vegetarian – Page 40 – GUTSy Performance Nutrition

Roasted Vegetable Pizza with Golden Tomato Sauce

September 9, 2014September 26, 2016by Rebecca6 Comments

There are few people I respect more than those who live each day in truth with their whole selves. I’m in awe of these folks and admire how they stubbornly live in their brassy, blunt, comfortably imperfect beings.

I am not of those personalities. I tend to be quiet, small, and gauge how much I share with how well it will be accepted. If feathers will be ruffled or judgement passed, I opt to keep my mouth shut. I’m one that avoids controversy and negative attention. I like to be perceived as put together.

These last few months I’ve been working on letting go a little: Being me without so much filter. Wearing less camoflouge. Going out in public in whatever I happen to have on. Saying things I mean. Sharing parts of me that I previously shoved away into dark little corners.

In my food-world, I liken this process to embracing the ugly vegetables.

William is working on an awesome organic vegetable farm this summer and he brings home bags of crooked carrots, too-ripe peppers, and weedy leaves.

If truth be known, I have a fondness for the most interesting produce cast-aways. A perfectly straight carrot? An apple that has more beauty than flavor? A purely symmetrical tomato? Perfection in the botanical world is boring, sterile, and dare-I-say-it, industrial. Blemishes have their own unique beauty and the taste, what’s inside that really matters, is rarely sacrificed.

If it’s so exciting to embrace ugly produce, why is it like hurdling mountains to get along with personal imperfection?

Tough experiences leave scars which make the good days shine all the more brightly. They leave a life rich with experience. And wisdom.

Exposure to another viewpoint and belief encourages acceptance and understanding.

Having a different opinion is some sort of individualistic awesome.

Critisism can be a catalyst for growth–Or expelling bad juju.

Casting aside worry of another’s judgement is liberating.

Self-acceptance is the best form of freedom.

Back in the kitchen, I’m working with golden heirloom tomatoes of an unknown variety–they were too ripe to sell. I’ve seedy, scarred eggplants, and yellow summer squash from my garden. My squash plant is dying so these are likely the last ones for the summer. I’ve Jimmy Nardello peppers that didn’t come up to size and missshapen bell peppers, still green, which came off with a broken stem from overenthusiastic weeding. There are gorgeous red onions too. I’ve no idea why but they didn’t pass the farm’s to-market test.

As for me, I’m working on being real,worrying less about measuring up or missing out. I’m working on embracing the ugly vegetables in my personality, the crooked roots and misshapenness. I’m working on letting the unique beauty that is the real me overpower the pursuit of being perceived as polished as a tasteless red apple.

We are all glorious in our imperfection. Let’s celebrate a little more of that today. And eat pizza loaded with a bunch of ugly vegetable cast-aways.

Roasted Vegetable and Golden Tomato Pizza, makes 2, serves 4-6

Roasted Vegetables:

1 medium eggplant, chopped

1-2 medium yellow summer squash, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1-2 sweet red peppers, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

8-10 kalamata olives, diced

extra-virgin olive oil

1-2 tsp. fennel seed

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

fresh thyme, optional

– Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a large baking pan lined with parchment paper, layer in the chopped eggplant, squash, onion, and peppers.

– Drizzle the mixture with oil, and toss in the fennel seed, freshly ground black pepper, and salt.

– Give it all a good stir and then roast for about 20-25 minutes.

– When the vegetables are sizzling and soft, remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Golden Tomato Sauce:

1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 lbs. yellow or golden tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

– Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When the oil sizzles, add the garlic and sauté until just golden.

– Add the tomatoes and spices and turn to low. Simmer for 45-60 minutes.

– Let the tomatoes cool for a few minutes and then puree in a blender for a smooth, pizza-sauce consistency. If the sauce is still quite thin, put it back on the stove and simmer a bit longer to thicken up.

Crust:

The ingredients below make enough for two 10-12″ crusts. Each pizza usually serves two to three. You can refrigerate the dough for the second crust up to two days. Due to the differences in the flours, I like to weigh them with a kitchen scale to get an accurate ratio of 70 percent whole grains and 30 percent starches. I’ve then put those weights into cups so it will be easier to measure without a scale, but if in doubt, I’d use a “short measurement,” rather than an overflowing cup.

1 1/2 Tbs. flax seed, ground

3 Tbs. hot water

40 grams (a short 1/2 cup) garbanzo & fava bean flour

80 grams (3/4 cup) brown rice flour

80 grams (3/4 cup) sorghum flour

80 grams (3/4 cup) millet flour

40 grams (1/4 cup + 2 Tbs. tapioca starch

40 grams (1/4 cup + 2 Tbs. arrowroot starch

40 grams (1/4 cup) potato starch

2 tsp. salt

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

~2 Tbs. olive oil, separated

1 tsp. sugar

1 1/3 cup warm water, divided

cornmeal

– Combine the flax seeds and 3 tablespoons of very hot water in a small bowl until a slurry is formed; set aside.

– Combine the flours and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the yeast, 1 Tbs. olive oil, sugar and 1/2 cup warm water. Allow it to rest for 3 minutes or so until the yeast is activated.

– Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, and stir it all up. Then add the flax seed slurry to the dough and a portion of the remaining water; mix until the dough comes together in a ball. If it is too dry, add enough water to for a tender, pliable dough.

– Cover the dough in the mixing bowl and set it aside to rest for 1 hour.

Putting it all together:

– Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Separate the dough into two equal portions. For each pizza, dust your pizza stone or baking sheet with a light sprinkling of cornmeal. Roll one of the dough portions out to desired thickness directly on a pizza stone or baking sheet.

– Spoon a hefty couple of ladlefuls of the golden tomato sauce over the dough and smooth it out. Then, layer on the roasted vegetables followed by the kalamata olives. If desired, crumble a sprig of fresh thyme over the top. Fold the crust edges in when done, and with your fingers, lightly dab the edges with the last tablespoon of olive oil. Pop it in the oven and bake for about 16 minutes.

Summertime

Carrot + Zucchini Oat Bran Muffins

July 27, 2014October 5, 2021by Rebecca2 Comments

I am a struggling carrot farmer. Packets of seeds. Different locations within the space. Different weather patterns, sowing dates, and groups of planting hands. Gorilla planting at random when watering. Watering frequently. Pre-sprouting. Row covers. Gleaning scraps of information from the successful carrot farmers I know. They’ve all been attempted.

Let me explain. I coordinate a school garden. I plan the crops, the rotations, the amendment schedule and IPM techniques and timing. I coordinate the students, the teachers, the garden club, and the irrigation. Somehow, I can’t quite coordinate the soil to grow a substantial crop of carrots.

The carrots we’ve managed to grow were fat and tasty, and there is a meager amount of later-planted carrotlings still pushing their way through their sparsely sprouted rows. There’s progress. But carrot farmer, I currently am not.

I see this carrot-failure as a small metaphor for the general way of things lately. I’ve been in a real mental funk, feeling like no matter the new tools I gather and employ, the result is still the same. Lackluster. Not the success I had envisioned.

In light of the set-backs and failures, both personal and carrot-related, I’ve been taking stock of the situation(s). I have a few more tools up my sleeve, a little more determination and knowledge with each new attempt. I tend to not give up easily. In fact, I’m more likely to summon the kind of rage orange-haired people are known for and use it to my full advantage.

Those carrots will grow in that garden. They’ve got great soil and an ideal microclimate. If they’re willing to grow in my home garden with its frequently neglected and weed-infested clay beds, those carrots must grow in the school’s garden. I’m insistent.

Harvesting at least one substantial row of carrots is my personal gardening mission for the season. We will have a good and healthy carrot crop come autumn. I’ve the rage on my side. :)

Carrot + Zucchini Oat Bran Muffins, makes 6 jumbo or 12 regular muffins
Recipe updated: 10/5/21

These muffins are heavily adapted from a recipe in The Sprouted Kitchen that I slowly adapted over months and years. We keep coming back to them and each time the muffins turn out better. They are a perfect way to begin a laidback summer breakfast AND they use up summer squash or zucchini and carrots–because let’s be real, I have five summer squash in my fridge from the last two days harvests, at least six more growing rapidly on the plant, and tons of squash blossoms and bees making more magic happen. I’ve EVEN managed to grow a successful crop of carrots in my home garden. If you’re a gardener, know one who shares, or have a CSA box, you too are probably trying to sneak veggies into anything and everything at this stage of summer!

1 cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup / 56 gr coconut oil
1 egg or 1 flax egg (1 Tbs. ground flax seed + 3 Tbs. hot water)
1 Tbs. blackstrap molasses
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pitted dates
3/4 cup grated carrots (about 1 large carrot)
3/4 cup grated zucchini or yellow summer squash (about one small squash)
1 1/2 cups / 180 gr gluten-free flour mix
3/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, pour in the non-dairy milk and vinegar. Whisk and let sit for a couple minutes. Then measure in the oil, egg, molasses, and vanilla. Stir in the carrots, zucchini, and chopped dates.
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, bran, sugar, baking powder, soda, xanthan gum, salt and spices. Then pour into the wet mixture. Miix gently until all the ingredients just come together.
Scoop out the batter evenly into a prepared muffin pan, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F.

Summertime

Apricot-Carrot Muffins

July 20, 2014by Rebecca3 Comments

During the summer of 2009, I ventured off to northeastern Washington, to spend a week at an educational cooking school at Quillisascut farm. It was a Slow Food Youth experience, and the week is ingrained in my memory. Myself and a dozen or so other 20-somethings came together from all over the country to spend a few days harvesting fresh produce, making delicious meals from scratch, baking bread in a wood-fired oven, milking goats, making cheese, and learning about the domestic arts in general. For me, it was paradise and the kind of experience that in an ideal world I’d like to recreate for other people on my own farm someday.

During this time of the summer when local apricots are in season and soon-to-be-gone for another year, I remember those few days at Quillisascut. That week, in addition to all of the above, I ate a lot of apricots.

The farm is located in a remote region of Washington state, hours from any major metropolis, and the experience was all about living off what the local region produces. Aside from the foraged huckleberries for breakfast, the only fruit to be had that week was apricots–and there were A LOT of them! I am a snacker by nature and in addition to apricots in our meals, I probably downed between 15 and 20 a day just in passing, because they were uber ripe and in need of being used–and I like to eat!

Prior to that experience, I had never had much of a thing for apricots. Sure, I like all fruit and I grew up with grandparents who would bring us boxes of whatever was in season from their nearby orchards. We definitely had gluts of apricots growing up, and my mom would make apricot upside down cake and jam. Yesterday, I called her and she was doing just that!

These days, since Quillisascut, I’m all into the apricot season. In the last couple weeks, I’ve had them in savory grain salads, in breakfast porridge, in these muffins, in a coming-soon vinegar concoction, and I’ve been downing them just as is–which is often the best way!

Apricot-Carrot Muffins, makes 6 large or 12 standard muffins

This recipe is an update of one I posted a few years back. It is now gluten and dairy-free. Use the ripest apricots and the sweetest carrots that you can find–you will taste the difference. Feel free to use the original recipe if you have no dietary restrictions.

1 cup gluten-free flour

3/4 cup oats

1/4 cup oat flour

3/4 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup diced fresh apricots

1 cup grated carrots

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. canola oil

3/4 cup almond milk

1. Make oat flour by grinding 1/4 cup oats in a food processor until fine.

2. Bring together the flours, oats, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, and milk. Pour into flour mixture. Give the bowl a couple of turns with a spoon and then stir in the carrots and apricots. Only stir until mixture is just incorporated.

4. Spoon evenly into muffin tins.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for approximately 20 minutes or until the tops are golden and the insides are set.