Apple Cinnamon Dessert Pizza

This was good.....Man, oh man, oh man, oh man....this was good. Like an apple pie, but lighter and a little fresher tasting. I had a few apples in the fridge that I needed to get rid of before our vacation and what do ya know these were magic apples....because they talked to me. They said "We want to be turned into a dessert pizza", and of course I obliged. Because when apples talk to you you never know what else they may be able to do like shoot you with laser guided missiles while you sleep.....next logical step don't ya know. So I figured I should do what they say.

Once the apples informed me of their wishes I looked around the kitchen to see what else might work with this dish...I found no other talking ingredients, but I did find some cream cheese and butter that needed to be used. It was like an episode of Chopped, but better....because on chopped they make you wear pants....and it was hot....so I was wearing my p.j.s...which are much more comfortable than real pants. Also there was no headcheese or cream of mushroom soup, or other random ingredient that I had to work with.....so really, no, not like chopped at all.

I mixed together one block of cream cheese with about a tbs of melted butter, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 tsp cinnamon. Oh and about a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a teaspoon of lemon juice....that was the pizza "sauce". I spread it onto my sourdough pizza crust that had already spent about ten minutes in the oven.

I added sliced apples that had been tossed with lemon juice and a pinch of salt and made it all pretty like...






Then I melted another tbs of butter and stirred in 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2tsp flour, and sprinkled the mixture all over the top of the pizza.

If anyone is interested in more precise directions let me know and I will get to work on typing those out. I just thought I would throw this out there before I left because it was soooooooooooo dang good! Excellent with coffee.

Lemony Chickpea and Rice Salad

It's hot. And I'm fighting off a cold. So I wanted a meal that would be refreshing, and light, with flavors strong enough that I might actually be able to taste despite my stuffy nose. This fit the bill quite nicely. It was refreshing and tasty. I will be making this again.

What you need:

2 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs lemon juice
3 tbs oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tbs Dijon mustard
cayenne to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3 cloves of garlic peeled and pressed
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 cups cooked rice

More cilantro and avocado for garnish

Whisk together the first ten ingredients.

Stir in the chickpeas and rice to coat.

Refrigerate, and when ready to serve garnish with more cilantro and avocado.

Super Easy Pasta Salad (egg free, soy free)

I have posted this recipe (or at least a very similar one) before, but I wanted to post it again because...
1.) It's summer, and this dish is perfect for hot days.

2.) Last time I posted this I had no picture of it, and now I do!! What's that??....You don't see a picture...well that's because it's still on my camera. But I do have one, and I will share it with you as soon as I figure it out.

3.) We are still working on clearing out the fridge and this is a great clear out the fridge meal because there are so many things you can add to it...olives, peppers, feta cheese, grated carrots, and broccoli all work very well in this.

What you need:

1 cup of cooked noodles (check ingredients for egg and soy if you are accommodating to allergies)
2 cans of beans drained and rinsed
1 bottle of this red pepper vinaigrette
3 cloves of garlic peeled and put through a press
Anything else you care to throw in there...maybe a few veggies and herbs...whatever floats your boat.

Mix it all together and refrigerate. The garlic will be strong. If you are serving this to a crowd......or if you care what other people think of your breath you may want to cut it down to 1 or 2 cloves of garlic. I really really like garlic....you will know what I mean if you make this.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

When life hands you stale tortilla chips....make this soup. I thought this soup was fun. You can set out all sorts of different toppings to dress it up, sour cream, avocado, olives, Tabasco, cheese....like a taco bar, but with soup..how fun is that?!?!...Ok so you probably shouldn't take advice on what is fun by someone who once aspired to be an ornithologist. But if nothing else this was a break from the norm, and a great way to use up some left over tortilla chips that were past their prime. This is a pantry meal, so go ahead and play with it to suit your pantries ingredients.

Ingredients
Olive oil about 1tbs
1 onion diced
1 tbs chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic salt
cayenne to taste
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 cups of chickpeas
1 cup frozen spinach
2/3 cups salsa
4 cups of broth
stale (or not) tortilla chips

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and spices and cook for about five minutes or until tender.

Add the garlic and salsa, cook one more minute.

Add the chickpeas and spinach and cook for five more minutes.

Add the broth and bring to a simmer, simmer for about ten minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with cilantro, tortilla chips, hot sauce, sour cream, avocado...or whatever else you would like.

My son picked out all of the spinach.....and ate that first. Then he proceeded to finish his entire bowl, and half of mine. I can't blame him, I really like the way the spinach came through in this soup. My daughter decided she doesn't like lunch, so I offered it to her as a snack......she seemed okay with that.

P.S. Pictures will be up when I figure out how to get them off of my new (squeeeeeeeeee) camera.

Creamy (but vegan) Indian spiced Spinach

This recipe is delish....but soooo not attractive looking. So I've decided to add a picture of my son on the day he was born, because, you know...people like babies. And he, unlike aforementioned spinach dish is quite attractive if I do say so myself.

The following recipe is my FAVORITE way to eat spinach. I love Indian food and usually have all these things on hand though. If you are intimidated by the long list of ingredients and the price tag that goes along with it, you could certainly buy an Indian curry paste and use that in place of the spices. It won't be quite the same, but I expect it will still be quite good.

Also worthy of note, I had a ton of spinach to get rid of. I am sure other leafy greens would lend themselves well to this recipe if you have them on hand.

Ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
2 onions peeled, washed, and sliced

1st bowl of spices
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

2nd bowl of spices
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin

5 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of coconut milk
1lb spinach

Make sure you have done all of your prep work. I like to measure out all of my spices into bowls ahead of time and have them ready to dump in. With so many ingredients and measurements to do, I don't want to be carefully measuring when my garlic is burning...eek the horror!

Are we all diced, peeled, measured and ready to go....well then, let's begin.

In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until tender.

Add the first bowl of spices and cook for a minute or two until the spices become fragrant.

Add the chopped garlic, and the second bowl of spices. Cook one two minutes more.

Add the tomato sauce, coconut milk while stirring to insure that it doesn't burn.

Add the spinach and reduce the heat to medium low. Put a lid on and walk away for ten minutes. Come back and stir. Set the timer for ten more minutes. Come back and stir. Set the timer for ten more minutes. That's thirty minutes all together.

Take the pot off of the heat, and when it has cooled put the whole mess through your food processor. Enjoy!