Pizza but with a twist, add some of Popeye’s favourite food, and you have Spinach Vegetable Pizza

Makes: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

2 Pitas - Split
1/4 Cup Yeast
3-4 Cloves Garlic - Mashed
1 1/2 Small Yellow Onions - Sliced
4 Tablespoons Whole Wheat Flour
4 White Mushrooms - Sliced
Basil - Diced
5 Plum Tomatoes - Diced
Parsley - Diced
2/3 Cup Soy/Rice Milk
2/3 Lb Frozen Spinach

Directions:

1. Heat soy/rice milk in a pot. Stir in flour, yeast,
and spinch. Cook until spinach is tender and sauce
is thick.
2. Saute vegetables in a saucepan.
3. Slice each pita into two thinner pitas.
4. Spread sauce and spinach over the tops of
each pita slice.
5. Add vegetables & cook in oven on a cookie
sheet.
6. Serve!

Just because you’re vegetarian doesn’t mean burgers are off the menu, just try these tasty Black Bean Burgers

Makes: 2-3 Servings

Ingredients:

3 Cups Cooked Black Beans - Drained
1 Green Pepper - Chopped
1 Red Pepper - Chopped
1/2 Cup Cooked Corn
2 Teaspoon Fresh Cilantro - Chopped
2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Garlic
1/2 Teaspoons Jalapenos - Minced
1 Cup Cooked Barley Or Cooked Rice
Salt & Pepper
Breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Mash 1/3 Cup Of Beans.
2. Mix mashed beans with remaining beans.
3. Mix in remaining ingredients.
4. Add breadcrumbs & form meat patties.
5. Cook until brown.
6. Serve plain or in buns.
7. Add lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc
as desired.
8. Serve!

An odd tip, but it works: To add some extra flavour, cut the surface of a garlic clove and rub it onto the surface of the toasted rolls.

Ingredients

· 6 tbsp margarine
· 1 pound firm tofu, crumbled into large chunks
· 1 red onion, chopped
· 1 red bell pepper, seeds and membranes removed and
chopped in to short strips
· 4 rolls
· ½ tbsp dried oregano
· ½ tbsp dried basil
· ½ tbsp dried thyme
· ½ tbsp dried rosemary
· Pinch of dried dill
· Pinch of dried sage
· Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a heavy-based skillet over medium heat, melt the margarine. Add crumbled tofu, onion and bell pepper into the pan and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. While vegetables and tofu are sautéing, slice the rolls in half and toast. Once toasted, place rolls onto a serving plate.
3. Sprinkle in oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, dill and sage in with tofu mixture and stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Spoon the tofu mixture onto the toast and serve at once.

Serves 4

This type of pizza is really easy to make, not to mention fun and great tasting
Ingredients

· ¼ tsp olive oil
· ½ small onion, peeled and chopped in small dice
· 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
· ¼ tsp dried oregano
· ¼ tsp dried basil
· ¼ tsp crushed red-pepper flakes
· 1 bay leaf
· ½ cup canned whole peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped
· ½ cup tomato paste
· 2 whole-wheat pita breads (each 7½ inches)
· ½ yellow bell pepper, seeds and membranes removed, cut into
thin strips
· ⅛ cup baby spinach leaves, chopped into fine pieces
· ½ cup mozzarella cheese, grated
· Fresh basil, thinly sliced for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Over medium heat, heat oil in a non-stick skillet. Once heated, add in onion and garlic, stirring occasionally so onion and garlic don’t burn. Cook for about 4 minutes, until both ingredients turn a brown colour.
2. Sprinkle in oregano, basil, red-pepper flakes and bay leaf. Mix spices together. Stir in peeled tomatoes and tomato paste; increase to high heat. Once boiling, bring heat down to medium-low and allow mixture to simmer until sauce is thick and liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.
3. Arrange pizzas on 2 baking sheets. Divide sauce onto both pitas evenly, leaving a border for the crust. Place on yellow pepper strips and scatter on chopped spinach leaves. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.
4. Place baking sheets into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove pans from oven and put pizzas on a cutting board. Sprinkle pizzas with slices of fresh basil and cut each pita pizza into 12 slices. Serve immediately.

Makes 24 wedges

Stored in the fridge in an sealed container, with a piece of plastic wrap placed right on the surface of the tofu sauce, it will keep for up to 2 days.

Ingredients

· ¾ cup walnuts
· 3 cups coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
· 9 garlic cloves
· 12 ounces firm tofu, crumbled
· ? cup extra-virgin olive oil
· 1½ tsp kosher salt
· 2 batches pizza dough (recipe below)
· 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
· 1 cup Roasted Tomato Sauce (recipe below)

1. Place walnuts, basil and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer into a small bowl along with tofu, olive oil and salt. Mix well.
2. Preheat oven to 500°F. Working with one pizza batch at a time, cover other batch with plastic wrap. Divide dough into three even balls. Flour a flat surface and using fingers, flatten and stretch the dough onto a three separate 8-inch circles.
3. Flour a 10-inch pizza pan and transfer 8-inch dough circles onto them. Press dough out on the pan until it just fits inside the rim of the pan, the dough should be less than ¼ inch thick. Drizzle olive oil over dough and repeat with remaining dough. Place pizza dough in oven and bake until dough sets, 10 to 12 minutes.
4. While pizza dough is baking, make Roasted Tomato Sauce. Once dough has set, remove pizza pans from oven and spread Roasted Tomato Sauce over dough, leaving room for a border/crust. Place pizzas back into the oven and bake until dough is golden crispy. Cut pizza into slices and serve.

Makes six 8-inch pizzas

A tip for roasting the pecans is baking the nuts at 350°F in the oven, on a tray with a baking sheet, for 5-8 minutes.

Stored in the fridge in an airtight container it will keep for 2 days.

Ingredients

· ¼ cup olive oil
· 1 tbsp chopped garlic
· 1 cup finely chopped red onion
· One 19 oz can of chickpeas or red kidney beans,
     drained and rinsed
· ½ cup toasted pecans
· 1 egg
· ¼ cup Japanese panko bread crumbs
· ½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
· 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp dried
· 1 tbsp grated lemon rind
· 1 tsp Asian chili sauce
· Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
· Olive oil for brushing burger
· 4 oz old cheddar, sliced
· 4 whole wheat or sourdough buns
· 1 cup Red Pepper Rouille (recipe follows)

1. Place a skillet on the stove over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp oil and sauté garlic and onions until softened.
2. Purée chickpeas, pecans, remaining olive oil and egg in food processor until almost smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in panko.
3. Stir sautéed onions and garlic into panko mixture along with parsley, rosemary, lemon rind and chilli sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Form into 4 patties about 1 inch (2.5-cm) thick.
5. Preheat grill pan or grill to medium high heat. Brush patties with oil and grill 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place on buns and top each burger with cheese and Red Pepper Rouille. Serve.

Serves 4

Grilled Mushroom Burger

If you are using mushrooms that are small, just double the amount to fit on the burger bun.

Ingredients
 
·        4 large oyster mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed

·        4 large shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed

·        2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

·        2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

·        1 small clove garlic, minced

·        1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

·        ¼ tsp salt

·        ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

·        Butter for greasing skillet

·        4 hamburger buns, split in half

·        ¼ cup Red Pepper Rouille

·        4 small lettuce leaves

·        ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.     Take cleaned and de-stemmed oyster and shiitake mushrooms and place into a large bowl. In a small bowl, pour oil, vinegar, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper; whisk together until well mixed. Drizzle over mushrooms and using a large spoon, gently toss mixture until mushrooms are well coated with sauce.

2.     Melt butter in a skillet (or grill pan) over medium-high heat. Transfer mushrooms into the skillet and sauté for about 7 minutes or until they turn a golden-brown colour.

3.     While mushrooms are sautéing, toast buns and place two halves (I whole bun) on each plate. Spread buns with Red Pepper Rouille and top with lettuce. Divide mushrooms on top of ready buns and sprinkle on Parmesan cheese.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4