Birthday Pizza Party!

I threw a "make your own pizza" belated birthday celebration for my friend Tiffany last night, and we had a blast!  Since only a few of us could make it, we were able to cram around my dining table, smashing out pizza dough, spreading sauce, layering toppings, and sprinkling cheese relatively comfortably.  I provided the dough, (I used this recipe, instead of my usual Artisan Bread in 5 dough, as I find the AB dough kind of hard to work with if you're not used to it . . . my instincts were right on, as John exclaimed almost immediately, "wow, this is a LOT easier to use than that other dough!"), two kinds of sauce, (prepared pesto from the co-op deli, and Muir Glen pizza sauce,) and four kinds of cheese, (mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, and feta,) and friends brought the toppings:

We had lots of olives, lots of mushrooms, onions, garlic, spinach, dried tomatoes, artichokes, capers, oregano, and chili flakes.  So many choices, I had to make my pizza in "halfsies" --

The left half is pesto topped with mozzarella, feta, artichokes, spinach, dried tomatoes, and olives; the right half is tomato sauce topped with mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, onions, mushrooms, garlic, chili flakes, and oregano.

For our salad, I made a new kale slaw:

I found a recipe on the Whole Foods website that looked delicious, but the dressing quantities seemed a little "off," in my opinion.  Here's my modified recipe:

DRESSING:
1/4 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup oil (olive or walnut)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Whisk the dressing ingredients together in the bottom of your serving bowl until emulsified.  Add:
1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Toss the onion in the dressing until it becomes completely coated.  (You want to lightly "pickle" the onion, to take out some of its sharpness.)  Then layer in the bowl:
1/2 small head red cabbage, shredded
1 large red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 bunch dino kale, ribs removed and sliced thinly
1 cup orange sections

Cover and chill the salad for at least an hour.

Just before serving, toss everything together with:
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted

After eating so many virtuous vegetables, make sure you save room for dessert!

I was gifted some rhubarb earlier in the week, so strawberry-rhubarb crumble was the logical dessert choice.  :)  (Plus, the birthday girl loves rhubarb!)  I promised Ali I'd post the recipe, which is loosely based off the "Apple Crisp" recipe from Joy of Cooking, but with a few of my own modifications.

INGREDIENTS:
Fruit (enough berries, apples, whatever, chopped, to nearly fill an 8-inch square baking dish)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick salted butter

DIRECTIONS:
1. Fill the baking dish with the fruit.  (If you use a large quantity of berries or any frozen fruit, I recommend tossing the fruit with a few teaspoons of cornstarch.  And thaw and drain any frozen fruit!)
2. Combine the sugar, flour, and butter.
3. Using your fingers, break the sugar/flour/butter into small clumps, and sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
4. Bake at 375 for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is golden brown and crispy.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream or a drizzle of heavy cream.

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I had so much fun with the "build-your-own" dinner party, that I might have to look for more things like this to do in the future!

par-TAY!

I had my coworkers over for dinner last night, and we had a blast! Unfortunately, I have no pictures. My apologies! Per Ali's suggestion in my last post's comments, I did make tacos, and they were well-received. I offered corn tortillas, taco-spiced lentils, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, lettuce, and sliced olives, and also made a simple coleslaw, (shredded green and purple cabbage, green onions, and shredded carrot, all dressed in a lemon and grapeseed oil vinaigrette,) and cut up some watermelon for sides. (Oh, there were chips, too! Had to finish up the guac somehow, right?) :) One of my coworkers brought a rice dish traditional to her home country of Madagascar, and another brought a pile of Somali food! I pulled the leftover strawberry-lavender lemonade from my party in June out of the freezer, and whipped together a couple pitchers of iced tea, too. Let's just say, we all ate too much, but we ate VERY well! :)

A wonderful way to kick off the weekend! What are you up to this weekend?

needing ideas

Hey blog folks, not much to report on my end -- it's HOT in Minnesota, and I'm not really cooking at all, not eating much besides salads, cereal, sandwiches, ice cream, popsicles, and the like. :) (I don't know about you, but I need a good excuse -- like a heat index of 106 and no air conditioning -- to justify cereal for dinner.) ;)

Anyhow, needing some advice -- I am having my staff from work over for dinner on Friday night, and I'm having a hard time coming up with something spectacular to make. I know, I know . . . I shouldn't be having a hard time with this, but there are multiple factors involved: the heat (I won't want to turn the oven, or really even the stove, on,) minimal prep (I'll need to throw stuff together when I get home from work, since they will arrive in a few hours,) and also the fact that I am cooking for myself and five other women -- only one of which is a vegetarian, and four of which are not originally from the US. I'm feeling challenged, coming up with something we'll all enjoy! Any ideas?

Thankfully, I have a full batch of lavender-strawberry lemonade left from my last party, so I've got beverages covered, at least! :)

housewarming

I had several friends over last night for a housewarming (apartment-warming, whatever) party, and we had so much fun! We talked, we ate, we drank (tea and lemonade,) and we played "Apples to Apples" and "Taboo." Woooo! Low-key, definitely, but that was what I was after. :)

Here's the spread I prepared . . .

Tons of local veggies from the Farmer's Market, with Red Lentil Hummus:

The veggies (summer squash, kohlrabi, radishes, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and sugar snap peas) were awesome, of course, and all local. I wasn't totally jazzed by the hummus . . . mine turned out a little runny, (maybe I didn't choose a large enough sweet potato?) and I found the flavor good, but not awesome. Oh well! Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, and many went back for seconds.

Antipasti Platter:

Kalamata olives, roasted (local) green beans, rosemary and lemon marinaded white beans (with local rosemary and scapes!), home-roased red peppers, local provolone, garlic-stuffed green olives, marinated artichoke hearts, Marinated Mushrooms (SO delicious!), and local fresh mozzarella. I have been dreaming about this antipasti platter for weeks, and it turned out as tasty and gorgeous as I had imagined! Look at all of those colors! :) (This was pretty much decimated by the end of the evening, save for a couple of lonely artichoke hearts . . . must have been good!)

Deviled Eggs:

I looooooooove deviled eggs, and had a request for them, so this was a no-brainer choice. :) (And there were only four left . . . they must have been good!) Peeling a dozen (local and gorgeous) eggs is kind of a pain; the only drawback, in my opinion. I sat and peeled eggs over a bowl between my knees while listening to jazz; that seemed to make the process more bearable.

Yogurt Cheese with Za'atar:

This is seriously the simplest, most popular party dip I've ever made. (Dan's brother, Ryan, goes crazy over this stuff!) Buy some plain yogurt, (I used low-fat, local yogurt this time, although whole milk yogurt makes quite the treat,) dump it in a coffee-filter lined strainer over a bowl, stick it in the fridge overnight, stir in some salt, top with za'atar and a little olive oil, and that's it. :)

My recipe for za'atar: 2 parts white sesame seeds, 2 parts dried thyme, 2 parts ground sumac, and 1 part kosher salt; grind in a coffee grinder until a fine powder consistency is achieved. This is also great sprinkled on rice/other whole grains, or used to top homemade focaccia/flatbreads.

Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce:

I looooooove the peanut sauce recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, although it ended up being a little thin for a dip this time round. I'd use half the amount of water next time, or even less. :) Spring rolls were stuffed with bean thread noodles, local mint, local Thai basil, local cilantro, local green onion, red bell pepper, and shredded carrot.

Dippers:

Gluten-free crackers (Blue Diamond Almond Nut Thins -- thanks for the recommendation, Liz! These were a hit with everyone!), Holy Land Deli whole-wheat pita, Wedge bakery organic baguette, and some Back to Nature Harvest Whole Wheats. Just say "yes" to carbs! :)

Beverages:

Two unsweetened iced teas (I'm loving the Celestial Seasonings cold brew teas this summer!) and Lavender Strawberry Lemonade, made with local strawberries. Please also admire the flowers Courtney bought me for a housewarming present!

I also made two different kinds of homemade popsicles for dessert, (vegan chocolate fudge pops and Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Pops) but they weren't consumed by all. Hardly anyone saved room for dessert! (I have made the fudge pop before, and was pleasantly surprised by the Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Pops -- another recipe keeper!)

Even though preparing all of this food in advance was a considerable amount of work, it was SO worth it! (Plus, it was fun! I love big kitchen projects like this.) Once I had everything set out, I didn't have to think about the food at all -- everyone just helped themselves, and I just reminded people about the popsicles a couple of times. Easy! Tasty! Healthy! Fun!

What are some of your favorite party foods?