Got Leftovers?

I realize my previous recipe, the Creamy Lemon Barley Salad with Asparagus and Peppered Almond Feta leaves you with a lot of salad component leftovers - extra feta, extra creamy lemon dressing and extra yogurt cheese so I thought I would give you some ideas on things to make with them. NOTE - recipes for the yogurt cheese, feta and salad dressing are in the barley salad post.

Dilled Yogurt Cream Cheese Type Spread

First, I like to make a simple cream cheese type spread with the yogurt cheese. It gets thick enough in the fridge to spread so I add salt, onion powder, garlic powder and dried dill for a really nice, tangy spread. I've shown it here on ryvita crackers but it's fab on bagels too!

• yogurt cheese
• sea salt
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• dried dill

Simply mix together to taste.

Baby Spinach, Romaine and Avocado Salad with Peppered Almond Feta, Pumpkin Seeds and a Creamy Lemon Mint Dressing

Second, you can use the creamy lemon dressing as a regular salad dressing but note - it's too lemony for a leaf dressing. That strong lemon taste gets subdued in the barley salad but it's pretty full on otherwise. The dressing also gets quite thick when it sits in the fridge so just water it down slightly - that both brings the texture back to normal and dilutes the taste. For these salads I also added chopped fresh mint for a creamy lemon mint dressing and it was gorgeous!

• baby spinach
• romaine leaves, torn
• shallots
• avocado, diced
• cucumber, sliced and quartered
• toasted pumpkin seeds
• peppered almond feta
• creamy lemon mint dressing 

This was an absolutely delicious salad!! Just gently toss everything but the feta and pumpkin seeds in a good amount of dressing until well coated then crumble the feta on top and a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds.

 Asparagus, Peppered Almond Feta and Pine Nut Pizza

Third, if you still have feta leftover and some asparagus you can make this pizza I made - it's SO GOOD! I just used a store bought pizza base here to make it easy but you can also make your own base. 

• pizza base
• peppered almond feta
• asparagus
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

• toasted pine nuts

Simply bake the base plain until cooked - crisp base and puffy and golden. Remove from the oven and spread the peppered almond feta over top - not too thick, just a nice even spread. Sauté the asparagus whole in a little olive oil, pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper until just fork tender, place a lid over now and again to steam it as you fry. Lay on top of the pizza then sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. 

I served mine with a simple mixed leaf, avocado and cucumber side salad tossed with the creamy lemon mint dressing as per instructed above. A beautiful simple dinner!

♥

Pizza with Almond Feta, Spinach, Black Olives, Pine Nuts and Spring Onion

Better than any greasy cheese pizza I've ever had ;-)

Lovely with a warmed dill olive oil drizzle

So, I think this is the 3rd dish I've made with that almond feta. I wasn't kidding when I said it was going to change my life!! One of my favourite pizza's back in the vegetarian days was always spinach and feta, so I knew it was just a matter of time before I had a go making one with the almond feta. This turned out delicious, and I will definitely be making it again! 

I have a few pizzas on here but most are with melty cheezly, which I love but it can be hard to find, however anyone can make this almond feta! Also, whenever I blog pizza I  always feel like I am just blogging the base as I always end up saying "but, just put on whatever you like". Of course you can here but these ingredients do work well together. Only thing was my base/crust could have cooked a little longer but the feta was browning a bit much. It's still cooked there, just not as golden brown as I would have liked. So next time I would either par bake the base after poking with a fork or par cook without the feta and add it a little later :-)

Just a reminder too that you need a day to make the almond feta first! 

Makes 1 large pizza for 2 very hungry people, or 4 not so hungry (or with a side):

Base:

225g extra strong white bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1 tsp active dry yeast (not instant yeast)

150ml hand hot water

1 tsp olive oil (plus more for greasing)

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl dissolve the sugar into the warm water then sprinkle on the yeast. Leave it for 10 minutes to get all foamy. Add the olive oil and whisk it up. Stir this into the flour with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a ball. Whilst adding some more flour to prevent sticking, knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes, it should be smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. Punch down knead a couple times, cover and let rest 15 minutes. Now hand pat down or roll out into a circle, however thick you want the base. Keep in mind it will rise some more.

Toppings:

Pizza Sauce - I used Marks and Spencers Margherita Pizza Sauce here

25g toasted pine nuts

about 75 - 100g of the almond feta

baby spinach - enough to cover the pizza

25g sliced black olives

2 spring onions, chopped - green part too! :-)

Now simply spread on the sauce, I like to be quite generous with the sauce as you are not having melty cheese all over the place it helps with any dryness. Place the spinach leaves all over to cover the base then sprinkle on the olives, spring onion and pine nuts. Now crumble over the feta, again it won't melt so try and be fairly uniform here.

Place on a baking sheet  and bake in a 200C preheated oven until the crust puffs up and is golden brown and the feta is slightly golden. About 20 minutes but keep an eye on it :-)

Herb Drizzle Oil: (optional)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp chopped fresh herb - I used dill, goes lovely with this but oregano would be my other choice

Gently heat the olive oil in a small fry pan and add the herb, do not let it boil, just gently heat it up till warmed and fragrant. When the pizza is out of the oven drizzle some of the herb oil over and brush some of it around the crust.

I found 1/4 of the pizza perfect with a side salad for a meal.

Nutritional Information: based on 1/4 serving

Calories: 405

Fat: 19.3g

Sat Fat: 2.1g

Fibre: 3.5g

Protein: 9.8g

Carbs: 48.7g

Sugar: 2.0g

♥

You Might Also Like: 

Roasted Vegetable Calzone with Creamy Pesto

Served whole with a side salad and brushed with olive oil

Roasted Veg and Creamy Pesto Filling

Roasted Veg, Pizza Sauce and Cheezly Filling

I can't believe it's taken me so long to make calzone!! Both these versions were very good, I would happily eat either - and I have, we've had this for either lunch or dinner about 4 times recently!! The dough is very good, my basic pizza base recipe but for the calzones I've added some mixed dried herbs and some garlic powder for extra flavour. The amount of dough here will make 3 good size calzones or 2 very generous sized calzones, I of course make 3 as that's how many is in my family (and for calorie reasons!)

For a dinner I served this with a simple leaf side salad with my most favourite balsamic dressing - it really goes nice with the roasted veg.

The first time we made these we made them "pizza like" with a store bought pizza sauce and supermelty cheezly mozza. It was very good but I got to thinking that pesto would be lovely with the roasted veg. So I decided on a creamy pesto using soy cream instead of olive oil so it wasn't overly oily and nice and creamy.

Altogether it was very, very good!! I still can't decide which one I prefer though, the pesto one probably is nicer, certainly 'posher' but they are both delicious ;)

Roasted Vegetable Calzones - makes 3.... or 2 huge ones!


Dough: 

225g extra strong white bread flour

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1 tsp active dry yeast, or 1 sachet quick rise yeast

150ml hand hot water

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs - optional

1/4 tsp dried garlic powder - optional

extra olive oil to grease the bowl

Filling: (2012 Edit - I now add some diced zucchini, about 1/2 a medium one and tend to omit the artichoke.)

1 large red onion, chopped

200g white mushrooms, halved and sliced

2 large cloves garlic, leave in their skins

1 large red pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
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-chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil

-sliced black olives

-chopped artichokes in oil (optional)
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-chopped fresh basil (if not making the pesto version)

-mozza cheezly, optional (if not making the pesto version)

-store bought pizza sauce (if not making the pesto version)

Creamy Pesto: this is so good you may want to make more to have on hand!

10g pine nuts, toasted

30g basil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

30ml soya cream

2 1/4tsp nutritional yeast, if you have one, grind it up in a pestle and mortar to make finer

1/2 tsp lemon juice

black pepper

First make your dough. In a bowl weigh out the flour, salt, mixed herbs and garlic powder (if using). Mix well and set aside. In a large bowl add the hand hot water and the sugar. Whisk until the sugar dissolves then sprinkle over the yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes - it should get really foamy on the surface. If it doesn't, your yeast is 'dead' and you'll need to dump this and get some new yeast! After 10 minutes, whisk it up well, add the olive oil and whisk again. Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until a dough comes together.

(Note - if using quick rise yeast, simply add it too the flour mixture and make sure your water is a bit warmer than usual, about 120 - 130F then add it and the olive oil to the flour mixture and proceed as below)

Flour your work surface then knead the dough for 10 minutes. Keep adding more flour until the dough no longer sticks to the surface or your hands. When it's close to 10 minutes you should notice that the dough becomes very smooth, soft to the touch and is no longer floury or sticking to anything. Now wash out the bowl the dough came out of with really hot water and dry. I like to add the dough to a warm bowl to 'kickstart' it's rising. Add 1/2 tsp of olive and grease the bowl then add the smooth ball of dough, turning it to cover in oil. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place to double in bulk - about 1 hour.

Now prepare your roasted veg. Preheat the oven to 220C. In a non stick roasting tin add the garlic, mushrooms, red onion and peppers.

Drizzle over the olive oil and toss with your hands until it is all coated in oil. Sprinkle over the salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Resist the urge to add more oil - the mushrooms will release water while roasting and it's not necessary. Pop it in the oven for about 20 - 30 minutes, giving it a stir a couple times.

Slice the tops off the garlic and squeeze out the roasted garlic, mash it well with a fork then add to the roasted veg mixing well until all the garlic is spread about evenly. Set aside to cool slightly.

If making the pesto version, now make your pesto: Either use a food processor or pestle and mortar, whatever will give you the finest texture result. Place the toasted pine nuts, garlic, salt, lemon juice and basil in and grind until nice and fine. Slowly add the soy cream until all added and nice and creamy. Stir in the finely ground nutritional yeast and some ground black pepper. Set aside.

Now, remove the dough from the bowl, punch down and cut into 3 sections. Roll out both sections into rough circles, not too thin. If you are making 3 calzones here then they will look small, but as you can see from my pictures, it does all get in there!

This photo from 2012 with slightly different veg and added zucchini.

Either spread on the pizza sauce or half the pesto, then top with the roasted veg, black olives, sun dried tomatoes and chopped marinated artichokes. 

Again, this is from 2012 :-)

If you are making the pizza sauce version, add some cheezly if you like, I've made these with both melty and regular, they both melt fine but the mozza gave the best flavour. I also added some chopped basil to the pizza sauce.

Now take 2 sides and bring it together over the top and seal well, do the same with the other sides then make sure you seal all the edges. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and place the calzone seam sides down. Brush with a little olive oil and bake in a preheated 200C oven for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

*Note - the first time I made these I didn't brush with olive oil before baking and they came out a little, anaemic looking so I brushed them with olive oil after they came out. As you can see from the top picture they look a little too oily but I can assure you they weren't. Still, the way to go is to brush the dough before they bake and they should like like this ^ and don't brush them after.*

Let sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly then serve with a simple leaf side salad.

My most favourite balsamic dressing:

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, pureed

1 tsp dijon mustard

black pepper

Measure the olive oil into a small bowl. With your whisk ready slowly start adding the balsamic vinegar in a steady stream, whisking all the while until it's all added and thick and creamy. Whisk in the dijon, salt and garlic. Add a few grinds of black pepper and whisk again. This will make more than you need for a side salad but it will keep a couple days. Just whisk it up again.

♥

Nutritional Analysis: (for 1 out of 3 calzones with the creamy pesto)

Calories: 485

Protein: 13.8g

Carbs: 72.3g

Sugars: 7.3g

Fibre: 7.1g

Fat: 16.8

Saturated Fat: 2.2g

Sodium: 668mg

Vegan Pepperoni Pizza

Don't tell me what I can't have as a vegan!!!

This falls in the same category as my last Hawaiian Pizza post of 'I can't believe I'm blogging this'! I know it's nothing original but I do like to post things that people don't expect when thinking of vegan food. I always think back to why I was vegetarian for 12 years and not vegan, as now I know how easy it is. I think I probably thought that it would be too hard and oh, I couldn't have this and that etc... Well, it's all simply not true and had I known this before would have become vegan much sooner than I did :) While it's true that you have to have a taste for cheezly here, as no, it doesn't taste like cheese ;) this was still so, so good!! I made the base myself and it turned out beautifully! Lovely thick fluffy base, crisp on the outside - so good....then just used store bought pizza sauce, redwood foods' vegan pepperoni slices and super melting cheezly mozza flavour.

Makes 1 good sized individual pizza:
112g strong white bread flour (I highly recommend Waitrose's Canadian very strong white flour here, it's fantastic! UK specific though, I know!!)
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/8 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
75ml hand hot water
1/2 tsp olive oil (plus more to grease bowl)

Dissolve the sugar in the water then sprinkle the yeast on. Let it get frothy for 10 minutes then whisk it up with the olive oil. Stir in the flour and salt then knead for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic, form into a ball. Wash a bowl with hot water, dry then grease well with olive oil. Add the dough to the warm bowl, turning over to coat with the oil, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 1 hour. Punch down and give it a few more kneads then shape into the base size you like.

Spread with the sauce, top with pepperoni and a generous amount of cheezly and a few grinds black pepper. Bake in a 220C oven for about 15 minutes or until puffy, edges are golden and cheese is melted and bubbling.

Vegan Hawaiian Pizza

Yes, I know, this is hardly original.... I wasn't going to blog it at all but then remembered why I started this blog - to have an on-line record of things I like to eat, and while this isn't groundbreaking in any way, it was yummy! Think I'll need a new category - 'I can't believe I'm blogging this'!

I would say my favorite vegan pizza's are still just a nice base loaded with veg, preferably oven roasted veg and no faux cheese at all, especially spread with homemade vegan pesto, like my first pizza post . However I wanted to try to recreate what was always my favorite pizza as a child, the bog common ham and pineapple, and see how it fared being veganized. I have recently discovered redwood foods ham style slices, which I think are fab, and of course I've been accustomed to their super melting cheeze for awhile now.

I have to say for someone who hasn't had a ham and pineapple pizza in about, god, 15 years??? It tasted just like I remember and I really, really enjoyed it.

Makes 1 good sized pizza:
112g strong white flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp active dry yeast (not easy blend)
75ml warm water
1/2 tsp olive oil

Toppings:
pizza sauce
ham style slices
pineapple
super melting mozza cheezly

Dissolve the sugar in the water and sprinkle on the yeast. Allow to get nice and foamy - about 10 minutes. Mix in the olive oil and stir well with a fork then stir into the flour and salt. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes. Place in a warm bowl greased with olive oil, cover with cling film and place in a warm place to rise, about an hour.

Punch down, knead a few times, cover and let rest 15 minutes. Now, roll out, stretching as you go to whatever size you want, thin and bigger or small and thicker - up to you! Top with pizza sauce (I just used some store bought sauce), ham style slices, pineapple and super melting mozza style cheeze (I used about 70g on this pizza).

Bake in a hot 220C oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, until cheeze is golden and melted and the dough is risen and golden at edges.

Pesto Pizza with Sundried Tomatoes, Black Olives, Red Onion and Mushrooms

This was a great pizza, thick and fluffy homemade base spread with the Vegan Pesto from Vegan with a Vengeance and topped with sliced mushrooms, red onion, black olives and chopped sun dried tomatoes. Perfect with a glass or two of red wine!

Pizza Base: 


225g extra strong white bread flour
1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1 tsp active dry yeast (not instant yeast)

150ml hand hot water

1 tsp olive oil (plus more for greasing)

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl dissolve the sugar into the warm water then sprinkle on the yeast. Leave it for 10 minutes to get all foamy. Add the olive oil and whisk it up. Stir this into the flour with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a ball. Whilst adding some more flour to prevent sticking, knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes, it should be smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. Punch down knead a couple times, cover and let rest 15 minutes. Now hand pat down or roll out into a circle, however thick you want the base. Keep in mind it will rise some more.

Spread with pesto, I used the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance then top with said toppings and bake in a 200C oven for about 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and puffed up.

♥