Vegetarian Foodie

Cucumber Soup

Cucumber soup is refreshing and quite nice on a hot afternoon. The following will serve two.

• 1 Cucumber Chopped
• 1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt
• 1 Cup Vegetable Stock
• Salt to Taste

Toss it all in a blender or food processor and enjoy this chilled soup.

Roasted Bell Pepper Pizza

Pizza...ahhh pizza. Start off by making your pizza dough.

• Roasted Red and Yellow Bell
• Capers
• Goat Cheese
• Red Onions
• Basil

Roast peppers in the oven at 500 degrees for 35 minutes. Once the peppers have cooled, slice them.

Spread the goat cheese over the base of the pizza. Top with everything else and bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Pizza Dough

The following is a recipe for pizza dough. Allow about 2 1/2 hours to make pizza dough. I love to make pizza dough with the daughter. Punching the dough is a lot of fun and we are still mastering the throw the dough up spin it around in the air trick.

• 3 Cups flour
• 1 Cup Warm Water (about 105 degrees)
• 1 Package of Yeast
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1. Pour the warm water in a bowl. Add salt and the package of yeast and allow to sit for 5 minutes
2. Add 1 Cup of the flour as well as the olive oil and mix well. Add the rest of the flour and form dough into a ball
3. Knead the ball for a couple minutes
4. Cover the dough with a towel and allow to rise for an hour. The dough will double in size. Punch the dough and watch it deflate
5. Cover once again, wait another hour
6. Separate dough ball into two balls if you are making two pizzas
7. Roll the dough(s) out with a rolling pin or wine bottle. Cover with toppings of your choice and bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes (until the crust is a golden brown)

Yields two medium thin or thick crust pizzas or one large thick crust pizza

Feta Salad

I love this salad on its own or as a side. Not only is it colorful but also offers the perfect tango between crunch and smooth...

• Corn
• Feta Cheese
• Shredded Purple Cabbage
• Pepper

Stuffed Mushrooms

The following recipe for stuffed mushrooms makes 48 of these delightful snacks.

• 48 Mushrooms-remove stems
• 25 sun-dried tomatoes (the kind you moisten with boiling water)
• 4 Cups Fresh Basil
• 2/3 Cup olive Oil
• 1 Cup Parmesan
• 1 Cup Bread Crumbs
• 10 Garlic Cloves Minced
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees
Place all ingredients (but not the mushrooms!) into a food processor
Stuff mushrooms with mix
Bake for 13 minutes

Mojito

As a result of summer, the weather has been hot as of late. The evenings are warm and just begging to be the backdrop of me sitting in the backyard drinking a mojito. So last night I made mojitos. A mojito is a traditional cocktail from Cuba and if you are not a fan of sweet things, mint or lime then stop yourself right now.

• Start off a glass with 4 Tsp sugar and 5 mint sprigs. Add a splash of chilled club soda.
• In a shaker, add ice, the juice of 1 1/2 limes, another splash of club soda, and 1 oz of rum.
• Pour into glass and add the ice from the shaker.
• Garnish with lime wedge and mint sprig.

Goat Cheese Appetizer with Cooked Tomatoes

This appetizer is one of my favorites.

• Goat Cheese
• Baguette Sliced
• Olive Oil
• 1 Pint of Cherry tomatoes halved
• One Yellow Onion sliced
• 2 Garlic Cloves Minced
• Fresh Rosemary to Garnish

Cook the tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a glug of olive oil until the outer skins start to crack on the tomatoes and the onions are nice and golden. Add a few pinches of rosemary.

Meanwhile...spread goat cheese  on the baguette and warm in the broiler. As always, keep an eye not to over warm!

Finally, top the warm toasts off with tomato mix.