After a hectic week at work it is nice to unwind with a ooey, gooey slice of home made pizza fresh out of the oven. As you well know, I usually make my own pizza crust but sometimes it is nice to rely on Helpers! I bought some Pizza shells at Real Canadian Superstore, I had some Yves Pizza Pepperoni and an assortment of cheeses on hand but truly lacked in the veggie department except for one yellow and one red pepper. Normally I would also use green pepper, spinach and tomatoes. Oh, but I did have a handful of mushrooms tucked away in one of the crisper drawers; I know, shocking that they weren’t in a Tupperware container, right? I blame it on lack of space in the very impractical fridge in my current kitchen.

Anyway, I had enough ingredients to throw together three pizzas so there will be some tasty cold pizza for lunch tomorrow!

Pizza Shells
1/2 425g can Tomato Sauce
3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 Tablespoon of “The Mix” or Italian Seasoning
1 package Yves Pizza Pepperoni
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan Cheese

Olive Oil
1 large Onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1  each Yellow Pepper, Red Pepper, sliced into thin strips
6 large Mushrooms, sliced
Basil
Oregano
Chili Flakes

Preheat oven to 450F.
Line pizza pans with LFoil for super easy clean up. Sprinkle with a bit of cornmeal.

In large skillet, saute onion in a bit of olive oil, over med-high heat for about 3 minutes.
Add garlic and continue cooking for a few minutes.
Add sliced peppers and cook until tender crisp.

While onion/pepper mix is cooking, mix together in a small bowl the tomato sauce, tomato paste and herbs.
Evenly spread the sauce over each of the pizza shells.
Top two of the pizzas with Yves Pizza Pepperoni.
Top one pizza with loads of the pepper/onion mixture along with the sliced mushrooms; reserve a little of the pepper/onion mixture to top the other two pizzas.
Top each pizza with some of each cheese.
Spread remaining pepper/onion mixture evenly over the other two pizzas.
Top each pizza with a sprinkling of dried basil, oregano and chili flakes.

Bake each pizza for 15 minutes in 450F preheated oven.
Slide pizza off baking tray, let cool for about 5 minutes then slice into wedges.

Serve hot!
Though cold Pizza is always pretty decent too!

A great meal in a matter of minutes!

Throw on a pot of rice.

While the rice is cooking sautee:

Onion, for a few minutes
Add some minced Garlic; cook for another few minutes.
Grate in a bit of Ginger root.
While that is cooking away, thinly slice a few peppers: red, green, yellow
Slice a handful of ‘shrooms.
Break flowerettes off of a head of Cauliflower as well as some Broccoli

Wash all under cold running water, drain well.
Throw into pan and cook over high heat until tender crisp.
Add strips of  Yves “Beef” Strips

Add a generous amount of bottled Teriyaki Sauce (1/2 cup) and heat through.

Serve immediately on a bed of hot Rice with Sesame Seeds to garnish.

It has been a long day at work and the last thing you want to do is cook, right? Quesadillas are a quick fix, add a handful of not-s0-g00d-for-you Tater Tots, a side salad and consider dinner done in the amount of time it takes to bake those Tater Tots!

Turn oven on the 425F.
Lightly spray baking tray with vegetable oil spray.
Put tater tots on tray, put them in the oven; when the oven reaches 425F turn timer on to 20 minutes.

In large Skillet, sautee:
1 Onion, thinly sliced; cook until soft and translucent
While Onion is cooking, de seed and thinly slice:
1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
Add to onion and cook over high heat, stirring often.
Add:
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt
Cook for a few minutes, while grating about
1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese

Heat Griddle to 350F.
I have one of those long Griddles and can cook 3 – 4 Quesadillas at a time.
Place 3 – 4 Flour Tortillas, slightly over lapping, on Griddle.
Put about 1/2 cup of the Pepper mix on one half of the end Tortilla, sprinkle with Grated Cheddar and fold in half.
Proceed until all 3 – 4 Tortillas are “stuffed” and folded over.
Cook until lightly browned, turn over and continue cooking until second side is lightly browned.
Continue with remaining Flour Tortillas and Pepper Mixture.
As the Quesadillas are removed from Griddle, cut each into wedges.
Serve with Tater Tots, a Side Salad and some Salsa on the side.

Sometimes I end up with a lot of leftover rice. I do a lot of baking already so I don’t always want to make Rice Pudding.  Yes, sure,  Fried Rice is always an option but I don’t always have the rest of the ingredients that I would like to use on hand. Then I came across this idea on vegetarian.about.com and knew I had to try it! I didn’t follow the given recipe much but it gave me a great starting point and I went from there to create my own version of Rice and Bean Burritos.

1-425gm can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced Garlic
1-425gm can Crushed Tomatoes or Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup prepared Salsa
1 teaspoon ground Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground Coriander
1 1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano
1 teaspoon dried Basil
1 teaspoon Salt
Pepper, to taste
1 3/4 cup leftover Rice
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

6 – 8 Flour Tortillas

In a large skillet, over med – high heat saute onion until soft; add minced garlic and continue cooking for a few minutes.
Add tomato sauce, salsa and the spices; bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes.
Stir in leftover rice and shredded cheddar, heat through.
Heat 3 tortillas in the microwave, on HIGH, for 45 seconds.
Spoon about a cup of the rice and bean mixture onto a single heated flour tortilla; wrap.
Repeat with remaining tortillas, heating tortillas, 3 at a time, in the microwave before filling and wrapping.
Top each tortilla with some shredded cheddar, a dollop of sour cream and serve on a bed of lettuce.

*I made up 8 burritos, wrapped them in cello wrap then l-foil and put them in the freezer for ready to go lunches in a hurry.

A variation of the recipe I found at:
Rice and Bean Burrito

Sometimes I just don’t feel like cooking but I am starving! This is quick and easy to throw together, tantalizes you as it simmers on the stove and rewards your taste buds when it is served up on a bed of fresh spinach and topped with a bit of shredded cheddar.

I came across this recipe in Betty Crocker [New Cookbook] 8th Edition 1996, page 215, but found it lacking in flavour so changed it up a bit.

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2  each, chopped: Red Pepper, Green Pepper, Yellow Pepper
1 (425g) can Diced Tomatoes
2 cups Long Grain Rice
1 (425g) can Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground Cumin
1 Tablespoon Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Chili Flakes
1/2 teaspoon Caynne
2 Tablespoons Lime Juice
1 teaspoon Salt

Fresh Spinach
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Fresh Cilantro, chopped
Salsa

In large saucepan (with close fitting lid) heat oil and cook onion until soft and translucent; add garlic and continue cooking for a few minutes.
Add chopped peppers, diced tomatoes, Kidney beans and rice and stir all together.
Add enough water to measure 4 cups all up, including the liquid from the diced tomatoes – I usually add about 2 and a bit cans of water.

Stir in cumin, oregano, chili flakes, cayenne, lime juice and salt.
Heat to boiling, stirring once or twice; reduce heat to low.
Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
Do not lift cover or stir.
Remove from heat and fluff with fork.

Serve on a bed of fresh spinach, top with a bit of shredded cheddar and chopped cilantro; add a decent splash of salsa.

Serves 8