Category: Entree

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Recipe: Gluten-Free (and vegan…for me) Tostada Pizza

This was one of my favorite recipes for my mom to make when I was growing up.  Honestly.  She was the best at making her Tostada Pizza…including mixing the dough from scratch.

Of course, since my childhood a few things about me have changed.  First of all…I became a vegetarian back in 2010 and have never looked back.  So, the first alteration to the recipe I had to make was replacing the ground beef.  Thankfully, Trader Joe’s makes an amazing gluten-free and vegan chorizo.  YUM!  Secondly, I had to go gluten-free back in 2011.  So, the crust recipe had to change as well.  While I can make a gluten-free pizza crust, it was getting late, so I used a pre-made gluten-free pizza crust instead.  It worked just as well.

I’m going to post the original recipe for my mom’s Tostada Pizza here.  But I am going to make note as to how I changed it up to make it gluten-free and vegan.  If you are simply looking for a good pizza recipe, need a good gluten-free pizza recipe, or need a good gluten-free and vegan pizza recipe…this will do it (and hopefully not confuse you too much).

Recipe: Tostada Pizza

Gluten-Free & Vegan Tostada Pizza
Gluten-Free & Vegan Tostada Pizza


Servings: 4 – 12 (depending on crust you use and size)
Time: Prep 15 minutes; Cook 15-25 minutes

Ingredients for pizza crust**:

  • 2 tbsp yellow cornmeal
  • 2 cups packaged biscuit mix (use gluten-free Bisquick or other gluten-free pizza crust mix)
  • 1/2 cup water

**Or…use a pre-made and store bought gluten-free pizza crust to save time.  I used Rustic Crust Gluten Free Napoli Herb crust, which I purchased at the grocery store**

Ingredients for pizza:

  • 1 pound ground beef (I used Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Soy Chorizo)
  • 3 tbsp chopped green chilies
  • 1 package taco seasoning (make sure this is gluten-free) (I didn’t use this in my recipe as I was using vegan chorizo, which is already spicy)
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans (I used Wild Garden Traditional Hummus)
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese (I used Rice Shreds)
  • 1 cup lettuce, chopped
  • 1 cup tomato, chopped
  • 1/2 cup onion, chopped
  • taco sauce


Directions:

Sprinkle your pizza stone or a well-greased 12 inch pizza pan with cornmeal.

If making your own crust, combine the biscuit mix and 1/2 cup of water.  Stir with a fork until dough forms a ball.  Turn dough on a lightly floured surface; knead 5 to 6 times.  Roll to a 14 inch circle, pat into pizza pan or place on pizza stone, crimping the edges.  Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

If you are using a store bought pizza crust or gluten-free pizza crust…simply heat up your stone with the cornmeal on it.  Do not pre-bake the crust unless it is raw.

If you are not a vegan/vegetarian, brown the meat; drain grease.  Stir in the green chilies, taco seasoning mix and 3/4 cup water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes.  Skip this step if you are making a vegetarian version, unless you opt to use soy crumbles.  To take out the guesswork on the taco seasoning, I simply went with a vegan and gluten-free chorizo that I didn’t need to cook or add seasoning to.

Spread refried beans (or in my case, hummus) over the pizza crust.  Top with the meat and chilies.  Bake at 425 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with cheese.  Bake 2 minutes more or until cheese melts.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with lettuce, tomato, onion, and taco sauce on top.

~*~*~

I apologize for the unwieldy nature of this recipe.  But…changing up my mom’s original recipe to suit my dietary needs isn’t always easy.  And…I didn’t want to take away from the original recipe (even in this…a vegetarian food blog).  So…make substitutions as you see fit…just as I did.

The result…a pizza just like how my mom used to make it…except completely vegan in my case!  I remember why I loved it so much.  It’s like eating a taco in pizza form.  Two of the best comfort foods out there.

Want something different…go ahead and give this recipe a try.  Whether you are a vegan/vegetarian or not…and whether you need to eat gluten-free or not…this recipe will work either way.

Yummy!

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Bengal Lentils are another good gluten-free and vegetarian Tasty Bite meal

Tasty Bite Bengal Lentils
Tasty Bite Bengal Lentils

Product: Tasty Bite Bengal Lentils – $3.29+

This review is being written while I sit down and eat a bowl of Tasty Bite’s Bengal Lentils.  Yep.  It doesn’t get much fresher than this for a review.  Because everything I am tasting I can put down right here…right now.

Needless to say…I’m once again rather impressed by Tasty Bite and their prepackaged Indian meals of goodness.  While there have been others that have come before this one that I have liked better…this one isn’t bad.

In fact, if there were one thing I would nitpick at…it would be the lentils.  Despite heating them for the correct amount of time, they come across as undercooked and crunchy.  Which, doesn’t really take away from the dish, but it certainly bears making note of here.  Everything else was a flavor-packed home run.

The Bengal Lentils are whole lentils that have been cooked in a light gravy consisting of aromatic herbs and spices.  These include garlic, salt, ginger, chilies, coriander, and turmeric.  The sauce is a flavorful blend of the lentils, tomatoes, onions, chickpeas and a sunflower oil.  The result…a delicious hit of Indian flavor in each bite.

I cooked mine up and served over some steamed jasmine rice.  I tend to do that with the Tasty Bite meals as it makes them more filling and more of a meal.  Especially since I am splitting the serving (each bag comes with two in it) with my roommate.  Besides, I love rice with my Indian meals.

Tasty Bite offers a wide variety of these packaged meals that you heat up in the microwave for about 90 seconds.  So easy.  And very handy to have on busy evenings or nights where you just don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  I often keep a few of these in my pantry for just such occasions.

The Bengal Lentils have a nice, spicy bite to them without the heat being overpowering or too much.  The flavors shine through with each bite.  Again, I found the whole lentils to be a bit tough…but that is the only negative thing about this meal.  The spices are right on par, blending together to make not only a perfect sauce, but the perfect flavors for an Indian meal.  For something that is packaged, the nutrition information is rather good.

One serving is half of the package, and only sets you back 160 calories.  With it comes a healthy helping of 7 grams of protein, 6 grams of fat, and only 480 mg of sodium, which is awesome for packaged food items.  The Bengal Lentils are gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, and kosher.  And…yes…they are quite pleasing to the palate…despite the taste of the al dente lentils.

Tasty Bite yet again offers up a meal that is of restaurant-quality flavor.  I wasn’t quite as blown away by the Bengal Lentils as some of the previous varieties I have tried, but still…ate every bite and savored the authentic Indian flavor that accompanied it.  And for the price…that’s hard to beat.

Tasty Bite Bengal Lentils over jasmine rice
Tasty Bite Bengal Lentils over jasmine rice
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Recipe: Sicilian Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onions

Sometimes when I don’t get a CSA bin…I go a little produce happy at the grocery store.  This is a dangerous thing because I nearly always run out of week to actually make things with the stuff I buy before my CSA bin arrives on Friday.  So, as this week went on…I was attempting to make sure I was using the items that I purchased in lieu of having to cancel my bin last week while I was out of town.

One of the items that I purchased at my new favorite grocery store (Earth Fare…if you have one, don’t walk…run there!  Or drive.  Your choice…) was potatoes.  Two kinds.  Your standard russet potatoes, which I baked up last night with a little olive oil, salt, butter and some (vegan) cheese melted over them.  And sweet potatoes…because I love sweet potatoes.  They are rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium, and Iron.  Plus, for the runner in me…a great source of nutritious, unprocessed carbohydrates.

So my quandary last night was just how I wanted to top these off.  With sweet potatoes…you can get rather creative if you want.  So, after glancing through the refrigerator…I settled on the recipe that follows.

Recipe: Sicilian Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onions

Sicilian Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onions
Sicilian Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onions

Servings: 2
Time: Prep 10 minutes; Cook 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 6 ounces each)
  • olive oil
  • garlic salt
  • garlic powder
  • paprika
  • dill weed
  • dried rosemary
  • 1/4 of a red onion, sliced
  • salt
  • 2 – 3 tbsp white wine
  • 1 cup marinara (homemade or store bought)
  • shredded mozzarella cheese (I used Mozzarella Flavor Rice Shreds)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse the sweet potatoes and pat each of them dry.  Prick them numerous times with a fork.

In a small dish, mix together a blend of garlic salt, garlic powder, paprika and dill weed.  Brush the sweet potatoes with a light coating of olive oil.  Then sprinkle the seasoning mixture over them, turning to season each one entirely.  Add a little dried rosemary over each of the sweet potatoes.  Place on a baking sheet and then bake in the oven for 45 – 60 minutes.

While the potatoes are baking, cut up 1/4 of a red onion into half-rounds.

Heat a pan over medium heat and add olive oil.  Once the oil is heated, add the red onion to the pan stir until the onions are coated in olive oil.  Keep heating over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally.  After about 10 minutes, add a sprinkle of salt.  Continue to cook over the lower heat until the onions are soft and anywhere from honey-colored to deep brown, depending on how caramelized you want them to be.  Add a splash of the white wine and allow the onions to absorb it completely.

Next, heat up your marinara.  I used my homemade marinara ( https://veggiefoodlover.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/recipe-homemade-marinara-sauce/ ), but you can use any store-bought variety as well.  Just give it a warm over a hot burner or in the microwave.

Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and turn the broiler on.  Cut a slit into the sweet potatoes and open them up.  Spoon in the caramelized onion, then top each one with a generous serving of marinara.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top and then put in under the broiler for about 1 minute, or until the cheese has nicely melted.

Serve…and enjoy!

~*~*~

I know that marinara coated sweet potatoes sound a little bizarre, but trust me…these were amazing.  The sweetness of the potato mingled so well with the sweet flavor of the caramelized onion.  The rich tomato flavor of the marinara was the perfect topper.  And the melted cheese on top just finished it off.  It was like…sweet potato gnocchi without going through the trouble of making gnocchi from scratch.  The potato cooked to a soft, sweet perfection…and it was topped off with a whole lot of vegetable goodness.  And the seasoning on the skin was perfection on the tongue.

I’m totally making this again!  I love it when a food experiment goes right.