7. Herb Garden Pizza

Thought it was time for an herb garden update.  My herbs are growing and doing quite well.  I added a small second bed with more basil and parsley and an addition of mint.  Mint is a fav in tea, lemonade, mojito, and lots of other beverages! This a link to my first herb garden post if you missed. Herb Garden
Loving gathering these fresh herbs to make delicious dishes for my table.  One I recently made was a quick Herb Garden Pizza. This time I used a ready whole wheat crust instead of making my own.

Ingredients:

• Pizza Crust-ready made
• 2 Tablespoons Tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup cooked ground meat (turkey or beef)
• 10 to 12 Turkey pepperoni
• Veggies-1 Romo Tomato sliced, 1/4 cup Sauteed Spinach, 1/2 cup chopped Mushrooms and Zucchini, 1/2 roasted bell pepper
• Herbs-1 Tablespoon or so of chopped Rosemary, Parsley, and Basil
• Mozzarella cheese-lots for us,  around 8 oz shredded
• Cheddar cheese-amps up flavor, around 2 oz shredded

Layered all ingredients on pizza crust in following order:

Tomato sauce, Rosemary, Parsley, 1/3 cheeses, pepperoni, ground meat, 1/3 cheeses, zucchini, mushroom, spinach, parsley, basil, rest of cheeses, tomato, roasted bell pepper (only on my side, hubby does not like bell pepper)

Baked on pizza stone according to crust directions.  400F for 10 to 12 minutes.  Delish and so quick especially if you have already cooked the ground meat.  This is very easy to adapt to your families taste!

What are your favorite veggies or herbs to add to pizza?

6. Yummy Grilled Artichokes

Last week I decided to to try grilling artichokes for the first time.  This was an ambitious undertaking since I had never cooked an artichoke. Surprisingly it turned out well. My husband and I enjoyed the light Italian/smoke flavor of my recipe.

Most of the recipes I found had you cook the artichoke first then grill to add flavor.   How to make a Killer Grilled Artichoke was the U Tube video I used to educate myself on grilling an artichoke.  I also used his marinade as a base but changed ingredient amount slightly.

Ingredients I used:

• 1 artichoke
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine
• 1 medium to large lemon
• 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure I followed:

Trimmed the points and end off the artichoke.  I tried to cut it it half but it was to hard. Decided to wait until after it was cooked.  Place the artichoke in stock pot with water, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of white wine, 1/2 tablespoon of Italian seasoning,  juice of 1/2 a lemon, and drop in the lemon half.  Boiled it for about 45 minutes which was too long.  I think next time 30 to 35 minutes will be enough. The artichoke petals fell off when cut it in half. Oops! Lastly I scooped out the choke. 

Basted the artichoke and loose petals with a marinade of 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Grilled on medium high setting for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Added the extra marinade to 1/2 cup mayonnaise for dipping. 

It turned out so well that I can't wait to try this again!