An old standby

I have undoubtedly featured calzones before on my other blog, but an old friend deserves a repeat.  I first came across calzones when I worked at Zio's Pizzeria in Omaha, circa 1988.*  They had wonderful pizza, but I really fell for the calzones.  And since working at Zio's, I've been a proponent of ricotta in calzones.  It ain't a calzone without ricotta, which I know garners strong opinions on both sides from calzone enthusiasts.

Veganizing calzones became much more possible with the advent of Daiya.  The ricotta component proved a bit more challenging.  While I'll admit it's not the same, tofu ricotta does provide somewhat of the same texture as ricotta.

I use Giada's pizza dough recipe and have for years.  I'm lazy when it comes to dough, and this recipe provides good results.  It makes a nice, crunchy crust and is easy to work with.

Then, just stuff them to your heart's content.  Typical fillings for me include mushrooms, black olives, onion, bell pepper and broccoli.  Gotta have the broccoli, another Zio's holdover.  Cheese and marinara, of course.

Ready to go into the oven:

20 minutes at 450 degrees and they look like this:

Cut 'em open and top with more marinara and cheese and bake another 10 minutes:

Try to hold off a few minutes or you'll burn your mouth!

 

*I learned to toss dough at Zio's, and we had to wear chef's hats.  Mortifying, but as far as I know, there is no photo documentation of me in said chef's hat.  Digital photos are great, but I am thankful that certain instances in my life lack photographic documentation.

Soupy soup soup

It's hard to tell if it's January or May in Denver, what with temps nearing 70 degrees this week.  But, hey, it's still winter and winter means soup.  Especially on Sunday.

This week was Corn Chowder from The Conscious Cook.

Da recipe:

Corn Chowder

Makes 6 servings

Sea salt

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups diced Vidalia onions

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice

1 celery stalk, cut into ¼-inch dice

1 red bell pepper, deribbed and cut into ¼-inch dice

1 dried chipotle pepper

5 cups faux chicken stock (try Better Than Bouillon's "vegetarian no chicken base")

2 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice

2 fresh thyme sprigs

Kernels from 6 ears of corn, plus 2 ears roasted or grilled corn

1½ cups thick Cashew Cream (see recipe below)

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced chives

½ cup diced tomato

1. Place a large stockpot over medium heat. Sprinkle the bottom with a pinch of salt and heat for 1 minute. Add the oil and heat for 30 seconds, being careful not to let it smoke. This will create a nonstick effect.

2. Add the onions, carrots, celery, bell pepper, and chipotle pepper. Sauté for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the stock, potatoes, and thyme, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. With the back of a spoon, smash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot and stir to thicken the soup. Add the raw corn and Cashew Cream, season with salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the chipotle pepper and thyme sprigs. Garnish with the chives, tomato, and roasted corn kernels.  

Thick Cashew Cream

Makes about 2¼ cups

1. Rinse 2 cups whole raw cashews (not pieces, which are often dry) very well under cold water.

2. Put the cashews in a bowl and add cold water to cover them. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

3. Drain the cashews and rinse under cold water.

4. Place nuts in a blender with enough fresh cold water to barely cover them. Blend on high for several minutes until very smooth. (If you're not using a professional high-speed blender such as a Vita-Mix, which creates an ultra-smooth cream, strain the cashew cream through a fine-mesh sieve.)

5. There will be approximately 3/4 of a cup of cashew cream left over from the recipe for you to use in another recipe.

Excerpted from The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen, compliments of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

The only thing I did differently with this recipe was to puree the soup after step 2.  I prefer my soup smoother rather than chunkier (at least in this instance) and I thought pureeing would help thicken.  I also added some cooked tempeh bacon as a garnish on top and it was a welcome (although not necessary) addition.  Great soup!  I haven't made this one in awhile and it was well worth the effort.

Layered tortilla casserole

My ambition for culinary projects seems to dwindle by the day, so if I look at a recipe and deem that it's going to take genuine effort to prepare, I will take a pass on it.  So, when I come across a recipe that's easy and satisfying, it's definitely a keeper.

The spousal equivalent was out of town last week, so I decided to make this tried-and-true recipe.  It makes a good amount, so I had the brilliant idea of halving the original.  Unfortunately, I seem to screw up every time I do that and end up putting in the full amount of one ingredient or another.  But I think this recipe is blunder-proof, given that the ingredients in any proportion will go together and taste good.  This time it was a little "softer" than it would be had I done things correctly, but still delicious.  Served up with a side of steamed kale topped with Bragg's Liquid Aminos.

Recipe from Quick-Fix Vegetarian

Ingredients:

1 24-ounce jar tomato salsa

8 flour tortillas (I use corn tortillas because they're less "gummy")

2 16-ounce cans refried beans

1 cup shredded soy Monterey Jack cheese

1 ripe Hass avocado

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spread a thin layer of salsa in a lightly oiled shallow baking dish.

Arrange 4 of the tortillas on top, overlapping as needed.

In a bowl, combine the refried beans with 1 cup of the salsa, stirring to blend well.

Spread the bean and salsa mixture over the tortillas and top with ½ cup of the shredded cheese.

Arrange the remaining 4 tortillas over the cheese and top with a layer of salsa.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top. Cover and bake until hot, about 30 minutes.

While the casserole is baking, halve and pit the avocado and spoon the flesh into a bowl. Mash the avocado with the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste (I also add garlic powder and onion powder).

Serve with the casserole.

Fud

I decided to move the food-related topics from my other blog over to a new location.  While bikes and food certainly go together (at least in my world), it just felt like my blog was too much of a mish-mash of topics.  We'll try this and see how it goes.

And, the naming of this blog (for those of you who aren't old like me and get the reference) comes from one of my favorite Far Side cartoons.