Edamame with Thyme

Preparing an appetizer doesn't need to be a huge process.  Chances are good that you've spent plenty of time either grocery shopping, prepping the food, cooking it, and even thinking about a big meal.  Further, although fancy appetizers and tappas are great, why prepare an appetizer that overshadows your main course? Worse, why prepare an appetizer that's so heavy (either calorically, or in composition) that you find your main course seemingly unimportant?


The solution? Edamame.  Edamame is a baby soy bean found more and more commonly on menus and restaurants these days.  Asian restaurants famously serve them in their pods as a light appetizer before eating sushi, but many times, you can find them sans pods in the freezer section of Whole Foods, or other grocery produce sections.


Prepare this dish as a light appetizer to any number of Asian or Indian cuisine meals.  Lightly toss with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme, and you'll have an appetizer that is both healthy and clearly delicious!


Edamame with Thyme
This recipe comes from nowhere in particular, but the result of cooking tons of edamame for the Curry Rice Recipe (available here).  The great thing about this dish is that you can adjust the seasonings to whatever you have available (i.e., rosemary instead of thyme, or mint instead of thyme).  Adjust seasonings to your personal preference.


Ingredients:
* 1 cup cooked edamame
* sprigs of fresh thyme, to taste
* salt and pepper, to taste


1.) Bring a small pot of water to a boil; add 1 cup edamame.


2.) Boil at medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes, or until edamame is fully cooked (soft, but still retaining a bit of crunch).


3.) Pour out edamame and water into a large strainer.   Allow to cool for a few minutes.

4.) Transfer to bowl and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme.  Toss to combine and serve.

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Perfect Veggie Pizza

The first time I ever hung-out with my friend Sam, we made pizza.  We split the pizza in half, and consumed one of the TASTIEST Italian dishes ever: veggie pizza on whole wheat crust with mozzarella and parmesan.  I remember Sam's reaction--"I could eat TWO of these!"--and my response--"If I had space in my stomach, I would!" Needless to say, this basic veggie pizza recipe is clearly delicious.

Thus, this post is technically a re-post of something I made with Sam back in December.  However, the technique is slightly different--this pizza is baked, not grilled--and the photos are stunning (thank you fancy new camera!).  If prepared properly, this veggie pizza recipe makes a 13-14 inch pie (8 slices) that is loaded with spices, and vegetarian flavors.

Perfect Veggie Pizza
This recipe comes from no chef in particular, but the dough recipe is a wheat version of Elise Bauer's pizza dough concoction over at Simply Recipes (you can find it here).  I usually make this pizza dough recipe in bulk and freeze it in single serving tupperware containers.  As the semester goes on and life becomes increasingly hectic, I take out the dough in the morning so that by dinner time, all I have to do is build the pizza.  You'd be surprised how quickly preparing gourmet pizza can be with simple planning and the help of your Kitchenaid mixer (for preparing/kneading large quantities of dough)!

Ingredients:
* 1 serving prepared wheat pizza dough recipe
* Cornmeal, for dusting
* 1-2 cups tomato sauce
* 2-3 cups cheese: mixture of fresh parmesan and mozzarella
* Toppings: vine ripe tomatoes, bella mushrooms, chopped onion, spinach, olives, and chopped green and red bell peppers
* 2 tablespoons italian seasoning
* 1-2 teaspoons freshly ground thyme
* 2-3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
* 1/4 cup pine nuts
* freshly cracked pepper & Tony's Cajun Seasoning, to taste

Special Equipment needed:
Pizza Stone

1.) Preheat oven to 350F.  Begin by dusting your pizza stone with corn meal.

2.) Lightly flour a clean working surface.

3.) Roll out your pizza dough to 13-14 inches in diameter.  Pizza dough that is pre-prepared, frozen, and thawed is very easy to work with; whereas, if you had just made the pizza dough from scratch, this step would take you twice as long because of the natural elasticity of the freshly made dough.

4.) Transfer dough to pizza stone.  Thoroughly poke holes in dough using a fork.  Drizzle dough with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and smooth with a large spoon.

5.) Add sauce.  I suggest anywhere from 1-2 cups based on your preference (some people HATE large quantities of sauce and some people love it, so add as much as you like).

6.) Season the sauce and dough mixture with half of the thyme and half of the italian seasoning.  Add freshly minced/pressed garlic and crack some pepper over the surface of the pizza.  Dust with Tony's and sprinkle on pine nuts.

7.) Now, begin adding your toppings: mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, onions, spinach, and peppers.  Sprinkle your remaining seasonings--thyme and Italian--and dust with Tony's and freshly cracked pepper.

8.) Cover in cheese.

9.) Cook on pizza stone, but in oven at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until crust and toppings are golden brown.  Remove from oven, allow to cool for several minutes, and cut into 8 pieces.

10.) Serve with freshly grated parmesan, red pepper flakes, and your favorite beer.  Enjoy!

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Bella Mushroom Soup, or "Beautiful Mushroom Soup!"

Tonight, I went shopping for soup ingredients--tomato basil soup, wild mushroom soup, you name it! I've been meaning to bring my friend Sam some fresh soup to help with his recovery from having his wisdom teeth removed. Alas, my silly schedule, bad planning, and inability to bring him soup left me with...well, an abundance of soup.

I've had my kitchen cookbook open to a wild mushroom soup recipe for a long time, and finally made it.  I'm so glad I did--not only is the soup creamy, earthy, and flavorful, but it is also really simple and cheap to make (as are many of the recipes on my blog).  It was, well, clearly delicious.

Bella Mushroom Soup
The original of this recipe comes from 400 Soups  by Anne Sheasby (Hermes House, 2008) and is meant to be prepared with wild mushrooms such as Porcinis.  However, Bella Mushrooms work equally as weoo in this beef and cream broth with leeks.
  
Ingredients

* 3 cups chopped Bella Mushrooms
* 5 cups beef broth
* 3 cloves garlic, pressed
* 2 leeks, thinly sliced
* 1/2 white onion, chopped
* 2/3 cup heavy cream
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 teaspoon thyme

1.) First, prepare all of the ingredients ahead of time--wash all ingredients, chop the mushrooms, thinly slice the leeks, chop half of an onion, and peel several cloves of garlic.  Set aside.

2.) Combine olive oil and butter in a large pot and heat up.  Add leeks, onions, and pressed garlic and simmer for 5-7 minutes.
3.) Add mushrooms and allow to simmer for several minutes, or until properly moist.
4.) Add beef broth and bring to a boil.
5.) Turn heat down to medium and allow to simmer in a half covered pot for 30 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon thyme.
6.) After 30 minutes, remove 3/4 of the soup and puree in a food processor or blender.  Return to mushroom soup pot and add 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream.
7.) Serve with fresh thyme sprigs and enjoy!

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