While I’m recovering from my vacation you all can enjoy the second installment of pizza recipes from the L’il Sis. This one is a classic Pizza Margherita, but with a healthy wheat crust. Don’t be afraid to make this from scratch - it’s not as hard as it looks, I promise!

I was going to follow up the story of L’il Sis moving to the Big City with tales of the woe and misfortune that befall a wide-eyed young thing from the Midwest. But it would be lies. Lies!

The truth is, the L’il Sis hasn’t gotten bamboozled by smooth-talking New York men. She hasn’t lost her modest college savings. She hasn’t gotten mugged, lost, splashed by a cab, sneered at by Upper East Siders, or anything else like that.

On the contrary, the girl is doing great – a job, a place to live (well, my living room), money for beer, etc. Her spirits are high, and she’s a plain old joy to have around. In fact, if you could divide the world into joke-tellers and laughers, the L’il Sis would be laugher of the highest degree. She one of those people that make life a little lighter, a little sparklier, and if you’re a wannabe joke-teller she makes you feel like your very own Carrot Top. (Er, you know, someone funny.)

So anyway, this pizza isn’t going make you bust a gut in the proverbial sense, but you may want to eat a lot of it, so try not to bust your gut in the literal sense either.

Serves: 4 – 5 (makes 2 thin crust pizzas)
Time: Active time is 30 minutes for the dough, then at least 1 hour for it to rise. Assembling the crust, pizza and toppings takes 45 minutes, and then another 20 minutes for baking time.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust via Allrecipes

1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 Tbl active dry yeast
1 Tbl olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

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Hello world, I’m on vacation! But not to leave you hanging, I’ve got recipe to share from a guest chef, my youngest sister and current flatmate, L’il Sis. L’il Sis just graduated college in the Midwest, packed her bags and headed out to NYC to join me and our other sister, The Sistaster, in our tiny Brooklyn apartment. L’il Sis is sleeping on an air mattress in the living room and is storing her clothes in the bookcase. Hey, it’s better than paying rent. [Update: L’il Sis now has a job and is paying rent.]

Like me and The Sistaster, the L’il Sis has a highly refined palate and a hearty Midwestern appetite. We spend a large amount of time making food, eating food, talking about food, running to the grocery store to buy food, emailing about who has to go buy food, and arguing about who owes whom money for food.

Busy as she is traipsing around NYC and getting her feet wet with her new job, the L’il Sis has found time to bless vanesscipes with a few recipes of one of her favorite foods: pizza.

Now, what I’d like to do here is make a metaphor of how living in NYC for the first time is like a slice of pizza for the L’il Sis - a hard and crusty exterior but with a surprising warm middle filled with lovely and unexpected toppings, but it sounds pretty hokey. So let’s make this idea really sparkle with, ahem, a haiku:

Big City. L’il Sis: A Haiku About Moving to New York City 

Big City. L’il Sis.
Dirty Subway, where’s my seat?
Shoot. Let’s eat pizza!

This is a take on a classic veggie pizza, but with the twist of a chickpea crust.

Serves: 5-7 guests. Makes (2) 14″ round pizzas
Time: active time is about 30 minutes to make dough, and 30 minutes for sauce and pizza. Dough needs to rise for at least 2 hours and the pizzas take about 30 minutes each to bake.

Chickpea Flour Pizza Dough

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (plus some for when rolling dough)
3/4 cup of chickpea flour
pinch of salt
3 packages active dry yeast
extra virgin olive oil
1 cup warm water

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Concept: a vegetarian muffaletta sandwich

Concept detailed: a big ole finger-lickin’ N’Orleans-style muffaletta sandwich starring a crispy-fried full-flavor artichoke “burger” base and some optional oozy melty cheese.

This is a big, strong sandwich and my “artichoke burger instead of meat” concept elicited some pretty strong reactions. Some folks were aghast that I would try to veg or veganize this classic sandwich, shaking their heads and warning not to mess with success. Well, I’m a messer. More forward-thinking folks thought it sounds gosh darn yummy. Others just got a kick out of the sandwich nickname “muff.”
Well, tradition be darned, you gotta get your inspiration from somewhere and I was in the mood for a giant sandwich. My version is a little heavier on the veggies than a traditional muff, but I’m all about sneaking some veggie goodness in whenever I can and I’m not apologizing.

By the way, it turned out terrific. It’s also perfect for a picnic.

Serves: Generous 4
Time: 50 minutes, or you can let the olive salad marinate overnight to make it even better

Olive Salad

16 oz jar green olives
8.5 oz jar black olives
5 stalks of celery
4 carrots
1 green pepper
2 Tbl capers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
3 Tbl olive oil

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This bean dip is named for my 3 hot sisters. They’re all you really need to get a cocktail party started. If you don’t have hot sisters of your own, borrow a friend’s or just make this spicy bean dip. Its truly easy — almost fun — to make. Full of hot summer flavor, easy to eat, and suspiciously vegan, it will make any party a hit with or without sisters.

Serves: 20 guests with other appetizers
Time: 15 minutes plus 30 minutes baking time

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OK, definitions first:
Arepas = A thick cake-like corn “tortilla”
Sofrito = A vegetable salsa
Habanero pepper = really freakin hot
This vanesscipe: Thick and pillowy arepas smothered with creamy pink beans and spiked with a tangy fiery sofrito.

You can get the instant corn masa mix/ masa harina in the flour area of your supermarket or Mexican specialty store (don’t get cornmeal!) It’s inexpensive and makes frying your own arepas or tortillas really easy. And they’re much tastier than store bought tortillas.
Warning: I’ve got a pretty tough tongue but when I make this again I’ll only use ¾ of a small habanero. These things are 40 times hotter than your garden variety jalapeno, which itself is no wimpy pepper. If you’re a hot pepper newbie, I’d suggest substituting a jalapeno for the habanero and deseeding the whole thing. Please use gloves and your best judgment.
A shout out to Dina for inspiring the sofrito: Thanks!

Time: 40 minutes if you can fry all the arepas at one time, otherwise 60 minutes
Serves: 3-4

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