A Week of Vegetarian Meals

Summer Pizza and Salad

Part One

Some background:

I have a weekly menu schedule.

The key for me is to have easy and versatile recipes that I can adapt to what I have on hand.

I shop every two weeks or less, and keep a well-stocked freezer, pantry, and refrigerator.

I have a box of organic fruit and vegetables delivered every two weeks.

We get eggs from a neighbor.

We use oat milk, but eat dairy cheese and heavy cream.

I have a large garden, and small greenhouse, and have some kind of fresh greens available all year (kale does well outside in the winter), along with herbs.

I make almost everything from scratch, with the exception of some of the veggie burgers.

Three appliances I use almost every day are a stand mixer with a glass bowl (better for yeast doughs), a food processor, and a hand held blender.

Here’s the schedule:

Monday: pizza

Tuesday: Fish

Wednesday: Asian

Thursday: Pasta

Friday: Spanish/Mexican/Eggs

Saturday: Burgers

Sunday: Leftovers or a new recipe

Part Two

Pizza Night

In the summer, I make a salad to go with the pizza. In the winter, I serve a soup. I’ll devote a essay to soups later.

I use the Kitchn thin crust pizza dough. You can make it just an hour before you use it. I divide into thirds, and freeze two of them. That way, I only need to make the dough every three weeks! A third of the dough makes a pizza big enough for the two of us.

Homemade (No-Rise!) Thin Crust Pizza Is Ready In Less Than an Hour

I mix the dough in a stand mixer. If you are new to yeast doughs, a good rule is that the dough should “clean the bowl” when it is ready. That is, the ball of dough should collect most of the bits on the sides of the bowl. You can keep adding small amounts of flour until this happens. The amount of flour needed will vary depending on weather and flour type. I use instant yeast that I buy in bulk and keep in the freezer.

I buy shredded mozzarella from Costco and repackage it into about one cup portions. I double bag these and freeze them. I do the same with the cubed gorgonzola.

I also make lots of pesto in the summer: basil, carrot top, kale, and a mix of these greens. I use lightly toasted walnuts instead of the very expensive pine nuts in my pestos. I freeze the pesto in small amounts to use in the winter.

Fresh pesto!

I use either a layer of pesto or a layer of mozzarella to start my pizza toppings, and add whatever I have in the house: mushrooms, peaches, tomatoes…you could start with a red sauce if you prefer.

I assemble the pizza on the same piece of parchment paper I used to roll it out. Parchment paper is a kitchen staple that makes life so much easier…Amazon or King Arthur Flour are good sources for half sheets. (Much better than rolls of it). I transfer the pizza to the stone in the oven with a flat baking sheet. I remove the parchment paper about half way through the baking, and use the same flat baking sheet to remove the pizza from the oven.

Nettle, Mushroom, and Cheese Pizza

If you don’t have a pizza stone, heat a baking sheet in your oven, and transfer to pizza to the sheet.

I use pizza shears to cut the pizza; another kitchen tool that makes life easier.

Tonight’s pizza is mushroom, cheese, kale, and roasted grapes, since that’s what I have on hand. You can roast almost any fruit or vegetable and it tastes delicious! I usually roast veggies with olive oil and spices or herbs and fruit with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Why You Should Roast Your Grapes

https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-roast-grapes-and-what-to-do-with-them-article

Dreamfarm | Scizza | Pizza Scissors

Please let me know if you have questions, and I will try to answer them!