Spinach, Scapes & 'Shroom Pizza on a Cauliflower Crust

The past two weeks I've received the following items in my CSA share: zucchini, cucumbers, spinach, arugula, garlic scapes, cauliflower, and radishes. I feel like I've been making pizza a lot lately, but they are a great way to showcase all of the new produce I've been getting! This pizza incorporates three of this week's items, pretty well, if I do say so myself. The pizza's base is a cauliflower crust (the first time I blogged about it was for a Kale & Pistachio Pizza). I hope you enjoy! This recipe makes a pizza the size of a 9" x 13" pan.

July: My Month of 'Eating In'

After reading an interesting series of articles on Food Riot, I became more and more enthralled with the idea of 'eating in' for an entire month. I do like to make my own food, but let's be honest -- I eat out a lot. My eating out has a lot to do with two things: convenience (hey, if I'm out & about all day, I'm not heading home for a meal) and the fact that I love (!) trying new foods. But, hey, I like a good challenge, at least I'm not doing it for an unreasonable amount of time (hey, lady in NYC that has been eating in for two years!), and I think it'd be great for my budget/my cooking skills to try this for an entire month.

I love eating as much as this little turtle does.

Homemade Trade: Coconut Almond Granola

I joined a group called Baltimore Homemade Trade, organized by the lovely Martine (who just guest-blogged this recipe for me). Each month a group of folks get together and trade homemade goods (check out the end of this post for a photo of all of the awesome things I left the event with!). For our inaugural month, I was debating between three or four recipes when I settled on this delicious coconut almond granola. I chose this for two reasons: I ran out of time to make some of the other things on my list, and I am obsessed with pairing almond & coconut flavors. This recipe makes 3 cups of granola and is based off this recipe from Kath Eats Real Food.

Strawberry Honey Ricotta Muffins

Remember the awesome guest blog that Martine (from Stuffed Grapes) recently shared? Well, I returned the favor. Go check out my recipe for Strawberry Honey Ricotta muffins over at her blog (and roam around while you're there -- she has a lot of great recipes).

Thank you, Martine, for hosting my guest post & I hope everyone enjoys it!

Garlic Scapes, Shiitake Mushroom & Goat Cheese Pizza

I have so many exciting things to share with you! First & foremost, I am now a shiitake mushroom farmer. My partner & I bought a mushroom-growing kit and last week, we harvested our first batch (about thirty mushrooms!). Keep an eye out because I am going to dedicate an entire post to this exciting venture. Second, my CSA with One Straw Farm began last weekend! Each Saturday, we meet them at one of the farmers' markets and pick our four produce items for the week. Not only that, but we have resolved to make a new recipe each week with something that we picked up. This week, we got strawberries, broccoli, radishes, and garlic scapes. In case you weren't already aware, GARLIC SCAPES ARE MAGIC. The pizza below incorporates the incredible garlic scape and our homemade mushrooms. I can't take any credit for this recipe; my partner whipped up this entire pizza. Trust me -- if you can get your hands on some scapes, be sure to make this!

Guest Post: Old Bay Cheese Crackers

This weekend, I want to welcome a good friend, Martine, as my guest blogger. She's an amazing (!) cook & is always trying something new in her kitchen. In fact, be sure to go check out her awesome vegetarian food blog. I am thrilled that she offered to guest blog for me (and keep an eye out because I'll be guest blogging something for her this month too!).
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Despite being born and raised in Maryland, I've never eaten crab. What can I say? I was a bit of a picky kid, and then I became a vegetarian fairly early in life. And you know, when I hear people gushing about crab season, I think I'm probably better off not knowing what I'm missing. As a way to cope, I've convinced myself that what everyone's actually excited about is just using the crabs as a vessel to consume hypertension-inducing quantities of Old Bay.

Like any Marylander, I'll pour Old Bay over my french fries and popcorn. I'll put it on anything involving eggs. I'll dump it in a bloody mary, and I even used it to infuse vodka for holiday gifts last year. I brought a can with me when I studied abroad in college because I couldn't bear the thought of five months without it.

And yet, non-Marylanders just don't seem to have the same fervor for my spice blend of choice. My main squeeze Andrew, who is from Ohio, claims that his mother has had the same dusty can in her kitchen cabinet for "probably like twenty years." How does that happen?

Old Bay and sharp cheddar is one of my favorite combinations, so it only made sense to add it to a zippy cheese cracker. I like to use the 30% less sodium version, but the regular will work -- you just will want to start at 1/2 a teaspoon and give your dough a taste test before adding more, because the cheese is very salty as well. This recipe is adapted from smitten kitchen's cheese straws.

Leftovers Club: Peanut Butter Bread

This month for Leftovers Club, I made peanut butter bread and it is magical! It tastes a little like a peanut butter cookie, but not as dessert-y (or, as my partner suggests, "It tastes like victory.") I suggest eating it warm and topped with butter, topped with jelly (your own PB&J!), topped with Nutella, topped with cinnamon apples, topped with vanilla ice cream or simply by itself. The possibilities! I got the recipe from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice and it makes one loaf. My Leftovers Club partner (Dan from Platter Talk) will be very happy!

 

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

This recipe for baked mozzarella sticks is the best because baking is less messy than frying & makes eating cheese sticks (a little) more healthy. This recipe came from Skinny Taste and honestly, I was worried because there are lots of fail photos from people trying to recreate this recipe (the key is to make sure that they are frozen when you cook them). So, just follow the directions below & you'll be enjoying delicious mozzarella sticks in no time!