Category: Spring & Summer Dinners

Deep Dish Pizza Crust

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I did the traditional pizza I posted earlier for many years, but since I’ve happened upon this recipe, I’m almost wholly converted. I find this recipe to be much simpler–less messy, less time-intensive, and more capable of handling a pile of toppings. I don’t fill the pans as full of olive oil as the recipe calls for most of the time, but it’s worth doing the first time, so you know how terrific the recipe can be, and then pare back according to the needs of your constituents (or conscience). I almost always use this crust for a barbeque chicken pizza, so I jotted that down at the bottom.  This recipe is from the 2007 America’s Test Kitchen Annual.

Deep Dish Pizza Dough

1/2 c. olive oil
3/4 c. plus 2 T. skim milk, warmed to 110 degrees (or 1/3 c. dry milk powder plus 3/4 c. warm water)
2 t. sugar
2 1/3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 envelope (2 1/4 t.) instant yeast
1/2 t. salt

Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 200 degress. When the oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Coat two 9″ cake pans with 3 T. oil each.

Mix the milk, sugar and the remaining 2 T. oil together in a liquid measuring cup (if using dry milk, just mix the water, sugar, and oil together). Mix the flour, yeast, and salt (and dry milk, if using) in a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. Turn the machine to low and slowly add the milk mixture. After the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium-low and mix until the dough is shiny and smooth, about 5 minutes. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, gently shape it into a ball, and place it in the greased bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the warm oven until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

After the first rise, transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough in half, and lightly roll each half into a ball. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, roll and shape the dough into 9 1/2″ round and press it into an oiled pan. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot (not in the oven) until puffy and slightly risen, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the plastic wrap from the dough. Ladle 2/3 c. pizza sauce on each dough round leaving a 1/2″ border around the edges. Sprinkle each with 1 1/2 c. cheese and any other toppings your desire. Bake the pizzas until the cheese is melted and the crust is browning 16-20 minutes. Remove the pizzas from the oven and let them rest in the pans for 1 minutes .Using a spatuala, transfer the pizzas to a cutting board, cut each into 8 wedges, and serve.

Barbeque Chicken Pizza: I’ve based this variation off of Wayland Bakery, where they used to serve my favorite barbecue chicken pizza.

Sauce: 1 part pizza sauce to 1 part of your favorite bbq sauce (the Test Kitchen recently rated Masterpiece KC to be taster’s fave–I’ve actually never tried it, so I’ll add it to my list).  An easy pizza sauce is to simmer one can of crushed tomatoes (I think 20 oz?) with 2 minced cloves of garlic and about 1 T. olive oil for twenty minutes.

Toppings: shredded chicken (can be microwaved and shredded, or use leftovers), a mixture of mozzarella and monterey jack cheeses (I just throw a couple handfuls of each on top of the pizza), and sauce

After the pizza comes out of the oven, add about 3 green onions, sliced thin, and a good 1/4 c. cilantro, minced (or larger leaves, which is pretty but tends to turn off the small children here, not that they would eat this pizza anyway).

If you have more time, you can caramelize onions and add them with the chicken, and leave off the green onions at the end. I like this way better, but don’t always get to caramelizing the onions.

Sweet Potato Pancakes (Latkes)

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Wow. I must be on a sweet potato kick–hadn’t realized it. These are delicious. I love them. We usually eat them as a main course, although I know they’re more common as a side. This recipe comes from a 2006 Everyday Food.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled
3 scallions, finely chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 c. vegetable oil
sour cream, for serving

1. Coarsely grate sweet potatoes on the large holes of a box grater ) or use a food processor fitted with a shredding blade). Transfer to a large bowl: stir in scallions, eggs, flour, 1 t. coarse salt and 1/2 t. pepper.

2. Using a packed 1/4 c. measure of potato mixture per pancake shape into mounds. With hands, form each into a firm ball; transfer to a baking sheet. With palm, flatten balls into 3/4″ cakes.

3. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium until hot.* Using a metal spatula with a thin blade, carefully transfer 6 cakes to skillet; flatten to about 1/2″ thick. Cook until golden brown, 4-5 minutes per side. Transfer pancakes to a paper-towel-lined plate; sprinkle with coarse salt. Repeat with remaining cakes. Serve immediately, with sour cream, if desired.

*Make sure not to get the pan too hot (like on high heat), or the sides will brown too quickly, but the middles won’t be cooked entirely.

Roasted Beef & Root Vegetables (Crock Pot)

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This was the second meal I made this past weekend as we were finishing up moving in.  Since it’s in the crock pot, it’s perfect for not heating up the kitchen in the summer, but the hearty flavor and root vegetables would make it a great fall or winter dish too.

I had beets and potatoes on hand.  Carrots, turnips or anything that grows underground would also work well.

Roasted Beef & Root Vegetables

1 – 1 1/2 pounds of stew beef
2 onions, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
10-15 small red potatoes, chopped in eighths
10 small beets, quartered (or more.  I love beets, but my Farm Share usually has a limit on how many I can take)
16 oz can unsalted diced tomatoes
1 1/2 T. olive oil
1/4 C. red wine
1/2 – 1 T. Kosher salt
2 t. pepper
handful of fresh dill (or my substitute when my dill plant is looking puny (it did not take well to the new house), a tablespoon or so of McCormick’s salt-free “It’s a Dilly” seasoning*)

Mix everything together and cook on low for 8 hours.  Smells and tastes divine!  In fact, my husband Jason declared it was the best crock pot meal I’ve made.

*which I just discovered was discontinued.  Shame.  It’s tasty.  Well, any sort of dill-based seasoning should work, if you don’t have fresh dill.

Balsamic Chicken & Vegetables (Crock Pot)

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We just moved and I finally cooked this past weekend.  Since the kitchen wasn’t completely pulled together yet, and it’s been incessantly hot and muggy here, I made two crock pot recipes.  The first is Balsamic Chicken with Spring Vegetables from one of my favorite sites A Year of Slow Cooking.

We’re doing the Farm Share again this year and I have become adept at using whatever vegetables are at hand.  Into the crock pot with about 5 boneless and skinless chicken breasts went two chopped pattypan squash, two chopped summer squash, two chopped onions, and a whole bulb’s worth of whole garlic cloves.

I served the whole thing over polenta and sprinkled with an Italian cheese mix. 

Pad Thai (Thai Noodles)

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I have recently attended several fabulous Chinese cuisine classes at Orson Gygi in Salt Lake and this recipe will change your life. The instructor is Meiling Dawson who’s mantra is the fresher your ingredients the better your result.

Happy Cooking!

(Almost all these ingredients you can find at your local supermarket. For fresh rice noodles, Fish Sauce (the clearer the better) and the Red Chili Paste, I go to an asian market. And just an FYI, I always double it and have used no meat, shrimp, chicken, and tofu. My own personal comments are in italics. Everything else is Meiling.)

Pad Thai (Thai Noodles)

7 oz. dried rice stick noodles (you can also used fresh), 5 mm wide

4 T. Canola oil (when I double it, I don’t double this)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 LB. raw shrimp, 21/25

2 eggs, beaten

2 green onions, cut into 2″ lengths

1 C. bean sprouts

Sauce

1/4 Cup Fish Sauce

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 T Paprika

2 T Soy Sauce

1 T Vinegar

1/4 Cup Water (1/2 if using dried noodles)

1/2 T Red Chili Paste, optional (I use Sambal Oelek brand)

1/4 Cup Roasted Peanuts, chopped

Soak dry rice noodle in warm water for an hour or until soft. Heat the wok until hot, add the oil, garlic, and shrimp; Cook until shrimp are turning pink about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the drained noodles and beaten eggs to the shrimp mixture. Stir fry until the noodles are soft, then add sauce, bean sprouts, and green onion. (Sometimes I remove the shrimp while I cook the noodles so they are not over done, adding them after the noodles are ready before I add the sauce, bean sprouts, and green onion.) Combine thoroughly, heat through (I find the sauce cools things off dramatically so it needs to be heated back up. I also like to cook off some of the liquid so it isn’t too runny) and transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle top with chopped peanuts.

So Good!!!!

Red Pepper, Chicken and Pesto Pasta

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For me, pesto is the ultimate comfort food, and it’s an easy thing to have on hand. If you make more than you can use in one meal, you can freeze the leftover pesto in muffin trays (or ice cube trays), and toss it in with warm pasta the next time you make it. Anyway, I love this pesto, and it’s a simple dinner.

Pesto

3-4 cloves garlic, skins on
1/4 c. pinenuts
2 c. basil leaves, packed
1/4 c. olive oil
1/3 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 t. salt

Warm a small skillet over medium heat, and toast the pinenuts until fragrant and lightly browned (be careful not to scorch–turn the heat down if the nuts are blackening), tossing the pan gently every couple of minutes. Remove nuts to a small bowl to cool, and add the garlic to the pan. Heat garlic until fragrant, and skins have browned as well, about 6-8 minutes. Remove to a cutting board to cool.

After nuts and garlic have cooled enough to touch, peel the skins off of the garlic and place both the garlic and nuts in a food processor (I do this in my mini-prep plus–a very small food processor). Add the basil, olive oil and salt and process until finely chopped. Remove to a bowl, and add the parmesan cheese. Pesto is done.

Red Pepper, Chicken, and Pesto Pasta
So, for a meal, I heat some olive oil, saute a diced onion and red pepper until softened (about 8 minutes), and turn off the heat. Meanwhile, I either reheat or cook chicken sausages until done (I like Sweet Italian or Apple Sausage), and then slice them and add the it to the onion and red pepper mixture. I then toss the onion/sausage mixture with cooked pasta (I like either penne or spaghetti) and the pesto in one bowl. It’s a whole meal in one :).

Note: I’ve learned this year that there are a lot of different combinations for pesto that work out well. A few that I’ve tried are substituting 1 c. parsley and 1 c. spinach for the basil, and substituting walnuts for pinenuts. You can also add spinach or parsley to the basic pesto–it keeps the pesto greener and gives it a few more nutrients as well.

Light Chicken Parmesan

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I first tried this recipe years ago, and I keep coming back to it. It’s not a typical thing for me to make, but I like it, and it

from Everyday Food

from Everyday Food

comes together really quickly, so I definitely recommend it. And I must confess to using a whole egg, because I’m just not that concerned about taking the yolk out, and it’s still great.

Click here for Martha’s recipe: Light Chicken Parmesan

I served this with polenta (essentially 1 c. cornmeal to 4 c. boiling water, cook until thickens, and then add salt and olive oil and parmesan to taste). Surprisingly, even the kids ate the polenta.

Chipotle Chicken and Rice

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Natalie was gone most of Saturday and so it was up to me to conjure up something tasty for dinner. Well, actually, it wasn’t left up to me since Natalie knew I would probably wander aimlessly around the kitchen without her guidance, so before she left she pointed me in the direction of this terrific recipe from Everyday Foods. I’m a sucker for anything “adobo sauce” and this turned out to be delicious. I would say it’s definitely a keeper.

You can find the recipe here.

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the folks over at Martha's sure take nice pictures

Miso-Glazed Salmon

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Usually I make my salmon with a little lemon juice and a little dill.  But our dill plant just died.  So I went looking for alternatives for tonight’s dinner.  I have seen this recipe at Cooking Light’s website before, and had it tucked away in the back of my mind.  All I can say is, yum!  After it finished cooking, I sprinkled the top with the chopped chives and also with some toasted sesame seeds and it looked so pretty.  I should have taken a picture.  Next time I cook it, I will.

Coming up: the stir fried zucchini and baby bok choy that I made as the side dish.


Miso-Glazed Salmon

  • 1/4  cup  packed brown sugar
  • 2  tablespoons  low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2  tablespoons  hot water
  • 2  tablespoons  miso (soybean paste)
  • 4  (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
  • Cooking spray
  • 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh chives
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Preheat broiler.

Combine first 4 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Arrange fish in a shallow baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon miso mixture evenly over fish.

Broil 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, basting twice with miso mixture. Sprinkle with chives and sesame seeds.

From: Cooking Light

Veggie Burgers with Bulgur Wheat and Tahini

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I’m not an expert of veggie burgers, but I think this is a good one. If you’re expecting it to taste like beef, it doesn’t, but it has a nice flavor and texture and is another way to use beans (if you happen to have lots of them on hand, like me). Plus, they’re a great alternative to the sometimes unending amount of hamburgers and hotdogs we seem to eat in the summertime . . .

Veggie Burgers with Bulgur Wheat and Tahini
Makes about 4 large patties

1 15 oz. can pinto beans or 1 1/2 c. cooked pinto beans, drained
1/2 c. bulgur wheat
1/4 c. dried bread crumbs, panko, or saltines, crumbled, (whatever you have on hand)
1 egg
1 carrot, grated coarsely
4 spring onions (scallions), sliced thinly
2 T. tahini (sesame seed butter–found by the peanut butter in most markets. Not necessary, but has a great flavor and can be used in hummus, if you need another use for it)
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
2-3 T. vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put the bulgur wheat in a heat-resistant bowl, pour 1 c. boiling water on top, and then cover with a plate. Let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mash the beans, and then add bread crumbs, egg, carrot, spring onions, tahini, and cayenne pepper. Add the bulgur, once it has cooked, and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Shape the mixture into patties, or simply drop the mixture into the hot oil and flatten and shape them to look like patties. Cook on each side for approximately 5-6 minutes.

Serve on buns. You can make a tahini mayonnaise (1/2 c. mayo, 1 T. tahini, and juice from one lemon, with a little salt) to accompany. I serve these with a salad and roasted sweet potatoes.