Sunday, July 7, 2013

Mushroom Arugula Sandwiches

I spotted this on Pinterest sometime ago. Last week, I pulled it out and threw in on my grocery list. However, whenever I got to today, I took a look at the recipe, I stopped and said, "I'm too darn lazy and too darn hungry to wait for garlic to roast."
Laziness is abounding in my kitchen the past week. Hence, the large lack of posts. The other day I made my roasted red pepper pesto-like sauce, and had some leftover.
So I adapted it a little. Here's the response from M to my adaptation, in the time it took me to assemble the second sandwich:
"Can you make another?"

Here's what it looks like before being devoured by hungry fiances:

Ingredients (per sandwich):
2 Tbsp Red Pepper Pesto-like Sauce
Handful of Arugula
1/4 package Crimini or Portabello mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp Capers
2 slices of your favorite bread or a roll sliced open
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Directions:
Saute mushrooms in oil until golden.
Pile all ingredients into sandwich.
Enjoy.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Pesto Pizza

So, my garden is (sort of) flourishing right now. I have more basil and rainbow chard than I know what to do with, my squash is currently dropping male flowers left and right, and I harvested 2 small Ichiban eggplant today. I figured I needed to make something to use my goodies tonight. Therefore, the pesto pizza was born.

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup olive oil
3 packed cups basil
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 eggplant
1 large leaf of rainbow chard
~10 squash blossoms (optional)
Premade pizza dough or crust
1/2 cup Soy sauce, tamari or liquid aminos (I used liquid aminos)

Directions
Preheat your oven to 400° F
Slice your eggplant thinly.
Dunk your eggplant slices into the soy sauce/tamari/liquid aminos so that it is covered and soaking into the eggplant. This does not take long.
On a pan lined with parchment paper, bake your eggplant for 9 minutes.
While it is baking, stretch your dough out and put it onto your pan or pizza stone.
Prebake your dough according to package directions.
Blend garlic, pine nuts, oil, basil, and nutritional yeast together to make your pesto.
Cut rainbow chard into slices. 
Briefly dunk them into the soy sauce/tamari/liquid aminos
When your pizza is done prebaking, cover it in pesto, and top with the eggplant, squash blossoms, and chard.
Bake for another 6-10 minutes.
Enjoy.

Edit
M and I have started Weight Watchers, so I will now be posting points. This entire recipe, using Pillsbury pizza dough, is worth 49 Points+. Assuming that the pizza is split into 8 servings, this comes in a 6 Points+ a serving.