Sweet Potato and Kale Pizza

It's been a very long time since I've posted a pizza recipe on this site and I had to remedy that immediately. This pizza has some of my favorite winter ingredients, but used in a fun way instead of another stew or casserole. Since it's chock full of vegetables, you can fool yourself into thinking this is healthy. You'll probably have a lot of kale left over after making this. Make kale chips and try not to devour them all on one sitting. I love the sweet potatoes and onions with the slightly bitter and crispy kale. I added a few red pepper flakes when serving to give it a spicy edge, but a drizzle of balsamic cream would be amazing as well and would tie everything together nicely.


Pizza ingredients


Add olive oil and seasonings to the kale


Do the same with the sweet potatoes


Roll out the dough to something that resembles a circle


Brush the dough with oil


Top with cheese


Add the sweet potatoes


The the onions


Bake for 5 minutes


Add the kale


It's done!


Close up


Slice and eat



Orange and Green Pizzas from Around the Web:
Sweet Potato Kale Pizza by Two Peas & Their Pod
Sweet Potato Kale Pizza by Tri To Cook
Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Pizza by Bev Cooks


Sweet Potato and Kale Pizza
(By Esi)

Makes 2 9-inch pizzas

1 pound curly kale, washed, dried, and torn into pieces
1 small sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Cornmeal as needed
1 pound whole wheat pizza dough, at room temperature
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Spread a thin layer of cornmeal on the foil and set aside.

In a large bowl, drizzle the kale with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to lightly coat all of the kale with oil and seasonings.

Drizzle the sweet potato slices with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to one large circle or two 9-inch circles. Brush any excess flour off the dough.

Brush the dough with a thin layer of olive oil. Top with the mozzarella and then the sweet potato and onion slices.

Bake the pizza for 5 minutes. Take the pizza out of the oven and top with the kale. Bake for an additional five minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling, the sweet potatoes are cooked through, and the kale is crisp. Serve immediately.


Printable Recipe

Namibia Trip - Okonjima and Etosha

My mom has settled in to her life in Namibia and the Peace Corps. A few weeks ago, my sister and I packed up our bags and made the (very) long trip to go see her for the holidays. For those that don't know, Namibia is in southern west coast of Africa. It's neighboring countries are South Africa, Botswana, and Angola. Namibia is roughly twice the size of the state of California and actually has a similar landscape. It's the second least populated country behind Mongolia and you can drive for long stretches without seeing other people. Namibia is not known for it's food (salty meat, millet, ketchup and mayonnaise on everything), but what they lack in culinary prowess, they more than make up for in beautiful landscapes and interesting wild life. Since my mom wasn't allowed to leave the country yet, we spent our time driving all over the country and seeing almost everything Namibia has to offer.

To break up the drive between Windhoek and Rundu, we spent one night at the Okonjima Lodge. Okonjima is the home of the Africat Foundation where injured or mislocated cheetahs and leopards are taken to be rehabilitated and reintroduced to the wild. We did a cheetah tracking mission which took us through their vast territory and we managed to get up close and personal with a cheetah that had just made a kill. It was beyond amazing to see.


The cheetahs and leopards are collared and tracked with devices that look like this.




Before you see the cheetah, you see a lot of other wildlife like warthogs (which are everywhere in Namibia), various antelopes, and giraffes.




Score!

After Okonjima, we headed to Rundu a few days. Rundu is where my mom lives and works. There isn't much to do there and I got a cold so those couple of days were spent laying around trying to get better quick (which I did). From Rundu, we made our way to Etosha National Park. We spent one night at the gorgeous Namutoni Lodge and two nights at Okaukeujo. There is a ridiculous amount of wildlife in the park and we spent our days there driving through looking for animals. We saw everything from springboks (which are also all over Namibia) to lions, but sadly, the weather was too warm to see any elephants. We also had a fun (well, not so fun for my mom) moment when our 4x4 got stuck in the mud of the Etosha Pan. Thank goodness for German tourists who got us unstuck!


Zebras


Wildebeast


Ducks


Side-Striped Jackal


The ever present springboks. The blurs in the background are lions!


Giraffes


White Rhino


Sunset at the waterhole in Okuakuejo

After Etosha, we visited Swakopmund and the Namib Desert. Stay tuned to find out more about what we did in each of those places.

Frozen Hot Chocolate

I came back from ten days in Africa fully expecting cold weather and gray skies. Instead I was greeted with sunny skies and 85 degree temperatures. I guess I brought the Namibian heat back with me! This frozen slushie was the perfect way to cool off during my relaxing weekend and was so worth me breaking my blender. Again, this is way more slushie than milkshake which I actually prefer since I'm not a huge fan of milkshakes. It's not too sweet and if you use low or nonfat milk, it's not terribly bad for you (for those that made resolutions to eat better).



Everything you need


Chocolate in the double boiler


(Almost) melted chocolate


Add the sugar and hot chocolate mix


Mix thoroughly


Add some milk


Mix until smooth


Add everything to the blender


Blended


Serve


One year ago: Sweet Potato Hash with a Fried Egg
Two years ago: Turkey Black Bean Chili
Three years ago: Shaksouka


Frozen Hot chcolate
(Adapted from Serendipity 3)

3 ounces of your favorite chocolate (can use a variety), cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons hot chocolate mix
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice
Whipped cream and chocolate shavings for topping (optional)

Place the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until the chocolate has melted. Add the hot chocolate and sugar, and stir until completely blended. Remove the bowl from the heat and slowly stir in half a cup of milk. Mix until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Place the ice, remaining, milk, and cooled chocolate mixture in a blender. Mix on high speed until smooth. Pour into a glass and serve with whipped cream and chocolate shavings if using.

Printable Recipe

Roasted Persimmons Wrapped in Bacon

Before the holidays, I got together with my friends for one last potluck and a gift exchange. I needed something simple and fast to make. The best part of this appetizer is that you can wrap the persimmons a day in advance and just pop them in the oven right before the party. The mild, sweet persimmons go well with the smoky bacon and tart balsamic. Leaving them on the toothpicks makes it easy for guests to eat too. I love finding new ways to use persimmons and this easy preparation is certainly a keeper.



One year ago: Quinoa with Shrimp and Pineapple
Two years ago: Winter Fruit Salad with Whole Wheat Orzo and Arugula
Three years ago: Vanilla Bean Marshmallows



Roasted Persimmons Wrapped in Bacon
(Adapted from Food & Wine, December 2004)

4 persimmons, each cut into 8 wedges
16 pieces of bacon, halved crosswise
Salt and pepper to taste
Aged balsamic vinegar for serving

Lightly season the persimmons with salt and pepper.Wrap each persimmon wedge with a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick. This can be done up to a day ahead of time. Keep the persimmons refrigerated until ready to bake.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Roast the bacon-wrapped persimmons for 20-25 minutes or until the bacon is cooked through. Serve warm, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.


Printable Recipe

Urbano Pizza Bar

Here in Los Angeles, we certainly have our fair share of former Top Chef contestants making their mark on the food scene. Long before Michael Voltaggio stole the show with ink, Ilan Hall was making waves at The Gorbals with controversial menu items like bacon wrapped matzoh balls. Hall's newest effort is Urbano Pizza Bar in downtown which I recently got to visit with some friends.

The menu is divided into small plates and pizzas. To get started  we shared the beet and burrata salad ($9). There's a hunk of creamy burrata topped with pesto and served alongside beets, arugula, and a chunk of grilled bread. The flavors are fresh and clean.



Similar freshness can be found in the wild arugula salad with parmigiano, olive oil, and lemon juice ($7).



My favorite dish of the night was the wood-roasted broccoli ($6). The broccoli is nice and charred and served with balsamic saba, garlic, and chili flakes.



I was less excited about the charred corn with balsamic butter ($7). The flavors were fine, but nothing really popped.



The rosemary roasted potatoes ($7) were also a bit of a letdown and after the first taste, no one really touched the sofrito ketchup they were served with.



Things rebounded nicely with the mozarella trio ($9). Burrata, smoked mozzarella, and fresh mozzarella come with tomatoes, pesto, and a totally addictive marinara sauce. We ended up ordering extra sauce on the side.



You can't visit a pizza bar without getting pizza so we ordered a few. We defiled our margherita pizza with pepperoni ($12 plus $3 for the pepperoni). It was fine, but nothing amazing.



The schimietta comes topped with smoked bacon, pumpkin, and goat cheese ($14). The toppings work well together, but like the rest of the pizzas, the crust is lacking. It's thin which I always prefer, but kind of doughy instead of crisp.



The favorite pizza of the night was the quattro formaggi ($14). Probably because we're all such cheese whores. The mozzarella, fontina, gorgonzola, and parmigiano give this pizza heft and there is a nice salty bite from castelvatrano olives.



We couldn't leave without ordering a couple of deserts. The poco dolce ($7) is caramelized pizza bread with sweet ricotta, nutella, and strawberries. This is an instance where the pizza dough actually works. It was delicious.



Since the celebration was for my friend Jason, we had to order his favorite chocolate and mint combo in an ice cream sandwich. The mint ice cream was real mint flavor and so perfect with the chocolate.



Urbano isn't reinventing the pizza wheel, but it's certainly a nice addition to downtown LA. With Library Bar next door, you have a ready made fun night out on the town.



One year ago: Spaghetti All'Amatriciana with Spicy Smoked Mozzarella Meatballs
Two years ago: Maple Bacon Biscuits
Three years ago: Fried Ravioli


Urbano Pizza Bar
630 W. 6th Street, Suite B & C
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 614-1900
Website

Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a safe and fun celebration. I am slowly recovering from my vacation and jetlag and am looking forward to getting back in to regular posting. These cookies popped up in the blogosphere last year and quickly spread like wildfire. I had wanted to make them for a long time, but finally got the chance to make that many cookies for a crowd for the Eat My Blog bakesale. Created by Jenny at Picky Palate, these cookies are fun and best shared with a group so you don't devour them all in one setting. I followed the recipe exactly except for using 8 ounces of mini chocolate  chips instead of full size and since I baked them while they were cold, I increased the bake time to 12-14 minutes. You can find the original recipe here.


One year ago: Holidays 2010
Two years ago: Sriracha Chicken Wings
Three years ago: Macarons with Vanilla Bean Honey Buttercream