Wee twee treats

I'm going to be painfully forthright on this one: I actually spent more than 10 seconds trying to come up with the tongue-twistingest post title I could muster. The initial title was "Too twee to eat," at which point I thought, "Man, I should come up with a pun instead, because what I've got doesn't even roll off my mental tongue*," closely followed by "Hey, maybe if I make it more difficult to pronounce, they'll think I'm being difficult for the sake thereof." And several permutations later, I think I've hit the apex of unpronounceability.

Here's the actual object of the post title. Are these not the cutest things you ever did see?

They're vegetarian BLT cups! I made tiny whole wheat bread bowls using my muffin tin, chopped soy bacon (not an accidental purchase; it was on sale at Trader Joe's and I thought I'd give it a shot), tomatoes, and lettuce, tossed the BLT with a light, creamy vinaigrette, and put it in the bowls. Progress shots (and recipes) for you:

Step 1: ball o' dough

Step 2: stretch rolled-out dough over upturned muffin tin

Step 3: bread bowl!

If you don't roll the dough thinly enough, you get a bread Frisbee

But the underside is still brown and tasty!

Whole wheat bread bowls
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose or bread flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup warm water
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together and knead well for 5 minutes. Let rest for 30 to 45 minutes until very puffy, but not doubled. Punch down and divide into balls; the number depends on the size and thickness of the bread bowls you'd like to make. Let the balls of dough rest for 10 minutes, then roll them out until they're 1/4 inch thick for crispier bowls and 1/2 inch thick for fluffier bowls (and larger bowls, which might break if they're too thin). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Lightly grease an upturned muffin tin, ramekins, or ovenproof, full-sized bowls and shape the rolled-out dough over them. If I'd used individual bowls rather than crowded-together tins, I'd have had a little fun and made dough handles or decorative flaps or something. Go to town. You could even brush them with oil and sprinkle them with sesame seeds or sea salt or herbs. In any case, bake at 400 degrees until browned. Let them cool before you put stuff in them.

Spicy BLT chopped salad
bacon of some sort: soy, turkey, or regular
lettuce
tomato
Sriracha
milk/buttermilk/cream/half-and-half/sour cream/mayo
sesame seeds
lime juice
olive oil
rice vinegar
salt
pepper

Cook the bacon (make sure it's well-drained!) and chop it. Chop the tomato and lettuce (make sure they're dry!). Mix them all together. Make the dressing by... er... crap, I didn't measure anything. I used a little of my leftover heavy cream, some lime juice, sesame seeds, olive oil, rice vinegar, Sriracha, salt, pepper, and sesame seeds. Whisking the lime juice slowly into the cream makes a sort of buttermilk; the sour cream or mayo would be a thicker, creamier element. Whatever dressing you make, don't overdress the BLT. The point is to taste the bacon and vegetables and bread with a hint of dressing, not to overwhelm them in a goopy sludge. Plus, if it's too moist, it will soak through the bread bowl really quickly, and that's nasty.

*YES THERE IS A TONGUE IN MY MIND**
**Huh, that's actually kind of disgusting. Plus, while we haven't done much in the way of neuroanatomy yet***, I'm pretty sure it's not true.
***Oh god, with posts like this, I'm going to have to delete this blog fourth year if I ever want to get into a residency.