The Ghosts of Pizzas Past

Shawn at It's A Beautiful Pizza in 2007. Also: beer, the best possible accompaniment to any 'za.

I can't think of a single person who doesn't love pizza. Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good, even - nay, especially - when it's stale and cold and eaten standing in the kitchen by the light of the refrigerator. There is a pizza for everyone; it's a food that lends itself to versatility and customization. I personally prefer a thicker crust to a paper-thin one, but beyond that the toppings and sauces depend on my mood.

I recently discovered that I have a myriad of pizza photos stored away, so let us reminisce, shall we?

My standard homemade pie: dough recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance and a noochy cheese sauce.

From ZPizza in metro Denver: Daiya cheese, capers, roasted peppers, and caramelized onions. Daiya's pretty good, but for me it was the caramelized onions that were the star of this pizza.

From It's a Beautiful Pizza in Portland: not bad, but what's up with the non-melted Follow Your Heart?

From Amici's in San Francisco: Cheezly, green pepper, and pineapple. I am pro-pineapple on pizza.

Another homemade 'za: VwaV crust, tofu ricotta, sun-dried tomatoes, banana peppers, and other stuff. I love banana peppers and think they are highly under rated as a pizza topping.

From City, O' City: cashew ricotta, mushrooms, and BBQ tofu. City O' also has house-made vegan mozzarella, but I always opt for the ricotta because it is amazing. I would gladly swim in a vat of the stuff.

Also from City, O' City. Remember how I said that pizza is still good even after it's old and stale? Well, here you go.

From Rebellion: BBQ chicken pizza (barbecue sauce, vegan chicken, onions, and FYH. It also comes with vegan Canadian bacon, but I don't like that much faux meat on a pizza so I sub it with green peppers.) I've posted this picture before, but it would be sacrilege not to include it here since it is the best pizza ever. When it comes to 'za, I'm all about the crust, and biting into Rebellion's crust is like sinking your teeth into clouds of delicious, fluffy dough floating in the sky amongst baby angels and flying unicorns.

This concludes our carb-tastic trip down memory lane. Flour Riot cannot be held liable for any insatiable pizza cravings the reader may now harbor.

MoFo Survey

1. Favorite non-dairy milk? Almond milk foreva. Specifically Almond Breeze Original.

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook? BBQ tofu, french toast, and punkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn? I usually just go with salt, but my favie is melted earth balance.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure? I can't remember the last time I made something that was totally inedible. I will generally find a way to salvage anything unless it is, like, actually covered in turds.

5. Favorite pickled item? Okra.

6. How do you organize your recipes? Theoretically, in a folder. In reality, I don't.

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal? Usually trash.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods…what would they be (don’t worry about how you’ll cook them)? Peanut butter, pesto, and sweet potatoes.

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood? My older brother making me hot chocolate every Christmas morning before the rest of the family woke up.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream? Peanut butter cookies and cream from Sweet Action. HOLY BALLS. Favorite store-bought ice cream is So Delicious Mint Marble Fudge.

11. Most loved kitchen appliance? I am in the midst of a torrid love triangle with my griddle and my grill pan. Neither one knows, and must never know, about the other.

12. Spice/herb you would die without? Garlic. I consider "too garlicky" to be a blasphemous phrase.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time? Pasta For All Seasons

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly? Raspberry

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend? Pfft, like I'm friends with omnis.

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh? Tofu

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)? Brunch is my favorite meal, though my favorite time of the day to cook is probably night.

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator? Cereal, dog biscuits, and lots o' tea.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking. A knob of ginger, Boca burgers (don't judge me), and several ends of loaves of bread, which I save for making bread crumbs and croutons.

20. What’s on your grocery list? Whatever I need for my planned meals on any given week, plus almond milk and bananas.

21. Favorite grocery store? I love my little neighborhood Whole Foods. It's within easy walking distance from my apartment and it has a small, personal feel. It's less overrun with yuppies and more with bike kids/punks/hippies. I must also give props to Publix (and miss it dearly now that I no longer live in the south), and was very impressed by Earthfare when I visited Asheville a few years ago.

22. Name a recipe you’d love to veganize, but haven’t yet. My dad's stuffing, though I suspect it will just be a matter of using EB instead of butter. So that doesn't really count.

23. Food blog you read the most. Or maybe the top 3? It's hard to say. The one I browse the most often for recipes is Fatfree Vegan.

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate? Chocolove! And it's local to me.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately? A box of Purely Decedent Chocolate Almond ice cream bars.

26. Ingredients you are scared to work with? It's not an ingredient so much as an accessory, but I have an irrational fear of the cheesecloth.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

This recipe is so simple I almost feel silly posting it. Cinnamon sugar tops a soft, vanilla-kissed blondie for a slightly new take on the snickerdoodle experience. They're also fairly low in fat, because when you have the ravenous sweet tooth that I do, some kind of damage control is in order. Curl up with these bars and a cup of tea or some soymilk for ultimate coziness. Or, you know, eat them with a PBR tallboy while playing video games. Whateves.


Topping:
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Blondies:
1/3 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp. canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix the topping ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, mix the wet ingredients and the sugar. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Spread into a lightly-oiled 8 inch baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with topping. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes.

VeganMoFo up in this Mofo

This blog has been sorely neglected of late due to various factors including work, a god-awful virus, and sheer laziness, but that is all about to change now that VeganMoFo is upon us. If you're reading this blog, chances are you already know about VeganMoFo, but if not you can read about it here as well as find a master list of all participating blogs, thanks to the lovely Kittee. My goal is to post five times a week (not necessarily all weekdays), and I don't mind saying that I am more than a little intimidated by the task. Mostly because I have this problem with, uh, finishing what I start. However, between fall foods (love!), my husband's birthday, Halloween-themed treats, testing for Isa Moskowitz's latest cookbook, and some other ideas I have brewing, there should be no shortage of delicious things to blog about. Let's do this thing!

Dinner Partay

I wish I had photographic documentation of the dinner party I threw last night, but sadly I have yet to replace my broken camera. Shawn and I had a few friends over and ate on the rooftop of our six-story building, which boasts a lovely view of the mountains, downtown Denver, and our awesome neighborhood (Capitol Hill, represent!)

The menu:
Pesto and artichoke stuffed portobellos
Crusty garlic bread with sun-dried tomato pate
Caesar salad (courtesy of my pal and dinner guest, Abbie)
Eggplant rollatini
Tiramisu cupcakes

Candles were lit, wine was imbibed, and bellies were filled. Since I can't show you any pictures from the night, I can at least show you the adorable apron that my husband bought me for the occasion:

I may have been slaving for hours in the kitchen, but at least I looked damn cute while doing it.

And now I'm off to enjoy a lazy Saturday, reading and watching episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with my dude. I hope my lovely readers (all four of you, and yes that includes you, Mom) are enjoying the remainder of summer and eating delicious, cruelty-free food with good company.

Summer Lovin'

"...Had me a blaaast, summer lovin', happened so faaast..."

No? FINE THEN.

Anyway, I was going to make an epic post wherein I porned all of the delicious grilling I've been doing this summer, but then my camera died (possibly due to my dropping it on the sidewalk) and many a lovely photo was lost. Nevertheless, summer is the time when my grill pan and I rekindle our eternal love for each other. Grilled corn and asparagus become default side dishes and entire meals consist of a whole mess of veggies thrown on the grill pan - my favorite so far is red peppers, zucchini, portobellos, and broccoli mixed with chickpeas and smothered in pesto. Perfection, I tell you.

Grilled asparagus: one of the best things about life.

I have been thoroughly enjoying the awesomeness that is summer in Colorado. Coming from Florida, I'm not used to this season being a pleasant, enjoyable time of year. Rather, the word "summer" conjures up memories of oppressive, sweltering heat and armies of mosquitoes. Besides the beautiful weather and delicious grub, this summer has been made infinitely wonderful by a visit from my mom and an Old 97's show at the Boulder Theater (one of the best nights of my life, I must tell you. We were dead center in the front row, the set list was a perfect blend of old and new material, and I swear that Murry and I shared a moment.)

Of course, a post about summer would not be complete without a nod to the perfect way to escape the heat: vegan ice cream from Sweet Action:
Peanut butter cookies and cream. Best ever.

The Green Stuff

I've never had a problem eating my greens. Collards, kale, spinach, chard - I love them all and enjoy them often. Thanks to a friend who works for a local CSA, I've been getting lots of local produce for free lately, including an abundance of greens like spinach and kale (the latter of which is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world.) Here is some recent deliciousness:

Spinach lasagna. I kept it pretty simple with tofu ricotta, basil marinara, fresh spinach, and a sprinkle of nooch (nutritional yeast) on top. With it I served more spinach sauteed with olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

A clean-out-the-pantry hash comprised of sweet potatoes, kale, red bell pepper, onion, and frozen corn, served with herbed grits

As I was whipping up a batch of hummus and wondering what I was going to do with the last few handfuls of baby spinach in the fridge, the idea became so obvious: spinach hummus. I threw the spinach in raw and it could barely be tasted (not that I would have minded the flavor anyway) but lent tons of nutrients and color.

I also recently made gomen using collard greens, but when I make Ethiopian food the results are rarely photogenic, though delicious nonetheless.

Now that we've covered all that healthy stuff, how's about some cookies, eh?
Chocolate peanut butter and chocolate chip, sent to my dad for Father's Day.