"Roots and Crucs" Two Ways and the Continuation of a Friday Family Tradition

Roots 'n Crucs Pizza

Maybe, somewhere deep down, the hub and I knew when we met that we had an eternal bond -- a bond that was founded in shared family tradition, a tradition that was reinforced virtually every Friday night, regardless of the season, participants, or ages.  PIZZA NIGHT!

Both the hub and I grew up with skilled pizza makers.  Even now, we eagerly try (usually successfully) to convince my mother and his father to make pizza when we are all together.  Although the hub and I have no doubt enjoyed many a pizza night outside of these full family gatherings, admittedly (she adds shame-facedly) -- we rarely do our own pizza entirely from scratch. But tonight... perhaps we made a solid start toward reinstating this tradition in our own home, though my toppings may be a bit more unconventional than traditional.

Roots and Crucs. (i.e. Cruciferous Vegetables) Two Ways
Saturday is usually market squared day at the homestead; we hit up the farmers market for a plethora of produce and then whatever larger supermarket best meets our needs for the week.  This week, I was ahead of the game, because ( by way of cleaning up said homestead) I sorted through various coupons and thus decided to just get the shopping done ahead of the pre-Thanksgiving crowd.  Although I was not actually going to the Christmas Tree Shop, I do LOVE a bargain, especially on groceries.

In addition to actually shopping for groceries, I much enjoy organizing my pantry and fridge -- a lovely ritual cleansing and recentering.  I know, I know...I am very involved with my foodstuffs.  That really shouldn't surprise you.  (The hub and I celebrated our "Wood" wedding anniversary this year, and I admit that I probably showed more jubilation over this year's wood shelf that he added to the pantry than previous more luxurious gifts!)  Anyway, when I got home, I noticed several lone root veggies chillin' in the crisper.  I recalled that here and there I had bought a singular veggie or pack of veggies for a recipe and then ended up using the other ingredients required by the intended recipe for something else.  Thus, my gracefully aging celeriac and the stalwart parsnips continued to persevere, even if relegated to the bottom of the drawer.  Enough, I declared!  I have vowed to limit food waste to trimmings and such, so I knew I had several things to prepare today so as to achieve my goal and reap the benefits of these flavorful veggies.

With some lingering lettuce and sunflower sprouts, I whipped up a salad for the weekend and early part of next week.  Then, with the root vegetables which (this time around) included one white turnip, one celeriac, 1 lb. carrots ( about 5 due to subtraction of 2 for fur helpers),  1 small pkg. (1lb.) parsnips, 1 yellow beet, 1/2 sweet potato remant, 1 small red onion, 1 remnant of garlic bulb (approx. 2/3 of med. original), I made Jae Steele's "Maple-Roasted Root Vegetables" which I found in my copy of her cookbook Get It Ripe.  The recipe is pretty much as simple as it sounds.  Mill around doing other kitchen fun for approximately an hour wherein you make pizza dough and occasionally shuffle around the veggies, and then....

Voila!

This picture hardly does justice to the glory of the maple-caramelized goodness that wafted from the oven at almost the moment of the pans' entry.  Nor does it do justice to the crispy outside of the veggies and gorgeous autumn colors of the dish.  Now, you can simply stop here...and you will convert people to all of these veggies, if you can manage to share the bowl.  Trust me, if there had not been a pizza plan, I would have been quite content to carry on with eating from said  for dinner bowl (maybe just with a fork instead of my fingers).

However, there was a pizza plan, and I still had some brussels sprouts, a broccoli crown, and some brown rice to put to use.

Complete Dish #1: Root 'n Crucs PIZZA
Call me a heretic if you want, but this is the best pizza I have ever had -- hands down.  If I had known what roots could do for my pizza experience, I would have branched out from my spinach garlic (with period crucs) haze years ago.

Roots n' Crucs Pizza Prior To Baking -- add a little Mozz. Daiya and GO!

In addition to the "roots,"  I sauteed up those "crucs," as well as a few mushrooms,  and added them to my roasted garlic tomato sauce-topped spelt flour crust.  The sauce was some leftover Muir Glen Pasta Sauce, and I found the crust recipe here http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-no-yeast-pizza-dough-254063.  Although both of our parents' recipes use yeast and their doughs are great, sometimes, you don't want that much fuss.  We LOVED this dough.  It made two perfectly-sized pizzas (about 6"); the crust was thin, but in about 20-22 min., it comes out fully cooked and with a flexible, lightly browned crust.

Dish #2: Warm Roots n' Crucs Salad
I simply added the leftover brown rice to my bowl of veggies and will warm in the oven in upcoming days for some additional wonderful meals.  I thought about adding something to increase wetness of the dish, but I decided that I like the vegetables to lend all the creaminess.  If you are mindful about oil usage, you can make this dish extremely healthy and delicious!

Slightly blurry, but the vibrant color and varying, yet complimentary, texture of this dish are evident!

Just in case you thought I forgot about dessert, check out THE REVISIONIST'S TREATERY! Also, if you recall my mentioning of pretzel fun, I was waylaid by pizza exploration. Check out the pretzel posts tomorrow!

Don't miss out -- add those roots and crucs to your pizza! The brussels were once again a brilliant surprise. And to think...I once only ate them disguised by a block of cheese. Shame on me! As for the missed opportunities with parsnips, celeriac, beets, and turnips, I have many more years of penance...

Enjoy the weekend...and the many ways in which to use a diverse offering of produce!
K