About Me and This Blog

I've been a vegetarian for almost six years now. For the first four years, I was a pescetarian (I ate fish). These days, I lean towards veganism and am very passionate about animal rights and welfare. Before going veg, I ate A LOT of meat. In fact, I had a bumper sticker on my first car that read "If we're not supposed to eat animals, then why do they taste so good?" Yeah, I was that person. I loved cooking meat, now I love cooking vegetarian EVEN MORE.

I post a lot of stories about animals and veggie food on facebook, and friends started asking me for recipes and more information on how to be a healthy vegetarian. This blog is my answer to those questions. Most if not all of the recipes can be made vegan by omitting cheese or subbing with vegan "cheese". Email me anytime.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Spinach and Blackbean Pizza - with homemade crust

Feel free to buy a ready-made crust, but this one is fast and easy and can be made with 1/2 whole wheat flour, if you like.

Crust:
.25 oz (7 grams) active dry yeast
1/4 tsp granulated sugar
3/4 cup 110 degree water
1 cup whole wheat or white flour
1/2 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water, allow to rest for 8 minutes. In separate bowl, combine flour and salt. Pour yeast mixture over flour and mix well with heavy spoon.  I let the dough rise for about half an hour in the bowl, then I cut it in half.  This will make two thin crust pizzas. Roll out each piece a bit and then use the heel of your hand to spread over a lightly greased pizza pan (sprinkled with cornmeal if you like). Use a fork to poke holes in the crust, then bake at 450 degrees for a few minutes until the dough is no longer soft.  Remove and add toppings. This will ensure a crispy crust when you bake later. *This will make one regular crust or two thin crusts.

Topping:
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained, and mashed
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup salsa (optional, I just put on a bunch of raw, chopped tomatoes)
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I just kind of shook it all over the toppings)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used mozzarella)
1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
salt to taste in the beans

Combine the beans, onion, chili powder, cumin, salt and garlic; spread over crust.  Layer with salsa/tomatoes, spinach and cilantro. Sprinkle with hot pepper sauce and cheeses. Bake at 450 to desired doneness - around 10 minutes. There are no words for how good this is.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.