Flatbread Pizza Salad

We have a deep affection for whole wheat flatbread in our house.  Laela loves it toasted with olive oil and topped with hummus, and as weird as it may sound to some, steamed broccoli.  Kyle loves it made as a basic pizza with sauce, mozzarella cheese, and whatever kind of meat we have on hand.

My favorite thing to do with flatbread is make what Kyle calls "Flatbread Pizza Salad".  It's super easy to make, and when I have that insatiable craving for pizza, with less of the guilt that tends to come with your typically deliciously greasy slice of tastiness, this is the pizza I turn to.

Flatbread Pizza Salad

You'll need:

• 1 slice of whole wheat flatbread
• 1tsp olive oil
• 3Tb Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2Tb Parmesan Cheese (I prefer freshly shredded)
• 1 Sprig Thyme (leaves only)
• 1 Sprig Rosemary (chopped)
• 3 Slices of roasted peppers, jarred is easier, fresh fine too. (You can also use sundried tomatoes or jarred artichokes)
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 Lemon
• 4 large handfuls of spring mix, or 50/50 arugula/spinach mix

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 400-degrees.
• Use a pastry brush to "paint" the olive oil on both sides of the flatbread. (You may use more or less oil than specified, depending on the size of your flatbread.)
• Place the oiled flatbread on a cookie sheet.  Put the cookie sheet in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Chop the roasted peppers.
• Take the flatbread out of the oven.  Top with the thyme, rosemary, cheeses, roasted peppers, salt, and pepper.
• Bake for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
• When cheese is melted, take the flatbread out of the oven.  Slice into servings (our flatbreads usually serve 2 people, unless Kyle is super hungry.)  Top with the salad mix (you can stop here if you're not a salad fan!).
• Squeeze a bit of lemon onto the salad.  Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper.

Enjoy!!

Broccoli Two Ways

I've never been one to fight about eating vegetables.  I prefer them over most foods  (I'm pretty sure Kyle is convinced I could live on broccoli and peas- plain).  I'm one of those annoying people that put peas, broccoli, garlic and onions in to pretty much everything.  I even love plain old steamed brussel sprouts with salt and pepper.
 
Needless to say, when I hear people say that they don't like vegetables, I just don't get it.  So, I've made it my mission to prove that vegetables are totally delicious.  Maybe you won't want them plain, but with a little garlic, and a lot of love, even the most boring vegetable can be fantastic!

Now let's talk broccoli.  I have seen those super creepy frozen packs of broccoli with the weird plastic-y cheese on it.  Put down the fake cheese!  Frozen broccoli is amazingly quick and simple to cook- you really don't need any mystery sauce or seasonings on it.  You can make it yourself in five minutes flat!

My family loves broccoli...but that wasn't always the case.  Kyle isn't a natural vegetable lover.  How did I convert him, might you ask? 

Broccoli with Garlic

You'll need:

• 2 cups frozen broccoli (about a half bag or so)
• 2 Tb chopped garlic (I prefer fresh, but chopped garlic jarred is totally fine too)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil (optional)

Instructions:
Put a large saucepan on medium heat.  Fill the pan with about a half inch of water.  Wait one minute for the water to get hot.  Add the broccoli, onion powder, and garlic to the pan.  Carefully stir them together in the hot water.  Add a bit of salt and pepper.  If you'd like, once the water starts to cook down a bit, you can add a tiny bit of olive oil to the broccoli (less than a half teaspoon).  I really like the flavor that the olive oil brings to the broccoli, but I don't always use it.  The broccoli should be done after about five minutes of cooking.  Taste before serving to correct the seasoning.

Broccoli with Cheese

For the cheese obsessed, this is pretty awesome.

You'll need:

• 2 cups broccoli
• 1/4 cup Italian blend cheese (parmesan, mozzarella)
• salt and pepper

Instructions:
Fill a large saucepan with about a half inch of water.  Cook the water at medium heat.  After a minute or so after the water has heated up, add all of the ingredients to the pan.  Cook for five minutes.  Taste before serving to correct the seasoning.  And of course, you can always add more cheese!


Tomorrow I'll be sharing the tastiest, absolute easiest way to make asparagus- ever. 

Wonton Ravioli with Garbanzo Spaghetti Sauce

If I had to write a love letter to a specific type of food, it would probably be pasta.  It's the one thing that I could eat almost everyday, and never get sick of it.  So when I looked at the label on my wonton wrappers, and saw that I could make them into ravioli, I decided to give it a go.

Wonton Ravioli:

 Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups part skim/part whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 8-9 large basil leaves- chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• 40-50 wonton wrappers
• 1 cup water

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, basil leaves, salt, pepper, and egg. 
• Mix well.
• On a clean surface, line up all of your wonton wrappers.
• Using a spoon, or melon baller, scoop the mixture onto half of the wontons.
• Dip your finger in the water.  Run your wet finger along the edges of the wonton wrapper. 
• Top the scooped wonton wrapper with a plain wonton that has also been lined in water.
• Pinch the wontons together so that they won't open when you boil them.
• Boil them in salted water.
• When they float to the top, they're done.
• This is what they'll look like:

Garbanzo Spaghetti Sauce:

Ingredients:

• my super easy pasta sauce
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed.
• 5-6 large basil leaves, chopped
• 1tsp crushed garlic
• 1tsp olive oil
• 4 oz frozen spinach, defrosted and drained

Instructions:

• In a medium pan, on medium heat, combine the spinach, garbanzo beans, garlic, and oil.
• Cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the pasta sauce and basil.
• Cook until it becomes one cohesive, well mixed sauce.

Top your pasta and enjoy!

If you've got English grandparents, or have ever been to an English restaurant, there's no doubt you've had peas and cream.  I think they're one of those things that the English decided that they'd use to bribe unruly, picky children to eat peas (or in my case, a husband that has lackluster feelings towards vegetables).  They're a great side for steak, chicken, or pretty much anything roasted.  The best part?  Your friends and family will swear you're a gourmet cook when all it took is less than ten minutes and very, very little work.

This recipe is going to be a bit different than some of my other recipes in that I'm not going to give you exact amounts. 

Ingredients:

• Peas (I prefer frozen.)
• Grated Parmesan cheese (fresh if you have it on hand, but really out of the jar is fine too!)
• Heavy Cream
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

In a medium saucepan on medium heat, pour the amount of peas that you want to make.  Pour in the heavy cream until it is just covering the peas.  Shake in a big heap of the parmesan.  Add a few good shakes of garlic and onion powder into the saucepan, and then mix the whole thing together really well.  As the mixture begins to simmer, give it a good stir to make sure the ingredients are fully mixed.  When you can pick up a pea and pop it in between your fingers with no effort, see how it tastes, and then and add salt and pepper to your liking.  You want your peas to be coated with thick, cheesy, silky cream.

Enjoy!