Eggplant Pesto Pizza

Eggplant season is here again and we are eating it every chance we get! With this pizza recipe the time varies widely depending on how you choose to make your pizza crust. You can buy pizza crust from the store to make the process quicker and easier, or you can make pizza from scratch. If you make it from scratch, make sure to check your recipe to get a sense of how much time that will take. Another option one of our friends does is to make dough from scratch and freeze it for later.

Makes: 1 large pizza

Time: 1 hr + additional time if making pizza dough from scratch

Pizza Crust (Anne uses the Joy of Cooking recipe, but any recipe or store bought would do just fine), for gluten-free pizza crust we recommend Simple Mills Brand

1 medium eggplant

1 medium zucchini

1 batch of sun-dried tomato pesto, on the thicker side

3 garlic cloves, minced

(optional) 1/2 bunch of kale, chiffonaded

---

If you are making the pizza dough from scratch, check your recipe to see how long you need for dough preparation. Prepare your crust for toppings, remembering to take into account any resting or cooling time it might need. Now we will discuss how to prepare the toppings.

Turn on your broiler. Peel the eggplant and cut it into long slabs about 1/2 inch thick. Brush both sides with olive oil and place on a broiler pan. Broil about 7 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. When broiling, it’s very easy to burn the eggplant, so make sure to set a timer each time and listen to the timer. When the eggplant is soft and browned on both sides, remove it from the oven and set aside. The browning may be splotchy, but that is ok.

Pre-heat the oven according to your pizza dough instructions. If you need to do any more work on the crust before adding the toppings, now is a good time to do that.

Next, mince the garlic and then slice the zucchini into long thin strips. Heat up a pan with oil and sauté the zucchini until it is golden brown on one side, and lightly browned on the other side, about 15 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook an extra 3 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.

If you have a pizza peel and a pizza stone, you will build your pizza on the peel sprinkled with cornmeal or semolina flour and cook it on the stone. If you don’t, it is easy to cook this pizza on a cookie sheet. Or to use a cookie sheet, pizza stone combo.

If you are adding the optional kale, you can wilt it in a pan with a little oil while the pizza is in the oven.

Spread the pesto onto the pizza crust. Cut or tear your eggplant into long strips and cover the pesto with the eggplant.  The combination of eggplant and pesto will make everything hold together nicely.  Top with the zucchini and put in the oven.  Bake about ten minutes and then optionally add the kale.  Continue to bake until the crust is golden (about 5 more minutes, but can vary a lot depending on the crust). Remove from oven, let cool slightly. Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Creamy Gnocchi with Roasted Tomato and Basil

We have recently started using premade gnocchi in our kitchen. We really like having a quick cooking option to add gnocchi to a dish. This dish is one that feels fast to pull together while still feeling luxurious and delicious. We have access to Delallo brand gnocchi and we like it. They make a gluten-free version and a version with gluten. While neither version have dairy products in the ingredients list, the gluten-free version does have an allergy warning saying “May contain milk”.

Serves 4-6

Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 box of gnocchi (gluten-free option, dairy-free option)

1 pint cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

a handful of basil leaves

for the sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cippolini onion

3/4 cup cashews soaked for at least 30 min

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 tbsp garlic granules

1/2 tsp salt

1 pinch of red pepper flakes

---

Cover the cashews with water to soak. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put on a large pot of salty water to boil.

When the water boils, cook the gnocchi according to the instructions on the package. Meanwhile, rinse the tomatoes and put them on a sheet pan. Drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and then sprinkle with some salt. Put in the oven to roast until the skins pop open, about 12 minutes. Next, drain your soaked cashews and add them to a high powered blender with the water, lemon juice, and garlic granules. Blend until smooth. Finally, slice the onion thinly.

Once you have drained the gnocchi, put the remaining tbsp of olive oil in the pan and return to medium high heat. Put the onion in the pan and add some salt. Cook until the onion is soft and starting to brown, stirring constantly. Add the hot pepper flakes and stir in. Add the cashew alfredo sauce to the pan and stir until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

Add the gnocchi and roasted tomatoes to the pot. The tomatoes will break down and mix with the creamy sauce. Garnish generously with torn basil leaves. Enjoy!

Wild Mushroom Artichoke Heart Pasta

This recipe was inspired from Purple Carrot. We love how easy it is to keep most of the ingredients in the house (canned artichokes shelf stable, pasta shelf stable). Then when we need something quick and easy we pick up some local mushrooms and voila, a fancy hassle free meal!

We often like to double this recipe so that we have leftovers in the fridge to snack on during the week. Because artichokes and mushrooms are expensive, this can be more of an upfront cost which is why we are sharing the smaller portion size. Just know if you love it, it is great doubled!

Camille is gluten free and likes to eat this with Banza chickpea pasta. This pasta, made from chickpea flour, has so much protein that they often will leave out the crispy chickpeas entirely. That means both one less step to this quick and easy meal!

Serves: 2-3

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the chickpeas:

3/4 cups cooked chickpeas (1/2 can) optional

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp

pinch of cayenne

1/2 lb pasta (gluten-free option)

olive oil

1 can artichoke hearts

1/3 lb local mushrooms (shittake, trumpet, chestnut, and oyster, all work really well)

freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tbsp vegan butter (soy-free option, nut-free option)

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

pinch hot pepper flakes

salt to taste

---

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Toss the chickpeas with olive oil salt, garlic powder, and cayenne. Spread them out on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven, stirring every 15 minutes until the rest of the meal is done or they turn golden brown. If you are using a can of chickpeas feel free to use the entire can and then snack on the chickpea nuts you don’t add to the pasta!

Boil salty water (water should be as salty as the ocean) and cook the pasta according to instructions.

Slice the mushrooms. Cook them about 10 minutes on med-high heat with oil, stirring frequently until they brown and have an almost crispy texture. In last 2 minutes grind some fresh pepper over top of them. Remove from heat and set the mushrooms aside.

Drain and rinse artichoke hearts. Put olive oil in the pan and fry. Allow the artichoke hearts to sit on one side until brown and then flip on other side until they brown. They are fully cooked in the can, you are just browning them.

Mix the cooked pasta and butter until the butter melts. Add 3 tbsp of olive oil. Add all the other ingredients and stir to combine.

Enjoy!

The Best Vegan Burger

Black Seeded Cult Burger is one of Camille’s favorite restaurants and this burger is an homage to what they do so beautifully!

Serves: 2

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 hamburger buns (gluten-free option, vegan option)

2 Beyond Burger or Lightlife Burger patties

8 bread and butter pickles

4 pieces romaine lettuce

1 very small onion or 1/2 of a medium onion

olive oil

2 tbsp white wine (optional)

ketchup

For the dill aioli:

1/2 cup vegan mayo (soy-free option)

1 1/2 tsps of lemon juice

1 tbsp dried dill

---

Slice the onions and heat a frying pan to medium high with olive oil. Add the onions and cook stirring consistently for about 15 minutes. When the onions are fairly caramelized, if you are using wine, add the white wine and continue to stir until the wine disappears (about 2 minutes).

Remove the onions, scrape the pan clean and leave the heat on. You do not need to add extra oil as the burger patties have oil in them. Add the burger patties to the pan and cook according to package instructions. Meanwhile, toast the burger buns. While this is happening, mix the aioli ingredients together and set aside.

To assemble, spread aioli on both pieces of the hamburger bun. Next add the burger patty, some caramelized onions, pickles, some extra aioli, ketchup, and romaine lettuce. Close up your burger sandwich and enjoy!

Orange Tofu and Rice Stir Fry

It’s nearing the end of citrus season where we live, and we are soaking up every last citrus filled recipe. We enjoyed adapting this deeply American-ized take on the sweet and sour flavor pairing found in some traditional Chinese cooking.

Serves: 4-6

Time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients

high heat oil such as avocado oil

green onions, finely chopped as garnish (optional)

For the tofu

2 firm blocks tofu

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 tsp salt

For the veggies

3 bell peppers, thinly sliced

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 head of broccoli, chopped into small florets

For the Sauce

2 tbsp. mirin

2 tbsp. rice vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

3 tbsp. coconut aminos

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp. agave

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp siracha

Juice and zest from 1 large navel orange (1/2 cup of orange juice and 1 tbsp. of zest)

1 inch ginger, peeled and diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and diced

1 tbsp. cornstarch

For the rice

2 cups jasmine rice

4 cups of water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bouillon cube or paste (vegan & gluten-free option)

1/4 tsp mirin

---

Note: when we were creating this recipe, we only had one large fry pan. If you have two, you can fry the veggies and the tofu at the same time.

Cut your blocks of tofu in half so that you have four, one inch thick rectangles. Press the tofu between two kitchen towels, placing a cast iron pan, or something heavy on them to remove some of the liquid. This process can be done with a tofu press. Slice the tofu into cubes or thick sticks.

While the tofu is being pressed, slice the onions, peppers, and broccoli. Dice the ginger and the garlic and finely chop the green onion if using.

Heat up a pan with oil and stir fry the onions, peppers, and broccoli until golden brown (about 20 minutes). Remove these from the pan and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the rice. Put the rice, water, salt, bouillon paste, and mirin in a pot and bring to a boil. Stir well (making sure the bouillon is broken down fully) and lower to a simmer. Cook with lid on for about 15 minutes or until rice is done. One way to tell if the rice is done is by watching the steam coming out of the pot, once the steam stops, your rice is most likely cooked. After 15 minutes let sit off the heat for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork.

Combine the cornstarch and a generous pinch of salt in a shallow bowl or on a small plate. Toss the tofu, a couple of pieces at a time in the cornstarch mixture until coated on all sides. Heat 2 tbsp of neutral oil in a frying pan. Once hot, fry the tofu in batches on med-high making sure it gets golden brown on all sides. Feel free to add more oil if your pan gets dry. Be careful not to crowd the tofu as that will make it all stick together. We use tongs to turn each piece separately.

Put the finished tofu and veggies in a large bowl.

To make the sauce combine mirin, rice vinegar, water, sesame oil, coconut aminos, salt, red pepper flakes, siracha, agave orange juice and zest all in a small bowl and whisk until fully incorporated. Once you’ve finished cooking all the veggies and tofu, put a small amount of oil in your pan. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the bowl of sauce ingredients and cornstarch. Stir for 1 minute to thicken.

Pour the sauce over the large bowl of veggies and tofu and stir until everything is coated with sauce. Spoon the mixture over rice and garnish with green onions (optional). Enjoy!