Delicious Veggie-filled Recipes I Make with my Host Family

Veggie Pizza
My host family, counterparts and friends in site all love this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oil
• Tomatoes
• Green Peppers
• Onions
• Spinach (... and really any other vegetable you'd like to throw on there)
  
• Cheese
• Pepper
• Oregano

To Prepare:
Several hours before you even start to get hungry, mix the flour and salt in a bowl (I also like to throw in some oregano) and gradually add the hot water. When you have more or less a good dough, punch a hole in the center, and add the oil. Work the dough well so it is good and soft, and leave it sit for a few hours. Then separate the dough into three balls, and roll it out (with a rolling pin, wine bottle, or work it out with your fingers) so that it is even and more or less the shape of the pan you will use. Pre-bake the crust for a little while until it is no longer raw.

Chop the tomatoes and lay them out to cover the crust. Then add all the other chopped vegetables and top it off with cheese. Add salt, pepper and oregano to your liking.

And then bake until the cheese is melted. If you're using a bubble oven, expect every pizza to take ~45 minutes to bake.


Veggie Burgers
I just recently tried these with my host family, and they really liked them -- especially with BBQ sauce.

Ingredients:

• Lentils (soaked, cooked, mashed and completely drained of liquid)
• Carrots (shredded)
• Onions (diced)
• Green peppers (diced)
• Egg (beaten)
• Bread crumbs

To Prepare:
Mix the veggies in with the mashed-up lentils. Add the bread crumbs and egg whites. With your hands, scoop up the picture and make little patties.

Fry the patties in a little bit of oil, and then place them on a plate covered with a layer or two of paper towels to soak up the excess grease. Add some salt and pepper, and stick it in a bun. The whole process should take you under an hour, and it's a great activity for kids.

Note: Once in the pan, the egg should help hold the patty together. But if the mixture is too liquidy (because of the lentils or veggies), they will break apart in the pan. Try adding more bread crumbs or a little flour.

For extra delicious veggie burgers, add some cheese and stick some spinach and tomatoes in the bun. My host sister tried it with some BBQ sauce and mayo and loved it.