Three Cheese Almost Margarita Pizza

Three Cheese Pizza. Because Sometimes you just want a plethora of cheeses in your mouth. But then sometimes you have other stuff around to make it better... and you end up making a something that's kinda margarita too. The thing that impressed me the most was that it only took me 15 minutes of prep time to put together this thing. And if you knew me, I never take 15 minutes to cook anything ever, unless it's raw like salad. and that usually takes me about 15 minutes. And I just about always parbake the Trader Joe's pizza dough. Otherwise the dough ends up raw and the ingredients are over cooked. If you parbake your dough is perfectly cooked=)

1 premade dough - Trader Joe's herb dough

1/3-1/2 jar of tomato basil sauce in a jar

1/2 a chunk of mozzarella

a handful of parm

goat cheese - about 1/3 of a small log

4 garlic cloves

a handful of fresh basil

Make sure your dough is almost room temperature by leaving it out about a 1/2 hour before you start. preheat oven to 450.

Roll out the dough on a board and spray a pizza pan or cookie sheet with Pam spray. Place the dough on the board and drizzle with olive oil. Par bake this crust for about 6 minutes. then pull out of the oven. While it is baking:

shred the mozzarella, mince garlice, and wash, dry, and slice the basil.

Now. Once the dough is par baked, spread the tomato basil sauce over the top. Top with the Parm. Then layer the mozzarella and goat cheese. Be sure to chunk out the goat cheese to distribute. Sprinkle the garlic then basil. Pop in the oven for 11 minutes. Done.

Dark Meat and Veggie Red Curry

Curries are awesome one pot meals that you can throw together with lots of staples. I decided to use dark meat to be more economical - there was a 5 dollar difference between organic thigh and breast meat. And I think you get richer flavor from dark meat anyway. My mom swore that this was a little too spicy for her liking, but I begged to differ on that one. I didn't even use cayenne, which I typically do. Musta been the jalapenos. Overall I thought it was pretty tasty and it saves very well. and I think I made enough for about 6 people

in a rice cooker or seperate pot, cook up 1 cup of brown rice in double the water.

spices used:

Salt and Pepper

cumin

tumeric

red pepper flakes

2 bay leaves

ginger powder

1 pack of dark meat chicken.

1 medium onion diced

4 cloves of garlic minced

2 potatos, peeled and cleaned - chopped into 1 inch cubes

5 carrots - peeled an sliced

4 - jalapenos - seeded, white ribs removed

1 mini bag of cauliflower - equivilant to about a 1/4 head

2 handfulls of frozen peas = about 3/4 - 1 cup

1 can (14 oz or so) coconut milk

1/3 box of chicken broth

3 tablespoons of red curry paste

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of fish sauce (patis)

a large handful of fresh cilantro for garnish

heat to medium a large pot. add a generous amount of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Slice the meat into cubes then drop in. season with salt and pepper. Also season with a teaspoon of cumin, a generous sprinkle of tumeric, a 1/2 tsp or so of red pepper flakes, and a sprinkle of ground ginger. Start peeling and chopping the rest of the veggies and add them in as you go. Be sure to add the potatos pretty early as they would take longer to cook. After the last veggie has been added, pop a can of coconut milk and pour in, soon to be followed by a chicken broth. add paste in, into one section. be sure to break it down thoroughly and stir very very well. Then sprinkle in the brown sugar and fish sauce. heat to boiling. mix in a large handful of fresh chopped cilantro at the end. mix to wilt. Serve over brown rice.

This Beet is Going Greek

I am now on a quest to be thin. I got 8 weeks until memorial day - beach season - and I need to get skinny. Let's see how well I can hold the heavy whipping cream for the next two months. Don't worry, I wont get boring on the blog. The body still wants the extra 3500 calories a week I burn on the runs, so I gotta satisfy somehow.

I actually really enjoyed this salad. it was very easy to assemble and the beets were a nice contrast to the mediteranean flavors. I guess spinach isn't very greek, but neither are beets, so I guess this is more of a Greek inspired meal than a greek meal.

The tomatos were grown indoors in Carlsbad, so they were still local even though they were out of season. Even though it was local and I let it ripen for a week, I think tomatos are still best over the summer. The taboulie salad I got in a tub from Baba Foods at the OB Farmers market. it already has lemon juice in it, but the extra lemon juice just makes it spectacular.

2 massive handfuls of baby spinach
3 precooked beets - Yea TJ's - sliced and set aside
1/2 cup of prepared Taboulie salad (if you are feeling extra motivated make your own: parsley, bulgar wheat, tomatoes, red onions, lemon juice, olive oil, and some spices)
1 tomato
1/2 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

lay out the spinach and arrange beets in a circle. plop the taboulie salad in the middle and slice up a tomato and also place around hte taboulie. juice the lemon over everything. dress with oil and vinegar. easy on the vinegar because there is already acid with the lemon juice.

Yellow Beet, Avocado, Gorgonzola on Mix Greens Salad

Look at that lovely photo. Yes that is fake wood, and a legal pad in the background. The yellow beets really bring out that legal pad yellow. That's right, today's installment is food that you can assemble at work. Yea workday salads!

I created this one last week after a trip to the farmers market. I was shopping around and wanted to see what beets were available. Only ONE vendor had them. And they were yellow! They have a mellower flavor and were just as good. They have so many bonuses involved with cooking yellow beets. Less messy. It doesn't look like you commited murder. AND last but not least, it doesn't look like your dying when you go to the bathroom.

Night before: chop off the greens on the beets and scrub thoroughly and drop into boiling water. Cook for 20 minutes or so. allow to cool completely and use the back of the knife to peel the skin on the beets. dice and put in a small container.

Make or buy sweetened roasted pecans. I had some leftover from the Lost Night beet salad (see 2 posts ago).

Mix a couple kinds of prewashed greens - spinach and romaine. Put in a tupperwear. What's not to love about the organic greens selection at Traders.

1 whole ripe avocado. cut in half, scoop out. dice. do this at work, not at home.

2 tablespoons of gorgonzola cheese. I was out of goat, I prefer goat cheese, but this was a really nice change. I think the potency of the gorgonzola was a nice contrast to the beets.

Extra Virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing.

Just before eating, place ingredients in a tub or plate or bowl or whatever. Juice your lemon and add the dressing. toss.

Asparagus, Spinach, and Shrimp Tossed Pasta

I love farmers markets! Especially the one in OB. I always get really inspired from the fresh ingredients and different flavors. The crazy thing I saw on my way out was a garlic spread. It tasted like cilantro, garlic, and good oil creamed together. But there was no butter but flax seed oil so it was heart healthy. I started to think instead of putting this on bread, how good it would be on pasta. Went home, and this is what I came up with:

extra virgin olive oil

1 pound of shrimp, peeled and deveigned.

1 bundle of super skinny asparagus

3 green onions sliced

2 handfulls of baby spinach

4 heaping tablespoons of cilantro garlic-flaxseed oil spread

1/4 cup or so of heavy whipping cream

1/2 pound of cooked colored rotini pasta

fresh grated parmegiano oregiano shredded with a microplane

fill enough water in a stock pot to cook a 1/2 pound of pasta and set to high heat. add pasta when it comes to a boil and cook as directed.

liberally heat a couple tablespoons or so of extra virgin olive oil in a very large non stick skillet on mediums heat. The shrimp from costco already came deveined so the peels were super easy to pull off. Plus the shrimp were massive so less work for more shrimp...yea! Anyways cook the shrimp on one side and season with salt and pepper. Flip them over after a minute or so when they turn pink and season again. Then top them with the spinach and asparagus and cover to make the spinach wilt. Add the white part only of the green onions. add two tablespoons of the spread and toss to coat. Create some space in the middle add two more tablespoons of spread. pour on some whipping cream and mix. Then toss. Add in the drained pasta and toss to coat. Top with some green onions and toss again. Top with fresh grated parm. Salt and pepper to taste.

Protein, veggies, and carbs in a bowl. A delicious post run meal.

Roasted pecans, beet, avocado, and goat cheese salad on mix greens

Lost Night. A night of friends, food, and good TV. I ended up making 4 dishes... and this was the starter.

heat oven to 375.

2 cups of pecans
1/4 cup sugar
canola oil

while the oven is preheating mix the pecans while drizzling the canola oil to coat. Pour over sugar and mix thoroughly. Use tin foil and prep it cookie sheet with a spray of Pam. Pour into a single layer and bake for 10 minutes.


2 bunches of beets.
a bottle of balsamic vinegar
water

Increase heat to 400. Pour enough balsamic vinegar into a baking dish. Fill half way with water. Take beats and trim stems, and scrub beets. cut the beets in half. Place into the roasting pan and bake for an hour or until tender. I ended up increasing the heat for the last 20 minutes to 425.

Fill a large bowl of ice water. Drop the beets in the ice water to shock them and stop them from cooking. Peel the beets, slice and dice.

Balsamic Vinagrette:

1 glove of garlic
1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of italian seasoning
honey
Salt and Pepper to taste

Crush and mince garlic and place in a small bowl. Add the mustard. Pour in some balsamic vinegar, and be sure to double the amount of olive oil to vinegar. add in seasonings. Drizzle in some honey and be sure to stir vigorously.

1/2 bag of organic baby spinach
1/2 bag of organic romaine greens
2 ripe avocados, pitted, removed from its skin, and diced.
roasted pecans from above
crumbled goat cheese

In a large bowl, mix the greens. Place on top diced avocados, pecans, and roasted beets. Toss the balsamic dressing in and mix thoroughly. top with crumbled goat cheese and toss again.

The WTAH Bomb... a la Jill

This is a picture of what could be a really good night, or a really awful next day. This is debauchery in a glass. This is WTAH...more specifically, The WTAH Bomb.

First of all, I need to explain what is WTAH. WTAH is Wild Turkey American Honey. Is it the next phenomenon....maybe. It's bourbon but sweet. Then it goes down pretty easy, warms, and kinda burns after. It feels thicker going down. Overall, it's not too bad.

I have to admit. I am not the originator of the WTAH bomb, but I improved on it significantly. The end of a happy hour and a few drinks in later, Landon comes up with dropping the WTAH into a Newcastle. It's a brown ale, so it's already a little sweeter. But I felt that it could be taken to the next level. And Stronger.

In a bit of a drunken genius moment, I felt that the sweeter shot should be offset with something bitter. The IPA The Whiskey Girl had on tap was Stone IPA. Which not only my favorite IPA, but probably one of the best on the market. Some would say that it's a waste of good beer. But is an Irish car bomb a waste of a Guiness?? I think not.

Drink down a 1/3 Stone IPA, drop in a shot of WTAH. Chug. Make a face. Something involving an open mouth. Repeat. Let the good times roll! Or in case of this group of friends, let the drama begin.