Spinach, Artichoke & Bacon Pizza

My sister and I made homemade pizza for the first time this past weekend and it was such a success! It is pretty simple as well.. The following recipe for the dough makes two large (about 16") pizzas.

Ingredients:
[For the dough]
1 1/4 cup water (105 degrees Fahrenheit)
3 1/2 cups of flour
1 packet of dry yeast
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil

[For the toppings]
Marinara sauce
About 1/2 cup of shredded Italian blend cheese
3 cloves of garlic
About 1/2 cup of chopped artichokes
About 1/2 cup of spinach
3 slices of bacon

To start, mix the dry yeast and and 1 1/4 cup of water that is 105 degrees in temperature and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Next, add the flour, olive oil, sugar and salt into the mixer and let it knead on the lowest setting for 10 minutes.

Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and add extra virgin olive oil, along with some italian herbs (such as oregano, thyme, basil, etc) Then cover the dough and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Now it's time for the toppings! Take three slices of bacon and chop them into smaller pieces

Cook the bacon until they are crispy!

Arrange the artichoke, spinach and bacon on separate plates and put aside.

After the hour, take out the dough and roll it into two equal balls of dough. We wrapped up the other ball of dough and saved it for the next day to make pizza again:)

In the meantime, put the marinara in a large sauce pan and simmer. I added 2 extra cloves of chopped garlic to add more flavor.

Next, roll the dough out into a large circle, drizzle olive oil on a large oven pan and put the dough on the pan. Drizzle more olive oil on top of the dough (and you can sprinkle more oregano on top)


Next, add a layer of marinara sauce, then cheese, then artichokes, spinach and bacon. Sprinkle more cheese on top.

Bake in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, and then when the crush is hard enough, push it off of the baking tray and put it directly on the oven rack and let it cook for another 4-5 minutes (or however crispy / soft you like your pizza to be)

And here's the final product!!!! It turned out so delicious and yummy!!! ^_^

Organic vs. Non-Organic

I bought two different types of scallions/green onions - organic and non-organic. Can you guess which one is organic? If you guessed the top smaller one, then you are right, while the bottom, more robust one is non-organic. I just wanted to see the comparison between the two because I find it fascinating that we're enlarging everything - from fast-food value meals, to even our simple scallions. No wonder the result turns out to be: larger obese humans.

Edamame!!

Edamame (soy bean pods) are so delicious and healthy and can be munched on as an appetizer or snack. You can find frozen bags of edamame at the grocery store, and you can either prepare them the traditional way by putting the frozen edamame into boiling water for 3-4 minutes, or you can simply put the frozen edamame into a microwaveable bowl, submerge them in water, and cook them in the microwave for 2 minutes. Drain the access water, sprinkle salt on top and enjoy!

Chicken Fried Rice

To make fried rice, make sure you use day old rice, and non-sticky rice is preferred.

Ingredients:
- Carrots
- Peas
- Corn
- Water Chestnuts
- Chicken breast
- 2 cups of cooked rice
- Soy Sauce
- sesame seed oil

Directions:
1) Start cooking the chicken breast in a pan with medium heat in some olive oil. Cut into little pieces.
2) Put a teaspoon of sesame seed oil into the bottom of a large pan or wok and add the rice.
3) Add the chopped carrots, corn, peas and water chestnuts. Add the cut chicken into the mix and stir fry, adding 3 tablespoons of soy sauce (add more if you like it salty)
4) Serve and enjoy!

Smoked Salmon Penne Pasta

This dish is so easy to make and is really good. I learned it from my favorite Italian, Matteo Milllone! ^__^

[Serves 4]

Ingredients:

- 3 cups of uncooked Penne Pasta

- 1/2 quart of heavy cooking cream

- 5 oz Smoked Salmon - make sure you get free-range raised fish. Farm-raised salmon doesn't taste as good, and it has less than half of the OMEGA 3's that are so healthy for your body!

- 1/2 white onion

- 1 tablespoon butter

- Crushed Black Pepper

- Salt

1. Boil water and add the pasta, and salt to taste. Cook exactly the amount it says on the box for al dente.

2. In a large sauce pan melt the butter and saute the chopped onion until translucent. Add the cut and sliced smoked salmon and a dash of crushed black pepper, and saute with the butter and onion for 1-2 minutes.

3. Pour the cooking cream into the sauce pan and stir with the butter, onion and smoked salmon. Let it simmer until it reaches a light boil (do not let it boil for too long or the sauce will become too thick)

4. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce pan, mix and stir the ingredients together (turn the heat down to one of the lowest settings)

5. Serve and enjoy! (and sprinkle some freshly grated black pepper on top)

Fresh Vegetables and Greens!

The best thing about Korean food are the fresh greens and vegetables.

Pictured here : Chopped green onion, garlic, kimchi, and my most favorite: perilla leaf (or sesame seed leaves / "kkaaeneep" in Korean)

Use these essential ingredients with rice to wrap your Korean BBQ'd beef or pork! Complete the meal with a big bowl of spicy hot kimchi jjigae and you'll have a delicious traditional Korean meal.

Kimchi jjigae

I typically always do a vegetarian kimchi jjigae, but you can make it with pork, or fish and seafood. Here is my simple and basic recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of kimchi (and its juices)

2-3 tablespoons of gojijjang (red pepper paste)

1/2 teaspoon of gojujadu {red pepper flakes)

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 green onion

1 package of Tofu

1 package of Enoki Mushrooms

Instructions: Put the minched garlic, chopped kimchi and its juices into a pot, and add 2 cups of water. When boiling, add the gojijjang, and simmer/boil for 25 minutes. In the meanwhile, cut the tofu into squares, and cut and clean the enoki mushrooms. Add them to the stew and stir, sprinkling the gojujadu over the tofu. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes, and at last adding a cut green onion on top. Serve piping hot with rice!

Ingredients!

These are the ingredients for panfried tofu! I made it again recently and I liked how it all looked out as raw ingredients :]

Here is the original recipe blog post --

[http://nomadichimee.blogspot.com/2010/09/panfried-tofu-with-spicy-sauce-dubu.html]

Spicy Shrimp

If you're using frozen shrimp, make sure they've been defrosted and drained before marinating.

Ingredients:
About 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
One 1-inch piece ginger, minched
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon Korean chile powder (gojugadu)

Instructions:
Put the shrimp in a large bowl. Add the soy sauce, red wine, garlic, ginger, and lime juice and combine. Sprinkle with the chile powder and toss.

Place a large pan on a preheated grill/stove. Add the shrimp and cook, turning, until they've turned pink.

Serve hot with rice and other side dishes.