H to the Vizzo

Happy almost Valentine's Day everyone! Just another reason to support those greeting card companies! :)

Two more days and I will be officially half-way through my experiment! I can't believe that it's going by so quickly. I'm trying to recap the last few days here...not a lot of ground breaking news, I guess.

We had our potluck at work on Friday. That was fun...not. I sit right behind the two "shelves" where they put all the food. So every time I get up to go to the printer...or get water...or go to the bathroom...I have to look at all the awesome food. There are some smells that I could do without...but for the most part, things were smelling real good. You would be very proud of me though...I didn't screw up at all. I stuck to my olives, veggies and the lunch that I brought! Thankfully someone had made some homemade hummus (I verified the ingredients) that was awesome...so I snacked on that too. At the end of the day, I was kind of glad that I am doing this. I saved myself some serious calories.

Saturday night we decided to make some pizza! Yum...I love me some pizza. Dough: made from the roll recipe under the 2/9/11 post. I have to admit, I made it exactly the same as the rolls, but it turned out SO much better for pizza crust! The only think I did differently is letting it rise once. After it has doubled in size, punch it down and form it into the desired shape, add toppings and bake at 425 for 15-17 minutes.

I decided to make the sauce. There is some awesome, slightly chunky sauce at Wegmans. I used this for my inspiration. I have to say...this was really good. It makes quite a bit, just a warning.

Pizza Sauce

2T olive oil

1/2 red onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

14.5oz diced tomatoes

12oz tomato paste

20oz water

1t salt

1t black pepper

1 1/2t oregano

1 1/2t basil

1t red pepper flakes

Saute onions in olive oil until translucent then add garlic. Add all other ingredients and leave to simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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Toppings are always up to you...but we used sauted mushrooms, red bell peppers, garlic stuffed green olives and artichoke hearts. One thing I like to do when making pizza is to saute any vegetables before putting them onto the pizza. The vegetables release a lot of liquid when they cook...so giving them a quick cook before putting them on your pizza crust will reduce the change of your crust being extra soggy from all the liquid.

Another pizza note: start putting your sauce on top, you won't regret it! This past summer Brian and I experienced the awesomeness of Pi (pizza place in STL). They do it Chicago style and they do it right. It's so good. If you are in STL, you just have to give this place a go. All of that being said, when you put the sauce on top, it creates this weird "crust" while it bakes...and makes it even more delicious.

I wanted to stretch myself this week and get outside of my comfort zone a little. So, I decided to make "meatballs". A coworker and I randomly started talking about it right after I started this blog...so I thought...it's time to make some meat. I'll give you the goods before sharing my thoughts (this made 40 balls):

Veggie Meatballs

2T olive oil

1 large red onion, diced

3 cloves garlic

1/2lb garbanzo beans (soaked, then cooked)

2lbs extra firm tofu (pressed)

1/2C breadcrumbs

2t salt

2t black pepper

2t basil

1t oregano

2T Worcestershire Sauce (one without anchovies)

1T red wine vinegar

Start pressing tofu. I like to cut the blocks in quarters before pressing. I feel like this allows for more liquid to escape. Begin boiling garbanzo beans until nice and tender (make sure you have soaked these overnight before boiling).

In saute pan, saute onion in olive oil until nice and tender. Add garlic and turn off heat. Let residual heat cook the garlic.

Once beans have cooked, place in food processor and blend until creamy (adding a bit of olive oil or water as needed). Place beans in large mixing bowl with tofu, onion mixture, breadcrumbs and all other seasonings. With your hands mix all the ingredients together until all incorporated. Roll into desired size and place on cookie sheet.

Give each meatball a quick turn on the stove...browning each side. Place in oven safe container and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from oven, baste with desired sauce and return to oven for 15 more minutes.

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I went for two options: BBQ and red sauce. I made the same red sauce that I put on the pizza (made a little extra in case I decide to make pizza again over the weekend or next week). I made a little divider in my baking dish out of foil...I thought that was kind of genius. But there was nobody here to confirm that. :(

The overall flavor was really good. I think I prefer the BBQ option, but that's just my thing. The texture was a little soft. I'm not sure if baking them longer would have tightened them up? Perhaps if I had added some dry oats to the mixture, they would have absorbed some of the liquid...making the meatballs a little more "meaty"? They held their shape rather well, especially considering how soft they were. I think next time I'll add some TVP (textured vegetable protein) too.

I would definitely make these again! Although totally edible, I want to give them another go because I think I can do better.

I guess that's it for tonight. Stay tuned for new snacks and sandwiches later this week!