Vegan Korean BBQ Beef Lavash Pizza with Arugula

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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This can be made with real beef but I used Beyond Meat’s Beefy Crumbles.  I also used my homemade Spicy Korean BBQ sauce from my vegan BBQ ribs post.  Pizza toppings are really personal & these toppings are more just suggestions than a recipe.  The BBQ sauce is REALLY good, though!

Spicy Korean BBQ Sauce

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup low sodium tamari (soy sauce)

1/4 cup water

1 TBS rice vinegar

2 TBS chili paste (sambal oelek or other type)

2 TBS Gochujang (optional)

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp ground pepper

1 TBS fresh ginger (minced)

5 garlic cloves – minced

2 TBS cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

I put everything EXCEPT the cornstarch into a little crock-pot & left it for two hours.  Once it was bubbly – I added 2 TBS cornstarch & whisked it in.  That made the sauce very thick & gooey.  Perfect!  You can do this stove-top by just bringing everything (except cornstarch) to a boil & then whisk in the cornstarch.  It would likely take only a few minutes to come together.

I used lavash bread as the base because each piece only has 240 calories so it is a great lower-calorie way to make pizza.

The toppings I used were:

Beefy crumbles mixed with some Korean BBQ sauce

Cherry tomatoes – halved

Grated carrots

Red onion – sliced VERY thinly

Grated cheese (real or vegan – your call)

I cooked this in the oven at 350 degrees for about ten minutes.

After the pizza was cooked – I added:

Jalapeno – diced

Arugula – tossed in a bit of olive oil & a pinch of salt

More tomatoes

Lavash Wrap with Arugula, Avocado & Whipped Feta

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

Follow @celisemccarthy

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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This isn’t really a recipe.  It is just a delicious & REALLY light lunch idea.  Not quite as light as THIS recent lunch of mine

…yeah.  That’s right.   A tofu dog & a mustard dip.  I live large.  Don’t hate.

But I loved this silly wrap & you might, too.  I also love when dogs sit “sloppy” – like this:

I also love that I can shop for gourmet (a generous adjective, perhaps) food items at TJ Maxx.  Look at what I scored there yesterday.

It is way cheaper to buy nice olive oil there.  And I got a few flavored oils, too!  And I got a new cookie sheet (under all the items) to replace this thing – which I am embarrassed to own.

Here is something I do NOT like.

How is that OK?  REALLY drives home why I do not eat meat.  So fucking nasty.

Anyway – on to the wrap.  This isn’t really a recipe & you can wrap lavash around whatever you want – even chunks of some poor pig who can watch you while you do it.  I went pretty clean, though, and opted for undressed arugula, tomato, avocado & whipped feta.  It was delicious!  Other ideas for such a wrap is to smear your lavash with cilantro pesto, or collard green pesto, Swiss chard pesto, broccoli & goat cheese pesto, broccoli rabe & pistachio pesto, dill & lemon & almond pesto, spinach pecan pesto, spinach & kale pesto, kale pesto, pea pesto or evenspinach & pea pesto.  I make a LOT of pesto!  Jeez.

PS – Whipped feta is made by simply blending 8 oz of feta with 3 oz cream cheese & just enough water to get them to blend in your food processor or other tool you use to whip things.

Lavash Pizza with Whipped Feta, Grilled Eggplant, Red Onions & Arugula Salad

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

Follow @celisemccarthy

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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I love pizzas with cold salads on top of them.  I will even dump a bunkus “house salad” of iceberg lettuce & shaved carrots on a slice – if I find myself in a pizza joynt.  But arugula salad is my favorite salad & arugula tops pizza so delightfully – I hope you give this a try.

This particular pizza was so delicious last night – I kept thinking, “I think this is my favorite pizza ever.”  That is saying a lot because I experiment with pizza nearly weekly.  Last August, I posted a Grilled Indian Eggplant Pizza with Feta, Tomatoes & Black Olives made with tiny, little Indian eggplants.

And while that pizza was yummy – the one last night was a revelation.  Maybe the lavash (rather than pizza dough) allowed the subtle flavors to come through better.  I’m not sure.  But I really recommend this pizza with all the enthusiasm I can muster.  If lavash isn’t available near you – try this with tortillas – like I did HERE.

I used Japanese eggplants here & sliced them VERY thin.

You can use regular eggplant but that can sometimes be bitter.  I sliced my Japanese eggplants as thin as I could with a mandolin & then dredged them through some bullshit Italian dressing I had.

I grilled them on each side for about a minute or two.

You could pan sear them a few minutes on each side or use a grill pan – or even roast them at 450 for just a few minutes.  But I think precooking them some way is sorta critical to the overall result here.  Still – you could probably use them raw – just slice them PAPER thin.

I will not give specific quantities of certain toppings here because that is really a matter of personal taste – but I will show you what I used.  Also – fresh mozzarella is nicer than the processed kind you typically buy grated up for pizza topping but that can also be used.  The fresh is better, though.

Lavash Pizza with Whipped Feta, Grilled Eggplant, Red Onions & Arugula Salad

INGREDIENTS

Lavash (or tortillas or pizza dough)

Whipped feta ((t is made by simply blending 8 oz of feta with 3 oz cream cheese & just enough water to get them to blend in your food processor (or other tool you use to whip things)

Japanese eggplant – sliced very thin

Red onion – sliced paper thin

Cherry tomatoes (or other tomato) – diced

Fresh mozzarella – sliced

Fresh oregano – chopped

Crushed red pepper

S&P to taste

Arugula

Lemon

Olive oil

DIRECTIONS

If using lavash or tortillas, preheat the oven to 350.  If using pizza dough – heat it to 500.

Dip the sliced eggplant in an oil based Italian (or Greek) dressing (or olive oil) & grill just to soften & give some color.

To assemble simply layer your lavash with whipped feta, eggplant, fresh oregano, mozzarella, tomatoes, onion and crushed red pepper.   Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted & the lavash is browned at the edges.

Meanwhile, toss the arugula in a LITTLE olive oil & some fresh lemon juice.  Add S&P to taste.

When the pizza is done, top it with the arugula salad & serve it up!

Lavash Pizza – Half Whipped Feta & Tomato & Basil and Half Collard Green Pesto & Fresh Mozzarella

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

Follow @celisemccarthy

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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There are many reasons one might just need an easy & quick supper.   Time might be short.  Energy or inspiration absent.  Sickness.  Dropped by your agent.  Mourning.  Lethargy.  Apathy.  Heartbreak.  Passed over for a promotion.  Laziness.  Self-pity.  Just got fired.  Hangovers.  Who knows?  Lots of reasons to just bust out the ole Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and I am not above such things.  In fact, Kraft Mac & Cheese is the silver lining in the negative world that makes me bust the box out to begin with.  Kind of like the weight loss that accompanies food poisoning.  Gotta look at the bright side.  I love Kraft M&C.  A LOT.  And one entire box is not enough.  I never eat more than one box in a sitting but I also never eat less than a whole box.  I don’t use the butter or milk – but rather – add a touch of salt.  And, with a little cheap hot sauce – like Rooster or Crystal – I am hooked up in my comfort food world.

Well – without revealing which ailment broke my spirit last night – I will say that my spirit was broken.  It was all I could do to eschew the Kraft & venture forward & try to make something I could share with youz.  This lavash pizza is the result.  As you can see – a broken spirit is as damaging to a photographer’s inspiration as it is to a cook’s – so please forgive.   Remember.  Spirit.  Broken.

The news here is the whipped feta.  It is made by simply blending 8 oz of feta with 3 oz cream cheese & just enough water to get them to blend in your food processor (or other tool you use to whip things).

It spreads like a dream and tastes like a kinder, gentler feta.  I needed some kind & gentle last night – so I whipped some up.  This would be good on sandwiches or bruschetta or blended into a pasta dish – or on pizza!

I didn’t have enough flour to make pizza dough so I decided to try the lavash I had just purchased at the AWESOME Super King.   A quick interjection about Super King: I have always heard horror stories about the parking lot there but never really experienced anything beyond the heavy traffic in it & the zombie walkers with their shopping carts, cankles & black socks (or threadbare knee high stockings) with various slipper shoes.  But yesterday, I noticed that EVERY car I watched try to pull into a parking spot needed to make a three point turn to accomplish the task.  WTF?  The spots are no smaller than expected.  And nobody was driving a stretch Hummer.  Just a bunch of 20 year old sedans in forgettable colors & badly in need of a wash.  And old fuckers that probably haven’t had their eyeglasses prescription updated since the year their car was built.  Since I was already suffering from a broken spirit – this incompetence made me want to do what this guy in Fort Smith, Arkansas did last week:

Which was – to hack some folks to death with a machete.   Click the Fort Smith link above for the story – but – have you ever seen a scarier looking guy in your life?  Imagine him hacking at you with a machete & screaming “I have Satan in me!” as he did so.   Who would fuck with this guy to begin with?  I see Satan all over him.  What is up with his throat?  Is that odd beard growth or a tattoo?   And he is a tiny little Manson-looking thing.  See how small?

Anyway – this guy radiates “Do NOT fuck with me.”

You might be relieved to hear that I wasn’t carrying a machete yesterday & so the only damage I could inflict on these parking retards was the surliest stink-eye I could muster.  Like this:

Most of the victims of my ocular hostility appeared unmoved by it.  Disappointing.  But, unarmed, there was little else I could do to express my distaste with them & their poorly crafted vehicular maneuvering.   Thus thwarted, I moved on to the shopping.

I left with about 15 bags of produce & cheeses & spent a mere $85 (which included $25 for a huge four pound wedge of Parmesan).  I love me some Super King.

I bought the lavash at Super King – which is no easy feat because they carry about a million brands.  It is VERY intimidating!

See?  On the shelf beneath the meat?  And that is only about half of what is available because the meat counter goes on a ways & then takes a hard right & continues.  LOTSA lavash.  LOTS.

I selected one at random.

Seriously.  I couldn’t make out any difference between them – so – I winged it.  This cost $1.99.

As to the pizza.  I topped it with (predictably) that which I had handy.  Whipping the feta took all the gumption I had.  I had recently made a crazy, vibrant collard green pesto pasta (which I will share soon) – and had this extra pesto around.

I also had a bit of extra sauteed tomatoes from my Pan-Fried Lemon, Goat Cheese & Ricotta Gnocchi recipe.

I also had basil & another decadent $5 container of micro arugula.  And I had lots of cherry-sized mozzarella balls.  And that is how this recipe was born.   Actually – it isn’t a recipe.  It is a suggestion.

I used one of these wire racks to cook the pizza as I feared a regular cookie sheet might result in a soggy lavash.  Egad!

In hindsight – I think a regular baking sheet would be fine as this crisped up almost too much.  Another issue is temperature.  I cooked it at 425 for a few minutes & then smelled the edges burning.

See the burn?  So – I opened the oven door until the oven cooled to about 350 degrees & then let it bake another 5-10 minutes – until the cheese looked like it does above.  I then topped the collard pesto side with micro arugula & the whipped feta & tomato side with basil.  I then doused the whole thing in an epic quantity of crushed red pepper.

I then poured myself a DEEP wine glass of Nyquil & glugged it as I downed this pizza.  All of this pizza.   ALL OF IT.

A hot bath & and the last dregs of my Nyquil cocktail sent me off to sleepyland at an hour too early for me to report to you here.  But – at least my miserable day had been slaughtered.  Slaughtered like those poor guys in Fort Smith & like the deserving but unpunished fuckers in the Super King parking lot.