Thank you so much to everyone who voted for and supported me through the Foodbuzz Project Food Blog contest. I was not selected to advance to the fifth challenge, however I am honored to have made it to the top 100 bloggers! Please consider checking out the remaining contestants and supporting them through to the end- I can't wait to see who will be the next "food blog star"!
The Foodbuzz Project Food Blog challenge #4 is off and running and I'd again love to have your vote! Voting closes at 6pm PDT on October 14th (this Thursday), so please vote for GetNatured soon!
Thank you! <3
Thank you! <3
One of my all-time favorite meals is grilled pizza. If you've never grilled pizza at home, you're in for a treat! I do not have any special pizza-making equipment, so this pizza can be made on a gas (or charcoal) grill without a pizza stone.
This recipe is vegan if you omit the cheese or use a vegan cheese alternative (I used Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella).
This recipe is vegan if you omit the cheese or use a vegan cheese alternative (I used Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella).
Grilled Pizza Recipe
Assemble the ingredients:
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour*
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup cool water
*A note about flour: Using "00" flour (if you can find it), makes the most authentic Italian thin-crust pizza. If you substitute whole wheat for some or all of the flour, you will get a thicker and more bread-like crust.
*A note about flour: Using "00" flour (if you can find it), makes the most authentic Italian thin-crust pizza. If you substitute whole wheat for some or all of the flour, you will get a thicker and more bread-like crust.
Proof the yeast:
Combine:
Mix:
Knead:
Let rise:
Separate and roll:
For 4 medium to large pizzas, separate the dough into 4 smaller balls (or more balls for smaller pizzas). Roll each ball to about 1/4 inch thick and place them on baking sheets.
Tip: to minimize sticking, sprinkle the baking sheets with cornmeal.
Preheat grill and assemble and chop the toppings:
Preheat your barbecue grill on high and assemble and chop the toppings of your choice.
Tip: Slice toppings as thin as possible because the pizza will cook quickly on the grill!
Grill the crust:
Reduce the barbecue heat to low and place the dough directly on the grill. Cook on ONE SIDE ONLY until nicely browned. Remove and place on a baking sheet, cooked side up.
The crust will smell amazing when it is cooked- like fresh-baked bread!
Add the toppings:
Top the crust with your favorite sauce(s), veggies, cheeses, etc. Don't be afraid to top every pizza differently! For vegans: this pizza was made using Follow Your Heart Mozzarella.
Grill:
Make sure that the grill is on low heat and place the pizza on an oiled piece of aluminum foil and close the lid. The bottom of the pizza will brown very quickly (in 5 or so minutes), so watch it closely! Remove the pizza from the grill when it has reached your desired level of doneness.
Slice and enjoy!
Thank you so much to everyone who voted for GetNatured in the Foodbuzz Project Food Blog contest for challenge #3 and for all of your comments on my post! I have advanced to challenge #4 and will be posting on that very soon. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Some of you asked about recipes and the pattern of my China, so here you go. For recipes that are not online already, I'll provide the source rather than the full recipe.
China pattern: I don't know the name of the specific pattern. It was purchased in 1928 and is a Noritake brand set.
Recipes:
Some of you asked about recipes and the pattern of my China, so here you go. For recipes that are not online already, I'll provide the source rather than the full recipe.
China pattern: I don't know the name of the specific pattern. It was purchased in 1928 and is a Noritake brand set.
Recipes:
- Mushroom and walnut pate recipe (from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero)
- Butternut squash and sage soup is from Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen (love this book!)
- Roasted asparagus crepes recipe (from the Vegan Yum Yum blog)
- Tea poached pears as shared by another blogger, here (originally from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero).
We're on to challenge number three in the Foodbuzz Project Food Blog challenge and I'd again love, love, love to have your vote! Voting closes at 6pm PDT on October 7th (this Thursday), so please vote for GetNatured soon!
Thank you! <3
Thank you! <3
I was really excited about this third challenge! Not just because I got to cook and eat delicious food, but because I also get to share a little bit of something that is important to me, with you. My "luxury dinner party" meal was entirely vegan (free of all animal products) and what I want to show you is the abundance of delicious foods that make up this meal. When people ask me, "what do vegans eat?" with a look of skepticism and concern in their eyes, I wish that I could share a meal like this with them to show them that being vegan isn't about restriction and limitations- it is about plentitude and thriving (and chocolate too)!
The menu:
Pear and Pomegranate Salad
A fresh green salad of baby lettuces, red pears, pomegranate arils, and pine nuts tossed in a light pear vinaigrette.
Herbed Mushroom and Walnut Pate
Herbed mushroom and walnut pate served with warm bread on a bed of micro greens.
Butternut Squash and Sage Soup
Creamy butternut squash soup topped with crispy sage leaves.
Roasted Asparagus Crepes
Delicate crepes wrapped gently around oven-roasted asparagus that has been topped with a creamy vegan hollandaise sauce.
Tea Poached Pears
Bosc pears poached in black tea, orange zest and vanilla. Served in velvety smooth chocolate sauce and topped with vanilla non-dairy ice cream.
For our luxury dinner, I set the table with my grandmother's China. This China has been in my family since my grandmother purchased it for her mother in the 1920s. It is a soft shade of yellow with a delicate flower pattern and gold trim:
Some words on planning: When I was creating my menu for this dinner, I wanted to include seasonal produce but I also wanted to create some unique flavors that went well together.
My tips for pulling this off:
- Choose produce that is in season for the best flavor. Also, shop locally if possible. The closer the produce was grown to your table, the better it will taste!
- When creating your menu, select dishes that include similar ingredients. For example, my pate and soup both contain thyme; my salad and dessert are both centered around pears; etc.
- A well-planned menu should draw its variety from multiple ingredients that go well together. Varying textures (crunchy, creamy, chewy, etc.) are okay, but the foods should have similar flavor profiles. No one course on the menu should drown out the others with over-powering flavor.
On wine: With our meal, I served a light white wine (Elva from Jodar Winery which was, coincidentally, named after the vintner's grandmother). For those who prefer a sweeter flavor, an orange muscat would be great (especially with this dessert).
Cheers!
Let's get started!
Pear and Pomegranate Salad
A fresh green salad of baby lettuces, red pears, pomegranate arils, and pine nuts tossed in a light pear vinaigrette.
We began our meal with a baby greens salad with red pears, pomegranate arils, and pine nuts. I tossed the greens in a light pear vinaigrette of my invention and the result was colorful and delicious!
For the pear vinaigrette: In a blender, combine 1 ripe pear (peeled and cored), 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Blend until very smooth. The dressing was a pretty pale yellow that looked so much like the yellow of my China!
Allow me to pause here to talk about feeding children. My kids are two and four and they are not yet into eating so luxuriously. Planning to feed them isn't tough, though.
Here are two tips to consider when you have little people to feed:
- Younger kids prefer foods that are disassembled or in pieces. For example, instead of serving my boys a salad, I gave them a plate with pears, pomegranate arils, nuts, etc. that they could enjoy one thing at a time.
- Serve sauces on the side in a dish that facilitates dipping. Kids are sometimes suspicious of sauce, but they love to dip!
Herbed Mushroom and Walnut Pate
Herbed mushroom and walnut pate served with warm bread on a bed of micro greens.
Along side the salad, I served a walnut mushroom pate. This pate was out of this world! It tasted great on the warm bread and would also make an excellent sandwich spread.
Butternut Squash and Sage Soup
Creamy butternut squash soup topped with crispy sage leaves.
For our next course, we enjoyed a rich and velvety smooth butternut squash soup with crispy sage leaves. The fresh thyme in the soup went well with the thyme in the pate and the smell of the onions and sage cooking together for the soup was heavenly. It is one of my favorite things this time of year!
Fresh thyme in my garden.
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The deliciously fragrant onions and soup.
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To make pureeing the soup really fast and easy, I used a stick blender. This is million times easier than trying to gradually add hot soup to a blender to puree. If you don't have a stick blender, I recommend picking one up; it is one of my favorite kitchen tools!
The finished soup:
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Roasted Asparagus Crepes
Delicate crepes wrapped gently around oven-roasted asparagus that has been topped with a creamy vegan hollandaise sauce.
For our main entree we enjoyed roasted asparagus crepes with vegan hollandaise sauce:
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Tea Poached Pears
Bosc pears poached in black tea, orange zest and vanilla. Served in velvety smooth chocolate sauce and topped with vanilla non-dairy ice cream.
To complete our luxurious fall feast, we had Bosc pears that were poached in black tea, orange zest, and vanilla and served in a pool of chocolate tea sauce and topped with non-dairy ice cream. Delectable!
A final word: I feel extremely thankful for all that went into this meal. From the wonderful vegan foods to the loving company of my family, I am so lucky.
