Karina's Falafel Pizza Pie

I love pizza, but rarely part take in it or its cherished convenience due to the fact that I avoid dairy, meat, and when I can- white bread. When I want pizza, it usually means I must find the time to start from scratch and do it myself...


I also love Mediterranean food. I love falafel, and hummus, and pomegranate seeds- I love it all. I am lucky enough to have a Israeli best friend who can cook as well as her genius and talented mother, and they have both shared with me incredible flavors and recipes I might not be so exposed to otherwise.

A few weeks back I decided to get creative, and combine these two loves by making my very own- Falafel Pizza.


My favorite pizza dough is made with cornmeal, so I looked up a few recipes and started with this one I found on Martha Stewart's website:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Pinch of sugar

2/3 cups warm water

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface (I used organic whole wheat instead)

1/4 cup cornmeal, plus more for pizza peel or baking sheet

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl

I added some extra spices- (cayenne, curry, cinnamon and thyme) for a little extra subtle flavor in the crust.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the warm water. Let stand until yeast is dissolved and mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.

Combine flour, cornmeal, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the yeast mixture and oil. Slowly stir ingredients with a wooden spoon just until dough starts to come together. Turn out dough on a lightly floured work surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes.

Divide dough into four 4-ounce balls. Place balls in a shallow oiled bowl, turning to coat with oil; cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

The next steps of the borrowed recipe called for a pizza stone to bake on, but instead I just spread my dough out in a few baking pans once it had sat and risen for an hour. I used my finger tips and palms and worked the dough until it spread out fully in each dish bottom. I preheated the oven at 500* and set my ready crusts aside for the toppings.


I thought the most appropriate sauce for this blending of cuisines might be a nice garlicy pesto. In my food processor, I threw in a few cups of washed fresh basil, a handful of pine nuts, several garlic cloves, sea salt, lemon, and olive oil. As usual, I "guestimated" all of the proportions until I had the most desirable consistency and taste possible.


I could seriously eat this pesto with a spoon. Wait- I did....


I had a bunch of fresh zucchinis and carrots, so I had the idea to shred them in the food processor and spread them over the entire pizza almost as a cheese replacement...






I would love to try making falafel from scratch one day soon, but on this occasion I had just purchased an organic falafel mix that you add water to, and fry them in a pan in some light oil.


I followed the directions (plus added in some extra cayenne for more spice in the mix) and fried each one on each side until brown and almost crispy on the outside...



I coated each of my crusts with a nice thick spread of pesto, sprinkled on a generous layer shredded zucchini/carrot, tossed on some halved cherry tomatoes, and broke apart bits of falafel to top them off..


While they were baking for about 8-10 minutes at 500*, I prepared an Israeli-style salad by finely chopping up onion, cucumber, tomatoes, and pomegranate seeds and mixing it with olive oil, sea salt and lemon. When I was visiting in Israel last summer, we literally had a salad similar to this with every meal.


Once my steaming pizzas came out and cooled for a few minutes, I spooned out dollops of fresh hummus I had made on top, and lastly sprinkled the pies with fresh pomegranate seeds.



If the marrying of these two dishes couldn't bring about world peace, I know not what else could.

ariel's making ... pesto hummus

i adore fresh basil ... and i love hummus ... so why not combine the two?


for this dip you'll need:

4 cups of organic cooked garbanzo beans, plus 1 cup of their liquid
juice of 2 organic lemons
garlic ... as much as you dare! go wild!
handful of fresh organic basil leafs

4 T. organic roasted tahini
2 T. extra virgin organic olive oil
1 t. organic cayenne powder
sea salt and pepper to taste


blend it all together 'til smooth.


so good ... and so easy.

serve with fresh veggies and pita and enjoy!!

kisses,

ariel

We Haight Cookbooks About Campfires...

Ariel was thoughtful enough to have a birthday recently and give us the much needed excuse to visit California's own Big Sur to celebrate. Being the ever-so organized celebration planner, she assigned all of us eager campers a meal to prepare for the group.


I had on my shoulders the important task of Day one's lunch. Since I had had a crazy work week, I frantically scoped my fridge for ideas the night before and saw that I had a lot of left over produce that I needed to use before we took off. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and make kitchen-sink veggie burgers with any and everything ingredient I needed to get rid of. I sauteed onions, garlic, kale, basil, bell pepper, beet stems, apple, and asparagus and spiced and flavored with the usual suspects: salt, pepper, cayenne, curry, cinnamon, paprika, lemon, brags and agave.


I put this saute in the food processor for a few spins (enough to blend but not puree entirely to a mushy paste). I added in some fresh carrots and cashews. I threw in some cooked brown rice, quinoa, and buckwheat soba noodles I had as leftovers from several different meals over the previous week. I also used a cup or so of rolled oats to help thicken the texture. I did some additional spicing, formed into patties, and threw in the fridge to set up overnight.
In the morning I ran to the store in a frenzy to buy buns before Ariel and Sam picked me up for the journey, and panicked when they only had whole-wheat hot dog buns! I quickly re-formed my burgers into dogs and cooked them up in in a hot skillet with olive oil for a few minutes on each side until they were cooked through and almost starting to blacken in the outside.

They weren't the most solid, held-together veggie dogs I've made, but I tucked them into the buns for safety and the taste more than made up for any messiness.


I had also whipped up a large batch of fresh garlicy hummus as a dog topper. (Because there is nothing more bonding for a camping group than raging garlic breath...)

It was definitely the perfect nourishment we needed to hike Big Sur all afternoon!

Karina Makes Fresh Hummus to Spice Up Leftovers!

I am truly a hummus addict. Besides being a great source of protein, this creamy and satisfying spread takes any savory snack to the next level. I used to spend a fortune buying small containers of hummus, one after another, until my friend Alma shared how simple her mother's recipe was with me.

I had a lot of leftover cilantro that was about to turn, so I'm sharing how I added cilantro the the traditional recipe.

I peeled and smashed several cloves of garlic, washed my cilantro, and sliced a lemon.

I opened a can of organic garbanzo beans and drained them.

I put the garbanzo beans in a blender with 4 or 5 large spoonfuls of tahini (which is ground sesame seed paste).

I added the cilantro, garlic, and salt..

..and squeezed in a few slices of lemon. I added water to make sure the texture was smooth and creamy.

I blended it all and continued to add salt, lemon and water until I got the perfect taste and texture I was looking for.

I have to caution that though my hummus be delicious, it induces fierce garlic breath!

The days after Thanksgiving I was overwhelmed with the amount of leftovers I had, so I whipped up a few improvised snacks to keep me interested.

I toasted some slices of my left over olive bread, and smeared some of my mashed potatoes and fresh hummus on top. I added tomato, sliced raw squash and leftover edamame and enjoyed!

Then one day I added all of my left over mashed potatoes, stuffing and seitan dish and re-heated them in the oven. I bought a head of organic purple cabbage and seperated the leafs to use as fresh wraps instead of tortillas. I made a fresh "salsa" with organic tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper, and brought out my trusty hummus.

I brought all the ingredients out to the table and made the best leftover fresh wraps imaginable!

As much as I cursed the leftovers, I miss them now...