New Recipe--Buffalo Chicken Pizza

First note, whenever I say "chicken" I mean some sort of fake chicken, but of course, real chicken could be used as well.

I'd been craving that "Buffalo Wing" flavor for a couple of weeks, so last week I bought a bottle of Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce. Then I had to figure out what to do with it.

Partner this with the fact that one of my favorite cooking tricks is to highly supplement cheap frozen cheese pizzas, and my plan was almost set.

I interviewed a couple women I work with about what they might put with Buffalo chicken on a pizza and we decided that broccoli and sauteed onions would work.

It was really, really good. I make BBQ chicken pizza often--Buffalo is even better. This recipe is interesting enough to share with guests, yet just one step up from "bar food." The flavors go together perfectly.

I'm a weenie when it comes to spice, so this is a mild version. The sauce is not overly fiery and calms nicely when mixed with all these other ingredients.

Recipe
Buffalo Chicken Pizza

1 Frozen Cheese Pizza for 2 (Whatever brand you like)
The equivalent of one chicken breast--about 5 oz of fake chicken, cut into small chunks (cook first if real chicken)
Between 1/4 cup and 3/4 cup of Buffalo Wing sauce depending on your desired level of spice
1/2 cup of raw broccoli cut into very small florets
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin and sauteed in oil until just cooked through
1 cup of shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup of blue cheese crumbles

Layer all of the ingredients, topping with the shredded cheese last, so it melts and holds all the ingredients down. Drizzle the final product with a little bit more of the Buffalo sauce before it goes in the oven.

Cook according to directions on the box, except:

1. I lower by 25 degrees and cook for 5 - 8 minutes longer to make sure it gets hot all the way through with the extra ingredients.
2. put a piece of foil on a lower rack in oven to catch any dripping cheese, then cook the pizza right on the next rack up.

For BBQ Chicken Pizza I use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce, fake chicken, carmelized onions and pineapple chunks. Also, I mix some cheddar with the mozz that I put on top.

May you never look at a frozen cheese pizza the same way again.

First ever snow camping--pics and dinner

Snow camping was on my list and I got to check it off this weekend--my Valentine's day present from my S.O. We took our dog, Chaos, and camped Saturday night. It was cold as you may expect, and it was really fun. We camped near the location of the fire lookout from 2 weeks ago--SE side of Mt. Hood near Dufur, OR. There was a lot more snow than last time we were there.

It was snowing when we arrived and pretty much didn't stop snowing until Sunday morning.

It was gorgeous and great skiing once we got rid of the giant backpacks.

You can see the rest of the pics here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhextreme/sets/72157613876471742/

For dinner, I put together campers' spaghetti.


It was 18 oz to carry in (not including water). It made a ton of food and was really yummy. I forgot a can opener, so my S.O. opened the can with his knife--whew.

Recipe

A handful of angel hair pasta, broken in half --use angel hair instead of traditional spaghetti because it takes only 3 min to boil instead of 10 min, conserving fuel
I brought about 2 inches in diameter of pasta for the three of us
1 can of tomato paste
1 envelope of spaghetti seasoning
1 oz of chili flavored oil (I usually carry flavored oil when camp cooking, to cut down on extra ingredients)
1 cup of shredded cheese--I used mozz/parm combo--the beauty of snow camping--cheese isn't going to spoil.

Boil the pasta for 3 - 4 minutes with a little of the oil in a large sauce pan (large for camping)
Drain.
In the same pan throw in the spice, the paste, a 1/2 cup of water and the rest of the oil.
Mix over the stove on low. Once it's all mixed together, throw in the cheese, stir through and serve.

I pulled out about 25 % of the pasta first and added some cheese and that was Chaos' dinner. He loved it.

By the way, we use a Primus brand camp stove and wow it works well. You have to keep the fuel warm, we laid the fuel can on one of those pocket hand warmers. It boiled the water in just a couple of minutes--did I mention we were in the snow?

We later supplemented the evening with Little Debbie heart shaped chocolate cupcakes since it was Valentine's Day.

New recipe--roasted red pepper soup--easy squeezy

When the person you make dinner for whoops and cheers about the meal like he's watching a football game, you know you've got a hit. My S.O. is easy--he loves soup. So whenever I want a sure hit, I include soup in the meal.

Last night we did roasted red pepper soup and BLAT's (Bacon--fake of course, lettuce, avocado & tomato sandwiches).

The roasted red pepper soup is about the easiest recipe I have. It's only 4 ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes. It's also pretty and it will sit on the stove as long as you need it to, so it's great to serve at a dinner party. One of the keys to its ease is using a hand blender. If you don't have one, you should get one--easy to use, super easy to clean up.

This recipe serves 2 people and is easily doubled

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

2 12 oz jars of water packed roasted red peppers
1 vegetarian bouillon cube
1 cup unsweetened soy milk or regular milk
1 T of dehydrated onions, or 1/2 t of powdered onion seasoning (no salt) or 1/2 white onion diced and sauteed until just cooked through
water as needed

Dump the peppers and water into a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add bouillon cube and onion spice. Heat for about 4 minutes. Then either pour into a blender and blend until all the big chunks are broken down--or stick the hand blender right in the pan and blend until all the big chunks are broken down. It's kinda nice to leave some smaller pieces, the peppers will be soft--it's a nice texture.

Return to the stove and let simmer on low for at least 10 minutes or until you are ready, adding water as it reduces. In the end you should have 1 1/2 to 2 cups of soup in the pan.

In a mug, microwave the milk, just to take the chill off--about 1 minute.

Pour the soup into two bowls, then immediately add the milk 1/2 cup to each bowl and serve. You can stir it in or leave it swirled. You can also top with a dollop of sour cream if you like (i just like saying "dollop").

New recipe--white bean chili

I love this recipe. The flavors are complex and somehow meld perfectly together. It's a really great comfort food meal, but light enough that it isn't just a "winter dinner."

I use a couple kinds of fake meat in this recipe which could easily be substituted if fake meats aren't your thing.

For the fake chicken you could use extra firm tofu instead. For the fake bacon, use a 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke (or to taste) instead.

This recipe is enough for 2 people plus one person gets lunch the next day. It is easily doubled.

White Bean Chili

3 - 4 T of olive oil
2 cans of white beans, very well drained--I use 1 can of Cannelli beans and 1 can of navy beans, i've also used white kidney beans or just "small white beans" They are all lovely.
1 - 2 bottles of a light-ish beer
4 - 6 oz of fake chicken, thawed and cut into small chunks
5 - 6 slices of fake bacon
1 4 oz can of mild diced green chilies
1/2 large white onion diced
1 t red pepper flakes
1 T green Tabasco sauce
garlic salt to taste

In a large sauce pan dump in the beans, the green chilies, a 1/2 bottle of beer, 2 T of olive oil and the spices and let simmer on medium heat.

In a separate pan, fry the bacon until crispy. Once it is cool enough, break it up with your hands and add it to the beans. At this time, add the other 1/2 bottle of beer.

In the same pan you just fried the bacon in, saute the diced onions in olive oil on medium heat until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. After about 2 minutes, add the chunks of fake chicken so it all cooks together for a couple of minutes.

Then as Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-ins and Dives would say "Everyone in the pool." Throw all of it in the pan with the beans and cook until someone else has finished setting the table. At least 10 minutes or up to an hour, on low. That's what the 2nd bottle of beer is for. Keep thinning it down as needed.

Yum.

Singing the praises of Harry & David again

I guess I am a food freak when I get THIS excited about my monthly fruit delivery from Harry & David. But, no, really, this was unusually exciting again, I swear. I got the note on the box again that said "we're sending you something even more special that your normal delivery."
This time it did say "you are getting pears" and they also admitted that it was because they had a LOT of them.

So, once again, I had to take photos of my mail. The pears are huge and really tasty and feel like an exciting treat every time I eat one.

I took a photo of one of them next to a mandarin orange (or tangerine, I can't keep them straight), to show just how robust they are. I don't have plans for these pears other than eating them. I might put one in a greens/pear/blue cheese/walnut salad.

Dinner and Breakfast tips/products from the "camping" trip

This dinner was 15 oz to carry in my backpack and gave us Thai food for dinner while camping!


I used 4 of the packages in the photo above and 5 one ounce fake chicken strips (Trader Joes). I put the strips in a zip loc bag and added some lemon juice to marinate in for the two days before we cooked it.

This recipe also took two pans. I sauteed the fake chicken in one pan with some vegetable oil (i filled a 3 oz travel bottle with vegetable oil to bring with us) and followed the recipe on the package for the noodles.

It was REALLY yummy and filling. It was great. It felt gourmet out in the woods, I recommend it.

For breakfast on Sunday, I discovered an amazing product that I've never seen before.

I bought it and didn't really believe that it would work well. I mean, really? Hashbrowns out of a mini milk carton? I followed the directions on the carton exactly and they turned out really well.

You fill the carton with hot water and let it sit for a 1/2 hour, then dump it into a oiled skillet and brown--that took about 10 minutes. Then I brought 4 packets of ketchup stolen from Burgerville. It's kind of a one sided breakfast since eggs aren't going to make it in a backpack, but it's still better than pop tarts or a Cliff bar (they get old) and only 4 1/2 oz to carry and equaled enough hashbrowns to fill up two people! I brought instant oatmeal too, but my S.O. really wanted just the hasbrowns so there you are.

Fire Look Out "Camping," Skiing, and Cooking

Well, the blog says "adventures in vegetarian food." Here's my first "adventure" installment.

We stayed two nights at the Five Mile Butte Fire Look Out near Mt. Hood in Oregon.

It was SO much fun. If you live in Oregon, I would recommend staying there to anyone. It was clean, well stocked and so cozy. The views were amazing.
The rest of the photos from the weekend can be viewed here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhextreme/sets/72157613276187536/ . You can reserve it from the government when they aren't using it. During fire season, it is still used as a look out. It was only $69 for two nights.

We had to cross country ski three miles to get there, so the meals I chose to prepare had to be very light, like back packing type food.

Friday night I made Shepherd's Pie which is the S.O.'s favorite dinner. I brought
a packet of dehydrated vegetarian gravy, Haines brand
a packet of dehydrated Idahoan instant potatoes,
A cup of frozen peas and carrots (we were in the snow, so it was ok in a back pack) in a zip loc bag
A 1/2 a tube of GimmeLean vegetarian "burger" crumbles also in a zip loc bag

I used two pans. I made the gravy in one then threw in the crumbles and peas & carrots to cook right in the gravy. The gravy called for one cup of water, but I used closer to 1 1/2 cups so it could cook the other items. Then made the potatoes in another. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. I spooned the potatoes over the gravy mess on a plate. Normally with Shepard's Pie of course, I'd bake it all in a casserole dish. But for the camping version, I kept it simple. It turned out really well. The meal was about 16 oz worth of food to carry, cooked up very quickly and was very hearty and tasty. It fed two very hungry skiers. We camp and backpack quite a bit--I enjoy coming up with yummy, light & packable recipes.