translucent, add the zucchini and stir occasionally.

4.  When the zucchini has started to release its juices, add the kale.

5.  When the kale has started to wilt, add the salt, black pepper, and red pepper.

6.  Stir in the cooked pasta and mix well.

7.  Serve the pasta, and top each plate with fresh basil and cheese.  Enjoy!

CSA Box #4

The box is starting to get heavier at the weeks go on!  My arms were a bit tired after the crazy cardio class I had attended that morning, so the box felt extra heavy.  The contents were absolutely impressive, and took up the entire dining room table.  Not only were there 11 zucchinis, but each of the 2 giant fennel fronds span half the table!

This week's box contains:

Baby Bok Choi

Beets

2 Giant Fennel Fronds

Green Kale

Red Leaf Lettuce

Spring Onions

Curly Parsley

Zucchini

Dandelion Greens

Red Oak Lettuce