Dinner in 20 Minutes, Fresh Mozzarella and Heirloom Tomato Pizza

This meal is a life saver on a busy day, margherita pizza, with garden tomatoes, and fresh mozzerella. It is quick, easy, and everyone loves it. The secret to making this dinner so fast and easy is buying the pizza crust at California Pizza Kitchen. They sell their dough already rolled out for you for ONE DOLLAR. They are smaller pizzas so I normally buy two. In fact I actually just bought six last time and froze the extras for when I need to take a meal to someone, or for a quick weeknight dinner. I always buy the whole wheat multi grain dough, they have wheat or white, because the dough is still light and better for you. Making your own pizza dough would be even better for you, but this is one of those meals in a pinch.

It is hard to tell from these pictures what is on this pizza. What you are looking at is yellow and red hierloom tomatoes from Jacobs Cove Farm, which is an amazing place, they grow so many different varieties of organic tomatoes.

Here is what the crust comes like, already rolled out for you, and ready to go.

Fresh Tomato and Mozzerella Pizza

Caifornia Pizza Kitchen Multigrain dough

Red Sauce

Fresh Mozzerella

Garden Tomatoes

Fresh Basil

Parmesan

1. Spread the sauce on, then top with thinly sliced cheese, and next the tomatoes.

2. Sprinkle on chopped basil, salt and pepper, and a little parmesan on top.

3. I baked mine in a 400 degree oven on a pizza stone for about 15 minutes.

To Make This Gluten Free

I top a portobella mushroom with sauce, toppings, and cheese wrap it in tinfoil and bake it at the same temperature until the mushroom is soft. Then take off the tinfoil and broil the mushroom to melt the cheese.

Or take your favorite gluten free pizza dough and follow the directions above

Roasted Ratatouli Pasta

Drum roll please..... the mystery dish is Roasted Ratatouille pasta. You might have had ratatouille before, but roasting the eggplant and squash brings out a whole new dimension of flavor. My inspiration for this pasta came from two different Cooks Illustrated recipes, to the original recipes I added summer squash instead of zuchinni, red pepper, and tossed it with pasta. This would be equally good served over polenta, or just by itself as a side dish.

This first step. Salting the eggplant and letting it sit in a colander to sweat. (literally the eggplant sweats out little beads of water)

I chopped up all of the veggies while I was waiting for the eggplant to sweat.

Here is the end results. I bet you can't wait for the recipe......................

I threw in this picture just to make you smile.

Ingredients

2 large eggplants (about 2 1/2 lbs), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large summer squash (about 1 1/2 lbs), scrubbed and cut into 1-inch cubes (or zuchinni)

1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion , chopped
2 medium cloves garlic , minced
3 medium tomatoes (ripe), about 1 1/2 pounds, cut into 2-inch cubes
1/4 C chopped basil
Ground black pepper

Sea Salt

Gluten Free Noodles ( I used Trader Joes brown rice pasta)

Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Instructions
1. Place eggplant in large colander set over large bowl; sprinkle with 2 teaspoons salt and toss to distribute salt evenly. Let eggplant stand at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. Rinse eggplant well under running water to remove salt and spread the egg plant on a layer of paper towels; cover with another stack of paper towels. Press firmly on eggplant until eggplant is dry and feels firm and compressed.
2. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle position and the second rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 500 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with foil.
3. Toss eggplant, summer squash and 2 tablespoons oil together in large bowl, then divide evenly on baking sheets. Sprinkle with salt and roast, stirring every 10 minutes, until well-browned and tender, about 30 to 40 minutes.
4. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy-bottomed pan ( I used my cast iron pot) over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, and red pepper; reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and cook until they release their juices and begin to break down, about 5 minutes. Add roasted eggplant and zucchini, stirring gently but thoroughly to combine, and cook until just heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in basil; adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and serve.

5. While you are cooking the sauce, cook the pasta according to package directions

6. Toss the sauce with the hot pasta and garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Note: I took this dinner to three different families, so to make it strech farther, I tossed the noodles with a little bit of good quality jarred spaghetti sauce and then the roasted ratatouille. If you are just feeding your family the ratatouille has a lot of flavor and would completley cover the pasta.

Farmers Market

I went to the farmers market today, and I am kicking myself that I haven't made it there more often this summer. The produce was amazing and surprisingly affordable. I got a huge summer squash fro 50 cents, a cucumber for 25 cents, a bunch of carrots for a dollar, and peaches for 25 cents each. I am definitely going to go back next week for a cantaloupe one farmer promised me. I took a gardening class and he said that cantaloupes unlike some other fruits don't keep ripening once they are picked. He said that the time of peak sweetness is when they are fully ripe on the vine. I have never had the luxury of having a cantaloupe that was completely ripe before it was picked. I am sure the cantaloupe in the grocery store is picked weeks before it get boughten. Anyway, I will report back next week on my cantaloupe experience, I can't wait!
As for the produce I bought, I made a simple dinner with the summer squash, broccoli, and fresh tomatoes from my neighbors massive garden. It was simple, but really good and fresh.

Not really a recipe but I will explain how I made it:


1 summer squash
1/2 head of broccoli
1 lemon
Fresh tomatoes, from the garden
herbamare, or sea salt would do
pepper


Chop up the summer squash and broccoli. Squeeze the lime juice over it and cook until still crisp but cooked through. Season with herbamare and pepper. Serve over hot quinoa. Add chopped tomatoes on top, and just for kicks some grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!


Quinoa


1 C quinoa
1 1/2 C broth, chicken or veggie, or just plain boring water


Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer, to take off the saponin a bitter coating that keeps the birds from eating it. Bring the broth to a boil, add the quinoa and cook until the quinoa is soft, about 15 minutes. Easier than rice, and in my humble opinion way better.

Pesto Quinoa Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Broccoli

1/2 C pest
1 bunch broccoli
2 roasted red peppers (see explanation how below, or buy jarred)
1 C cooked garbanzo beans
2 1/2 C quinoa
4 C water, or broth
1 t. salt

1. Add the quinoa, water and salt, to a medium size sauce pan. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until tender.

2. Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into little florets. Lightly steam them in salted boiling water, so that they are bright green and slightly crunchy. Once done, drain the broccoli and run cold water over it.

3. Take the quinoa off the stove and let it cool. Once the quinoa is compelety cool, add the pesto, garbanzo beans, broccoli, and red peppers.

4. Toss to coat well, enjoy!

The Best Lentil Soup

2 T olive oil
1 md. onion (about a 1 1/2 C)
2 carrots, peeled, and chopped
2 celery stalk, chopped
8 C broth, veggie, or chicken
2 1/2 C lentils
1/4 C brown rice (optional it just adds more to the soup)
1 C peeled and chopped tomato (canned diced tomato will work too, I prefer Muir Glen brand)
1/2 lb fresh spinach
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t cumin
salt to taste ( I used a teaspoon, but it depends how salty your broth is)
balsamic for garnish (optional)

Saute the onion, carrots, and celery until they are soft. Add broth, lentils, brown rice, and tomato. Cook until soft, about 45 minutes on stove top, in a pressure cooker 10 minutes (they are worth their weight in gold). When the lentils and rice are soft, add in the spinach, coriander, cumin, and salt. Cook stirring the soup occasionally until the spinach is wilted. Serve hot, with a garnish of balsamic. This soup is really good the first day and equally good heated up the next.

Roasted Root Veggies

Roasted Root Vegetables

Step 1:

Chop all of the veggies that you wish to roast in 1 inch pieces. To be honest, I am not to particular I just chop them up.


Step 2: Put the veggies,and chopped onion on a cookie sheet or a fancy roasting pan, whatever you have. For a full cookie sheet I put 2 T oil, and 2 T of fresh thyme. I sprinkle them with salt, and put them in the oven at 400 degrees. Stir them every 15-20 minutes. Take them out when they are golden on the edges. About 30-45 minutes. Watch them though, because depending on the size you cut them they might cook faster or slower.



Easy as pie and soooo good!!


Eat them just like this or use the leftovers in a salad, in a wrap, or over quinoa, use your imagination!!



Recipe:

2 Sweet Potatoes
2 Red Potatoes
2 Onions
2 Ruttabagas
4 T olive oil
4 T thyme
Salt, just sprinkle it over the whole pan

Chop up the veggies. Boil them in water, except for the onion, until almost fork tender ( you can almost easily stick your fork into them). Drain them, spread them on two cookies sheets. Divide the onion, olive oil, and thyme onto both pans. Sprinkle them with salt and roast in the oven at 400 for 30-45 minutes. Stirring every 20 minutes so they don't burn. Watch them so they don't burn, it might take longer or shorter depending on how big or little you cut your veggies. Enjoy!!

Sweet Pumpkin and Red Lentil Curry

1 small pumpkin, chopped, seeded, and peeled
1 tsp. olive oil
2 medium onions
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. hot red pepper flakes
1 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp. curry
1 tsp. minced ginger
5 cups veggie or chicken broth
2 cups red lentils
salt and pepper to taste
Juice of one lemon


Saute the onion in olive oil. Add spices, ginger, garlic, and pumpkin stir together and cook for one minute, add broth cook for ten minutes, or until pumpkin is almost soft. Add the lentils and cook for 15 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Mash the pumpkin pieces up a bit so it is more of a thick curry, add lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings to taste.