Recipes

Zucchini Tomato Ricotta Pizza

Sanura

Zucchini Tomato Ricotta Pizza

Since moving to New York, Dad calls to brag about his homemade pizza with vegetables from his garden every summer. I always beg him to freeze a pie and overnight it on dry ice. He laughs. I naively wait.

While waiting, I’ve tried various restaurant-style regional pizzas. My favorite style is Chicago’s thick cornmeal crust. Each slice is the equivalent to one meal. As for New York’s thin-crust pizza, I initially didn’t like it. New Yorkers brag about it being the best, and they often take out-of-town guests to their favorite pizza place. It’s definitely a ‘place’, because it’s really a fast food version of hamburgers. The ingredients are canned tomato sauce, dry cheese and flavorless dough. It’s doesn’t taste special. A New York restaurant-style pizza specializing in fresh ingredients, especially with homemade mozzarella cheese, is a true delight. However, one slice is a snack compared to Chicago’s hearty version. In recent years, as the food movement as spread, more New York restaurants are making pizza with fresh ingredients. Read more →

Baked Eggs in Enchilada Sauce

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Baked Eggs in Enchilada Sauce

Cooking eggs in thick tomato-based sauces is a canvas to a creative mind’s imagination of flavors. Add diced vegetables, such as mushrooms and blanched potatoes, with the onions. Wilt baby greens over the saucy eggs. For a Spanish-inspired version, use enchilada sauce and garnish it with sliced scallions, chopped pimento-stuffed green olives, fresh cilantro, and queso blanco—or manchego–cheese. Garnish a basic garden tomato sauce with black kalamata olives, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and basil leaves. If you’re not a vegetarian, finish this dish with chopped pork, duck or turkey bacon for a salty and crispy flavor.

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Heart this Cantaloupe Aqua Fresca with Green Tea

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Cantaloupe Aqua Fresca with Green Tea

My sister and I watched Dad turn and fertilize the soil of his garden. Plant seedling plants for the tomatoes, string beans, black-eyed peas, squash, zucchini, and cantaloupe. We mostly watched the cantaloupe grow into long vines. Among the leaves, small buds gradually grew to burst into yellow blossoms. Then the beginning of the cantaloupe would appear. When it was at full size, my sister and I started a non-verbal game of who can get to the melon first. Picking a melon too early resulted in a bland taste, but if it stayed too long on the vine, it would rot on the ground. A melon is ready when the bottom has an overripe, sweet smell. My sister had the advantage of watching the melons, because her bedroom window over looked the garden. Often, I would come home to find her finishing a whole melon. When I found a just ripe melon, I would eat it in less than 20 minutes. One year, Dad complained he never ate a melon from the garden, because my sister and I found them first.

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White Chocolate Peanut Butter Yogurt Ice Cream

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White Chocolate Peanut Butter and Yogurt Ice Cream with Crunchy Blueberry Topping

True peanut butter aficionados love this chill dessert. Thick Greek yogurt mixed with the Peanut Butter & Co.’s White Chocolate Wonderful creates a tangy and sweet ice cream. Top a few scoops with a crunchy mix of blueberries, toasted coconut flakes, and peanuts for more texture and flavor. Want more chocolate? Try this ice cream with bittersweet chocolate chips. Whether this ice cream has a topping or not, every spoonful is similar to eating a cold candy bar. Read more →

Fried Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta Cheese

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Fried Zucchini Flowers with Ricotta Cheese

At this time of year, farmer’s markets or specialty stores randomly place loosely packed beautiful, yellow flower blossoms in the produce section. Those are zucchini flowers. They’re not meant for decorative vases to spruce up a room. Are they for salads? Maybe, if you want to feel light and delicate. There’s a better way to enjoy them. Let’s take a break from the green leafy stuff. Why don’t we wrap those delicate petals around a stuffing made with fresh herbs and whole milk ricotta (don’t cheat by buying low-fat, it’s not fair to the taste buds), and fry them golden brown. Read more →