Cauliflower Crust Pizza, Romesco Sauce, Two Great Salads

Mixed Fruit Dessert Salad
Sally hosted a couple of girlfriends for a Saturday luncheon, and I did my Kilted Cook, Personal Chef thing.  I made them the Carrot-Parsnip Osso Bucco which I wrote about a couple weeks back, paired with Red Quinoa, and this dessert salad served with a dollop of Skyr yogurt.  It turned out so pretty I just had to share:

Cauliflower Crust Pizza
We'd been craving a pizza, and I've been wanting to try making my own cauliflower crust.  This was a lot simpler than some of the recipes I've seen, and comes from the WW recipe database.  It's also a lot healthier than the pre-made cauli-crusts that you can buy at the megamart.  Take a look:

Preheat oven to 450F

14 oz frozen, "riced" Cauliflower, thawed and pressed in kitchen towels to remove moisture
2/3 cup AP Flour (could substitute other non-wheat flours)
1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella or other cheese
2 Eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning or other herbs and spices

Thoroughly combine the ingredients in a large-ish bowl.  Spoon the 'dough' onto a pizza stone, coated pan or parchment covered baking sheet.  I used our 12" pizza pan with a  spritz of EVOO.  Smooth the dough out with the back of a large spoon or spatula.  I spread it out not quite 1/4" thick -- like a typical "thin crust" -- which we prefer.  Bake about 30 minutes.  

Then carefully release, flip over, and bake the second side up 20-30 minutes more.  

Cool the crust, then add your sauce and toppings.  Bake again at 450 for another 15-20 minutes until the cheese in your toppings melts. 

Romesco Sauce
I wanted something different from ordinary "pizza sauce"  for the base flavor of my pizza, and since I had almonds and red bell peppers around, I decided to make a simple, very flavorful Romesco sauce.  The sauce originated in Spain and is a tremendous thing to top a steak, fish, chicken... or even a pizza crust.  Here's the recipe I posted a few years ago.

3/4 cup Sliced Almonds
2 large Red Peppers, split, deveined and roasted skin side up under the broiler until nicely blackened 
1 Tbsp Malt Vinegar
1 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
1-2 Tbsp oil-packed Sundried Tomatoes, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 tsp fresh cracked Black Pepper
1-2 peeled Garlic Cloves

Put everything in your food processor and whirrrr until nicely pureed.  Yep.  It's that simple.

Works great as a garnish for fish, chicken, omelets, and pizza!

Butternut, Kale & Quinoa Salad

This dinner salad came from Forks Over Knives, and like most of their recipes, fell just a bit short.  In this case there wasn't nearly as much dressing as you would like.  My ingredient list will give you a decent amount of dressing, and suggests optional dried fruits to add!

                       
2 cups cooked Butternut Squash - 3/4" cubes microwaved until done but firm
1/4 cup chopped raw Cashews (Pine Nuts would also go well here).
1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon
2 Lemons, juiced; one zested
4 Tbsp Maple or Cane Syrup
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3 cups stemmed, chopped Kale
1-1/2 cups cooked Red Quinoa (better flavor than the usual tan quinoa)
1 sweet Apple, diced
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
Optional -- 1/2 or so of raisins,  sultanas, or Zante currants

While the squash cooks, toast the cashews a few minutes in a dry skillet.  

Whisk together the cinnamon, lemon juice and zest, syrup and mustard to make a dressing.
In a large bowl toss the warm squash and kale, to slightly wilt the greens.  Then fold in the apple, onion and quinoa -- tossing well to combine and distribute everything.  Drizzle the dressing over all and toss one more time.  Chill before serving.