Cauliflower Pizza Crust–How to make Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Posted on March 4, 2015 by lazygirldinners

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I’m trying to find different ways to serve vegetables to Page. She has a new found love for pizza–before she wasn’t at all impressed. Recently, I’ve started to get her involved in helping me to make the meals we’re eating. I saw a food documentary about food, and kids. In it the narrator said that the best way to get kids to eat vegetables is to have them take part in cooking. Page is at that age where she’s very eager to help, so I thought why not take advantage of that. I’ve also really wanted to try out a cauliflower pizza crust on our new baking steel. I have to say that I was more than impressed with the results–so was Page. Now for those of you wondering if this will taste anything like that delicious yeasty bread that you’re used to with pizza–the short answer is no. Bread is bread–this is an alternative to bread. Although it’s not bread–it mimics bread in form, and it is so delicious that it stands on it’s own. The reason cauliflower is most often used by people as a substitution for grains is because it has such a mild flavor. It also has great texture. This recipe requires that you add cheese. I used parmesan, but you could use mozzarella, or pecorino, or a combination of your favorite Italian cheeses. I also used fresh basil, but you can use rosemary, or another herb of your choosing, dried or fresh–totally up to you.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon of truffle salt

1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh basil

1 cup of freshly grated parmesan–or cheese of your choice

1 egg

Directions: Pre-heat your oven and pizza stone or baking steel to 450F for 45 minutes. Steam the cauliflower for 5-7 minutes–or until fork tender.

Transfer cauliflower to a processor and process until cauliflower looks like grains of rice.

Transfer processed cauliflower to a clean kitchen towel, or a nut milk bag, and squeeze until the cauliflower becomes dry. You want to squeeze out as much water as you can.

Transfer the cauliflower to a medium size bowl, and add garlic powder, salt, basil, and cheese–mix together into a ball.

Spray a sheet of parchment paper with oil. Add the cauliflower mixture to the center of the parchment paper, and with your hands begin to flatten and form it into the shape of a pizza.

Once you have the shape you want, place it in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

Once it’s golden brown and bubbly like this: remove it from the oven.

Now you can top it with your favorite tomato sauce, cheese and toppings.

Once you have it topped, place it in the oven to cook until the cheese and topping melt. Remove from oven, cut serve and enjoy!

This made a 10-12 inch pizza, not a crumb was left over. Everyone enjoyed it–my husband didn’t even know that the crust was made from cauliflower until Page told him! If you like this try my recipe for Tortilla Pizza!

Thai inspired Coconut Soup

Posted on December 10, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Thai Coconut Soup

One of my favorite soups to get when we go out to eat Thai food is Tom Yum soup. It super easy to make at home, and if you make it vegetarian it’s super quick to make. I used some of my home made chicken stock as a base for this, but if you’re vegan or vegetarian, you could just as easily use a vegetable stock, and skip the fish sauce.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups of crimini mushrooms sliced thinly

2 stalks of lemon grass cut in half

2 inch bulb of ginger sliced thinly

2 cups of cabbage roughly chopped

2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

1.5 cups of organic coconut milk

2 teaspoons of lime juice– or more if you like

1/4 cup of Fresh cilantro roughly chopped

3-5 tablespoons of Fish sauce–really to taste since fish sauces vary by brand. I used red boat, and about 5 tablespoons, but I know I couldn’t add that much with other brands that are more salty. Start with 2 and add more gradually until you’re satisfied.

Chili pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

Add the stock, lemon grass, and ginger to a medium sized sauce pan, and bring to a simmer. Let cook for 5 minutes so that the stock gets infused with the flavor of the lemon grass and ginger.

Add in the mushrooms, fish sauce and lime, let cook for 3-4 minutes:

Add in the cabbage and coconut milk.

Allow the soup to cook for another 5 minutes or just until cabbage is nice and tender. Turn off the fire, top with cilantro, and red chili flakes, and enjoy!!!

Lazy Girl Stove-top Lasagna

Posted on October 21, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Lazy Girl Stove Top Lasagna

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind, I have been burning both ends of the candle wick for some time now, and it finally caught up with me. But even when mom is sick, our kiddies still need to eat! I normally use all of these ingredients to make my lasagna, but I make the meat sauce on the stove, then transfer the sauce to a bake pan and layer it over the noodles, top with cheese and finish this in the oven. However, because I was sick, I thought why not just try this on the stove top. Surprisingly it worked! This lasagna is the ultimate in lazy cooking, but it yielded the best lasagna that I’ve ever made, and the easiest!

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Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb of grass fed ground beef

1 small brown onion (chopped)

3 cloves of garlic (chopped)

1 teaspoon of dried basil

15 ounces of organic tomato sauce

1 cup of organic mozzarella cheese

5 tablespoons of organic whole fat cottage cheese

2 lasagna noodles I used brown rice lasagna noodles

1 tablespoon of olive oil

sea salt to taste

Directions: Heat olive oil in a saute pan, add in onion and garlic and cook until onion turns translucent.

Add in ground meat, season generously with sea salt and cook until brown. Drain any excess fat.

Add basil, cottage cheese and half of the tomato sauce,. stir until all ingredients are combined,

Top with the lasagna noodles–I broke them and spread them out over the the entire pan–

Top with the remaining sauce, making sure that all the noodles are completely covered and submerged in the sauce. Cook on medium low heat until the noodles are cooked through.

Once noodle are done, top with cheese, cover and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, and the cheese has melted.

Serve and enjoy!

Pear Fruit Roll-Ups-How to make fruit roll-ups at home

Posted on October 14, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Pear Fruit Roll-Ups

One of my favorite ways to use ripe fruit is by making fruit roll-ups. In my opinion it’s the best way to use fully ripe fruit, because the fruit is ripe, it’s very sweet, and that means that you don’t have to add sugar to make these fruit roll-ups great. Additionally fruit roll-ups are so super easy to make and a great way to reinvent a fruit that you have an abundance of. I have dehydrator, but these can be done in an oven. Just set your oven to 150 or the lowest possible setting. If you don’t own a dehydrator yet, I suggest that you get one, they are really inexpensive around $40-$50 on the lower end–these work fine, and $299 on the higher end. But they are so useful! At the least you’ll be able to make some of my favorite fruit roll-up recipes like: Tropical punch fruit roll-ups, pineapple fruit roll-up, Strawberry-apple fruit roll-ups or strawberry fruit roll-ups.

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 4-6 hours

Ingredients:

5 ripe pears

Directions: Quarter the pairs and remove the core. Add cored pears to a blender,

Blend until smooth.

Pour the pear puree out onto a piece of parchment paper or a silpat, and smooth out into a thin layer.

Place in a dehydrator on 134F for 4-6 hours.

Alternatively you can place the parchment paper or silpat on a cookie sheet and place in the oven on the lowest setting for 4-6 hours.

Indian and Herb Spiced Grilled Lamb Chops

Posted on September 23, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Indian and Herb Spiced Grilled Lamb Chops

Lamb is one of my favorite meats. Personally I like it more than beef, if given the choice between lamb and steak, I’d choose the lamb every time. My husband on the other hand prefers steak. He is 100% a meat and potato’s kind of guy. After having these lamb chops he said that he’s a convert..Lol..I doubt it! However, I’m glad that he thought that these lamb chops were delicious. I came up with the idea of marinating these with the fillings that I use for my Lamb Patties. I added a little bit of curry powder and cumin to give the chops a little punch of flavor. I’m so glad I did these are super flavorful, and grilling them made them more amazing than they already were. If you only try one of my lamb recipes try this one! You will not be disappointed!!!

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound of lamb chops

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley

1/4 cup fresh mint

1 large shallot (can sub with onion, use half of a small onion)

1/4 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Sea salt to taste

Directions: To a blender add cilantro, parsley, mint, curry powder, cumin powder, shallot and olive oil, blend into a paste. Season the lamb chops with sea salt, then rub with the marinade.

Once your grill is nice and hot, place the lamb chops on the grill and cook for 7-8 minutes on each side or until the chops reach you’re desired level of doneness. Remove from heat, serve, and enjoy!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan, Lemon and Red Pepper Flakes

Posted on September 16, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Parmesan, Lemon, and Red Pepper Flakes

I was at the farmers market this past Sunday, doing my usual weekly shopping. One of my favorite vendor’s had these beautiful stalks of brussels sprouts. I got so excited about them that a woman, who was also shopping, pulled me aside and whispered : “How do you cook those?” This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, believe it or not, people stop me all the time, either at the farmers market, or at Whole Foods, to ask how to cook a variety of vegetables. The funny thing about people asking me cooking questions is that they almost always whisper the question? I don’t understand why they whisper the question! I want to tell them, “you know you’re not the only person on the planet who has no idea what to do with ((insert name of vegetable here)).” I shared this recipe for roasted brussels sprouts with the the lady at the farmer’s market. It’s simple, easy and so delicious. It’s one of my absolute favorite ways to cook and eat brussels sprouts.

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10-15 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound of brussels sprouts halved

2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

3 tablespoons of olive oil ( or ghee or coconut oil)

Sea salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Add the lemon juice and red pepper flakes to a medium sized bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl add the brussels sprouts, oil and sea salt, toss well making sure that all the brussels sprouts are evenly covered with oil.

Place on a foil lined baking sheet and put in the oven.

Cook for 10-15 minute, or until the brussels sprouts take on a significant amount of color and they become crisp and tender. Sprinkle the sprouts with half the cheese and cook for another minute or two, just until cheese melts and becomes crisp, remove the sprouts from the oven, transfer them to the bowl with the lemon juice and the red pepper flakes, toss well to coat the brussels sprouts with the lemon juice, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, serve immediately and enjoy! These are crispy, tangy with a little kick! They are the perfect side dish for almost any meal!

Tahini Salad Dressing — Tahini Vegetable Dip

Posted on September 9, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Mother’s Market Inspired-Tahini Salad Dressing

I love a great salad. One of my favorite salads to eat when I eat out is a simple garden salad that I get at a local health food market that I frequent. The salad is simple in every way, fresh mixed greens, topped with fresh mushrooms, carrots, and beets. What makes this salad better than other salads? That’s simple, the tahini dressing that accompanies it. The dressing is one of the best salad dressings that I have ever tasted. The only problem is that the restaurant doesn’t sell it in a bottle, so I can’t take it home to use at a later time, and the restaurant is very secretive about what exactly is in the dressing. I’ve asked a thousand and one times, but they won’t give me the recipe. Sort of like they wouldn’t give me the recipe for their gingered greens, which I also love. So as usual, I had to experiment, and come up with my own version, and it is amazingly close to their tahini dressing– exact actually. It is so good! You can use it to dress a salad, but it’s equally good as a dip for cucumber, carrot, and celery sticks. My daughter loves it, with a capital L, and the best part is that nothing in it is bad for you. It’s high in protein, because it contains both sesame and cashew butters.

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: none

Total time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of tahini paste

2 teaspoons of cashew butter (about 20-30 whole cashews)

4 medium sized cherry tomatoes (about 2 tablespoons chopped)

1 large clove of garlic

1 teaspoon of Tamari soy sauce

3 tablespoons of a neutral oil like safflower

2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Directions: Place all of the ingredients in a blender or processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a serving container and enjoy! This would be awesome on grilled veggies as well!!

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes!

Posted on September 3, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mash

From time to time, I crave a meal with a deep rich wine sauce. When that happens I turn to Julia Child’s beef bourguignon recipe, or my version of it. If you have ever made beef bourguignon, then you know the sauce that accompanies the beef is everything for that particular dish! The beef, as succulent as it is, is nothing without that sauce, and that sauce was made to adorn a potato mash! The year that I had Page I decided rather than running from house to house to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family, it would be easier on her, and my husband and I, if we just stayed home and made dinner ourselves. My best friend agreed and we divided the dinner duties. Instead of a massive turkey, I roasted a chicken, she made a few sides, and I baked a cake. One of the sides she made was a potato and cauliflower mash. It was delicious, and Page loved it! It was hearty and everything you’d expect when eating mash potatoes and at the same time it had the added bonus of cauliflower. When I was making my beef bourguignon, and anticipating the yumminess of the sauce, I knew that this cauliflower mash would go perfectly with the sauce. If you’re on a low carb diet, you can omit the potatoes, and whip the cauliflower in a blender. For this recipe, I opted to not whip the mash, I wanted the hearty texture, so I used a potato masher instead. If you want a more creamy texture, just throw all the ingredients in a blender after cooking them.

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10-15 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower (about 5 cups)

2 medium potatoes (2 cups cubed)

4 tablespoons of grassfed butter

2 tablespoons of half and half (optional)

1 head of roasted garlic

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions: Add the cauliflower and potatoes to a pot and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, and cook until potatoes and cauliflower are fork tender. Immediately drain the water from the cauliflower and potatoes, then add in, butter, half and half, roasted garlic, sea salt and pepper.

Mash with a potato masher until well incorporated, or add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth, then enjoy!

Roasted Garlic-How to Roast Garlic

Posted on September 2, 2014 by lazygirldinners

How to Roast Garlic

Can you image cooking without garlic? I can’t! I love it! Garlic lends so much flavor to a savory dish, it’s hard to imagine not having it to use. I love garlic in every state, raw, blanched, powdered, and roasted. Each has it’s own unique flavor. Roasted garlic is so delicious, and there are so many uses for it. I add roasted garlic to a plain tomato sauce to instantly take it from bland to fantastic! I add roasted garlic to one of my favorite roasted eggplant dishes. I spread roasted garlic on a good piece of crusty bread and dip it into a balsamic, red pepper, and olive oil vinaigrette, and of course, I add roasted garlic to mashed potatoes, or my cauliflower potato mash! There are a plethora of uses for roasted garlic, (like using it for my Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken recipe), once you learn how to roast garlic, you will wonder why you’ve been cooking without it!

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Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook time:30-45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 large bulb of garlic

1 teaspoon of olive oil

sea salt and black pepper to taste (optional)

1 sheet of foil–must be big enough to fully enclose the garlic

Directions: Pre heat the oven to 400F. With a knife slice the top off of the garlic. Place the garlic inside of the foil, pour the oil over the top of the garlic, making sure to cover all exposed garlic. add sea salt and black pepper if using:

Fold all sides of the foil, making sure that the garlic is fully enclosed. Place the garlic bulb in your oven:

Cook for 45 minutes, or until garlic is beautifully golden brown:

Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, then remove by squeezing, or by removing each individual clove of garlic with a pairing knife, and enjoy!

Flourless Peanut Butter and Chocolate Meringue Cookies

Posted on August 27, 2014 by lazygirldinners

Flourless Peanut Butter Meringue Cookies

If there was ever a food match that was made in heaven, it is peanut butter and chocolate! One of my favorite lazy treats is to dip a dark chocolate bar into peanut butter. So the other day when I was craving a sweet, I thought what a great idea it would be to make a delicious peanut butter cookie that was both moist and light. Sort of like my Starbucks Inspired Flourless Chocolate Cookie ,or, (cue the light bulb over my head), how about exactly like my Flourless Chocolate Cookie! But instead of adding melted chocolate to the meringue, I’d add melted/warmed peanut butter—and so this cookie was born! It’s light, moist, gooey, and crisp in all of the right places! A miracle really, considering the fact that we all know that I am not the most proficient baker. I was fully expecting that this would turn out to be another disastrous baking episode for me. I’m so glad that I was wrong, and that this turned out to be all that I wanted and more!

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10-12 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Makes 8 cookies

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
6 Tablespoons of creamy peanut butter warmed
1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar
3/4 cup of powdered sugar (I used maple sugar,see how to powder any type of sugar here)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

1/8 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 375F. Over low heat warm the peanut butter, until it begins to thin a bit, and takes on a glossy shine—about 5 minutes, set aside.

Add the two egg whites to a bowl and beat on low until bubbles form, add the cream of tartar and beat on high, add in the sugar one tablespoon at a time and beat until peaks are stiff and fluffy—you can turn the bowl upside down with out the mixture running.