Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Falafel everyway you possibly can and homemade pizza

Hi Blog World. Remember my picture back in November? I am Lucy, the dog in this "bakehouse" household. I have several interests and yoga is one of them. In this pose I lie on my back with feet in the air, however one paw sticks in my mouth just like you see here. I find this pose to be very relaxing because I will stay like this for more than 15 minutes. This lady here is trying to get me to chase rabbits out of her garden, but that's really not my style ... they remind me of cats and cats are my friends.

The owner of this blog asked me to share some of the food they have been cooking this week. I said sure, but I have to tell you that I am a little disappointed that she did not make any cookies or muffins this week ... I love those! So, to hold true to what I said I would do I present Dreena's (Vive Le Vegan) lightened up Falafel. The meal includes a cuke tomato salad (same cookbook), sliced cukes, onions, red pepper, lettuce and black olives. She put a bit of pineapple on the side and the cup holds some of Dreena's tahini dressing. I didn't like it.... well, maybe with a bit of jelly I would have scarfed that pita down.

The leftovers: She just kept going and going with this stuff, reminded me of the energizer bunny and if I told her that she probably would have wanted me to chase that also. Anyways, the falafel pizza, she took the mix and spread it on a pizza, baked it until she was happy with the looks of it and then topped it with chopped red pepper, tomato, black olive and drizzled with more of the dressing. She liked it well enough, but I think it would have been better with a dab of sugary frosting!

One would think that this would be enough, but we are talking about the queen of leftovers here. Why not a little more Greek delight for lunch.... yuck from me. That is the cuke and tomato salad in the baggie, gotta keep it separate or the lettuce will wilt. Again, more of the tahini dressing in the cup. I think she really likes the dressing, it's been three meals and she still says, "mmmm!"

Last item she wanted me to show ... her very vegan pizza on a whole wheat crust. It contains mushrooms, black olives, broccoli, red pepper, and sauerkraut. She made this during a demonstration for a class..... they were eating within the hour! Impressive huh! She told the class that the more cooking skills you have the less convenience you must pay for. She made 3 very large pizza's and a pan of cinnamon rolls (16 of them) for $8.15. The superintendent happened to come in while they were eating so they shared the food, she was impressed and asked Mrs. Master for the recipe so she could make it at home with her kids. Personally, just the cinnamon rolls would have kept me wagging my tail at her for several days but I didn't get any because she said the class gobbled them down. Imagine that, I guess she just likes them best. :(

BASIC PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE:
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
1 pkg (1 oz) active dry yeast (check date to make sure it is not expired)
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cups White whole wheat (Wheat Montana Prairie Gold) flour
1 tsp salt
*cornmeal
1. In a small container, mix sugar with water.
2. Add yeast to sugar mixture and stir to dissolve.
3 Pour yeast mixture into a large mixing bowl; add oil.
4. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt.
5. Add one cup flour to yeast mixture, mix with a mixing spoon.
6. Slowly add more flour; mix.
7. Keep adding flour until dough is stiff enough to form a ball. Do not add to much flour; save some for kneading dough.
8. Turn the dough onto a floured surface; knead dough for 8 - 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
9. Cover; let dough rest for 10 - 15 minutes.
10. Divide dough in half or quarters to make 2 - 4 pizzas.
11. Place each dough piece on oil sprayed pizza pans or baking sheets. *I sprinkle the sheets with a bit of corn meal also to keep it from sticking.
12. Roll each piece into desired shape.
13. Pierce dough with a fork and let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes.
14. You are now ready to top your pizzas.

TO FINISH THE PIZZA:
Yield: 4 servings
1 recipe prepared basic pizza dough
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup quick pizza sauce
2 cups mozzarella, provolone, or vegan option cheese (optional)
1 - 1 1/2 cups pizza toppings
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Brush olive oil on top of each dough shape (if desired) and cover with pizza sauce.
3. Sprinkle evenly with cheese (if desired, I skip this part).
4. Top with pizza toppings such as fresh tomato, bell peppers, chopped onions, sliced mushrooms, olives, pineapple, black or green olives, sauerkraut.
5. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until dough is lightly browned around the edges.
6. Serve immediately.

PIZZA SAUCE FROM SCRATCH:
Yield: 1 cup
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp Garlic powder
1 pinch sugar
1. In a medium bowl, combine tomato sauce and tomato paste until blended.
2. Stir in Italian seasoning, garlic and sugar

25 comments:

urban vegan said...

Thanks for the post, Lucy, and for the yummy recipes. I'll have to try that yoga pose--looks very stress-reducing. *WOOF*

Anonymous said...

Thanks Lucy! i will love to have a cinnamon roll too!

Jackie said...

Perfect Lucy, you posted the pizza recipe just at the right time. We finally have vegan cheese in South Africa so I can now have a real pizza for the first time in many years :)

Thank your Mum for her visits.

Julie said...

That pizza looks great, Luce! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

aTxVegn said...

Boy, Lucy, you don't know what you're missing with all those falafel meals! They are just as good as muffins and cookies!

The pizza recipe looks yummy too. Your master is a great, frugal cook!

Mary said...

My puppy does look like yours! Isn't that funny how some animals look like?

Sheree' said...

Well Lucy, I must say you did a very nice job telling us about the food cooked in your home this week. I think it all looks so inviting. Now Lucy, you need to learn to like the falafel because it is wonderful and you can use it in a 101 ways. Oh, and your momma is not the only leftover queen. I am sure there are many of us out there. Waste not want not.. :o)

Joe said...

I love the use of white whole wheat - I've been using it much more lately. The pizza sounds delicious!

MeloMeals said...

Hey Lucy, will you PLEASE come and teach Jorda that being submissive like that is a good thing.. and a stress reliever?

Lucy, oh Lucy, your momma is one heck of a woman!

Your pizza looks soo good! I love that you emphasize how easy it is to make healthy, delicious and frugal food quickly.. awesome!

erica said...

The blog looks GORGEOUS!!! Especially the canned goods banner, the colors are lovely.

scottishvegan said...

Thanks for showing us all that yummy food Lucy! You are making me really want pizza now!

Kate said...

Cute post, falafel is so good.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Lucy for the narrative. Everything looks so great. Your class is really lucky to have a teacher like you -- you are teaching them frugal skills that will help them when they're older and have families.

Would you, could you share the potsticker recipe?

bazu said...

I love your new layout, Dori! (Lucy, can you make sure to pass the message along to your mama?) And pizza... my husband and I have finally confessed that we could eat some version of it every night for a month before we got tired of it!

Emmy said...

Oooh, the pizza sounds wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.

You asked me on my blog about how the community garden plot is going.....I like it. It's really neat meeting the other gardeners and sharing tips. That's cool you are considering starting one. The one we belong to is run by our city. It costs $25 to rent the plot for the year and we get a packet of rules and regulations. Check out http://www.communitygarden.org/ I think that site will have some helpful information.

theONLYtania said...

Falafel pizza is like.. the best idea ever!

Anonymous said...

look at this fancy new layout and top. Love it!

Mikaela said...

What a cute pooch! :D

Shananigans said...

Thanks for sharing Lucy, YUM! I had falafel and pizza in the last week, but wouldn't have thought to combine them. There’s no shortage of frugality and creativity in the kitchen at your home. :)

Mississippi Songbird said...

Looks like some great food. Thanks for the recipe..

Carrie™ said...

Lucy is funny!! Thanks for that picture.
Pizza!! Dori, you've made my day.

Anonymous said...

Lucy, you and Noble must have taken the same yoga class together. Noble lies like that a lot also and it cracks me up!

Hi Dori!!!! I miss you dear friend. Just catching up on some of your old posts during my absence. Glad to hear your garden is on it's way and I can't wait to see the results. I'm very intrigued by the wild mushrooms. We have a lot growing around here and I'm always curious whether they're edible or not. I should probably check out a book from the library on that.

Tanya Kristine said...

whoa...that looks delicious! i love love LOVE garbanzo anything...and add a dogs company to that? well...good 'nuff.

Car Accident Solicitor said...

I love pizza and I'm craving it everyday. The following foods are delicious but what I want is pizza..However, I copied all the recipes you post. Thanks! My mom will love this.

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