The BEST Vegetarian Pizza Ever!

I just made the best vegetarian pizza ever! I am so full yet I am still salivating just thinking about it! It all started when my new box of fresh produce arrived at my door. Anyone else use a similar service? It’s awesome. Every few weeks a giant box of organic produce magically arrives at my door. In this last box there was a bag of purple potatoes. I knew I had to do something fun with them so this recipe was born.  

seriously, aren't they gorgeous? 

The BEST vegetable pizza EVER!

Whole wheat crust (I used the pre-made dough kind from trader joes) 

3 heaping tablespoons of Pesto (once again I used the pre-made kind from trader joes)

10 small Mozzarella balls (I bought the kind in olive oil with garlic and spices)

2 table spoons (or more) Gorgonzola cheese 

¼ cup Candied walnuts (I bought the pre-made kind on the salad isle – noticing a trend here?)

1 large Kale leaf  

Sautéed mushrooms (recipe to follow) 

15 sundried tomatoes

3 small purple potatoes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar (which you will reduce)    

Sautéed mushrooms

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon of dill

While your dough rests for 20 minutes preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Next, sauté your mushrooms. Put the balsamic and the olive oil in a pan with the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are browned which should take about 10 minutes on medium heat. Once done, add the dill and give a quick stir before taking off of the heat. The main goal is you want to make sure you cook the moisture is out of the mushrooms, otherwise it will make your pizza soggy. 

Once your dough is done resting stretch it out over the pizza pan and then top with your pesto.

Next you are ready to flatten your mozzarella balls.

Now you are ready to add the rest of your toppings,

Lastly take a brush and brush your crust with olive oil. 

Put it in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

While your pizza is baking reduce your balsamic in the same pan you made your mushrooms in. It is super easy. Just bring you balsamic to a boil over medium heat. Once it is boiling turn down to a simmer and stir occasionally until it is reduced by half.

When your pizza comes out of the oven top with the reduced balsamic and enjoy every bite! YUM!! 

                                                             Now that's a pretty pizza!

ENJOY!


Just in case anyone is wondering how I get this done with a toddler, here is a sneak peak into my kitchen ;) He is a pretty cute sous-chef… not so much on the helpful side yet but I imagine that will change with time!! It is NEVER too early to cook with your kids! It makes them less picky and I know my husband can't help me with dinner but I know this little one will one day!

DIY Up-Cycled Starfish Wall Hooks

So since I decided to start this blog back up I know I want to do more then just recipes… although I think that will always be my specialty! I SOOOO wish I had taken step by step instructions for this do it yourself but I wasn’t planning on sharing it with the world at the time and truly just took a picture for my instagram! 

I moved into a pretty old home (it was built in the 1950s) and it has been virtually untouched! It is super exciting because it is a blank canvas with SOOO much potential but that also means SOOOO much work. We are excited to slowly but surely put our personal mark on it! As much as I would LOVE to jump strait into the big projects those require lots of time, money and knocking down walls so I am starting small instead! 

We downsized to move into this house, although we gained a HUGE backyard and are an hour and 45 minutes closer to my family. It’s so nice having my sons grandma and grandpa less then 10 minutes from driveway to driveway!! 

Okay, okay I’m going on a tangent here… let’s reel it back! So yes, small diy projects to start! I needed a nice piece to hang my purse and keys and all of that fun stuff that tends to pile. I use to have a built in cabinet to put everything so it was out of sight and mind. Now I didn’t have that luxury but I wanted something that still looked good! I looked high and low but unless I wanted to spend $150+ and get something that I kind of liked I seemed to be out of luck. I decided instead to build the piece of my dreams!  

Time About 30 minutes broken up

Materials needed 

-Some kind of board. This is a great instance to upcycle. Use an old basic cabinet. A repurposed earring hanger (what I used.) Get creative! Go to a thrift shop, a flea market a garage sale. Something perfect is out there just BEGGING to be made beautiful! 

-Rustoleaum spray paint/primer (it should be in one can.) You could go with a cheaper brand but I personally don’t recommend it. This goes a long way where the others seem to fizzle fast!

-burlap

-any kind of embellishment (I used white starfish from my wedding that I had stored in our garage)

- knobs of any sort 

- a hanger

-hot glue gun 

Directions:

So first thing is first take your board and clean it. You don’t want to paint a dirty piece or the paint won’t look right! Wipe it dry and make sure there is no dampness. I just laid mine in the sun for 20 minutes to ensure it was nice and dry. If you really want to you can sand the piece but I didn’t since I was going for a little bit of a distressed looked anyways. 

It’s now ready for the first coat of paint. I ended up putting 3 coats on (mainly because I didn’t sand.) You just want to shake the can really well and spray while going back and forth while moving downward. You never want to spray the sides and then the top as this will inevitably cause drips. I learned that lesson the hard way! Let each coat dry then do the next. After you have finished the final coat and it has dried you are ready to do the rest! I would suggest letting the paint rest for 24 hours just to be extra safe though. 

Screw your hangers on the back. I would do two if you plan on hanging heavy items on the piece. One thing I store on mine is my laptop bag for work so I wanted to make sure it was nice and sturdy. This is where you need to be SUPER careful that they are perfectly level. Spend extra time on this and double and triple check!!

Next you are ready to embellish. I decided to put a piece of burlap just wider then my starfish and glue it on the center portion (the portion that use to be for earrings.) Next I glued the starfish on. 

Once that was done I screwed the hardware on. You want to be careful about what you use and you don’t want it to go out further then the piece you use to mount it to the wall. After that you are all done. Hang your piece and smile at your success… then post it on instgram (http://instagram.com/bsalling) and let me know! I would LOVE to see your take on this project! 

ENJOY!

Cajun Crab Cakes with Spicy Jalapeño Aioli

Whenever I have left over crab it’s time to make crab cakes! Leftover crab is something like leftover wine though, it doesn’t happen often. Trust me on this one, you will want leftover crab!  This delicious meal motivates me to have leftovers!!  In a perfect world these are best enjoyed with a nice mojito al fresco!

For the crab cake

About 1 cup of crab meat

2 tablespoons of mayonnaise (I used the kind made with olive oil) 

1 tablespoon of deli style mustard (Dijon works fine)

½ teaspoon old bay seasoning

¾ teaspoon Cajun seasoning (I use webers) 

1 finely diced stalk of celery (I know it’s not traditional but I like a little crunch)

2 tablespoons parsley

½ cup of bread crumbs 

Add all of the ingredients except for the crab meat and the bread crumbs. Mix well. 

Add the crab and toss to coat

Add the breadcrumbs and fold the mixture until well mixed

Form your crab cakes. I served these for dinner so I made 4 large but if you want to make this for an appetizer feel free to make them smaller*.

Sprinkle some additional Cajun seasoning on top of the formed crab cakes and then place them in the freezer for about 5 to 10 minutes. You want them to firm up a bit so when you cook them they stay in their cake form. I imagine you can place them in the fridge for about an hour instead but I wanted my crab cakes!   

Heat a pan to medium high heat and coat with oil. I used Canola. You want to brown the crab cakes so about 3-5 minutes each side.

*If making smaller cakes you will want to reduce freeze time as well as cook time. 

For the Jalapeño Aioli

½ cup of mayonnaise

2 garlic cloves

1 jalapeño (seeds removed if you want it less spicy) 

the juice of 1 very juicy lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processer or blender and blend until all combined. Place in the fridge to chill until crab cakes are ready.

Top your crab cake and ENJOY! I decided to add a bit of avocado and parsley for an extra delicious garnish.