Pizza by Elizabeths – Greenville, DE

http://pizzabyelizabeths.com/

I enjoy the concept of gourmet pizza – especially when it tastes good!  I went to Pizza by Elizabeths with two friends and enjoyed the Field Greens With Curried Pecans salad and The Ashley – fresh tomatoes, brie, olive oil, garlic, basil, and locatelli romano cheese.  There were so many choices for pizza, that it was hard to decide, but I chose this mostly because I’ve never had brie on a pizza before!

The salad was pretty delicious and they give you the dressing on the side, so no worries about it being overdressed.  I enjoyed with the raspberry vinaigrette, which was kind of thick.  It was still good, but not the same style of vinagrettes that I have seen at other restaurants.  The pizza was more garlicky than I expected, but not overpowering.  It was good, but not great – I was also a little disappointed because one of the four slices had almost no toppings on it – just the honey wheat crust.  By the way, the wheat crust is very tasty and does not detract from the taste of the pizza.

My friends were from out of town and one had leftovers that I had the opportunity to much on.  She had ordered the White pizza – creamy alfredo sauce topped with mozzarella and Monterey jack, sautéed spinach, artichokes, and chopped fresh tomatoes.  I can’t speak for what it tasted like fresh off the brick oven, but as leftovers it was okay.  I do not like artichokes, so I removed those.  The sautéed spinach seemed pretty dry.  The cheese was a good part of it though!

I will definitely enjoy Pizza by Elizabeths again and keep on trying different combinations of pizza!

Summerly Squash

We were give a huge zucchini and summer squash from an avid gardener, so I needed to make a dish based on these two ingredients.  The Summerly Squash dish is good, but I think could have more flavor (possibly because I didn't use the Bay Leaf).

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/summerly-squash/detail.aspx


I used Pam instead of vegetable oil and still got the vegetables to a nice crisp-tender state.  I drained one can of diced tomatoes with oregano and basil and used it instead of medium tomatoes to hopefully enhance the Italian flavors - it also resulted in more of a "sauce".  I skipped the bay leaf because we didn't have any - this was probably my downfall.  The dish was still good - and I added some Trader Joe's Italian Sausageless Sausage for a kick of protein.  Overall, tasty, but possibly more flavor needed with additional herbs (or a Bay Leaf!).

Summer Squash Bake

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/summer-squash-bake-64874.aspx

This is a nice, light summer dish with good texture and color.  There are so many veggies that the dish stays crisp, but also a chewy part with the eggs.  I think that the flavor is really unique (in a good way), probably from the Miracle Whip - not your normal quiche/egg taste.  I used a mix of Parmesan and Asiago cheese instead of plain Parm, shredded Italian cheese for pizza, 1/2 small onion, and 1 medium green pepper.

This also reheats well in the microwave - good for lunch the next day!

Mexican Pasta Vegetable Bake

Pretty good – but could be better (probably because we only had one 16-oz. jar of salsa – such a travesty!).  We also didn’t have rotini, so I used macaroni – the rotini would definitely hold the salsa more, but that’s okay.  Instead of using frozen corn, I used canned – which I don’t think makes a bit of difference (and is easier than thawing).  I also used Mexican Taco cheese (about ½ of the package), which gave the meal an extra little kick.  Finally, no cilantro – not a huge fan and didn’t have any fresh on hand.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/mexican-pasta-vegetable-bake-50182.aspx

The flavor was good, not too spicy and I added some green bell pepper for a crunch factor.  I like that you can make this healthier by reducing the amount of cheese, and it has a good amount of fiber and protein because of the black beans (two cans would probably work, too!).  My recommendation – definitely make this recipe, but be sure to have all of the salsa at the ready!

Cheesy Mac Casserole

I wasn’t as much a fan of this as my fiancée was – but it is a good base for enhancements.  I used regular Kraft Mac & Cheese as the topper and Morningstar Farms burger crumbles instead of the other items.  The taste was a little bland overall, but adding Italian seasoning helped it along.  Next time I make it, I’ll use cumin, red pepper, diced tomatoes w/ green chiles, and Mexican cheese.  Also good to Mexi-it-up a little J 

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/cheesy-mac-topped-casserole-75975.aspx

Cottage Cheese Chik'n Enchiladas

This dish has an excellent spice to it (due to the green chiles) and is very tasty.  I was a little skeptical because of the cottage cheese (not a huge fan), but it really works!  I used Trader Joe’s Chickenless Strips (only one box, but should have used 2 or 3) and cut them up really small.  We didn’t have any onions, so I nixed that.  Since I only used one pack of Chickenless Strips, I only had to use ½ of the cottage cheese filling (unfortunately, I learned that out after I made it!).  Finally, instead of using Monterey Jack cheese, I used a Cheddar and Monterey mix – and probably only 1 cup worth.  I did use the whole can of Enchilada sauce! 

 http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cottage-cheese-chicken-enchiladas/detail.aspx

I filled about 8 tortillas (we ran out – oops!), 6 were corn and 2 wheat.  They all were very tasty.  A little too spicy for the fiancée (even though I used mild enchilada sauce), but pretty good for me J

Parmesan Zucchini with Garlic Knots

This dish was a nice take on Italian without the pasta.  I made a casserole of zucchini, spaghetti sauce (Spicy Red Pepper) and Trader Joe’s Italian Sausage (2 of them).  Instead of mixing it together, I tried to layer everything.  We didn’t have a lot of mushrooms, so I bypassed those.  We also did not have 1 cup of Mozzarella, so I added what we had (less than ¼ cup) and a good bit of Parmesan (maybe ¼ - ½ cup).  I think that it worked well – tasty and a tad spicy. 
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/parmesan-zucchini-64886.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/great-garlic-knots/detail.aspx

 I served with Garlic Knots – and they were pretty good.  We had Pillsbury biscuits in the refrigerator, so I used those instead of breadsticks.  They didn’t “knot” very well, but I think it worked just fine.  I used the egg wash and just sprinkled out the garlic powder and rosemary.  It was quite tasty!