Salad doesn't have to be punishment

Here's my new-ish favorite salad recipe that was inspired by my friend Lisa. We made it when I was at her house one day for lunch. It's really simple yet oh-so good. Of course it starred two of my favorite things in the world (tomatoes and avocados) so it was an instant hit. Scott would call it one of my "crazy Armenian salads without lettuce" -- but there isn't much Armenian about it so I beg to differ. I added a few things to kick it up a notch, and no, one of those things wasn't mint. . . though that's not a bad idea.

Mix the following together in a bowl and enjoy! You might want to chill it a little first, but it IS best eaten the same day that you make it:

-1 package of cherry or grape tomatoes (because I'm a little OCD I definitely cut these guys in half)
-2 ripe avocados, cubed/chopped
-finely diced red onion (scallions would be good too, not too much though, maybe 2-3 tablespoons)
-14.5 oz can black beans or chickpeas or kidney beans, whatever you like
-juice of 1/2 a lemon
-drizzle of EVOO
-a few healthy dashes of garlic salt
-freshly ground black pepper
-several dashes of dried dill weed

The Tofu Chronicles, Part 1

I'm calling this Part 1, not because there are currently more parts to the story, but because I'm hoping that the future will hold more exciting tofu chronicles for me to share with you. . . so stay tuned.

Once in a while, I get inspired to experiment with tofu. I did so recently, for Jenni! :) My usual attempts don't often pan out very well, typically asking myself why I didn't order takeout instead, letting the professionals cook it for me. This attempt however was pretty good, so here you go.

I've tried marinating, baking, and stir frying tofu. No matter what, it still tastes like tofu. . . which isn't really a GOOD taste, but when mixed with other vegetables, seems to suffice and definitely make me happy because I'm getting a little protein -- so I suck it up and eat. This time, I decided to pretend the tofu was a vegetable.

I bought extra firm tofu, pressed it with a bunch of paper towels to get some of the water out, then cut it up in the thin-ish pieces you see in the picture. I then heated up a medium frying pan with a little bit of EVOO (the more flavor the better when it comes to tofu, right?) and then added the tofu, which I sprinkled rather generously with salt and pepper. I let this sit in the bubbling oil (almost enough to cover the pan completely, but lightly) for a while. . . not sure how long. When it got this nice golden color, I flipped each one (that was fun -- I ended up using tongs after getting frustrated with my spatula) and then added more salt and pepper, letting the other side golden up as well. Once done, I took them out and let them sit on paper towels to drain a bit. It was an interesting texture. . . somewhat crisp on the outside yet not the gushy ickiness tofu typically has on the inside. It was. . . cooked? It tasted okay on its own too. But it was MUCH BETTER tossed in a simple garden salad of mixed greens, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado. I drizzled my favorite dressing on top (365 Balsamic Vinaigrette, the one sold in the refrigerated section -- there are two actually). It was a good dinner!

Pizza! Pizza!

While lounging at the pool last Saturday I was craving pizza, and I decided I'd make myself one for dinner. Saturday morphed into Wednesday - but I finally made the pizza. Because I had so many days to dream about it, I went all out. Introducing my white pesto sauce pizza with asparagus, tomatoes and mozzarella!

First, we'll start with the dough. I found a recipe for Parmesan Pizza dough, and I used that. First you combine one yeast packet, a teaspoon of honey, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a cup of hot water. Stir it up until it's all dissolved and let it sit for 5 minutes. It will become foamy, this is good. Then add in 1 1/2 cups of flour and a pinch of salt, and stir it together. Continue adding flour by the quarter cup (until you've reached 2 3/4 total), mixing with hands each time to incorporate the newly added flour. Then, add in a half a cup of grated parmesan. Now for the fun, flour a clean surface and knead the dough. You want to make it smooth and uniform. It may still be a bit 'tacky' which is fine. Drop a tablespoon of oil in a bowl, and flip the dough through that, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warmish place (I use the top of my preheating oven) for an hour and a half. When it's done punch it down - literally - and roll it out. The recipe I read suggested to put corn meal on the pan before baking. I did this, but I'm not sure why!

While this was rising I roasted some garlic. I sliced the tops off of 4 heads of garlic, this proved to be too many, I could have gotten by with 2! Pour a bit of evoo on the cut end, sprinkle some salt and pepper and place cut-end down on an aluminum foil covered pan. I roasted for about an hour, at 350. It might have been too long, they were mushy - but since I don't have a food processor the mush was actually better.

The sauce started with a roux, two tablespoons each of butter and flour. A cup of milk (I used whole!) Heat and stir, heat and stir, until it thickens. Then I added in a few scoopfuls of pesto (not made from scratch, but purchased!) and I added about half of my garlic mush. Stir, stir, stir, heat, thicken.

When the dough was done and punched I rolled it out (by hand, for lack of rolling pin) and made a pizza crust. In retrospect, I made it too thick. I should have made a bigger pizza or used only part of the dough. Practice makes perfect. I poured the sauce on. Now I spread out some pre-sliced mozzarella balls, sliced roma tomatoes, and asparagus tips.

Because the crust was thick it took longer in the oven, maybe 20 minutes at 350. But, it was delish (and will be tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after!)