Summer Time Pizzas

A few days ago my mom and I made some very delicious pizzas. We had just received  a box from our CSA farm and we wanted to incorporate the produce into the dinner. Which we were able to accomplish. When we had the idea of making a nice meal for a perfect summer night we thought of something easy, making pizzas. We made a Chicken Sausage and Mushroom , a Pesto and Tomato, and last but not least a Pizza with Ricotta Cheese, Dates, and speciality Salami.  I especially liked the taste of the Chicken Sausage because it had Sun Dried Tomatoes in it. The fresh taste of the pesto (which my mom made with Basil from the Kenwood School Garden), mixed perfectly with the ripe tomatoes. My mom thought the Ricotta cheese, dates, and salami pizza was the best pizza on the table. Next time she wants to try to put some basil or arugula on it as well. If you want to make a nice summer meal for the family this combination of pizzas works really well and will provide exceptional tastes for everyone. 

Chicken Sausage and Mushroom Pizza

Pesto and Tomato Pizza

Mongolian Stir-fry

This is one of the dishes that I really enjoyed on our trip to Vermont!

                                                 Mongolian Stir-Fry

1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and cubed
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sesame oil (or olive oil)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 scallion chopped (for garnish)
fresh lime juice

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cornstarch to the tofu in a small bowl and toss to coat.
Add the tofu to the skillet and cook until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes.

While the tofu is cooking, combine the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, 1/2 cup water and brown sugar. Mix well.
When tofu has browned, add the sauce, stir, then bring to a simmer before reducing heat to low. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until sauce has thickened and reduced.

Serve with brown rice, soba noodles, or green beans, and garnish with green onion and a squeeze of lime.

Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing {vegan, gluten-free}

    Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing 

Ingredients

• ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
• 1-2 cups shredded red cabbage, depending on how much crunch you like
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• ½ red onion, diced
  
  
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• ½ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup diced green onions
• ½ cup cashew halves or peanuts (honey-roasted is good)
• Optional: 1 cup edamame or chickpeas
• Fresh lime, for a bit of tang
• For the dressing:
• ¼ cup all natural peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce, gluten-free if desired
• 1 tablespoon honey (use agave if vegan)
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Water to thin, if necessary

Instructions

1. To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa with cold water in mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.
2. To make dressing: Add peanut butter and honey or agave to a medium microwave safe bowl; heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Add in ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and both sesame and olive oil and stir until mixture is smooth and creamy. If you want a thinner dressing, simply stir in a teaspoon or two of water or olive oil.
3. Add as much or as little dressing as you’d like to the quinoa. I always start out with a little bit of dressing and usually add more to suit my taste preferences. Alternatively you can save the dressing for later and add when you are ready to eat; however the flavors of the dressing usually soak into the salad so I love adding it to the quinoa first.
4. Next fold in red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Garnish with cashews and green onions. Serve chilled or at room temperature with lime wedges if desired.

Vermont 2013

       Recently my family went on a road trip to Michigan and then Vermont. We started the trip by driving to Grand Rapids, Michigan where we joined our grandparents for Michigan State's Grandparent University. After that, we drove 19 hours to Vermont. The driving was long but we made it fun by caravaning with our grandparents and our aunts's family. We started driving at 7:00 a.m. and arrived in Vermont at 12:00 p.m.  
      Once in Vermont we met up with my dad's brother's family. Their house is located on top of a mountain - it is an amazing setting. If you walk up the drive way you can get a spectacular view of all of these mountains including the biggest in it's area, The Killington Mountains. Killington is also the best downhill skiing and snowboarding mountain in the area. Wherever we went we were surrounded by mountains. The driving can be challenging and also quite scenic as they twist and turn through the countryside.
     Now the best thing to talk about: The Food. We made some very good meals at the house and also went out for a few of the meals. One included going to The Long Trail Brewing Pub (I will include the link to Long Trail Brewing Company further on in the post).  Long Trail Brewing is a Company that Brews beers. When you go to the restaurant you can take a self guided tour of the brewery. When I was there I got to see the Pumpkin Ale being put in bottles and then in boxes. It was pretty cool to see. 
     The first morning we were in Vermont we went to Blanche and Bills Pancake House. (I will include the link to Blanche and Bills Pancake House later on in the post).  Going to Blanche and Bills on the first morning of our stay was a perfect way to kick off our stay in Vermont. At Blanche and Bills I had a breakfast sandwich that included bacon, cheddar cheese, and an egg. All of those goodies were sandwiched in-between an english muffin. Blanche and Bills was devastated when hurricane Irene hit. The restaurant re-opened this year on June 14.

      Some of the meals that we had at home included: Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing, Grilled Pizzas topped with sausage, fresh mozzarella, and basil, and a Soba noodle salad with pan fried tofu. One other item that was a big hit for the kiddies was the fresh watermelon juice. To make watermelon juice all you do is put some seedless watermelon in a blender, once the watermelon is blended squeeze some lemon juice into the blended watermelon, and finally blend the two ingredients for about 25 seconds. I will include the recipes for the Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing and Soba Noodle salad with pan fried tofu in different posts.

       On one of the last days of our stay in Vermont we went to the home of King Arthur Flour (I will add the link to King Arthur Flour later on in the post). The building had a gift store that has anything you might need for any kind of baking. The store also sells merchandise and King Arthur Flour in all different sizes. It also just happened to be lunch time. Their was a nice little cafe in the building where we got lunch. All of the breads on the menu are breads made with King Arthur Flour.

     Our trip to Vermont this year was spectacular. What made the memories were the places we went and the activities we did with our family. 

Links

Long Trail Brewing- http://www.longtrail.com

Blanche and Bills Pancake House- http://www.blancheandbills.com

King Arthur Flours- http://www.kingarthurflour.com

Sausage, Basil, and fresh Mozzarella Pizza before
grilling

This is 4th of July spirit at King Arthur Flour

       

My uncle and me grilling Pizzas

Piet sitting in King Arthur's Throne