Book of Yum

I have always loved grilled vegetarian foods, and grilled artichokes and grilled marinated sesame tofu have been two of our signature party dishes for years. But for some reason, I’ve never spent all that much time in front of a grill myself, usually leaving it to DH. This summer all that came to an end when I started turning up the propane myself to grill all the vegetables I’ve been buying from the Farmer’s Market. I first used a spice rub on vegetables for By the Bay’s Event Cooking For Karina. It turned out so well, I began trying it with a myriad of other vegetables. My most recent creation involved a round Kabocha, Japanese green skinned pumpkin, a sesame oil spice rub, and an unexpected accompaniment of sundried tomato almond pate. And you know what? It was delicious! DH isn’t crazy about kabocha, but ever since I first had it in Japan in sweet, creamy mayo kabocha salad, I’ve been hooked on this sweet, rich cousin of the American pumpkin. Many grill restaurants in Japan offer you the opportunity to grill a host of vegetables, including kabocha right at the table. I’ve never been that crazy about the results, as pumpkin takes a while to cook and it usually ended up bland (with no GF sauces available) and undercooked, but when I incorporated my recent sesame oil spice rub technique, I came up with a new, favorite way to enjoy kabocha. Kabocha is really good for you, by the way, as it is “rich in beta carotene, with iron, vitamin C, potassium, and smaller traces of calcium, folic acid, and minute amounts of B vitamins.” But one thing I didn’t know is that while Kabocha is more common in Japan now than in the US, it actually originated in the US! Who would have thought it. According to my friend Wikipedia, “Kabocha originated on the American continental mass. Christopher Columbus found it and took it back to Europe along with tobacco, potatoes, and tomatoes. After that, the vegetable traveled around the globe and was brought to Japan from Cambodia on Portuguese ships in 1541, during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Subsequently it became known as kabocha.”(Source for both: Wikipedia) Some tasters compare it to a cross between pumpkin and the sweet potato- but however you describe the flavor, it’s really delicious, and much easier to deal with than the larger American pumpkin. So, from America, to Japan, and back to America again- the kabocha has really gotten around! Today it’s grown all over the world, and even grown in California and Florida, so you should be able to find it at your local Asian market. Why not enjoy a well traveled food- and find some kabocha for yourself, today?

For more yummy grilled recipes featured on Book of Yum, try these links:
Grilled Sesame Vegetable Recipe
Other Grilled Recipes at Book of Yum

Grilled Kabocha Pumpkin and Almond Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Vegan  Vegetables  American

Ingredients 1 kabocha squash, cleaned and de-seeded, sliced 2 portobello mushrooms Toasted Sesame Oil Spice Rub 1/4 tsp chili powder 1/4 tsp allspice 1/4 tsp sugar (optional) 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp paprika 1/8 tsp chipotle pepper Sauce 1/2 cup blanched almonds 4 sundried tomatoes in oil 1 small baked potato (fingerling etc.-optional- pre-baked) 1/4 cup roasted red pepper 5 roasted cloves of garlic Water as needed to make paste fresh herbs to taste (rosemary is good) 1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar two pinches smoked paprika one pinch chipotle powder 1/4 tsp sesame oil 1/4 tsp chili sauce (I like vietnamese sauce) kosher or black salt Directions Baste Kabocha slices in sesame oil and sprinkle generously with (mixed, combined) spice rub. Grill until soft and glistening, but not completely charred. Do same treatment with whole portobello, until soft and thoroughly cooked. Slice to serve. Combine sauce ingredients in a blender until thoroughly mixed and creamy. The sauce may be slightly chunky. Add water as needed so sauce is spoon-able texture. Taste mixture and adjust seasonings to taste. Serve vegetables with dip. Enjoy! You can eat the kabocha, skin and all.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  Contents of my brain, do not replicate without permission Recipe ID:  1134 Added:  September 11, 2007 Last Modified:  September 25, 2007

I recently organized my kitchen cupboards and came across some Chebe Pizza Mix that I had ordered in a sampler pack from Chebe. Pizza sounded awfully good, but somehow I didn’t want any old regular pizza. I wanted something… different. As you know, lately I’ve been grilling everything that grows in dirt (zucchini, fennel, onions, you name it, I’ve grilled it), and somehow this came together in my mind with my veggie pizza experience at the Farmer’s Kitchen Cafe. That pizza was piled high with vegetables that I never would have expected on a pizza. I decided to create my own gluten free pizza recipe with a unique combination of grilled and roasted vegatables. Initially I planned to make a vegan topping of roasted eggplant and mayonnaise, and went so far as to blend it up in my food processor. Unfortunately, when I tasted it, I decided that the flat flavor of vegannaise mayonnaise just wasn’t going to work on its own, and I didn’t have enough basil to whip up some vegan pesto. So, I pitched it and dipped into the refrigerator to use up some leftover cheese. I decided to mix lowfat mixed cheese blend and smoked fontina in order to create maximum flavor while still keeping the dish as healthy as possible. I prepared my veggies on the grill. Keep in mind we live on the second story of an apartment and I usually cook late in the evening. It’s almost always dark by the time I’m at the grill, but a teal blue Chinese lantern illuminates the grill, and I rather like the idea that I’m grilling by moonlight. Our neighbors must think we’re really weird though, for grilling (quietly) so late at night. Anyway, although this was the first time I had used the official Chebe pizza crust mix, I was happily very impressed with the results. The pizza was easy to roll out, as are all their products, and it puffed up a lot in the oven. (Although it later deflated.) I did need to transfer the pizza to a pizza stone halfway through the cooking process, as otherwise the crust would have gotten somewhat soggy by the time it was served. I also made sure to put it on a cooling rack after it was baked in order to retain maximum crispness. And the verdict? Both DH and I were thrilled with our pizza. I think he was secretly doing a happy dance that I had used real cheese for once, and we were both surprised and impressed with the smokiness added by the fontina cheese. Somehow the combination of ingredients harmonized to create a really pleasing, delicious dish. For those of you who can’t have dairy, don’t despair. I do think that my eggplant/mayo pizza topping could work, especially if you use a homemade mayonnaise or egg mayonnaise. Pesto will also up the yum factor. If you don’t want to try the mayonnaise topping, you could also try the pine nut “ricotta” I used for lasagna. (Tastes great raw OR baked!) Adding smoked tofu or tofu pups would add a smoky note that could really take this recipe to another level, vegan or no. But regardless of the cheese- definitely try some grilled veggies on your pizza. It might not be “traditional” but it tastes absolutely divine, and made me think that this pizza was the best I’d ever had. And, as a happy bonus, you can serve the leftover grilled veggies as a side to the pizza!

So pull up your chair, and have a slice of pizza. Which version would you like? What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Best Ever Gluten Free Veggie Pizza Recipe Main Course  Alternative Grains  American  Italian

Ingredients 1 GF Pizza Crust (premade, made from a mix such as Chebe, or homemade from a Bette Hagman or Carol Fenster Recipe) Vegetables: 1 stalk of broccoli 1 red pepper 1 large red onion 1 Portobello Mushroom Kalamata Olives Leftover Roasted Zucchini, Squash, and Japanese Eggplant Slices (see following Recipe) Olive Oil Seasoning Mix (anything you like- you can use the mixture I used for my sesame oil grilled recipe or any other savory mixture) Marinara Sauce (Safeway Organic is really good) Shredded Cheese mixture- quantity to your taste, but whatever the total, use 3/4 lowfat 3 cheese combo and 1/4 smoked cheese, fontina or gouda Directions Prepare pizza Crust according to directions. While it is baking, prepare vegetables. Take stalk of broccoli and wash it, then spinning it dry in a salad spinner. Carefully slice broccoli horizontally so that several florets and stalks are still joined together but it has two relatively flat sides to grill. This makes it easy to grill without florets falling through the grill. Reserve. Slice red onion into thick strips or rings. Wash and dry portobello mushroom and red pepper. Roast red pepper on the grill so skin chars and turns black. Place in thick freezer safe plastic bag, seal, and let sit for ten minutes before taking the red pepper out of the bag, removing the skin and slicing it. Rub a small amount of olive oil and seasonings onto the broccoli slabs and red onion, mixing them and placing them on the grill next to each other so that the broccoli will be seasoned as the onion caramelizes. Let grill until broccoli is still slightly crunchy but begins to char slightly on the outer part of the floret. (To taste). Turn once. Let the onions grill until soft and slightly charred on edges, turning once or as many times as you need to achieve ideal texture. Remove from grill, reserve. Rub the same kind of olive oil and seasoning into the portobello mushroom and grill it until soft. Turn once, until softened and cooked through. Remove from grill, and slice. Reserve. When all vegetables are done put marinara sauce on the bottom, topped with cheese and bake for at least half of the time your recipe requires (10-15 minutes?) on any baking surface. Make sure you will be able to move the pizza crust easily. After this time has elapsed, transfer the pizza crust to a (heated) pizza stone and top with marinara sauce, cheese, and desired toppings. If you want you can put the pizza back in the oven without the broccoli and zucchini, let the cheese melt, and then add these more delicate toppings for the last few minutes of baking. I made two toppings- one had portobello mushroom slices, kalamata olives, and roasted red peppers. The other side had red onion, broccoli, and zucchini. Notes This is the best pizza I have ever had. DH loved the mushroom/olive side, but my favorite was the broccoli. REALLY yummy. The marinara sauce and smoked cheese MAKES this dish, along with the grilled veggies.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  My original recipe. Please do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Recipe ID:  1108 Added:  July 31, 2007 Last Modified:  July 31, 2007

Roasted Eggplant and Zucchini Squash Salad Recipe Side Dish  Vegetables  American

Ingredients 1 zucchini 1 yellow squash 1 Japanese or Chinese eggplant (the long skinny kind NOT wide American kind) 1 medium red onion olive oil seasoning mix salt Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Clean and dry your zucchini, squash, and eggplant. Use your food processor to slice them into thin discs- (mandoline thin). Place them on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with a little olive oil and seasonings, rubbing seasoning into the vegetable slices. Make sure it is evenly distributed and don’t use very much oil. Place in oven and bake, checking every 5 minutes and turning if needed. Because these are thin discs, they will burn easily if left too long. Depending on your own taste, you will want them less or more well done. Sometimes my taste tends towards the charred, because it makes them crunchy, but there is a fine line between tasty crunchy and little black charcoal chips. Yum yum. Sprinkle with salt as you remove each batch from the oven, but don’t overdo. For the onion, slice into rounds and lightly baste with oil, grilling on a med-low propane setting if you’re using propane. When they’re soft and slightly caramelized, remove and cut into bite sized pieces. Lightly fold all ingredients together and add any last minute seasonings before servings. Notes Recipe can be doubled. You can enjoy on its own as a side, add it as a unique pizza topping or fold it up into a corn tortilla. This is a great way to use up any leftover veggie slices from a Ratattouille experiment…

Rating:  8 Original Source:  The contents of my brain. Please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1109 Added:  July 31, 2007 Last Modified:  July 31, 2007