Pizza with Caramelized Fennel, Onion, and Olives

Last night I used fennel raw in a creamy white bean spread. But I've always liked fennel best when slow-roasted or caramelized until golden. This fennel topping for pizza fits the bill, and it's elegant but easy.  To streamline preparation, prepare the topping while the dough is rising..

Ingredients:
For the dough:

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm water (between 100 and 110 degrees)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons yellow cornmeal

For the topping:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb
• 2 cups thinly sliced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the remaining ingredients:

• 1 cup bottled tomato-basil pasta sauce (such as Organicville)
• 1 cup shredded Daiya mozzarella
• 1/4 cup pitted and coarsely chopped kalamata olives

1. To prepare the dough, dissolve the yeast in the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and let stand for 5 minutes.  Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife.  Add 1 and 3/4 cups flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the yeast mixture; beat with the dough attachment of the stand mixer until smooth.

Note: This is only the second time I've used the dough attachment of my stand mixer, but I was quite pleased with the results. Despite the whirling, unfocused image below, that dough hook was actually turning rather slowly, and it gathers up all the bits of flour into a nice soft ball.

2. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.  Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. The dough is quite tacky at first, but I only needed an extra 3 tablespoons of the flour.

3. Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning so the top is coated as well.  Cover and let rise some place warm and free from drafts (such as a closed oven) for 45 minutes - the dough should be doubled in size.

4. Punch the dough down and knead about 5 times; let rest for 15 minutes.  Roll into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface, and transfer to a pizza pan or baking sheet coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with the cornmeal.  Crimp the edges to form a rim and set aside.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the topping: heat the olive oil in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.  Add the fennel, onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, oregano, thyme, and black pepper; cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the fennel is golden.

6. Spread the tomato-basil sauce evenly over the crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border.  Top evenly with the fennel mixture, and sprinkle evenly with the mozzarella and olives.

7. Bake at 450 degrees for 18 minutes, until browned. Cut into 6 wedges to serve.

Nutrition Info:
6 servings (1 wedge), Calories 296 

Tasting Notes:
The topping is piled high, making this like a Chicago-style deep-dish pizza - fantastic. This may be heresy to vegan cheese lovers everywhere, but honestly, the sweet caramelized fennel and salty olives were so good that the Daiya mozzarella was almost superfluous. Don't get me wrong; the gooey cheese was still yummy, but I might try this particular pizza without it next time. The crust had a nice crispness, but was a touch too floury and cornmeal-y, so I'd go easy on the flour during kneading next time.

Update: As should be the case with any pizza worthy of the name, leftovers were equally delicious served cold from the fridge the next day.

Rating:
4

Vegan extra:
An extra note about fennel: because all parts of the plant are edible, including the stalks and fronds, don't discard the unused portions after you slice the bulb for this recipe. Here are just a few of my favorite frond ideas:

Chop as you would fresh herbs like parsley, and stir into a traditional tabbouleh salad for a novel twist.

Stir into any Italian tomato sauce (such as marinara) towards the very end of cooking - the licorice hints are fantastic over pasta, and fennel fronds will become your new tomato sauce secret ingredient.

Because the fronds are similar in texture to dill, use where you would chopped dill, particularly Scandinavian-themed dinners like Tofurky beer brats and beets.

Leave the fronds unchopped and add to any dinner as a pretty garnish, as shown here with baked tofu.

White Bean Spread with Fennel

Fennel is in season, and it's worth incorporating this cousin of celery into your culinary repertoire. Lightly licorice-flavored, fennel is good cooked or raw. I'm normally not a huge fan of raw fennel, but it's just right here, stirred into a chunky white bean spread for contrasting crunch and flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (16-ounce) rinsed and drained can cannellini beans
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fennel bulb
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fennel fronds
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion

1. Combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and cannellini beans in a food processor; pulse 5 to 10 times, until the beans are coarsely chopped.

2. Combine the bean mixture with the fennel bulb, fennel fronds, and red onion in a serving bowl.

Try the spread as a dip - it works great for raw veggies:

Or for bagel chips. A good vegan option is the melba snacks from Devonsheer:

My favorite way to enjoy this spread though, was on bagels, whether plain:

Or turned into a toasted bagel sandwich with slices of tomato:

It works equally well as a sandwich spread on your favorite sliced bread:

Nutrition Info:
5 servings (1/4 cup), Calories 130 

Tasting Notes:
I enjoyed the novel texture of this dip compared to other bean spreads, with chunky fennel and red onion in each bite. Great, subtle licorice undertones from the fennel. I've never used the fronds in this way, and they reminded me of chopped dill. The spread could use a bit more salt and a touch more lemon juice, but was enjoyable on every veggie dipped into it, from snow peas to bell peppers to carrot sticks.

Rating:
3

Update:
I made a second batch and served with the Everything Bagel Chips from Trader Joe's. Although the company doesn't helpfully mark products as vegan, as Whole Foods does, they do have a printable pdf of vegan products, including these bagel chips.

The salty, onion-y flavor was fantastic with the bean spread, helping to offset my desire for more salt and lemon juice in the tasting notes above.

Potato Lasagna

Three types of sliced potato take the place of lasagna noodles in this layered dish. Serve small portions as a side, or larger portions to make it your main dish.

Ingredients:
For the sauce:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 2 and 1/2 cups chopped tomato
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 and 3/4 cups vegan chicken broth (such as Imagine)

For the potatoes:

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 and 1/2 cups thinly sliced and peeled baking potato
• 1 and 1/2 cups thinly sliced and peeled Yukon gold potato
• 1 and 1/2 cups thinly sliced and peeled sweet potato
• 1 cup shredded Daiya cheddar
• 1 cup shredded Daiya mozzarella
• Cooking spray

1. To prepare the sauce, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and bell pepper; saute for 8 minutes.  Add the tomato, tomato paste, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon dried basil, garlic salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. To prepare the potatoes, combine 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, the ground red pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl.  Add the three varieties of potatoes and toss well.

3. Combine the cheddar and mozzarella in a bowl.  Spoon 1 and 1/2 cups of the potato mixture into an 11x7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Top with 1 cup sauce and 2/3 cup cheese mixture.  Repeat the layers: 1 and 1/2 cups potatoes, 1 cup sauce, and 2/3 cup cheese mixture, followed by a final 1 and 1/2 cups potatoes and 1 cup sauce.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

4. Uncover and sprinkle with the final 2/3 cup cheese mixture.  Bake for a final 10 minutes, until bubbly.

Tonight I paired with grilled Match beef - the beef was delicious dipped into the extra, cheesy sauce.

If you're feeling adventurous, I also quite enjoyed the potatoes with grilled ecoVegan fish fillets.

Nutrition Info:
6 servings (1 portion), Calories 227 

Tasting Notes:
I wasn't expecting it, but between the gooey cheesy blend of mozzarella and cheddar and the spice of the ground red pepper, the sauce tasted quite like queso dip.  Indeed, more than a lasagna, it made me think of a Southwestern-inflected version of French scalloped potatoes, a theme that was reinforced by the yummy tidbits of green bell pepper.  The dish is just a touch too spicy, or I'd rate it higher; I recommend decreasing the ground red pepper to 1/4 teaspoon.  Unfortunately, the sauce is so strong and flavorful that you sort of loose the variety among the potatoes.  Consider a version with half the amount of cheese and sauce if you want to taste the potatoes better. The cheese sauce is also quite runny out of the oven, so I recommend letting it stand for about 5 or 10 minutes before dividing into portions.

Rating:
3.5

Update:
To make this dish heartier, I made a new version with layers of Lightlife ham after the first two potato layers (6 slices per layer).

The resulting main dish was fantastic, since the savory ham helped cut the spiciness that I didn't like so much in the original. 

Vegan Extra:
On an unrelated note, I've never been an energy drink person. First, I've never felt the need; two cups of coffee is fine to get me through the day. And more importantly, I never trusted that the ingredients would be vegan. But when I spotted Steaz's all-natural energy drink, I had to give it a try.  Why? Because the drink derives its energy from nature's best sources: guarana, green tea, and yerba mate. With a whopping 800% of your daily vitamin B12, I figured it couldn't hurt to give the drink a try. Even better, unlike many of the dangerously-caffeinated energy beverages on the market, this one contains only 100 mg of caffeine per can.

My verdict is that I didn't really notice much extra energy (I still fell asleep right on cue, only a few hours after having this drink), but the taste is bubbly, lightly fruity, and refreshing, and the added dose of vitamin B12 certainly can't hurt once in a while. And of course, I love supporting any product with my favorite logo:

Millionaire Salad

You may know this recipe better as "five cup salad," since it traditionally featured 5 cups of ingredients (the ratios don't quite add up in this version).  Chances are, if you're from the South or Midwest, this recipe is familiar to you, but if you're a New England girl like me, you've probably never heard of it. It's technically a fruit salad, although between the marshmallow and coconut, I'm more tempted to call it dessert.  Still, it's a great retro dish to bring to your Thanksgiving celebration this year, and feeds a crowd.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups vegan mini marshmallows (such as Sweet & Sara)
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 2 (11-ounce) drained cans mandarin oranges in juice
• 1 (20-ounce) drained can crushed pineapple in juice
• 1 cup vegan sour cream
• 1 cup plain non-dairy yogurt

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.  Cover and chill before serving.

Note: There's no specific instruction on how long to chill the salad, but many online versions recommend overnight. I made the salad 8 hours in advance.

Yes, you can find vegan-certified versions of all of the above ingredients. Start, of course, with Sweet & Sara's adorable mini marshmallows, which are just the right size for this recipe.
  

Here's my line-up of brands for the rest of the vegan goodies: coconut from Woodstock Farms, mandarin oranges from Native Forest, and crushed pineapple from Whole Foods 365. For the sour cream, I used We Can't Say It's Sour Cream to keep the salad lighter, but try Vegan Gourmet if you want it a little richer.

To continue with the traditional theme of the menu, serve this with your favorite vegan turkey roast, whether Gardein, Tofurky, or Match.

  
Nutrition Info:
12 servings (1/2 cup), Calories 151 

Tasting Notes:
Well my goodness, this was like eating the topping off an ice cream sundae without the ice cream underneath. The marshmallow, sour cream, and yogurt, once blended together, taste like marshmallow fluff.  Add crushed pineapple and coconut, and I felt like I was a kid again eating a sundae at Friendly's restaurant. Great juicy mandarin oranges. This "salad" is decadent and meant to be a once-a-year treat for sure; very sweet but very good.

Rating:
4

Vegan extra:
A small aside tonight, on edamame. I eat tofu and tempeh far more often than the fresh, green version of these miraculous little beans, but I was reminded recently how fantastic edamame is in original form.  You can eat edamame shelled of course, but whole edamame in pods makes an excellent appetizer.

Blanch the whole pods in boiling water for just about 5 minutes.

Toss with sea salt.

And serve. Slip the whole velvety pod into your mouth, and the tender beans will pop right out.

Panch Phoron Blend

Spices play a a key role in Indian cuisine, perhaps more so than food from any other culture, and spice blends in particular. I have, in the past, worked with Garam Masala and curry powder (both easy to make at home, but also available for purchase in the spice aisle), but I had never before heard of the blend called panch phoron. Unlike other spice blends, the five types of seeds in panch phoron (panch means "five") are never ground or toasted, but instead left whole. This blend is so simple it hardly seems worth calling it a recipe; all you have to do is mix everything together.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
• 1 tablespoon nigella seeds

1. Combine all of the ingredients, and store in an airtight container.

Now that you've made the blend, let's meet the seeds:

Cumin seeds are probably familiar to you - they have a strong, warm aroma and flavor, and actually contain a good bit of iron (although you'd have to eat an absurd amount of cumin to use this as your primary source of the mineral).

Fennel seeds come from the fennel plant, of course, the bulb and fronds of which you're likely familiar with. The seeds have a strong anise (licorice) flavor.

Be sure you choose brown mustard seeds for the blend, not yellow. The seeds are just lightly spicy, and the taste will be familiar to you from whole-grain Dijon mustard.

Fenugreek is an herb I didn't learn about until my late twenties. The seeds are bitter, but with what is described as a smoky, maple undertone.

And finally, nigella seeds (also called black caraway) are small and black ,with a bitter taste and smell. Don't confuse them with black onion seeds or black sesame seeds, which look similar.

Now that we've met our seeds, the question remains of how to use the blend. You will probably want to toast in a skillet first, and then can add to just about anything - vegetables, curries, lentil dishes, or prepared Indian pickles. 

Tonight I tried it with the vegan fish fillets from EcoVegan, alongside a store-bought spicy potato curry over rice.

Other options include: sauteed in a pan with Gardein's beefless tips;

stirred into spiced lentils;

toasted and stirred into rice with hot mango pickle: 

or with Gardein chicken (shown here with the hot mango pickle from Pataak's:   

Nutrition Info:
8 servings (1 and 1/2 teaspoons), Calories 17

Tasting Notes:
For the sake of the blog, I did just take a bite of the raw seeds. Toasty on the front, with licorice from the fennel and nuttiness from the mustard seeds, and an aftertaste that's mostly bitter. But of course, it's not meant to be eaten by the spoonful. Once added to dishes, the spices gave warm, toasted flavor to a vegan fish and potato curry, and were a fantastic way to temper the heat of jarred hot mango pickle.  In fact, the spicier the dish I served this blend with, the more I liked it.  I'd really rate this a "2" if somebody handed me a plate and spoon and told me to eat it alone, but that's never how you'll serve it.

Rating:
3

Vegan extra:
One thing I don't discuss often on this blog is cosmetics, but your bathroom cabinet is just as important as your food cabinets when it comes to being vegan. I recently wanted a fix for dry winter nails, and found this tea tree oil from Jason's, a company that does not test on animals:

Don't forget healthy nails should be shiny and pinkish; white nails can signal liver disease, and pale brittle nails might mean anemia.  Ever wonder about those white specks you sometimes see? It's a sign of mild trauma as the nail grew; enter my new tea tree oil, and shiny happy nails: