Roasted Fall Vegetables --Two ways

In Radical Homemakers the author mentions an essential skill for modern homemakers as "rediscovering the taste of real food." It's an interesting notion to think about.  The prepared foods these days are full of salt sugar and artificial flavorings.  In essence we forget what real food is supposed to taste like.

I suggested a recipe to my sister the other day for roasted fall vegetables.  She told me afterwards that after a few bites she and her husband said to each other, "Meh, it's OK. . ."

But then she said as they continued eating they actually ended up thinking they liked it quite a bit more--they just needed time to get used to the flavors and have them meld in their mouths a bit more. 

We had the roasted vegetables on top of spinach with crumbled goat cheese on top.  Soo delicious--but different.  It doesn't taste like frozen lasagna.  The flavors are mellow and subtle.  You do have to get used to them, introduce yourself to real flavors that occur in nature, and get over a dependence on so much salt.

I'll admit that part of the reason I like real food is because I like the taste, and part of the reason is because I value real food and so I get a satisfaction from eating it that isn't related to taste.  It's a feeling of virtue for eating something I know is so good for me, and it's a feeling of well-being that comes because I (at least in that meal) am living life according to my ideals.

In some real food- taste trumps virtue, but in other foods I still rely heavily on the fact that I know the food is good for me to get me to muscle through the taste. 
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The next day we ate the roasted vegetables on pizza.  Our kids will eat anything when it's on pizza.  Pizza is a comfort food.  It can be a nice gateway to real foods (or it can be some of the poorest excuses for food you put in your body--but it's your choice). 

So here is Real Food Friday--it's an invitation, but it's also a challenge.  Get outside your comfort zone, make some food--real food.  It's satisfying to make and healthy to eat. 

Here is my contribution-- one last variation we didn't get to is puree-ing the vegetables with some lemon juice --and chicken stock if you like it thinner-- making it a roasted vegetable soup. 

Roasted Fall Vegetables:
1 lb butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound red potatoes scrubbed, and quartered
2 small red onions peeled and quartered
1/2 pound carrots halved lengthwise and cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 sprig rosemary
salt and pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450*  Pile vegetables on a large sheet pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.  Add garlic and rosemary to pan.  Roast until vegetables are tender and starting to brown, 40-50 minutes, tossing the vegetables halfway through.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

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Pizza Margherita

The garden is producing.

And we are eating.

Pizza Margherita

Shape pizza dough.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Arrange chopped tomatoes and fresh basil.
Top with Mozzarella cheese, covering the basil to keep it from burning.
Bake hot and fast.

Pizza Crust

Jeremy's Birthday brought a much anticipated gift--Apparently we're going to be eating a lot more pizza around here.

To the serious pizza connoisseur, the secret to good pizza dough is more about a philosophy than a recipe. In the classic Napoli-style pizza, this philosophy involves long-kneading for significant gluten-formation, a long(at least overnight) slow rise in the refrigerator to develop the flavor, a rest to relax the dough and allow you to toss to a nice thin crust, which when baked (on a stone) in a extremely hot(500-800 degree) oven crisps nicely on the bottom in a short amount of time(6-8 minutes) while remaining chewy on the inside. This recipe is not for the faint-hearted. It is involved and intense; however, your efforts will he hugely rewarded we definitely recommend it.

Pizza Napoletana from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

• 4½ cups unbleached bread flour, or all-purpose flour
• 1¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• ¼ cup olive or vegetable oil (you can omit if you use AP flour)
• 1¾ cups ice-cold water

Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Mix in the oil and water on low speed until the flour is all absorbed. Mix on medium speed for 5-7 minutes to create a smooth, sticky dough. (It should clear the sides but stick to the bottom.) Transfer dough to floured counter. Line a sheet pan with lightly oil-misted parchment or a sil-pat.

Cut the dough into six equal pieces (or larger if you are comfortable shaping larger pizzas). Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. Transfer dough balls to sheet pan and mist generously with oil. Cover sheet pan with a plastic cover or food-grade bag. Put the pan in the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, keep up to 3 days. (You may also freeze, thawing a day ahead.)

Remove the dough from the refrigerator 2 hours ahead of time. Gently press the dough into flat disks about ½ inch thick and let rest for 2 hours. 45 minutes ahead preheat oven as high as it will go (not broil). Place baking stone in the lower third of the oven to preheat. Generously dust your pizza peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Toss and gently stretch dough to about 9-12 inches in diameter, lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough cornmeal to allow it to slide. Top the pizza. Slide the pizza onto the stone. Bake 5 to 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Carmelized Onion 'n' Pear Pizza

Here's my sister-in-law Carolyn the day she married my brother Logan. This weekend we are celebrating with Carolyn- although from a different state unfortunately. This weekend is Carolyn's fourth-year anniversary of being cancer-free!

Four years ago Logan and Carolyn were hanging out with us in the Burrow (our first apartment--in a basement). They were off being silly on the other "side" of the apartment. Jeremy and I were probably doing something very responsible that necessitated not cleaning our apartment. When Logan and Carolyn reemerged they were smiling and laughing like the twitterpated teenagers that they were, and Logan was showing off Carolyn's hairdo he had just gelled. Her hair was just growing in long enough that she could put a little bit of gel in it and have a cute "pixy" style. That was a happy moment. I was happy for them, and how happy they were together. I was happy for my home that, however messy it was, was perceived as a "safe" environment where others feel comfortable enough to let their hair down--or take their super-cute wig off--and feel at ease. And I was happy for Carolyn, that here was tangible evidence that she was moving along in life, past her cancer.

---We love you Carolyn. Thanks for putting up with Logan ;-) to join our family!---

Carolyn invited us this weekend to join in their tradition of celebrating by eating out at California Pizza Kitchen. Well we don't have one here in Kansas, but we did make it to the CPK while we were out in Salt Lake City this summer. And boy did we have a delicious pizza! Amazingly enough I was going through some old food magazines the other day and found a recipe for basically the same pizza, so here is that scrumptious pizza for you to enjoy!



Caramelized Onion 'n' Pear Pizza
1 large red onion, sliced and separated into rings
3 T butter
3T sugar
2 medium pears, peeled and sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 c crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
salad greens
tomato, sliced
blue cheese salad dressing
chopped hazelnuts

In a large skillet saute onion in butter until tender. Add sugar and cook and stir 5-10 minutes until onions are caramelized.

Spread crust with cheeses, onion, and pears. Bake according to pizza crust directions. Top with greens, tomato, dressing and hazelnuts.

We used a medium sized onion and one large pear and made two 9-inch pizzas. Sometime I'll post our new favorite pizza dough recipe, but not today! Meanwhile use your own recipe or a pre-baked shell, this will turn out delicious!