It's a Pizza!

 

Looking crazy as ever, I went all Italian chef a few Sundays ago and cooked italian food for the entire week. Our of the way too many things I made, the spinach pizza we made was the BEST. 

First, here are some images of the North End in this mild winter we've had.  

 This is the Wharf I'll live in when I win the lottery. 

 My usual image  up there - the bell tower never gets old. And those arches in Columbus Park are amazing. Did I mention I really love living here?

  Ok so here goes the pizza instructions. Probably the easiest, most cost effective thing to make ever. But I'm pretty sure that's one of the most obvious things I've ever declared on this blog. Moving on...

What you need:
Store-bought pizza dough (I can only do so much people!) - Trader Joe's has great dough
flour, for dusting
3 Tbs. EVOO
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (use as much as you like)
1 big pinch oregano
2 pinches dry parsley
1 pinch kosher salt
2 massive handfuls baby spinach
1 fresh mozzarella ball, sliced
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
fresh parmesan cheese, grated
fresh romano cheese, grated

Preheat oven at 375. Cook time: 10 minutes

Prepare:
Thaw pizza dough. Dust counter space with flour and coat pizza dough to point that you can handle without getting too sticky. Either using a rolling pin or stretching with your hands, work pizza dough into shape and level of thickness you desire and place on baking/cooking sheet. I go with rectangle and as thin as I have patience for without ripping the dough.

Combine EVOO, oregano, parsley and garlic in a small bowl. Using a brush, spread oil mixture on dough - coating entire surface with a thin layer. Season with a pinch of salt.

Layer spinach, mozzarella, tomatoes and mushrooms evenly over dough. Sprinkle as much parmesan and romano as your heart desires (mine desired a lot).

Your concoction should look like this, below. Pop this in the oven for 10 min. Ovens vary - remove from oven when the crust starts getting brown and crispy.

Before:

After:

It is DELICIOUS.

Blame Le Creuset

Over the past month or so, our meals have been looking a lot like THAT up there. Looks awesome, right? Right. Well, my unmanageable obsession with our new dutch oven has led to more red-meat eating than I ever thought I would be involved with. I generally don't eat much red meat at all, maybe once a month, and now I think we need to take a break from each other. But, it was one heck of an experience.

On Saturdays (i.e. the only day I'm willing to give up more than 30 minutes to make a meal), Jordan and I throw around ideas like...Chili? Brisket? Sloppy Joe's? Week's supply of bolognese? Yes. Yes. Yes. and.... you guessed it, YES. 

Here is the month that was--some pictures missing and most pictures are not appetizing at ALL but if you have a hankering for something in one of these BOMB dutch ovens, every single recipe was awesome--leave a comment if you want recipes for the others. 

Chili

(Warning: I don't measure spices and all amounts below are made up. I just throw stuff in. I will never be able to write a cookbook.)

Ingredients: 

1 lb. ground beef or turkey (I used 90/10, for less fat)

1 large can stewed tomatoes

1 tiny can tomato paste

2 peppers, chopped (use different colors for effect)

**1 can fire roasted red peppers, chopped

2 chili peppers of your choice, chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced or chopped

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. onion powder

small handful dried oregano

small handful bried basil

salt and pepper to taste

as much of your favorite hot sauce as you want

**Important. Changes the game completely.

Prepare:
On medium-high heat, combine beef/turkey, onion, peppers, garlic until meat is brown (about 6 minutes). Drain any fat. Add everything else:)

Bring to a boil on high for 2 minutes, then reduce heat to low and cover for as many hours has you have to spare. Best after at least one hour--super awesome after 4.

Serve with light sour cream and/or shredded cheese. Makes about 8 human servings (3.5 Morgan and Jordan servings). To store leftovers -- I wonder what that's like? -- store portioned out chili in individual freezer bags. Way easier to thaw and is great if you want to take to work for lunch.

Here are the other great things we've made. Don't mind the ugly pictures and not-appetizing presentations. We're not really into looks.

 Brisket: delicious. Takes 8 hours.

Sloppy Joe's on toasted Ciabatta bread (that's the ideal, but we used italian bread due to lack of anything non-italian in our neighborhood). Five ingredients and 3 hours. 

Apologies for the semi-post. I love Le Creuset. I love fall flavors. I love the idea of managing my beef intake a little better next time.

General Tso Chicken Lettuce Wrap Salad

A bowl of pure lazy awesomeness

I came upon this bowl of deliciousness when I was feeling extremely lazy. I spent a little more cash than normal at the grocery story for the ingredients, took more short cuts than usual but it was SUPER fast and really easy. What started out as a plan for homemade lettuce wraps became a 6 minute masterpiece and more importantly, no lettuce needed to be washed or chopped by me! 

Here's How:

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp of Vegetable Oil

One package of Chicken Tenders (or chicken breasts that you can clean)

One bag of shredded carrots (or you can shred your own)-- about 1 Cup

One bag of washed romaine lettuce 

1 cup of sliced/peeled mandarin oranges

1/2-1 Cup General Tso Stir Fry Sauce (use more or less depending on your taste buds...this sauce will serve as the dressing for your salad)

1/4 cup peanuts (optional--personally I hated the peanuts but Jordan loved them)

Prepare:

1. Heat oil in a non-stick Wok over Medium-High heat

2. Chop chicken into equal sized chunks and toss into the Wok for 4-5 minutes. During the final minute, add shredded carrots, peanuts (optional), and Stir Fry sauce. Combine ingredients and heat until warmed through.

3. Pour stir fry combination onto bed of romaine lettuce. Add mandarin oranges and toss together.

4. Separate into bowls. Makes 2-4 servings depending on your hunger level:)

5. Enjoy!

Shrimp Scampi

Yes, this is the portion size Jordan and I eat every night. So what? We work out. Lay off:)

When in doubt, let's have Shrimp Scampi!

Jordan and I have very similar tastes in food, which makes for very easy eating decisions. This is of course a lie from Jordan's point of view because I always pretend I'm in the mood for anything until he starts suggesting things and I say no to all of them. However, we do still like all the same things! It's just a matter of the day, time, my mood etc.

We're both pretty good cooks, don't go out to dinner very often at all and eat way more than the average person. Therefore, we're always making things that can be made cheaply and in theory, provide for leftovers. Shrimp Scampi is my go-to meal all the time and I've tried tons of different variations until last week when I created THE ONE!

It was amazing and fresh and delicious and of course, cheap and easy! It's not heavy like you would get from a restaurant, but it has so much flavor from natural, healthy things!

Ingredients:

3 gloves of garlic (cut back on this if you don't like the flavor)

2 shallots, chopped

1/4 cup chopped basil

2 tbsp EVOO

Juice of one lemon 

3 tbsp dry cooking wine

1 tbsp Butter or Margarine (this is the only added salt flavor, and it makes a HUGE difference!)

1/2 cup sliced grape tomatoes

1/2 lb. cleaned shrimp (tail-on)

8 oz./Half a box of your favorite pasta (I used linguini)

Total Time: 15 minutes

Prepare:

Boil 4 quarts of water. Cook pasta as directed (duh.) 

Once you've placed the pasta in the pot, heat olive oil, butter, shallots and garlic in a medium saucepan on medium setting. When the shallots seem to be softened, not browned, throw in the shrimp and squeeze in lemon juice. Don't throw away your lemon halves! 

If shrimp came uncooked, cook until pink/tender. If already cooked, simply heat until tender (just a few minutes).  Reduce heat. Add wine and basil and let simmer for a minute or two.

Combine scampi combination with drained, rinsed pasta. Once pasta is plated, garnish with basil flake, lemon zest of your juiced lemon and as much parmesan cheese as you can find!