Recipe: Vegetarian Stromboli

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces of pizza dough – can buy this pre-made at Trader Joe’s
• 1/3 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup of sliced artichoke heart
• 3 chopped roasted red peppers
• 1/3 cup chopped of olives – green or black
• 1/4 cup of sundried tomatoes

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.   Next, Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to look like a pizza. Spread the cheese, leaving a 1-inch border. Then, add your veggies. Roll it like a jelly roll and crimp the edges with fingers or a fork. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top and feels crispy.

Recipe: Z Grille’s Cauliflower Steak with Chipotle Butter

Read about this recipe and can’t wait to try it out this weekend. Always looking for new “meaty” recipes that are sure to please my vegetarian husband and his ever-changing palette.

Photo: Chris Zuppa/St. Petersburg TimesChipotle Butter Ingredients:

• 2 cups of butter, softened
• ½ cup of garlic, minced
• 1 can of chipotle peppers, drained and minced
• 1 bunch of cilantro, minced
• Salt
• Pepper

Marinade Ingredients:

• ½ cup of fresh herbs, minced (thyme, rosemary, sage; whatever you like or is fresh)
• ½ cup of oil (olive, canola or whatever you use for salad dressing)
• ½ cup of garlic

Cauliflower Steak Ingredients:

• 2 heads of cauliflower
• 3 whole acorn squash, cut in quarters, seeds removed
• ½ cup of Manchego, grated
• 1½ pounds of shiitake mushrooms, stems removed
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions:

For butter - mix ½ cup of garlic, chipotle peppers, cilantro, salt and pepper into the softened butter. It will turn a cool red. Refrigerate.

For marinade - mince the herbs and mix with oil and ½ cup of garlic.

For cauliflower - trim sides of the cauliflower, then cut across the head to make “steaks” that are about 1 inch thick. A head should yield at least two, maybe three steaks. Carefully coat cauliflower with marinade, and let sit for at least two hours, but can marinate overnight in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and Place squash on baking sheet and roast for about an hour. Remove from oven and turn on broiler. Sprinkle squash with cheese, then place under broiler to melt cheese, just one or two minutes. When finished, it should look like a potato skin.

Place mushrooms in a large skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Roast in oven for about 15 minutes.

Heat grill, and grill the sliced cauliflower, as you would a steak, over very high heat. Flip the slices only once. Don’t play with them. They’ll be fragile and can fall apart. Grill about four to five minutes on each side.

To assemble the dish, put cauliflower on a plate with two or three pieces of squash and a spoonful of mushrooms. Top the hot cauliflower with the chipotle butter and serve.


Z Grill
104 2nd Street South
St Petersburg, Florida 33701
http://www.zgrille.net/

Cooking Winter Greens

I was listening to NPR this morning and was inspired by the segment they had on farming and cooking winter greens. As soon as it stops raining, I am going to work on my garden and definitely start planting more winter greens like rainbow chard, mustard greens and kale.

The key to cooking greens they said is to allow them to keep their crunch, wilted greens aren't as tasty and don't retain the vitamins as they do when raw. Here is a simple recipe they discussed on the segment, you can also find it on the NPR site.

Maggie Starbard/NPRWilted Hardy Greens With Garlic
Ingredients:

• 1 pound of mixed baby greens (kale, swiss chard, mustard greens)
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive or sunflower oil
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of chopped garlic

Wash the greens and drain in a colander, leaving some moisture on the leaves. Heat a saute pan large enough to accommodate all of the greens over medium heat. Add oil, then the chopped garlic. Saute until softened, about 1 minute, stirring often to prevent the garlic from burning - don't let the garlic get brown. Add the greens. Toss and saute them until they are wilted. Season with salt and pepper. If too dry, add more liquid.

For more on farming winter greens, check out NPR's "Old-Time Methods Yield Spring Greens All Winter"

Wolfgang Puck's Oscar-winning Vegetarian Paella

For the vegetarians that attended the Governor's Ball last night, they were in for a real treat with Wolfgang Puck's Oscar-winning vegetarian paella. And we are too, because the recipe is below.

Vegetarian Paella
Ingredients: 

Sofrito (makes 1 serving) Ingredients:

• 1/4 red pepper - small dice
• 1/4 yellow pepper - small dice
• 1 scallion - whites sliced very thin
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 red onion

Vegetable Stock (makes 1 serving) Ingredients:

• 1/2 fennel bulb
• 1/2 pound corn
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 white onion
• 1/2 carrot
• 1 cup of canned plum tomatoes
• 3 scallions
• 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon of crushed red chili flake
• 1 teaspoon of saffron threads
• 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon of granulated onion
• 2 tablespoons of Spanish paprika

Paella Topping Ingredients:

• Fava beans
• Haricot verts
• Diced leeks
• English peas
• Chopped parsley
• Blanch all vegetables in the vegetable stock

Instructions: For The Sofrito

Place all ingredients into a sauté pan and cook slowly until it has cooked down. It should begin to blend together almost forming a paste.

Instructions: For The Vegetable Stock

Add enough water to cover all vegetables in the pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.

Strain the vegetable stock and add Sofrito to make the rice. Using 2 ounce, long grain rice and 4 ounces of paella stock per single serving, cook for 15 to 17 minutes at 375°F inside the oven. When cooked, let the paella rest for 5 minutes before serving. To finish the dish, cover with the blanched vegetables.

Radicchio Flat Bread with Whipped Ricotta

I love roasted vegetables and grilled bread dipped in whipped, warm ricotta cheese. I am going to attempt to make my own bread to go along with this recipe I found on MarthaStewart.com.

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl and drizzling
• 2 Treviso radicchio (5 ounces each), quartered lengthwise
• 1 cup fresh ricotta cheese

Directions

1. Stir together yeast, water, and sugar in a large bowl, and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the oil until combined. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead with floured hands until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm, draft-free spot for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide dough into quarters. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to 8 by 5 inches. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough. Divide radicchio among flatbread, and gently press into dough. Drizzle with oil; season with salt and pepper. Bake until flatbread is golden and crisp, about 15 minutes.
3. Whisk ricotta in a small bowl until lightened. Drizzle flatbread with oil; season with salt and pepper. Serve flatbread with ricotta.