White Pita Pizzas

Definitely not the most gorgeous of photographs, is it? I'm none too certain what actually happened with it, other than it came out way too blurry. The meal itself was very good, though, so I'm including it on here. Please forgive the poor photo quality in the meantime.

I went through a stage not that long ago where all I wanted to eat was pizza with white sauce. My stomach being what my stomach being, I couldn't eat anything else until I had had what I was craving. Thankfully, though, this was a fairly quick and easy dish to make. It just takes a little patience and creativity.

White Pita Pizza
A recipe by Kat

Ingredients

• 6 whole wheat pitas
• 1 medium onion, sliced or diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoon of margarine, divided
• 2 Tablespoons of whipped cream cheese
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of soy milk
• 3 drops of hot sauce
• 1/4 cup of sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Put pitas on baking tray and warm them slightly while oven is warming. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of margarine over medium heat. Add garlic and onion. Cook until onion is tender. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. While onion and garlic are cooking, begin on the sauce. In a small saucepan, melt remaining margarine over medium heat. Add whipped cream cheese and stir constantly until both are melted. Add hot sauce. Add soy milk until the sauce reaches desired consistency. 
4. Smooth sauce over the warmed pitas. Add garlic and onions on top of sauce. Add Cheddar cheese on top of everything. 
5. Cook in 350° oven until Cheddar cheese has melted and browned slightly. Remove from oven, and cut into halves. Serve hot and enjoy!

Grown-up Ramen with Peanut Sauce

I used to have a scale for determining just how broke D and I were. I'm not sure I can recall all of the steps, but I do remember that the bottom rung was (less than) affectionately called "ramen broke". That's below peanut butter sandwiches broke and below macaroni and cheese broke.

Now don't get me wrong: I do love ramen noodles. It's just that they don't love me back. I do eat them when I crave them (usually at breakfast, oddly enough), but sometimes you just want some grown-up ramen noodles.

I designed this to be a quick-and-easy meal. I believe, including prep time, it took less than 20 minutes to make the entire meal. So that is definitely something to keep in mind. It's also a two-pot meal, because it was definitely easier to do the sauce separate from the rest of the dish.

Grown-up Ramen with Peanut Sauce
A recipe by Kat

Ingredients

• 2 packets of ramen noodles (discard the sauce packets)
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced thin
• 2 medium stalks of celery, sliced
• 6 green onions, chopped and divided
• 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, divided
• 3 Tablespoons of peanut butter (I used creamy but crunchy would also work)
• 2 packets of takeout soy sauce (this is about 3 teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 to 3 teaspoons of hot sauce
• 1 to 3 teaspoons of chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon of Red Star Nutritional Yeast
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth

Directions

1. In a medium pot, add one teaspoon of sesame oil. Set heat to medium-low. As it grows warm, it will pop and sizzle. Add the carrot, celery, and white parts of the green onions. Allow to cook until carrot and celery are tender, about five minutes. Set aside.
2. Briefly rinse out pot and add enough water to cover ramen noodles, at least 3 cups. Turn heat to high. Bring water to boil and add noodles. Cook according to package directions, about 3 to 4 minutes.
3. While ramen is cooking, heat peanut butter and soy sauce over medium-low heat. Add other ingredients from honey to nutritional yeast, stirring constantly. Add remaining sesame oil. Add vegetable broth in stages, continuing to stir, until sauce has reached desired consistency. Remove from heat.
4. Drain ramen noodles and divide them between 2 bowls. Add vegetables to bowls, dividing them in half as well. Pour sauce over noodles and vegetables. Top with remaining green onions. Serve hot and enjoy!

Very Cheesy Risotto

I wasn't completely sure that this recipe was ready to go live. I've been messing around with it for weeks now. Though I'm happy with the taste of it, I can never quite get a photo of it that pleases me.

The major downside of trying to do a cooking blog is that photos of the recipes are necessary. However, I also have four cats, three of which are constantly curious about what's going on in the kitchen. It also means that my kitchen and eating area remain in a constant state of disarray, making photos less than easy -- and potentially less than appealing. (Seconds after I snapped this photo, Roo decided the cheese in this smelled delicious and he needed some Right Now. See? You could have had a giant orange feline head in the picture.)

I can't say for certain that I got my risotto recipe anywhere in particularly. I took many various recipes and edited them and messed about with them, until I had something that was delicious to both D and me. This is the result of that. At this point, I'm willing to say that this is now an original Kat creation, yeah?

See? We do eat things beside soup!

Very Cheese Risotto
A recipe from Kat

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup of arborio rice
• 4 to 5 cups of vegetable broth or water and vegetable bouillon cubes (1 cube per cup of water)
• 1/4 cup of dry white wine (I used Moscato because I like the dry-sweet taste of it)
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I used Vidalia)
• 1-2 medium carrots, skinned and chopped
• 1 Tablespoon of margarine (I used Earth Balance)
• 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tablespoons of reduced fat Cheddar cheese
• 2 Tablespoons of reduced fat Mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. In a large saucepan or pot, melt the margarine over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. Add chopped carrots and onion, and cook until carrots are tender and onion is translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable broth in a large pot. It should be just below boiling or at a rolling boil when added to the rice.
3. Add arborio rice to the pot.
4. Add the white wine to the rice, carrots, and onion. Stir until it has been absorbed by the rice.
5. Add the vegetable broth a half-cup at a time to the rice. You will need to stir the rice until each half-cup of broth is absorbed before you add the next half-cup. 
6. Keep adding the liquid until rice is tender. This will take about 20 minutes. I can usually set a timer on this.
7. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses. Serve hot and enjoy!

Gnocchi Soup

So I've been meaning to make a post here for the last week or so. However, I have been down with a nasty sinus infection and haven't really been cooking... at least unless everyone wanted vegetarian noodle soup, since that has been my breakfast and my dinner most days.

Yesterday I was feeling a bit more human, though, so I decided I was going to try something new. This recipe is based on one from FatFree Vegan Kitchen. However, it turned out that we were short on potatoes. We did have some small gnocchi going spare in the pantry, though, so we subbed it in instead. It turned out very nice and relatively filling. It's definitely going to be a repeater in our house.

Due to some poor planning on my part, this recipe does require two pots. It might work out better that way for most people as well, but it's probably possible to make this using only one pot.

Gnocchi Soup
Based on a recipe by FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 packet of Gia Russa Mini Gocchi with Potatoes
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of margarine (I used Earth Balance)
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil 
• 1 cup of vegetable broth 
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon of fresh rosemary
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of (white) pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 Tablespoon of Red Star Nutritional Yeast
• 1 1/2 cups of soy milk

Directions

1. In a large stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat with the olive oil. Add the onion and stir until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the rosemary and vegetable broth. Add the pepper, salt, and nutritional yeast. Reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Meanwhile in another pot, bring the mini gnocchi to boil. Cook according to package directions, 1-3 minutes (or until gnocchi floats to the top). Drain and add to broth.
4. Slowly add the soy milk to the broth and gnocchi. Allow to cook until warm, stirring frequently. Serve hot and enjoy!