Pizza on the Grill

We are getting a taste of summer weather this weekend, are you? We're due I think, since the end of summer was wet and cold... and this mom was sitting at an outdoor pool layered up and still shivering! The girls didn't mind so much, they enjoy swimming in the warm pool and with the trickling rain... but mom - not so happy! :) So, I guess this weekend is our last taste of summer weather, and so it's perfect for grilling.
Have you ever grilled pizza? I know it sounds peculiar, but it's quite a lot of fun, and the pizza tastes better than it ever could in your inside oven. When we returned from Whistler, I was able to pick up some pre-made whole-wheat pizza dough. I was so excited! You see, pizza dough is not something I enjoy making from scratch (at this stage as a busy mom when making most of our other foods from scratch)... and, I haven't found w/w dough in our area. If you are fortunate enough to be able to buy pre-made whole-wheat pizza dough at your local grocery/health food store, then do so! And try grilling them! (btw, if you want to try some w/w pizza dough recipes yourself, try these links replace honey with agave in second link)

I prefer making personal pizzas. They're easier to manage, and more playful for everyone involved. So, portion your dough and roll/stretch it out for personal sized pizzas. It doesn't really matter how big/small they are, because you can have more than one. Also, the shape doesn't matter. Don't go for round! Oddly shaped pizzas are more rustic and feel very 'authentic'. So aim for uniformity in thickness rather than shape... rolling evenly and fairly thin (no more than about 1/8" - 1/4"), since the crust will then become nice and bubbly/crispy on the grill.

It's quite easy, and here's how:

• After rolling out your dough, get a large baking sheet and sprinkle it fairly generously with cornmeal. Then, place your pizzas on the baking sheet, on top of the cornmeal sprinkling. The cornmeal helps to keep the dough from sticking to the pans and also the grill.
• Prepare your toppings - but don't place them on your pizzas just yet. Have the toppings at hand at your grill.
• Give your grill a scraping, and brush it with olive oil. Preheat your grill, and be sure it's nicely preheated and hot (about medium-high) before placing on your pizzas.
• Carefully drape your pizzas (without toppings) on the grill, again the shape doesn't matter. Let cook for just a couple of minutes, depending on the thickness of your dough, and the heat of your bbq. You'll quickly see that first side firming up.
• Carefully lift and check the grilled side. If it is crispy and golden, and maybe even has a few grill marks, flip over. Now it's time for those toppings!
• You can either to transfer the shells back to your baking sheet (cooked side UP) to put on the toppings, or keep on the grill. It is safer/easier to work when transferring back to the baking sheet, but if you work quickly, you scatter the toppings over the dough while on the grill. Transferring also prevents burning the other side of the dough, but again it depends on how many pizzas you are making and how quickly you work. If you have a cooler zone on your bbq, you can also slide the pizzas to that area to add toppings). You may want to reduce the heat on your bbq, since you don't want the second side of the dough to burn while assembling the toppings and then cooking.

I interrupt the process to discuss the pizza toppings. Now, usually I'm a topping/sauce gal - most of you know that. However, with grilled pizzas, I believe less is more. Opt for minimal, but flavorful, toppings. The flavor of the pizza will speak for itself, so use some of your fave ingredients, but don't overload with wet ingredients (like tomatoes or mushrooms) or too much sauce. Keep it light and flavorful, with things like artichokes, olives, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, peppers, and grilled veggies. A brushing of olive oil on the bare cooked dough before adding the topping is spectacular... this is safer to do on the baking sheets, fyi). Also give it a light dose of sea salt and ground pepper. Bake to the process...

• Close the bbq cover again to cook (and, again, reduce heat if needed). Remember, your bbq is like and outdoor oven, so close it up to heat and cook your pizza, and also to crisp up that bottom side of the dough. This won't take long - just another 4-6 minutes.
• When done, remove and serve all crispy and bubbly and hot and perfecto! Definitely drizzle with a touch of extra-virgin olive oil.

My pizzas you can see here I've topped with marinated artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, dry olives, and also a few sorrel leaves. Sorrel is a leafy green with a strong lemony flavor. I added the sorrel a little too early, however, since it lost its vibrant green color. Best to chiffonade and sprinkle on just before serving. I also had half of an already baked whole-wheat pizza shell, and this I topped with some of my Lemony Cashew-Basil Pesto and organic tomato slices (since the shell was already cooked).

And... for those sauce lovers like me, if you need that with your pizza, have a little bowl of extra pesto for your own pizza - or, warm a small bowl of a tomato-based sauce. That way, you'll have the best of both worlds... a crispy-crusted pizza with lots of flavorful toppings and sauce to boot!

I hope this post inspires you to bring your pizza to the grill this weekend. And, if anyone wants to send me some whole-wheat pizza dough...?... kidding! Happy vegan eats!

(p.s. the details of the Salba giveaway are a little delayed, but should be available to me soon)

Pizza Pie Heaven!

Check out this deliciousness...

oh YUM! The crust is a spelt/cornmeal crust by Vicolo. This company has premade pizzas, though they all have cheese. But... they also have this spelt/cornmeal crust (package of 2), that is marvelous! I bought it at our local Choices Market (in freezer section).

I tried this crust once months back, and I loved it. It's not like other pizza crusts. Rather than being doughy, it has a nutty/sweet rich flavor, with a nubbly texture. Because of this rich flavor, you likely won't eat as much as you would with a pizza dough crust. And, because it has such a beautiful flavor on its own, it needs just simple toppings, imo.

Here, I slathered on a layer of pesto. It's a new pesto from E,D&BV... Lemony Cashew-Basil Pesto. Goodness, how I love this pesto too! I can eat it with a cracker or chip, seriously. Very lemony, which cuts the oily nuts, and just bursting with basil magnificence! I simply topped with pesto with thick slices of fresh tomatoes, and then just a few sliced olives and some freshly ground black pepper over top.

I prebaked the crust just a tad, and then didn't bake the finished pizza too long, just enough to warm the tomatoes through. It was good. Good, good, good!

I won't be blogging for a few days. So I leave you with this picture of pizza heaven, and also...

A
GIVEAWAY!

Last time I was a sneaky mama with my giveaway, but this time it's straight up! So, check out the rules (August Giveaway). The prize is a copy of Vive, or if you already have Vive, a copy of the Everyday Dish dvd. Or if you have the dvd, a copy of TEV. And if you already have all three, then you like me too much and you'll have to spread the love and give the book or dvd to someone else. :)

Go make some pizza!

Disappearing Dreena

Have you been thinking I've disappeared? Maybe run off to a spa to edit in luxury?

Well, no I haven't abandoned you, and I'll be posting more regularly again. The process of book writing is a curious thing. Just when I thought I had a tiny break, I was juggling details again. You see, once I submitted my manuscript, it went through editing with my publisher. Through their review, they'd e-mail for extra information on recipes or for clarification within a section of the book. Then, when their editing is complete, I receive stacks of chapters with the changes along with the newest version for me to then review. I then go through to ensure the changes read correctly, and are otherwise okay from my perspective. Now, I've sent all the edits (well, I have a very small batch left) to my publisher, and now the book goes for final design work. I then get that "final" version from design to go through once more to check for any small inconsistencies/typos, etc. Then, we're off to the printer!

So, for now I have some breathing room, until I receive the book from design to review... and then, I'll be breaking for a short while again.

I have such a backlog of photos to show you and cooking tidbits to share. I don't know where to start!

I'm going back about a month here. To another pizza night. Again, I used a premade whole-wheat pizza shell. I didn't have a decent sauce to top the pizza, so I searched my cupboards and fridge for options. I had about 1/4 jar of roasted red peppers in the fridge. So, I poured off some of the liquid, and pureed the red peppers. Yep, right in the jar with my immersion blender. If you don't have one of these hand blenders, what are you waiting for? This is one of my must-have kitchen tools. Immersion blender and food processor. Gotta' have 'em!

Anyhow, the roasted peppers had a lot of flavor with some garlic in the jar, so this made for a zippy pizza sauce! Then, I sprinkled on capers and leftover chickpeas from this dish. Added a scattering of vegan cheese and then topped it with very thinly sliced onion, and freshly ground black pepper. I kept the veggie toppings to a minimum on this pizza because we were having a generous salad with our dinner.

Here's the pizza with our salad. The salad is drizzled with a new Creamy Basil Dressing that will be in ED&BV.

There are two options for the dressing, one "semi-raw", and the other purely raw. Either way, it is fabulous, and great with an entree such as this that is very savory.

Here's more of the dressing...
mmmmm I just love it, but I am a huge sucker for fresh basil. I cannot grow it fast enough as I can pick it, so I opt instead to buy heaping bags at the farmers' market when I can. How I love summer!

Btw, none of you guessed my food photos on Pam's website. There are two from our food photos for ED&BV... take a guess which two!

Pizza Night

Usually once a week I mock up a pizza of some sort. I keep a couple of store bought whole-wheat pizza shells in the freezer, and then it's just a matter of choosing toppings.

This time, I simply spread on some tomato sauce, then topped with strips of cooked Lightlife Tempeh Bacon on top, and decided to play tic-tac-toe with halved cherry tomatoes!

This layer was then topped with thinly sliced shallots. You must know that I do not like raw onions. At all. Too strong and leave me tasting onion all day. So, I will always saute or otherwise cook them for any dish. But for a pizza, if I slice them thin enough, they cook through and become golden crispy. Totally delicious. Give it a try, and be sure to put the onions on the top to get crispy - and slice thin, thin, thin. After that, a sprinkling of fresh thyme and freshly ground black pepper completed the pie.

We had the pizza with a biggie salad, not pictured. If I'm having a sharp, savory pizza (or other entree) like this - with the smoky tempeh, crispy onions and thyme - a palate cleansing salad is a welcome accompaniment. It must have some crunchy, juicy veggies like cucumber, bell peppers, or jicama, and some chunks of avocado also add a nice cooling touch.

It was very, very good. Pizza is such fun food... yes, even without cheese... in fact especially without cheese! Need some other pizza-making ideas? Check out some of these other pizza posts.

Tex-Mex Pizza

I whipped up this "Tex-Mex" pizza one night just before the cover photo shoot. It was a week of quick and convenient dinners for the most part - pizza was an obvious choice. But, I wanted some protein on that pie, and refried beans accepted the role.

I started with a whole-wheat pizza shell, layered on some refried beans topped with a little seasoned tomato sauce (though salsa would have been great too), sprinkled those layers with chopped parsley, followed by strips of roasted red peppers, and then topped the lot off with some vegan cheese.

I used Follow Your Heart cheese this time, even though we don't eat a lot of this vegan cheese. It's a bit odd. It claims to melt very well, but I have found that it only melts well if baked at a very high heat or under the broiler. Also, as it cools, it gets a bit waxy again. I like the taste with some things, but not everything, and so we don't eat it a lot (it's also very $$ here). We much prefer Vegan Rella for most things, and our girls love Vegan Rella (and do not like Follow Your Heart brand). I think the reason I like Vegan Rella, is not because it tastes like dairy cheese. Because, believe me, it doesn't!! It doesn't melt like dairy cheese either... it melts in a sticky fashion. But, still, I like it for its own sake. Sort of how I like carob for its own sake, and don't try to pretend it's chocolate. Sure, we use Vegan Rella to make 'grilled cheese' sandwiches or to top burritos, but we like it for the added texture and sometimes the fattiness it gives to a meal - not because we are wanting cheese per se. Make sense? I know people are disappointed with vegan cheeses when they first try them, but that's because they are expecting them to have the taste/texture of dairy cheese, and they don't. I don't encourage new vegans to use a vegan cheese to make up for the dairy cheese they no longer eat. Once they are immersed in the diet for some time and aren't 'missing' cheese any more, I might suggest they try out some brands of vegan cheese, just for some fun with their meals. Their palates will have changed and they (hopefully) can accept the vegan cheese as just another food that can add dimension and variety to their meals.

I'm done with that ramble now.

After baking the pizza (shown here on my pizza stone), I cut an avocado into small cubes and dotted those over the top of the pie. We drizzled our slices with... well, what do you think... yep, a slurry of balsamic and flax oil.

Oh, a note about balsamic vinegar. And vinegars in general. Look at your labels. Try to buy varieties that do not contain sulfites (usually organic, but not always). Sulfites are preservatives, and we don't need to eat them... and some people have allergic reactions to sulfites. Also check other foods like jars of sun-dried tomatoes (in oil) and roasted red peppers, they too can have sulfites.

Back to the Tex-Mex Pizza. I'll do this one again... no recipe needed, quick and yummy, and quite filling. Next time I might do half and half tomato sauce and salsa, and also add some corn. I love mixing things up with pizzas - you can really get creative and play around with ingredients and flavors. Fun stuff!