A very green dinner

Finally I’m feeling better… oh my gosh, you have no idea how horrible a day I had.  Just grossness.  I went for a run before dinner that seemed to revitalize me.  Add 3.9 miles to my running December total. 

Dinner was total comfort food – soup and pizza.  I am totally obsessed with the immersion blender that my sister got me so I keep finding excuses to use it.  I made a big pot of Split Pea Soupw/ Carrots and a big Spinach & Feta Pizza.  

I really love those Ener-G Foods rice pizza crusts I have.  They are incredibly light, crispy and delicious.  You really don’t feel like you’re eating gluten-free foods when you have this pizza.  It even passed the taste test by the bf who has some pretty high standards for food.  I topped the crust with some chunky organic pasta sauce and popped it into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes to crisp up a bit.  Then I took it out, topped it with some chopped, fresh spinach and crumbled feta and put it back in for about 5-10 minutes.  Definitely a new fav of mine…    

Ok, I know pizza and split pea soup don’t exactly seem like the most normal pairing, but they are two of my favorite foods so I figured why not.  I am completely exhausted for some reason so I think I’m going to be super cool and go to bed soon…

Pizza & Prep Work

I didn’t have my camera with me for the majority of the weekend because I misplaced it, but before I did I thankfully was able to get a picture of the delicious Cranberry Chutney I pre-made for Thanksgiving.  I prefer to try out new recipes ahead of time when planning on using them for special occasions.  I adapted the recipes form one that I found in Gourmet magazine.  Here’s my version:

Cranberry Chutney:

• 4 shallots, coarsely chopped
• 1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 (12 oz) bag fresh of frozen cranberries
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 5 tbsp water
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced, peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 small gala apple, minced & peeled

Cook shallots in oil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries pop, 15-20 minutes, then cool.  **Chutney can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered.

This was the perfect blend of savory and sweet in my opinion.  I absolutely cannot wait to try it on some warm turkey!

So… I found my camera this evening after I got to meet one of my readers!!!  Amie, you are like my blonde twin – so bizarre!!  Anyway, I don’t like to get too personal on this sooo…. I called the bf and my camera had been there all along!  I went to upload my pictures though and found out what happens when you leave your camera in your boyfriend’s hands:

Figures….    So anyway, I had lots of cooking to do to prepare for Thanksgiving!!  I wanted to test out my Corn & Bean Bread and Tomato Soup recipes to make sure they were up to snuff.  Both are definitely keepers!!!  For both recipes I used my copy of How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman so I can’t take credit for any of the deliciousness.  Here are the recipes as they appear in the book:

Tomato Soup: (makes 4 servings)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 large carrot, peeled & diced
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 4 c. cored, peeled, seeded tomatoes (I used canned)
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 c. chicken stock
• minced parsley or basil leaves for garnish

1. Place the oil in a large, deep saucepan and turn heat to medium.  A minute later, add the onion and carrot.  Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and thyme and cook until the tomatoes break up, about 10 minutes.  Add 1 cup stock and cook until carrots are soft.  Adjust seasonings as needed (I added a pinch garlic) and puree with a hand blender.  **Soup may be made a few days ahead of time and stored chilled & covered.

While this was going on I also made my Corn & Bean Bread.  This is basically a gluten-free version of cornbread and is sooo good!

Corn & Bean Bread: (makes about 6 servings)

• 1 c. soured milk (1 c. milk and 1 tbsp rice vinegar – see step 2)
• 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
• 1.5 c. medium-grind cornmeal
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp Added Fiber Baking Blend Stevia (by NuNaturals)
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 c. canned white beans, pureed

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. You may sub buttermilk or yogurt, but for the soured milk, warm the milk gently to take the chill off and then add the vinegar.  Let it rest while you prepare the other ingredients.
3. Place butter or oil in an 8″ pyrex baking dish and pop into the oven until good and hot, then set aside.  Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Mix the eggs and pureed white beans into the soured milk.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients; combining well.  If the mixture seems too dry, add a little more milk.  Pour the batter into the preheated fat, smooth out the top if necessary, and place in the oven.
4. Bake about 30 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and the sides have pulled away from the sides and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Serve warm.

The bro wasn’t too impressed by the cornbread, but he hates cornbread so probably not the person to ask.  I however found it quite tasty…

After all that cooking I was pretty hungry – it was 8:30pm!!  I pulled out one of my individual rice pizza shells that I got from Ener-G Foods.  I mixed together some generic tomato sauce that I stole from the bro with about a tbsp chopped onion.  I added some garlic and some homemade pesto I had sitting in the freezer from a while back.  The pesto was a combo of fresh basil, salt, cashews, garlic, Parmesan cheese and olive oil.  Yum!!  I popped the shell topped with sauce into the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.

I pulled out the crispy shell and added some slices of fat-free mozzarella and put it back into the oven for about 5 minutes.  Pesto pizza + a glass of my favorite everyday Cabernet (Crosby) = total yum! :grin:   Official opinion on the Ener-G Foods pizza shells??  Absolutely amazing and a must buy!!  Have a great night everybody!! 

**EDITED TO ADD:  Over the weekend I added another chunk of miles to my Pile On the Miles Running Total (hah), bringing it to 42.39 miles!!!  Heck yes!!!