Great, now I want pizza.

For some reason, I am extremely easily persuaded that I want pizza. Today I was working at an elementary school, doing research about parent feeding habits, and on our way out of the building we saw them setting up for a pizza party. Mr. Domino's walked past us, each arm burdened with a carrier holding about 10 pizzas each. That was when I knew I was having pizza for dinner. This is a variation of a recipe I found on http://amazingsandwiches.com. The dough is the exact same as what they use for their pizzas and I used their idea to mix pesto and mascarpone but I added some pizza sauce over that. For cheese I did their jarlsburg and parmesan mix but my toppings were red onion, portabello mushroom slices and artichoke hearts. I also added sesame seeds to the crust. With a little red wine this was a really great dinner and just writing about it is making me want pizza again.
I now have an iphone and no longer need to go get photos the old fashioned way, so there will likely be a lot more posting going on. Sorry it took so long to get posting again and sorry if I made you want pizza. I may not have posted for a while but don't worry, I've stayed well fed.

No One Wants to be Defeated

Beets are an intimidating food. Not only are they always covered in dirt (and where do you go from there?) but so many people seem to have expressly bad opinions of their taste that buying them and going to the trouble to scrub off that dirt doesn't seem like it would be worth it. My mom is one of those people who never liked beets, whenever they were an option at family gatherings she would refuse saying, "They taste like dirt!". Needless to say, I didn't grow up learning how to eat beets but then again, I didn't grow up learning how to eat a variety of foods, yet somehow I've managed pretty well.
My sister and I attended the http://fultonstreetmarket.org/ last weekend. I had thought we were going to the beach afterward so I'd worn my swimsuit under a sundress. The market was busy, lots and lots of amazing food and I ran into a few friends which was great. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the beach that day. I did get wet but it wasn't in the lake. After we'd been at the market for about 15 minutes, it poured on us. Water collected overhead as people darted to avoid getting wet around us. The water, gathering in the tents above, spontaneously overflowed in rain-waterfalls showing no mercy and drenching those without cover of umbrella. I was one of those, good thing I was wearing my suit! We actually enjoyed ourselves despite the weather and were able to purchase plenty of food.
In an attempt to use up our http://www.doubleupfoodbucks.org/ we surveyed all the vegetables and my sis kept acting so interested in the beets that I felt like we needed to just try them. In the past, I'd had some delicious beet-goat cheese combinations so we bought some local chevre as well.
Scrubbing and roasting beets is nowhere near as scary as it seemed to me. It took about 10 minutes to scrub them. After they were all clean, I poured on some olive oil and sprinkled a little salt on them and wrapped them in a big foil bundle. They were in the oven at 375 for about an hour before the skins looked loose and they were easily pierced by a sharp knife. After letting them cool, the skins peeled off easily. Done, I had roasted beets. The color was outstanding and juice seeped out of them... oh beautiful beet juice! I left them in the fridge for a day or two before we made this salad and they were really tasty. Next time I might mix a little balsamic vinegar with the olive oil "dressing" for a hint of sweetness. Oh and by the way, they didn't taste like dirt. Don't let the dirt, rain or anything else beat your need to stay well fed!

Simple Roasted Beet Salad with Chevre

4 or 5 raw red beets
2 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
1/3 cup walnuts
2 cups baby arugula
3 oz crumbly chevre
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Scrub beets clean and rinse well. Place the beets on a large piece of foil and pour the 2 tbsp olive oil over them. Sprinkle with the salt. Wrap the beets up in the foil and place in the oven. Allow beets to roast until tender enough to be very easily pierced with a sharp knife (about one hour). Once beets are tender, remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool, peel skins off of the beets and discard. Dice the beets into chunks (be careful of the juice, it stains). Toast the walnuts in a toaster oven until just fragrant. Remove and allow to cool slightly, then chop roughly. In a large bowl combine the arugula, walnuts and beets. Crumble the chevre over the top and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil. Toss well, until chevre has a slight pink hue from the beet juice. Serve immediately.

Purple Gaiety

I had never seen purple green beans until this summer. I'm one of those people who is always trying to get a lot of color on my plate (yay phytochemicals!) and purple is one of those colors that is hard to come by. I couldn't stop smiling when I saw them sitting there, only one pint among scores of entirely green green beans. I had to have them! As I was purchasing them, the farmer warned me that they were a slightly different flavor from green beans and that cooking them would change the color. Of course, he was right but even though I believed him at the time I still didn't expect it to happen quite like he'd said. We decided to make a stir-fry at my sister's (what used to be our) apt and she had the spectacular idea of adding dry roasted peanuts. We were short on time so we bought a pre-made peanut sauce, a spicy one. Next time I will boil/steam the purple green beans with the broccoli so they are slightly more tender, then sautee everything together. As we sauteed everything, the purple started dissapearing and even though I was sad to see my purple go, it was hard to care because it was kind of blowing my mind. Food colors are beautiful and amazing. I recommend eating stir-fry with as many colors as you can and adding dry roasted peanuts if you use a peanut sauce. With roygbiv, nuts and friends, we were well fed.

There's a First for Everything

This summer, I've had the privelage of keeping myself well fed with beautiful food that I have loved eating, seeing, buying, picking, smelling and cooking. Part of my joy has resulted from my participation in the http://allenneighborhoodcenter.org/food/market/ where each week there is a bounty of Michigan fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads and even fresh salsas and cookies. With pretty much any food I could want within my grasp it seems like it's impossible to choose when it comes time to decide what to buy, and even more importantly, what to eat. I've been able to make some pretty decent choices this summer.
This was my first summer truly experiencing snap peas. I've eaten them by the handful in summers past, pod and all, and of course, they are a great snack (especially with Jared's secret veggie dip). This however, was my first time buying 2 pounds of snow peas and shelling them all, one pea at a time. Before I go any further let me just say - yes, it was worth it.
Michigan has been extremely hot and humid this summer. One day, when it was over 100 degrees, I simply could not do anything but sit and I decided it was the perfect time to shell peas. It was actually extremely satisfying and it was my favorite part about this soup. I was able to use mint from my windowsill but since I only had a handful, I didn't remove it, I just blended it in and that worked well. Also, after pureeing it all in the food processor I ended up wanting a smoother consistency so I threw it in the blender for a bit, good idea. I know peas aren't as plentiful as they were at the beginning of the summer but if you get the chance I definitely recommend spending a hot day shelling peas for this chillingly good soup. Eat it by scooping it up with chunks of crusty french bread and you'll be glad you kept yourself well fed.

Chilled pea soup with roasted garlic
from In Season by Sarah Raven

1 head garlic
1 quart good vegetable stock
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small bunch of scallions, chopped
2 pounds shelled peas, fresh or frozen
Bunch of mint
1/2 cup light cream
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 and roast the whole head of garlic (in a small dish with a drizzle of olive oil and a tbsp of water) for half an hour until sweet and caramel-like inside. Scrape the garlic flesh from the skin and put to one side. Heat the stock. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and cook the scallions in it gently, until softened by not browned. Add the peas and mint, and cook for a few minutes. Add the hot stock and cook until the peas are just tender. Remove the mint and drain the peas, reserving the stock. Puree the peas with the garlic and a little of the stock, and return to a large mixing bowl. Add enough of the reserved stock to give the consistency you want (the soup will thicken slightly when it is chilled) and add the light cream. Season. Cover the bowl and chill for at least two hours before serving.