Whole Wheat Pizza with Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Onion, Sage and Goat Cheese

I am a cook it from scratch kind of girl. I make my own mayonnaise, salad dressings, sometimes even my own fresh pasta. But I also believe in the notion of 'working smarter not harder.' Sometimes it makes sense to buy certain things instead of making them yourself. Pizza dough for me is that type of time saver. Trader Joe's makes 3 types of pizza dough and it's an excellent product. Don't live near a Trader Joe's? Check out your local market or even ask about buying dough from your nearby pizza restaurant. I like whole wheat pizza dough but not everyone enjoys the taste of whole wheat. Plain or even herb dough will work for this recipe as well.

Equipment: Half sheep pan with Silpat, rolling pin, pastry brush, mixing bowl

1 whole wheat pizza dough (1lb) + a.p. flour for dusting -- $0.99
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil -- $0.10
8 ounces goat cheese - softened at room temperature -- $3.99
1 medium butternut squash -- $1.65
1/2 small red onion - sliced thin -- $.40
20 sage leaves -- $0.55
Pecorino Romano for grating -- $0.10
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                                                  $7.78

Preheat oven to 350* Peel butternut squash and remove both top stem and bottom. Cut squash down the middle to remove seeds and cut again so the squash in cut into 4 quarters. Cut 1/2 moon pieces that are 1/2 an inch thick. (I'm making this seem more complicated than it actually is. It's actually quite easy.) Mix squash with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt & pepper and roast for 20 minutes. Allow to completely cool.

Turn oven up to 425*

Roll pizza dough out to fit 1/2 sheet try. Brush 1 tbsp olive oil on entire dough and season dough with salt and pepper. Bake dough for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to slightly cool. Spread goat cheese over all but 1/2 inch of par-cooked dough. Arrange cooked butternut squash and sliced red onion. Bake for 15 more minutes. Once cooked place sage leaves on the pizza and grate Pecorino over the top.

Makes 24 slices, enough for 4-6 people.

How to modify for:
Vegans: This pizza can be equally delicious without the cheese. Try reducing coconut milk until thick (cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes), add a tsp of red curry paste and use that as your sauce. Replace the sage with cilantro and you have a whole new array of flavors.
Lactose intolerance: Goat cheese is much lower in lactose and usually doesn't bother people like cow products do.
Gluten intolerance: King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill both make great gluten-free flours. Try making your own pizza dough. Here is a recipe: 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp dry yeast, 2/3 cup warm water, 1 tbsp olive oil. Mix flour and salt in a bowl, stir in yeast. Add warm water and oil. Mix to form dough. Knead by hand or in a machine for at least 5 minutes. Cover with warm towel and let rise for 1 hour. After dough has risen punch it down and shape will rolling pin to desired size. Follow same baking instructions.
            

Farro with Stewed Collard Greens with Grilled Sausages and Grilled Bread

Farro is a grain that is a lot like barley, in fact if you can't find farro in the store barley will work just fine. It is high in fiber, high in protein and low in fat. And like rice at little bit cooks up to feed the whole family. It has an excellent nutty flavor that makes it a bang of flavor for your buck.

Collard greens are members of the cabbage family, but tend to be more bitter. That bitterness will decrease as the greens cook. Collard greens are an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and folic acid. They are also low in fat and calories. And unlike spinach let's say, collards really hold their body and don't shrink down to nothing.

Equipment: Large dutch oven (similar to a Le Creuset) and a grill pan.

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil -- $0.15
1 medium onion - small dice -- $0.65                                                                      
3 garlic cloves - sliced thin -- $0.10  
1 1/2 cups farro - rinsed under water -- $2.30
1 large bunch collard greens - remove stems, rough chopped (about 6 cups) -- $2.50
1/2  cup white wine -- $1.00
2 1/2 cups chicken stock  -- $2.00
2 tbsp butter -- $0.40
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese - grated -- $0.75
4-5 of your favorite raw Italian sausages -- $3.95
1/2 loaf of french bread  -- $0.75
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                                               $14.55

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in dutch oven on medium heat, add diced onion and saute until translucent about 5 minutes. Add sliced garlic and saute for an additional minute. Add collard greens, farro, wine and chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stir, and then reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 1 hour on med-low heat.

While farro is cooking heat a grill pan without any oil. Brush sausages with 1 tbsp oil and when grill pan is very hot grill sausages until cooked. Remove from grill pan and let sausages cool. Slice baguette and grill bread (crust side up) on the same grill pan, but turn the heat down to medium. The bread will soak up the oil and the juices from the sausages. Grill bread to your likeness, be careful not to burn. Once sausages have cooled slice them into 1 in rounds.

After an hour the farro should be cooked and have no bite to the grain and the collards should be soft but not falling apart. Remove from the heat and stir in butter, Pecorino and sausages.

Serve with grilled bread.

Makes 4 large portions

How to modify for:
Vegetarians: Replace chicken stock with vegetable stock and take out sausages. Replace with roasted wild mushrooms, such as king trumpets or mitakies.
Vegans: Replace chicken stock with vegetable stock, take out sausages, butter and Pecorino. Replace with roasted wild mushrooms, such as king trumpets or mitakies.
Pescatarians: Replace chicken stock with vegetable stock and take out sausages. Replace sausages with firm, white fish such as Halibut. Grill each side and finish in 375* oven for 8-10 minutes.
Lactose Intolerance: Just remove the butter. Pecorino is a sheep's milk cheese and does not contain lactose.
Gluten Intolerance: Unfortunately farro contains gluten as it is a grain. Use a grain like arborio or carnaroli rice and make this dish more like a risotto. Follow the steps on the bag for cooking advice. And omit the grilled bread.

Tuesday, Jan 1st - Monday, Feb 6th

I really prefer method cooking over recipe cooking. I use recipes more as a tool to give me ideas, but I know that not everyone cooks like that. That being said not every menu item I have has a recipe to it, or at least not yet. When I post my weekly menus they will be one day behind and I will be posting the recipe from the previous meal. Also, my weekly menus only include dinner ideas. We do eat breakfast and lunch here everyday but it's meals like oatmeal and sandwiches and well if you need help making those this may not be the blog for you. :) Let's get started.


Tuesday -- Farro with Stewed Collard Greens with Grilled Sausages and Grilled Bread

Wednesday -- Whole Wheat Pizza with Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Onion, Sage and Goat Cheese  and Green Salad

Thursday -- Lebanese Style Pork with Ras El Hanout, Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce in Warm Pitas with Moroccan Couscous Salad

Friday -- Mojo Marinated Pork Shoulder Tacos with Cabbage Slaw, Cilantro Cream and Rice & Beans

Saturday --  Chicken and Hubbard Squash Coconut Red Curry over Brown Rice

Sunday -- Chicken Speedies with Homemade Italian Marinade on Hogie Rolls with Fries and Green Salad

Monday -- Beef Bollanaise over Ziti Pasta

Let's Get Cooking

So now that you have everything you need in your kitchen it's time to get cooking. But one last thing before I get started with recipes. Living in the Washington, D.C., metro area we have lots of choices when it comes to grocery stores, including multiple ethnic markets. I understand that not everyone reading this blog has the same choices I have, but I will try to customize my suggestions to accommodate shopping choices in your area.  Here is a list of places I shop in order of frequency:

1. Trader Joe's --- http://www.traderjoes.com/
2. Falls Church City Farmers Market --- http://www.fallschurchva.gov/content/government/departments/recparks/farmersmarket/default.aspx
3. H Mart --- http://www.hmart.com/
4. Whole Foods --- http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
5. Wegmans --- http://www.wegmans.com/
6. Costco --- http://www.costco.com/
7. Giant --- http://www.giantfood.com/
8. Safeway --- http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Home

Having Proper Equipment

It's all well and good to have a well stocked pantry, along with the best-quality ingredients in your kitchen, but if you don't have quality kitchen tools to cook with you might as well stop now and order take-out. Just kidding, but seriously having the proper equipment can be the difference between a good meal and a great meal. Here is a list of must needs in your kitchen:

1. Knives --- Good Quality. I like MAC and Wusthof and keep them sharpened.
2. Sharpening Stones
3. Spatulas (Rubber, Flat & Fish)
4. Wooden Spoons
5. Cutting Boards
6. Box Grater
7. Half Sheet Trays 
8. Silpat (At least one)
9. Wire Whisk
10. Measuring Cups 
11. Measuring Spoons
12. Pastry Brush
13. Tongs 
14. Mixing Bowls
15. Spice Grinder
16. Kitchen Twine
17. Mandolin Slicer 
18. Food Processor
19. Kitchen-Aid Mixer
20. Immersion Blender
21. Grill Pan
22. Pots and Pans --- Spend money on good quality pots and pans. I like All-Clad and Le-Creuset. They are both very expensive, but last forever. Sometimes you can find both these brands at places like TJ Maxx and Marshalls. It's worth the money. Trust me. 

Fresh, Frozen, Pantry --- Necessary staples for you kitchen

  Having a well-stocked pantry can be an important tool in executing successful meal planning. Not only is it important to have many ingredients on hand, but having those ingredients organized keeps everything rotating and prevents spoilage.

 In our case, we don't really have much space in our 

cabinets for food storage, so I purchased a metal 'speed rack' to help keep us organized. It can be purchased at any hardware store, Target, or home improvement store. I also find it helpful to use storage containers and mason jars to organize nuts, dried fruits, sugars, flour, etc. That way I never have hard-as-rock sugar, rancid nuts or dry (dried) fruit.  Here is a list of everything I think you need in your pantry. Also, don't just look at your pantry as dry goods. This list also includes fresh and frozen items that you should always have on hand. And as much as you can try to buy organic, all-natural products from companies you feel proud to support. 

Fresh

In this category, I am also including anything that needs to be refrigerated once opened.

Anchovies - great for adding a punch to tomato sauces, adds a unique saltiness to dressings and bold flavor to long-cooking greens.

Butter

Capers

Carrots

Celery

Cilantro-great addition for ethnic food; but not everyone's forte

Curry Paste (Red) 

Eggs

Garlic (fresh)

Ginger (fresh) can be frozen for up to 6 months

Kaffir Lime Leaves (fresh) Can be frozen in small ziplock bags for up to 4 months

Lemons

Limes

Maple Syrup

Mayonayse

Miso (White)

Mustard-Dijon and Whole Grain

Olives (Kalamata and Picoline) 

Onions

Yogurt (plain) 

Frozen

Bacon- I know bacon is a fresh ingredient but I always keep it frozen. After I bring it home from the store I dice it into desired pieces for cooking, place in ziplock bags and freeze.

Peas 

Dry Goods

Almonds (slivered) Good for adding crunch to rice dishes, coucous and vegetables. I also use almonds as an economical replacement to pine nuts.

Apricots (dried)

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Barley or Farro

Black Beans (dried or canned)

Butter (unsalted)

Cannellini Beans (dried or canned)

Canola Oil

Chick Peas (dried or canned)

Chicken Stock 

Coconut Milk

Cornstarch

Currents

Fish sauce

Flour (All Purpose)

Lentils (I enjoy the taste and texture of black lentils the most)

Mirin (sweet rice wine)

Olive Oil (Extra Virgin)

Panko Breadcrumbs 

Pasta (dry) Any of your favorite types and shapes

Pecans

Peanut Butter (all natural) 

Polenta (ground, dry)

Raisins (dark and golden)

Rice (white and brown) I like Basmati for both.

Rice Vinegar

Risotto-Arborio or Carnaroli

Sambal (or any chili sauce)

Sesame Oil

Soy Sauce

Sugar (White, Brown and Confectoners)

Sunflower Seeds (roasted and unsalted)

Tomatoes (canned, whole plum)

Tomato Paste

Vinegar (white wine and red wine)

Walnuts

Wine (white, inexpensive)

Spices

Buy yourself a spice grinder! You can buy whole spices, keep them longer, save money and get better flavor.

Allspice

Bay Leaves

Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Chili Powder

Coriander

Cinnamon

Cumin Seeds 

Fennel Seed 

Nutmeg (Whole)

Oregano

Paprika (smoked)

Red Pepper Flakes

Salt (Kosher)

Sesame Seeds

Tumeric

Vanilla (Pure extract)

Menus and Utilization of Product

Just because I went to culinary school doesn't mean that I don't struggle just as much as everyone else does to come up with new and interesting ideas for meals. I am constantly looking through cookbooks, magazines and websites to find ideas that I can then tweak for my own personal tastes and budget. I also try and utilize ingredients in multiple dishes so that nothing goes bad in our fridge and I in turn save money. Here is our current menu for this week as an example.

Monday 1/23 - Clay Pot Ginger Chicken with Spicy Broccoli over Brown Rice

Tuesday 1/24 - Kentucky Hot Browns (Open-faced Sandwiches with Roasted Turkey, Bacon and                                    Mornay Sauce) with Green Salad

Wednesday 1/25 - Chicken Cacciatore with Peppers, Olive and Capers over Polenta

Thursday 1/26 - Chicken Cottage Pie

Friday 1/27 - Flank Steak with Swiss Chard Gratin with Walnut Panko Crust and Roasted Tomatoes

Saturday 1/28 - Bowtie Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes, Cream, Peas, and Bacon

Sunday 1/29 - Ramen Noodles with Chinese Sausage, Spinach and Cashews "Momofuku Style"

Here is what I mean when I say utilization of ingredients. Take Tuesdays meal for instance; instead of buying all-natural, organic sliced deli turkey, which is extremely expensive, I buy a whole kosher turkey breast, brine it myself and roast it. What is a brine? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brine. I use half the turkey breast for Tuesday's dinner and the other half for sandwiches the rest of the week. Not only have I saved money but I also control the amount of salt and make a somewhat boring ingredient delicious without the use of preservatives, nitrates or nitrites. What are nitrates and nitrites? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrate.

The cheese in Tuesday nights Mornay sauce and the cheese in Friday nights Swiss chard gratin was Gruyere, which tends to be quite expensive. In fact cheese in general always throws my budget for a spin. I buy one cheese for two dishes and make sure no one in the house snacks on it. If you buy cheeses with big flavor you'll get the most for your money. I also always keep Pecorino in the house. It tends to be less expensive than Parmesan and you'd never know the difference in taste.

Ok, next lets look at the chicken in Wednesday and Thursday nights dinner. I almost always buy whole chickens. Why pay someone else to cut a chicken apart? Rephrase why pay a lot for someone else to cut a chicken apart, when you can do it yourself in five minutes. I will post a video shortly of how to correctly and efficiently break down a chicken, but in the case of these two meals I roasted the chicken whole. A whole organic chicken runs me about $2.29/lb X 5lb chicken = around $12.00. $12.00/ 2 meals $6.00 for organic chicken meat per meal. You can't beat that. You'd be surprised how much meat is on a whole chicken and the addition of other ingredients makes using organic possible. Don't always make protein the star. In many cases it can be a great side-note.

Both Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays meal contains about 4 tablespoons each of heavy cream. Group meals together with similar ingredients. What are you gonna do with heavy cream once you've used 4 tablespoons of it. This is where people waste money. They buy one ingredient for one meal and then have no idea what to do with the rest of it. Always have a plan!

Tuesday and Saturdays meal each have bacon. Bacon bought, bacon used.

Use inexpensive ingredients to boost flavor. Example: The ginger in Monday nights meal. Ginger has huge flavor, lasts FOREVER in your freezer and is cheap. Or the olives and capers in Wednesday nights dinner. Olives and capers have such a unique flavor, last almost forever in your fridge, tend to be pretty affordable and a little goes a long way. Have a picky eater...? add these ingredients at the end.

Last but not least check out ethnic markets. Practically all the ingredients for Sunday nights dinner were from an Asian grocery store. Real, authentic Ramen noodles, dried Chinese sausage even the cashews were a bargain. Soy sauce that actually tastes like...well soy sauce. Sesame oil that tastes like...well sesame. Spend money on ingredients that will last a long time. Keep a well stocked pantry...which I will go into detail about in my next post.