Alright folks, sorry for the hiatus! While I have done nothing it seems but cook and experiment with new recipes these past few months, I havent managed to write any of them down! So here is my first of a long over due series of new things to love and new recipes to try that'll knock your socks off! I promise to try and be good and write more often now, but I cant promise anything. My dad wants me to come work for him part time as a secretary, I teach gradeschoolers science in the afternoons, spend my weekends cashiering and to top it off my brother really wants to start up an online vegan-gf-sf-cookie line with him! Phew...just thinking about it all makes me tired, dont worry though, I wont keep all my cookie recipes a secret ;p.
Lately, I have been more than a little obsessed with raw food! Hold on don't run away just yet! No worries, I was scared too. My sister gave me a book recently with a bunch of recipes, claiming they were just “too complicated.” I ignored it for awhile, that's all I needed, more complication in my life. But then one day in a fit of boredom I decided to crack the cover. Inside were some intriguing sounding recipes made from super simple ingredients that I could get at my local farmers market every Sunday. And the best part was, all you really have to do to many raw recipes is prep work! No waiting for something to bake or cook or rise! Just rinse, chop, assemble! Bryan has been especially obsessed with the various nut cheeses! Some sadly you need a dehydrator for (Saving my pennies, thinking ill buy one as a christmas present to myself :p), but many are super yummy left in their uncooked state! The following recipe is a pizza topped with a pumpkin seed cheese/pesto that I modified to suit my tastes better from a raw cookbook I have. I cheat and it does end up getting cooked but believe me, its the best pizza topping i've ever had! (Note that the picture below only has half a pizza in it...its that good I was too impatient to not eat some before snapping a photo) Hope you enjoy it!
Pumpkin Cheese Super Green Pizza!
Crust:
1 Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free pizza crust mix (or any gf pizza dough you prefer, this is just my fav, and you get 2 doughs in one mix!)
2tbsp flax meal
Fresh herbs from your garden! (optional)
Cheese:
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 handful fresh basil leaves
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2tsp minced garlic
1tsp minced jalapeno
1tsp minced ginger
salt and pepper
Toppings:
4 Kale leaves chopped into small pieces or strips
1 handful spinach leaves chopped
¼ cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil
¼ of a red onion sliced into thin strips
(also feel free to add mushrooms and asparagus or whatever else your little heart desires!!! I like to pile all my end of the week veggies on my pizza before I go get fresh stuff at the weekend farmers market!)
1) Make the pizza dough (making sure to use the flax seed to substitute the eggs), mix the fresh herbs into the dough, and let rise. Preheat oven to 425. At the same time as the dough is rising you should be,soaking the pumpkin seeds in water for 15mins. During this time I would chop up all my veggies for the pizza!!
2) Once seeds are ready drain them of the water and add to a food processor. Add in basil, lemon juice, garlic, jalapeno, ginger and seasonings. Keep pulsing and scraping down the sides until you have a very smooth paste.
3)Now roll half your dough out onto a well oiled cookie sheet (save the other half for another pizza night, or some breadsticks!!!) It helps to have very wet hands when handling the dough to get it to stretch out further. Pre-bake crust 7 minutes.
4)Once crust is half baked spread on all of cheese with a spatula until nicely coated with green goodness! Cover with toppings and cook an additional 10-15minutes or until crust is fully baked!!
I hope you enjoy this pizza as much as I do, its become a staple around here now! The cheese is also good as just a spread, and uncooked pumpkin seeds are actually super beneficial for brain function! Ummm brain food.....
