October Unprocessed Day 24: Polenta Pizza, Apple themed parties, Plus I suck and can't do daily blog postings

Lesson learned.  I tried to post daily, but man that is a lot of commitment and I just can't do it.  Sorry ladies and gentleman. In the 13 days since I last posted, I have been able to stick to the October Unprocessed Challenge with only a few minor slip ups.  I have significantly decreased my coffee intake, but have not been as strong on the less salt and more water goals.  I will keep trying.


Instead of trying to recap what I have eaten for every meal (these are the times I wish I kept a food journal), I figured I would just highlight a few things and a couple of worthwhile recipes.

Polenta Pizza
Ingredients:
2 cups veggie broth
1 teaspoon  Italian seasonings (I used oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley)
1 1/2 teaspoon EVOO
Pinch kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
3/4 cup cornmeal 
1 small white onion
4 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 portabello mushroom, sliced
2 whole cloves of garlic sliced thin
1 cup of kale, cut into strips
1 tablespoon of pine nuts
2 medium roma tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons of EVOO
1 teaspoon of Nutritional Yeast (optional)
Jazzed up Jar Sauce

Bring the vegetable broth up to a boil. Add in the seasonings and EVOO.

Whisking constantly, pour cornmeal into water in a steady stream. Continue whisking for 5 – 7 minutes or until the polenta is creamy and thick.

Evenly distribute polenta into a 9″ cake pans. Using a spatula, spread out to about an even thickness. Let polenta cool slightly, then stick the pan  in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the polenta to solidify.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place your cake pan in the oven and cook for about 40-45 minutes and remove. When your polenta starts browning, remove it from the oven and set aside.

In the meantime, toast the pine nuts in a frying pan until fragrant and remove from the heat. Heat up the remaining EVOO in the same frying pan. Saute the the onion until it is translucent and then add the mushrooms and sauté until cooked. Add the kale and sauté until bright green. Then add the tomatoes and thinly sliced garlic.  Continue you to saute on low heat.  Your mixture will become very bright and fragrant.

Jazz up your sauce and spread tomato it onto polenta crusts leaving 1/2″ uncovered around the edges. Add any spices you want to- I used my typical Italian seasonings.

Arrange the vegetables on the crust, distributing evenly.  Sprinkle the pine nuts and nutritional yeast evenly on top.  Cook pizza in oven for and additional 15-20 minutes or until the kale starts toasting.

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Kissy Fish....
This fish on the bathroom wall in a restaurant made me really sad. So I tried to kiss him.  I don't think it helped :(

Apple Themed Party
On Saturday, Melissa and I went to Smolak Farms to pick apples.  I heart this place like WHOA!  We picked apples, then tomatoes (of the mini colorful heirloom variety), went in the cutest barn ever, bought the most awesome soy candle at the country store.  A day of total perfection.

To use some of our apples, last night I hosted an apple themed potluck.  Holy yum!  Here is what we served:

Mini-Colorful Heirloom Tomato Salsa with jalapenos, corn and red onions

Singapore Spiced Pumpkin Apple Soup (a la Melissa) 
Ingredients:
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 stick of celery, diced
3 small apples, peeled and diced
1/2 tsp white pepper
pinch of salt
2 tsp Singapore seasoning from Penzey's Spices (has tellicherry black pepper, lemon peel powder, citric acid, garlic, onion, turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, fennel, cinnamon, fenugreek, white pepper, cardamom, cloves and cayenne red pepper)
1 can organic pumpkin puree
2-4 cups veggie stock (depends on what consistency you want)

Sautee onion, celery, apples in the olive oil until soft.  add in white pepper, salt, and seasonings.  stir in pumpkin puree and veggie stock.  Simmer for a bit (~10 minutes) and then puree with immersion blender. 

So easy and delicious.  Melissa served this with crunch baked spicy chickpeas. 

Cider Apple Mushroom Cream Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of Earth Balance
1 leek, thinly sliced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (I used Braggs)
6 button mushrooms
2 portobello mushrooms, diced
1 head of cauliflower, boiled and pureed
1 Golden Delicious apple
1 tablespoon of Grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast
2 gloves of garlic, chopped fine
A small handful of chopped fresh parsley
Salt & black pepper
1.5 cups of white wine (I used Savignon Blanc)
Pasta- I used vegan tofu, apricot and spinach ravioli from DePasquale's
I also did a gluten free pasta for Melissa that was fro DePasquale's

Slice all your mushrooms and leeks and set aside- keep them separated.

Place 1 tablespoon of the Earth Balance in a skillet and melt it.  Add your mushrooms and saute for 4 minutes, covered. Add a bit of white wine here as well. Check occasionally to make sure the mushrooms do not stick and burn on the side which touches the pot. Set aside including the cooking juices.

Add the remaining Earth Balance and saute the leek until softened and not brown.  Add the mushrooms and cider vinegar, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, boil your breakdown your cauliflower and boil in water until tender. In your food processor, add the cauliflower, about 1/2 cup of the water you boiled it in, garlic and nutritional yeast.  Process it until you have a smooth, creamy like consistency, gradually adding the Grapeseed oil to thin it out.

Add the cauliflower mixture and 1 cup of the white wine to the mushroom, cider and leek mixture and stir well.  Simmer on very low heat for about 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and keep warm by covering the pot with a lid. Core and peal your apples and cut across into thin slices. Fry in a little Earth Balance until golden brown on both sides.

Place the pasta on a serving dish and spoon the sauce and mushrooms and garnish with slices of butter-fried apple and parsley. Voila!

Waldorf Salad
Ingredients:
2 cucumbers unpeeled, seeds removed and diced
3 celery ribs, peeled and diced
1 small red onion, diced
Handful of colorful mini-heirloom tomatoes, diced
2 red delicious apples, peeled and diced
1 cup of walnuts, diced
1/2 lbs of baby arugula, cleaned well
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup tahini paste (in the peanut butter aisle)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
3 teaspoon gluten-free tamari
2 teaspoon of dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic, minced

Clean and dice your cucumbers and place them in a colander with some salt.  This helps bring out their awesome flavor. 

Dice your celery, onions, and tomatoes and add them to colander. Toss all of the ingredients together with some fresh ground pepper.

Chop up your apple and walnuts and set aside, while you make your dressing.  Combine the water, tahini, apple cider vinegar, tamari, Dijon mustard and garlic in a mason jar and shake it like a Polaroid picture. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

Clean your arugula and place it on your serving plate.  Combine your veggies, apples and walnuts in a bowl and toss with the dressing, coating everything well.  Put the mixture over the arugula and serve.  This was righteous!

Vegan, Gluten Free Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of gluten free quick oats
1/2 of of light brown sugar (do not pack it!)
1/4 cup of chickpea flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of all spice
1/4 cup of Earth Balance, melted
5 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons of turbinado sugar

Spray your 9" cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all your dry ingredients and mix well.  Add the melted Earth Balance and mix until you have a chunky mixture.  I used my hands to make sure it was all mixed well.  Set aside.

Dice your apples and place them in the cake pan.  Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar and some cinnamon.  Put your crumble mixture on top evenly and bake for 45 minutes until the top starts to brown.

All together it was a yummy night.  I hope you like these recipes.

**Photography by Melissa V.