Socca Pizza & Keeping Cool

Hey hey. I hope everyone is keeping cool, wherever you may be. From the looks of it most of the country is experiencing some pretty toasty weather. I honestly can’t really complain because I drive to work, work in an office with AC and have AC at home. But if you don’t have those luxuries in this heat wave, I suggest you go jump in a body of water and then eat an ice cream cone, k?

Last night for dinner I made some Socca. Don’t know what it is? It’s pretty much a bread made with chickpea flour. This was my second attempt at making it, the first was a complete failure, and I’d say I’ve almost figured it out. In any case, it was mighty delicious topped with Italian seasoned diced tomatoes, goat cheese and fresh Basil.

{Socca}

• 3/4 chickpea flour
• 3/4 c water
• 2 T olive oil (I used only 2 t which may have contributed to the slight pan stickage I encountered)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Oil round cake pan very well.

Mix chickpea flour, water and olive oil with a wire whisk. Pour batter into round pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes until cracks form on top.

Carefully remove from pan by running knife along edges then flipping pan onto another plate. (Hopefully yours doesn’t stick!)

Serves 1-2

Like I said, I topped mine with tomatoes, goat cheese and fresh basil. I stuck it under the broiler for a few minutes to warm the tomatoes and cheese. Aside from the Socca being a bit under seasoned (next time I’ll add a touch of salt and perhaps some herbs), it was delicious! It had a bit of chew yet crumbled and held up to the toppings when sliced.

To celebrate my mostly successful Socca making attempt, I whipped up some banana soft serve.

I’m sure most know what banana soft serve is and how it’s made but if you don’t, it’s simply frozen chunks of ripe bananas pureed in the food processor until they achieve a soft-serve like consistency. It’s easy, tasty and the perfect solution for a lazy girl who wants ice cream but doesn’t want to go get it.

Plop some fresh berries on top and you have a cheap, frosty dessert to enjoy while watching:

I’m not ashamed.

Have you ever made/had Socca before? How did you prepare/eat it?

Grown-Up Franks & Beans

Well there is no question about it, summer is here.

All I want to do is drink these. Go here. And make/eat food that doesn’t require the use of heat-producing appliances.

The other night I whipped up what I’ll call “Grown-Up Franks & Beans”. The franks are actually Smart Dogs which were kind of meh, in my opinion. I warmed them up on my grill pan (love, love, LOVE that thing) and served ketchup alongside. They were a bit too smoky tasting for me but I’ll give them another shot. Using one whole organic zucchini I made zucchini fries, recipe here. I used whole wheat panko on mine which resulted in an uneven coating. They were still very tasty though.

I made a quick dip for them: 1 container Greek yogurt, 1/2 Italian style diced tomatoes and lots of fresh basil from my basil plant which is amazingly still alive.

The real stunner here though? This incredibly simple bean “salad”. I don’t even know if salad is an appropriate term because it’s really just beans.

{Cannellini Bean and Basil Salad}

• 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• ~20 basil leaves, cut into strips
• 1 t olive oil
• juice from 1/4-1/2 medium sized lemon
• salt and pepper, to taste

Combine cannellini beans, olive oil and lemon juice. Toss until well combined. Add basil leaves and gently toss until evenly distributed. Garnish with salt and pepper to desired taste. Serves ~4 as a small side.

Basil Coconut Curry with Chicken

This dish was everything I imagined in my head and more. So. Delicious.

Fresh basil. Tender chicken breast. Creamy coconut milk. Curry.

You get it.

Basil Coconut Curry with Chicken – A Lemongrove Avenue Original

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole Chicken Breast
• 1/2 Can Unsweetened Light Coconut Milk
• 1 t. Cumin
• 1 t. Coriander, ground
• 1/2 t. Cayenne Pepper
• 1 t. Chili Powder
• 1/4 t. Turmeric
• 1 t. Curry Powder
• 1 C. Vegetable Broth
• Handful of Fresh Basil Leaves
• 1 Jalapeno, chopped and seeded

Begin by cutting the chicken breast into chunks. In a bowl, mix all spices and then add chicken chunks, coating chicken. In a large sauce pan, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, heat chicken (medium heat) until cooked through. Remove chicken and put aside. Pour 1/2 of broth into pan to deglaze with cooking juices from chicken. When pain is deglazed, add coconut milk, basil leaves and jalapeno. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Add cooked chicken to pan and allow to heat for a few more minutes. Allow sauce to thicken (doesn’t take very long… I added 1 t. cornstarch to assist). Serve chicken with sauce over rice or veggies (I served mine over sautéed spinach and mushrooms).

Burgers and Puppy gushing

     I picked up some basil and feta this weekend at the market and began the week with turkey, basil and feta burgers. I found an onion in the fridge and decided to chop some of that up and throw it in as well.  And as I was mixing up the burger add-ins, I noticed that I had an audience…

Puppy had decided to camp out in the kitchen where I was prepping dinner, (my apologies for the creepy looking eyes – it’s just the flash glare, I swear!). I added the ground turkey to the bowl and mixed it all up.

I then made them into patties and put them in a pre-heated pan (sprayed with a bit of Pam) and flipped when eat side was browned.

   I placed my burger on a toasted whole wheat sandwich round (love them) and put a dollop of garlic mustard aioli on top. I then prepared a small salad of baby arugula, cherry tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Easy, delicious and packed full of great fresh flavors!

After dinner, I brought puppy out for a walk where he rolled around in something yucky, ahem… So an immediate tub was in order.

There’s puppy, post-tub, laying with his head on a pillow watching me do work. Isn’t he so cute?