Crispy Kale and BBQ Tempeh

Im back in the kitchen, after a short hiatus.  The many visitors in town over the last couple weeks kept me busy entertaining, however not busy cooking. (Lucky for me though, we enjoyed some fav DC restaurant spots including Founding Farmers, 2Amys and Sawatadee).

Tonight, I started with kale and tempeh and ended up with two delicious recipes to share.  Prior to this, Ive primarily used a simple olive oil and sea salt marinade for the kale – which is good, but basic.  I have to say the noosh + lemon juice + cayenne add something special.  Crispy and light, salty and spicy.  You never knew kale this good.

Crispy Kale

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch of kale, rinsed and chopped
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1/8 cup nutritional yeast + 1/3 cup water
• sea salt, fresh ground pepper, paprika, cayenne (all to taste)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Place kale in a large bowl and set aside.  Combine marinade ingredients in a small bowl and mix until blended.  Pour marinade over kale and coat it completely.
Lay out kale on cookies sheets and place in oven for about 1 hour or until kale is crispy.*

*Note: cooking on low heat for an extended period of time is an alternative to dehydrating.  To get the kale very crispy, it is important to use this method.  However, if you are short for time or prefer the kale in a more soggy, marinated form, cook at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Tempeh soaked in Homemade BBQ Sauce
serves about 2

Ingredients

• 1 package of tempeh

For the BBQ Sauce

• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 agave nectar
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine all ingredients for sauce in a small sauce pan over medium and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice tempeh into strips and combine with 2/3 of the BBQ sauce and let sit for a couple minutes.  Set aside the other 1/3 of the sauce to serve with later.  Place BBQ sauce soaked tempeh on a cookie sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Serve with extra BBQ sauce on small buns or solo with kale.

mangia!

Pizza Party and Pumpkin Carving

We had a little pumpkin carving party with the Lewis’s and the Wilee’s.  And although it was a sad attempt at carving pumpkins (I think 3 yr-old Gaby’s was the best), the pizzas were a hit! (I mean, I didn’t get the title ‘pizza queen’ for nothing).   I used Niki and I’s (Niki’s) summer-time-award-winning pizza dough recipe and whipped up a few of the all-time favorites. The fig, brie and prosciutto is always a crowd pleaser.  I just wish I took some pictures – but the pizza was gone before I could blink!

Pizza Dough

makes 1-2 12-inch round crusts

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1.5 cups warm water
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2.5 cups flour (whole wheat or white)

Instructions

Mix yeast and water, add sugar, olive oil and salt and stir until blended.  Add flour and mix until not sticky.  Begin to knead dough for about 2-3 minutes.  Let dough rise (make sure to coat with flour as it rises quickly and fully and will stick to the bowl).  Once risen (about 30 min), punch down and separate into balls and begin to stretch to dough.

Pizza 1: Sausage, Peppers and Onions with Fresh Mozzarella

Ingredients

• 2-3 small vidalia or sweet onions
• 2-3 colored peppers
• 2-3 sausages (I used Italian hot, but you can use any variation)
• fresh mozzarella
• fresh basil
• 1 cup tomato sauce (go for the homemade)
• shredded 4-cheese italian blend cheese
• hot pepper flakes

Instructions

Cook sausage in links and chop into small pieces.  Saute onions and peppers and add sausage to it.  Coat pizza crust with tomato sauce, sprinkle with basil, cover with onions, peppers and sausage.  Top with fresh mozzarella, regular or soy, and sprinkle with italian blend cheese.  Sprinkle hot pepper to taste.

Pizza 2: Fig Jam, Prosciutto and Brie

Ingredients

• Fig Jam, a couple spoonfuls
• 3-4 slices prosciutto
• 1 triangle of soft brie, cubed or chunked
• 5-10 asparagus (or any green veggie in season), sauted
• 1-2 sweet vidalia onion
• olive oil

Instructions

Saute onion in olive oil and smother onto pizza crust.  Saute asparagus and lay onto pizza like spokes on a wheel.  Sprinkle with cubed brie cheese and prosciutto pieces.  Top with 1/2 teaspoons of fig jam over top.

Pizza 3: BBQ Chicken with Corn and Smoked Gouda

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• BBQ sauce
• Corn (i prefer roasted which you can get at Trader Joes frozen section)
• 1 red onion
• 1 bunch cilantro
• smoked gouda cheese
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• olive oil

Instructions

Cook chicken breasts in a pan until tender, cube and smother in BBQ sauce.  Saute red onions in olive oil.  Lather pizza crust with tomato sauce and extra BBQ sauce and top with cubed chicken, sauted red onions, roasted corn, cilantro (to taste) and shredded smoke gouda cheese

Pizza 4: Traditional Margherita

Ingredients

• 1-2 cups tomato sauce
• fresh tomatoes, diced
• fresh mozzarella, regular or soy
• fresh basil
• shredded italian 4 cheese blend (optional)

Instructions

Lather crust with tomato sauce.  Sprinkle with diced tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and top with shredded cheese.

Bake all pizzas on the grill or in oven at 425 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

*Tips for pizza making: Pizzas are cooked best on a pizza stone. I also like to cook my pizza dough first before topping with any toppings to create some structure, especially with this dough recipe which is very dough and fluffy! If you cook the crust for about 5-10 minutes it will give it a good sturdy base before you lather it with the sauce and toppings.

mangia!