Daiya Pizza - Vegan MoFo post 4

Day 4 of Vegan MoFo. I seriously should have scheduled a lot more posts (I just had 3 lined up) well in advance. Now, instead of writing up blog posts, I've been spending all my online hours MoFo blog hopping!

It's too hard to resist. I'm discovering all these awesome blogs and with all the criss-cross interactivity happening between mofoers all over the interwebs (blogs, twitter, facebook...), I feel like I'm a part of this large, global community of warm and friendly people and I wish veganmofo would last forever!

Today's post is going to be quick and simple. But not without a back story of course. :oP

In my pre vegan days, I was never a fan of cheese. When our parents took us to Wimpy (a pretty nice UK based fast food restaurant that existed here in Bangalore before the icky US fast food chains flooded India and wiped Wimpy out), sis and I always asked them to put very less cheese on our pizzas. And that was only because they claimed they couldn't make them cheese-less because the toppings wouldn't stay on then. So when I went vegan, 8 years ago, I never even gave a second thought to cheese.

Then last year, when DH and I visited the US for a few months, we got to taste Daiya vegan cheeze for the first time at Sugar Plum Vegan Café at Sacramento. I never knew cheeze could be so delicious!!

So a couple of months ago, when my cousin's friend was visiting here from the US, we asked her to please please please bring a pack of Daiya for us (packed safely between ice bags of course) in her luggage and she very kindly did so. :)

Needless to say, I've been using it very sparingly to make it last and thankfully, a little does go a long way.

The other day I made this pizza. Looks yum, huh? :D



I'm still working on getting a perfect pizza crust (mine's pretty yummy but it's more like bread than crust) so I won't post the recipe for that here. But here's how I made the topping:

Daiya
1 Pack Tofu - pressed gently to squeeze out water, patted dry and cubed
3 Ripe Tomatoes - quartered
3-4 cloves Garlic - chopped roughly
Nutritional Yeast
Balsamic Vinegar
Jaggery (or other sweetener)
Tabasco Sauce or Chilli Powder (or a bit of both)
Dried Oregano
Pepper
Salt

Put everything, except Daiya and Tofu, into a blender and liquefy.

Add Tofu cubes and toss.

Pour the sauce over olive oil coated, partially baked pizza base.

Sprinkle Daiya over everything and bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Slice and serve hot.

Enjoy! :)

Lazy Pizza

Though I normally prefer to bake my own pizza base, sometimes I get lazy and look for the easy/quick way out. Thankfully Nilgiris carries pretty decent whole wheat flattened bread which works. Well, when commercial products say 'whole wheat', it means they have some amount of whole wheat in there along with the usual lot of maida (all purpose flour), but at least it's a little better than getting breads made blatantly of white flour! Or so claims my slothful side. :oP

I concocted a nice, thick, fairly healthy and more importantly quick pizza sauce last night so all I needed to do is slather it onto the pizza base, bake it for 15 minutes in a hot 200C oven, sprinkle on some herbs, crush some pepper et voila! A super yummy dinner done in less than half an hour. :D



Here's what went into the pizza sauce:

4 Tomatoes
1/2 C Sun Dried Tomatoes
6-7 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 C Pecans
1/4 C Balsamic Vinegar
3 T Nutritional Yeast
1/2 t Jaggery
Chilli Powder
Salt
1/4 C Olive Oil

Rehydrate the sun dried tomatoes in 1/4 C warm water. Blend everything, except olive oil, together (including sun dried tomato water) into a smooth, creamy, slightly thick sauce.

Transfer to airtight container and add the olive oil on top. Mix well. Close lid and store in fridge for up to a week and use as required.

As always, I made this instinctively by throwing in handfuls and splashes so the quantities mentioned are indicative. Taste and adjust as you blend. Follow your tongue. :)

Vegan Masala Crust Pizza with Marinaded Toppings

The most important advice I can give you about this pizza is MAKE LOTS!! I wish I had done so because it melted away into thin air in no time!



For the Masala Crust Pizza Base:

1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour (Maida)
1/2 C Oatmeal
2 T Flax Seed Powder
1 C Grated Veggies - Carrots, Radish...
1 t Freshly Chopped Cilantro
1 t Seasame Seeds
1 t Flax Seeds
2 t Mixed Dried Herbs - Chives, Thyme, Dill...
2 Spicy Green Chillies crushed (could be replaced with Serrano Peppers)
1/4 C Sugar
2 T Oil (I used coconut)
2 t Active Dry Yeast
1/2 C Soymilk
Salt

Heat the soymilk, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Let the soymilk cool down till it's a little hotter than lukewarm (you should be able to dip your index finger in and keep it there for a few seconds at least). Mix in the yeast and keep aside for about 15 minutes to let it froth and rise. Add the oil and stir vigorously.

Warm up 1 C of water to lukewarm temperature.

Place the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix together lightly. Make a deep well in the center and pour the yeast mixture into it. Use your hands and start mixing everything. Add enough of the warmed water, a little at a time and keep mixing until a rough ball of dough is formed. A wetter dough is always preferable to a dry one.

Transfer the ball to a floured surface (I use my cleaned granite counter top) and knead well, for at least 10 minutes, until it's soft and elasticky.

Form into a ball, place back into the mixing bowl and cover with a warm, wet cloth. Keep it aside in a warm/sunny spot to let it rise.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping...

For the Marinade (use whatever's available and feel free to switch things around):

1 C Peanut Yogurt (any vegan yogurt can be used as a replacement but peanut yogurt tastes most delicious!)
2 Spicy Green Chillies crushed (could be replaced with Serrano Peppers)
1/8 t Powdered Black Pepper
1/8 t Kitchen King or Garam Masala Powder (available at Indian stores)
1 t Nutritional Yeast
1 squirt of Agave Nectar
1 splosh of Tamari
Salt

Whisk everything together until well blended.

Topping Ingredients:

1 Zucchini (sliced into thin rounds)
Florets from 1 small head of Broccoli
4-5 Tomatoes (cubed)
1 Green Bell Pepper (sliced into thin strips)
1 Block of Tofu (cubed)

Place the above in a wide bowl or marinade box and pour the marinade liquid over everything. Toss well. Cover and keep aside.

How to proceed...

After the dough has risen for 1 hour, punch it down and let it rise again for another 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

Divide the dough into two and form two pizza bases out of it. They could be rolled out but I prefer to tap them flat with my palms (about 1/4 inch thick) directly onto oiled cookie sheets.

Pick the veggies and tofu out of the marinade liquid and spread them over the pizza bases equally. (The marinade liquid can be reused with other veggies or more tofu for another recipe).

Bake for 25 minutes until the tops of the tofu and the sides of the pizza crust have slightly browned.

Serve hot with pepper freshly crushed over it. Enjoy! :)

Vegan Polenta Pizza

Well it isn't exactly like regular pizza but it is sooo yum and super easy to make too. I only have access to a microwave right now so I baked this pizza in it but once I get back home I'm definitely going to try this out in a real oven.

Crust:
1 C polenta corn grits
Olive Oil
Salt
2 C water

Bring the water to boil. Add salt and a dash of olive oil. Slowly add the corn grits while stirring continuously with a fork. Reduce the heat and keep stirring until all the water is absorbed. Close the pan and let it sit.

Topping (you can use any combination of veggies of course but here's mine):
Tomatoes sliced into circles
Onions sliced thin and long
Rice Vegan Cheese Slices cut into little pieces

Marinade:
Tamari
Ground Black Pepper
Sugar or Agave (teeny bit)
Tabasco Chilli Sauce

Max the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Place the chopped onions in the marinade and toss well. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Oil your pizza tray (I directly used my glass microwave turn table) and transfer the polenta onto it. Dip your palm in a generous amount of olive oil and pat the polenta down into an even base. Bake on high power for 5 minutes.

Take the onion slices out of the marinade and spread them evenly over the base. Place the sliced tomatoes over this and top with the rice vegan cheese pieces.

Bake on medium power for 5 minutes and then on high for 2 more minutes.

Slice and serve hot. Enjoy! :)

Vegan Tofu Tikka Pizza

Whole wheat pizza base topped with chunks of tofu and capsicum marinated in a spicy soy yogurt sauce!! Tofu acts as a healthier and far more delicious replacement to the traditional cottage cheese in the Tikka (a North Indian appetizer) recipe.



For the base:

2 C whole wheat flour
1/2 t omum (oregano seeds)
2 t salt
2 T sugar
3/4 T active dry yeast
3 T oil
Water

Put the flour in a large mixing bowl and make a deep well in the center. Put 1/4 t sugar and the yeast in the hole. Pour about 1/2 C of lukewarm water into the hole and let it sit for about 10 minutes. The yeast, sugar and water mixture will turn frothy and rise. Add the oil, salt and rest of the sugar and mix. Add as much water as required, a little at a time, and mix well into a rough ball of dough. Place the dough on a floured surface (I directly use my pre-cleaned countertop) and knead well for a few minutes till the dough is smooth and elastic. Lightly coat the ball of dough with oil, place it back in the mixing bowl, cover completely with a moist cloth and let it sit in a warm place for an hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping...

For the topping:

2 capsicums (green bell peppers) - chopped into large pieces.
1 package extra firm tofu - gently squeezed to remove extra water and cubed into large chunks.
1 tomato chopped and kept aside
Vegan Parmesan

Marinade sauce:

1 medium sized tomato
5 or more cloves of garlic
1-2 t red chilli powder (adjust quantity to how much spice you can handle)
1/2 C plain soy yogurt
Sea salt

Put all the ingredients for the marinade sauce in a blender and make a smooth liquid. Add the tofu and capsicum to the marinade, mix well and let the mixture sit for about 15-20 minutes. The tofu will soak up the flavors of the sauce really well. Remove the tofu chunks and capsicum from the sauce (keep the extra sauce aside for later) and layer them in a microwave safe glass dish. Cook on high for 5 minutes (use the micro-grill combo option if available). Let it sit in the microwave for a few minutes. Then mix in the chopped tomatoes and vegan parmesan.

How to proceed:

After the dough has risen for an hour, punch it down and divide it into two portions. Knead gently for just a few seconds and roll out into pizza bases. Cover one with the moist cloth which you used for the dough and place the other on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Pre heat the oven to 230 C (450 F) and bake the first base for 10 minutes. Take it out (leave the oven on) and brush on a little of the marinade liquid then load half the topping mixture over the base leaving a small gap around the edges. Pop back into oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Follow the same procedure for the second pizza base.

Serve hot with ketchup and/or peprico sauce! Enjoy! :)