Cauliflower Pizza Crust (with Kale, Sweet Potato and Mozzarella)

Cauliflower Pizza Crust Topped with Kale, Sweet Potatoes and Mozzarella - It tastes amazing and it's non-GMO and gluten-free.



5 Health Benefits of Cauliflower:
1. A cup of boiled cauliflower delivers about 3.35 g of dietary fiber, which helps clean your digestive system and gets rid of unnecessary substances.
2. A diet high in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower has been been linked to a significant reduction in the risk of cancer
3. Cauliflower provides a lot of nutrition for very few calories. A 1/2 cup of cooked cauliflower contains only 15 calories.
4. High vitamin K content, cauliflower helps to reduce inflammation. It also has omega-3 fatty acids!
5. Decrease chronic ailments such as atherosclerosis, a leading cause of heart attack and stroke. Cauliflower can help keep your blood flowing to essential organs of the body!
Reference below




Ingredients for cauliflower crust:

- 1 large cauliflower 'riced' - Remove leaves and steams first
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dry parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dry basil
- 1 egg (depending on how much cauliflower you 'rice'. I had 2 cups riced cauliflower so I used 2 eggs
- 1 cup grated cheese - I used monterey jack cheese in my crust, but you can use parmesan, mozzarella, monterey jack, manchego, ect.
- salt and pepper to taste

Rectangular Pizza Stone, 13" x 15" (Google Affiliate Ad)

Ingredients for topping:

- 1/2 cup saute kale
- 1 yam - sliced and bake for 20 minutes (yams are sweeter than most sweet potato)
- red onion to taste, thinly sliced
- mozzarella di bufala, thinly sliced
- salt and pepper

Microplane Better Box Grater (Google Affiliate Ad)

Tools:

- Pizza stone or large cookie sheet
- grater or food processor







After removing the green leaves and stems, use a grater to 'rice' the cauliflower. You can use a food processor, but I found that it didn't rice evenly. Once the cauliflower is grated, cook for 5 to 7 minutes in a pan or if you have one, a microwave. Place the simi-cooked cauliflower in a tea towel and sqeeze as much moisture out as possible.



Mix all ingredients for cauliflower crust in a bowl.



Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Once everything is mixed well, place the cauliflower dough on a greased cookie sheet or pizza stone sprinkled with cornmeal. The shape is not as important as the thickness of the pizza dough: 1/4 inch or so. No need to measure it, but be sure not to press it too thin.

Cook the cauliflower crust at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Once the crust looks cooked, set it aside and let it cool for about 15 minutes.



While waiting for the pizza crust to cool, start cooking your toppings. Bake the yams or sweet potatoes for 20 minutes and saute your kale. Don't forget to remove the stems from the kale. You can cook the red onions as well or leave them raw. Up to you.



Once cauliflower pizza crust has cooled and all toppings are pre-cooked, assemble your pizza! I didn't use a sauce, but you can use pesto or tomato sauce as your base layer.

- First layer of pizza - mozzarella di bufala. I didn't want to use too much mozzarella because there is cheese in the crust.
- Next layer of pizza - thinly sliced cooked yams / sweet potato
- Last layer of pizza - saute kale and red onions







Broil the pizza for 4 to 8 minutes or until the cheese is melted. This is risky. I sometimes burn toast in the broiler. It's hit or miss. If you do not trust your broiler, bake on 450 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Keep an eye on it!



Let it cool for about 5 minutes or more. Cut and enjoy with a fork. You will be surprised at how good the crust tastes! The crust was so good, I want to make it again and eat it plain or with a dipping sauce.


Let me know what you think? I'd love to hear your feedback.


Websites:

- fullcircle.com

- 3fatchicks.com

- healthdiaries.com

- livestrong.com

Chickpea Coconut Curry on Black Forbidden Rice

Tomato Chickpea Coconut Curry on Black Forbidden Rice a dish inspired by The New Vegan Cookbook: Innovative Vegetarian Recipes Free of Dairy, Eggs, and Cholesterol by Lorna Sass. The book is easy to follow with simple directions and colourful photos. I do not eat eggplant, so I changed the presentation by deleting the roasted eggplant and substituting black rice.

Short-Cut Vegan: Great Taste in No Time by Sass, Lorna J. [Paperback] (Google Affiliate Ad)



Soak chickpeas for at least 8 hours before cooking, but never soak longer than 24 hours. I typically soak them in the morning before leaving for the day.



Once hydrated, cook chickpeas for about 55 minutes on medium/high heat. To save time, you can purchase canned chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. I try not to eat food out of a can.

Some interesting information about Chickpeas:  high source of protein and fiber, one cup of cooked chickpeas contains 269 calories, low-glycemic and its the primary ingredient in hummus.



Instead of roasted eggplant, I've used black forbidden rice. I would also suggested using quinoa or brown rice. If you want to stick to the original recipe, you can find it here on cookstr.com.

Black forbidden rice is high in nutritional value and contains 18 amino acids, iron, zinc, copper, carotene, and several important vitamins which I can not recall at this time, but they are very important! Forbidden black rice turns the water its cooked in a deep purple color due to its high anthocyanin content, an antioxidant. I could go on and on about the health benifits of anthocyanin - water-soluble vacuolar pigments, but I'll let you read all about it here: The Possible Health Benefits of Anthocyanin Pigments and Polyphenolics by Ronald E. Wrolstad, Ph.D. Thanks Ron!

What's really important to me: a 1/4-cup serving of forbidden rice contains 160 calories, it's gluten free, non-GMO, and I like the color.



Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 3 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
- 2 cups of diced tomatoes with liquid or one 20 ounce can
- 2 cups coarsely chopped white onions
- 1/2 cup dried, unsweetened, grated coconut or more (you can not use sweetened...no!)
- 3 1/2 tablespoons mild curry powder - Merwanjee Poonjianjee & Sons
- 1 teaspoon or more of Cayenne
- Sriracha as needed (I like it hot)
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil

Tools:

- Deep heavy saucepan with cover

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Heat pan, add oil and add mustard seeds. Cover and cook for 30 seconds on high heat or until you hear the seeds 'pop'. Once you hear the seeds popping, turn stove off and keep covered until popping stops.



Turn heat to medium/high and add the white onions. Stirring frequently. Add oil if needed. Cook for 5 minutes.



Now add curry powder and stir for 30 seconds



Add the rest of the stuff; tomatoes, chickpeas, coconut, and cayenne to taste. Also salt and pepper is you wish



Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes or less while stirring frequently. If the mix starts to stick, add water.



While all this is happening, cook the grain of your choice. Quinoa, brown rice or black forbidden rice



Plate and eat. boun appetito

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great F (Google Affiliate Ad)

You can also see my photos here:

Chard & Crimini Mushroom Ravioli in Butter Walnut Sage Sauce Homemade Pasta

I've always wanted to make my own ravioli and my own filling, however always heard it was a labor intensive process and required lots of pasta making tools. I have to be honest, it was a lot of work. This is not a 'fast' food and it will take a few hours from start to finish. The most time consuming part of making ravioli is the assembly. Yikes! Make sure you have wine! The good news is ravioli making wasn't as difficult as I always imagined. Give it a try on a rainy afternoon. Call over some friends and open a bottle of wine!



Tools?! I have a wood chopping board, a really nice rolling pin, fork and a glass. That's about all you really need to make ravioli. William-Sanoma has a lot of amazing tools for pasta making, but I'm a fan of my 'free' tools.



Ingredients for the ravioli:

2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1/2 lb. crimini mushrooms, minced
1/2 small onion, minced
8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from stems
8 large leaves swiss chard, trimmed from stems
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated




Ingredients for the pasta:

1 1/2 cups Farina di Semolina flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
6 large free range eggs
1 tablespoon Salt




Ingredients for the Sage Walnut Sauce:

Handful Walnuts - chopped
Tablespoon or more minced sage
Butter



Start with the dough.
In a big bowl mix the dry flour first. Make a volcano or a well in the flour for the eggs.

Ravioli Maker (Google Affiliate Ad)



Add all six eggs and knead with your hands until you have proper dough. The mix will stick to your hands at first, but keep kneading.



Once completely kneaded, make a ball

Eppicotispai Ravioli Triangle Stamp (Google Affiliate Ad)



Cut dough into fours and cover with a damp cloth or kitchen towel. Let it sit for one hour.



While the dough is resting, start on your filling. Chop everything and measure out all the ingredients.



In a 12 inch fry pan add olive oil, onions, garlic, and thyme. Cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes.

All-Clad Stainless Steel Skillet with Lid, 12" (Google Affiliate Ad) 



Next add the mushrooms and continue to stir. If needed, add more olive oil and cook for about 4 to 5 more minutes.



Your kitchen is now smelling really good!



Add the minced rainbow chard and continue to stir for another 5 minutes.



Turn the heat off and add the 1/2 cup mascarpone and 1/2 cup Parmesan. The fry pan should still be very warm and will melt the cheese without burning it. Let it sit for 10 minutes or more to cool.

All-Clad Stainless Steel Skillet with Lid, 12" (Google Affiliate Ad)




Time to roll it out! Use a bunch of flour on your chopping board so the dough will not stick. With the rolling pin, roll it out!



I used a glass to cut my ravioli and I believe it worked very well. After I cut the circles, I re-knead and rolled out the leftover dough to cut more circles.



Take a circle and fill it with the chard, mushroom, thyme stuffing. With water wet the edge of this circle.



Cover with a second circle and pinch edges together.



With a fork, press the edges together. This extra step is not necessary, but it looks pretty.



Place finished ravioli on parchment paper and let rest for an hour or less.



Bring water, salt and olive oil to a hard boil and add ravioli. I had one or two stick to the bottom of the pot. To avoid this, stir for the first 20 seconds.

Cook for 2.5 minutes for al dente or 3.5 for well done pasta. I like al dente so I cook 2.5 minutes.

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On low to med heat saute butter, sage and chopped walnuts for 2 minutes. BAM!



Eat!



I did use this for a batch of ravioli. It's a ravioli press.



Layer of pasta, filling and another layer of pasta dough.



With a rolling pin, roll over the press until you see the metal design.



Here are the pressed ravioli. I like them, but it was very difficult to get the ravioli away from the press. I ended up breaking a few. Next time I'll just use the glass!



I love these mushrooms! Crimini are the best!

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Fresh Thyme!





YUM



Last! Freezing fresh, uncooked ravioli. YES! Please do. Do not let the ravioli touch. They keep for a very long time. If cooking a frozen ravioli, cook for 5 minutes.