Pizza...Like You've Never Had It

And that's because it's a sweet, dessert pizza. Dina Guillen, who wrote the new cookbook Pizza On A Plank, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her Strawberry Mint Pizza with Lemon Glaze. And like all the pizzas in her cookbook, Dina told Tonia you don't bake this pizza, you grill it on a plank, hence the name. Dina says she's been using a plank to grill for about 20 years, and wanted to play around a little. Pizza was a natural move, and when she tried grilling her pizzas with strawberries, they were a hit! Dina says grilling with smoke really mixes well with the sweetness of strawberries, and compliments the sauce, which is a Ricotta base. Spinkle on the mint, and you've got a deliciously sweet treat! 

A Different Flavor Profile...of Pesto!

It's not the pesto you were expecting. Nisha Vora, who wrote the new cookbook Big Vegan Flavor, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her Mint and Pistachio Pesto that's not necessarily Italian inspired, but comes more from the Middle East. That's because, Nisha says, mint and pistachio are flavors from that part of the world. It's matter of adding ingredients to a food processor, along with olive oil. Serve it with roasted vegetables for a wonderfully delicious dish. Nisha promises this pesto is thicker than the classic Italian type you might be used to, but that's a good thing!

A Minty Soup

 

Soups on! Even in these ever-warmer days, there's room a for a delicious, cool soup whose key ingredient might surprise you, honeydew! Elisa Spungen Bildner, who wrote the new cookbook, The Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her delicious Mint Melon Soup. Elisa told Tonia she uses fresh melons, locally grown in her region (in this case the Berkshires of Massachusetts). The soup itself is sweet, and makes for a great dessert or starter course. Try it out!

1 large lime

2 large oranges

½ large honeydew melon (2 to 2½ pounds), seeded, peeled, and 1- inch diced

3 tablespoons loosely packed fresh mint leaves

½ large cantaloupe melon (1½ to 2 pounds), seeded, peeled, and 1- inch diced

Mint sprigs for garnish (optional)

HIDESTEPS

1. Place four soup bowls in the refrigerator to chill.
2. Zest the lime until you have ½ teaspoon of zest and set aside. Zest one orange until you have ½ teaspoon of zest and set aside. Juice the lime and oranges until there is 1 tablespoon of lime juice and ½ cup of orange juice. Mix the juices together in a measuring cup with a lip for easy pouring and set aside.
3. Working in batches if necessary, puree the honeydew cubes and mint leaves in a blender until smooth and the tiny pieces of mint are as fine as possible. Pour half of the juice mixture into the puree and blend again to mix well. Transfer to a glass jar or covered dish and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
4. While the honeydew puree chills, rinse the blender with cold water. Working in batches if necessary, puree the cantaloupe cubes until smooth. Pour the remaining juice mixture into the cantaloupe puree and blend again to mix well. Transfer the cantaloupe puree to a glass jar or covered dish and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
5. Remove the chilled soup bowls from the refrigerator and line them up on a work surface. Pour ¾ cup of the honeydew puree into the bottom of each bowl. Gently, to avoid splashing, pour ¾ cup of the cantaloupe puree down the side of each of the serving bowls, so that the two colors of soup are separate and each takes up half of the serving bowl. Sprinkle a pinch or two of the orange zest on the green honeydew soup side, and a pinch or two of the lime zest on the cantaloupe soup side, and serve. If desired, garnish with mint sprigs.

This Milkshake is Healthy...We Promise

 

Admittedly, when you think of a milkshake, it's cool, creamy and probably not very nutritious.  This milkshake changes things around.  Sarah Waldman, who wrote the cookbook Feeding a Family came by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about a milkshake that contains no ice cream, but instead healthy things like dates, bananas and mint.  It tastes amazing (chances are good your little ones won't know the difference) and accomplishes dessert with very little sugar.

5 dates, pitted

2 cups whole milk (or your favorite unsweetened nut or plant milk)

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup ice

1 frozen banana

5 fresh mint leaves
Simply whizz everything together in a blender, divide among 4 cups, and enjoy immediately.