Friday, April 30, 2010

Argentine Black Bean Flatbread with Chimichurri Drizzle


I made this recipe tonight. LOVED it. The earthiness of the beans balanced with the freshness of the chimichurri drizzle is so good. Supposedly it makes 16 servings (appetizer size). Uh, I ate 1/4 of it easily. Husband liked it as well. The kids, not so much. I left off the drizzle on their part, but they still had to force it down.

If I made it again I'd cook the dough directly on the oven rack and roll it a little thinner to make it extra crispy.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Black Bean Nacho Pizza

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I wanted to try another "different" type of pizza and this one had many good reviews. It is from Eating Well. Although the directions are for grilling, I just cooked it in my oven. Maybe next time. I did follow the oven directions closely which tells you to cook it for a few minutes on a hot pan, then flip, top, and cook again. That actually worked out very well and this pizza had a nice crisp crust, similar to nachos.

I used the dough recipe listed, but in the black bean dip I used half chili/half ancho powder. Don't think I would do that again. The ancho powder made it too...I don't know, musty tasting.

All in all, a good pizza, not to hard to make. I liked the addition of the fresh tomatoes and green onions which brighted up the end result.

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And is it me, or did April go by way to fast? I had one more pizza on deck this weekend, but the month is OVER! :(

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Smoky Corn and Black Bean Pizza


See...We made this for lunch in the oven and it was okay. BUT THEN, for dinner, we reheated it on the grill as per the recipe and THEN, it was GREAT! The grilling made it so smokey and delicious!!!



Smoky Corn & Black Bean Pizza Recipe


INGREDIENTS

  • 1 plum tomato, diced
  • 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
  • 1 cup fresh corn kernels, (about 2 ears)
  • 2 tablespoons cornmeal
  • 1 pound prepared whole-wheat pizza dough
  • 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella, preferably smoked mozzarella

  1. Preheat grill to medium.
  2. Combine tomato, beans and corn in a medium bowl. Sprinkle cornmeal onto a large baking sheet. Stretch the dough into about a 12-inch circle and lay it on top of the cornmeal, coating the entire underside of the dough.
  3. Transfer the crust from the baking sheet to the grill. Close the lid and cook until the crust is puffed and lightly browned on the bottom, 4 to 5 minutes.
  4. Using a large spatula, flip the crust. Spread barbecue sauce on it and quickly sprinkle with the tomato mixture and cheese. Close the lid; grill until the cheese is melted and the bottom of the crust is browned, 4 to 5 minutes.

NUTRITION

Per serving: 316 calories; 6 g fat (3 g sat, 0 g mono); 13 mg cholesterol; 48 g carbohydrates; 3 g added sugars; 14 g protein; 4 g fiber; 530 mg sodium; 94 mg potassium.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Tortilla Pizzas with Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, and Olives

This was a GREAT, easy recipe. I feel like it was pretty healthy as well. I didn't have any feta cheese, but did have a pinch of parmesan, gouda, and gruyere...They did just fine and both B and I loved this!!
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Tortilla Pizzas with Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, and Olives

Recipe Courtesy of Jeanne Lemlin

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (10)

Ingredients

  • 4 (8inch) flour (wheat) tortillas
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

The topping:

  • 4 plum tomatoes, finely diced
  • 12 black olives (such as Kalamata or oilcured olives) pitted and halved
  • 1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced paper thin
  • 1/2 cup thin slivers red onion
  • 4 teaspoons finely chopped oregano, or 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • Generous seasoning freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons fruity olive oil
  • 8 ounces (1 1/2 cups) finely crumbled feta cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Using 2 baking sheets, place 2 tortillas side by side on each sheet. With a pastry brush, lightly brush each tortilla with some of the olive oil. Flip the tortillas and brush again. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, flipping over the tortillas and alternating the placement of the baking sheets halfway through the cooking time. Also, during the first few minutes, use a knife point to pop any air bubbles that might develop. The tortillas should be golden and crisp when done. (The tortillas may be prepared to this point up to 3 days in advance. Cool completely, seal in a plastic bag, and refrigerate until ready to use.)

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, olives, zucchini, onion slivers, oregano, pepper, and olive oil and toss well. Gently fold in the feta cheese. Scatter all over the 4 tortillas. Bake 12 minutes, or until the feta is sizzling and the zucchini softened. Alternate the placement of the baking sheets halfway during the cooking time. Cut and serve immediately


Monday, April 19, 2010

BBQ Chicken Pizza


My husband and I have attempted this recipe before trying to recreate the BBQ Chicken Pizza at Cafe Excel in College Station! It's not too difficult to do and this is a great one. The key difference is tossing the chicken in the BBQ sauce before topping the pizza!! ENJOY!! I served it with roasted asparagus:)

This is from Sandra Lee on Food Network!

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 pound chicken tenders
  • 2/3 cup barbecue sauce
  • Flour, for dusting surface
  • 1 (13.8-ounce) package pizza dough We used Boboli...
  • 3/4 cup shredded Gouda
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan
  • 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken tenders and saute until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. When chicken is cool enough to handle, dice chicken to yield a little over 1 cup. In a small bowl, toss chicken with 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce. Set aside.

On a floured surface, roll out dough and place on a greased sheet pan. Shape to fill the sheet pan, about a 15 by 10-inch rectangle. Spread remaining barbecue sauce evenly over pizza dough. Sprinkle Gouda, mozzarella, Parmesan, onions, and chicken over top. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese bubbles. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and cut into pieces.

BEFORE!!

AFTER!!

Chicken, Red Grape, and Pesto Pizza

I know, right?

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So, I was looking for something different...maybe not this different, but it had some good reviews. What the heck, I thought I would try it.

This probably is suppose to be a superfast recipe, as it has lots of store bought ingredients. I didn't have much luck with the store bough pizza dough, but I did get the generic. Other than the dough, this pizza was....awesome. No really, everything went together really well. I highly recommend trying it. If the grapes are too much, you could sub grape tomatoes. I am pretty sure Mark picked off all the grapes from his pizza. He is not Open Minded.

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Have I mentioned my kids don't like pizza? They got a pretty good meal with it deconstructed.

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Thursday, April 15, 2010

Pita Pizzas

This is a great and easy weeknight meal. To top it off, my girls love it and even get to help.

We use store bought pita bread, pizza sauce and whatever toppings we feel like (or I have in the fridge)

Spread the sauce on the pita bread.



Sprinkle with cheese.



Top as desired.



Cook at 350 until toppings are sizzling (usually about 15-20 min at our house). I usually line the cookie sheets with aluminum foil to make clean up easy, but you could probably cook them directly on the racks to get a crispier crust.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Baked Potato Pizza


One of my favorite restaurant in Minneapolis was Pizza Luce and my favorite pizza there was the Baked Potato Pizza. It is so, so unexpected and so, so, so good. I'm craving it now as I type.

I tried to re-create the pizza at home. My version was good, but not as good as the Luce version. I used a pretty heavy hand with the butter and even some heavy cream in the mashed potatoes, but I think it wasn't enough.
Crust: I use this recipe.

Toppings:
Mashed Potatoes with red potatoes, butter, a bit of heavy cream, salt, milk and some sour cream.
Steamed Broccoli
Cooked, crumbled bacon
Cheddar Cheese

Monday, April 12, 2010

Plain Ole Pepperoni

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Mark's parents were here this weekend and well, I will just say they really like pepperoni pizza. I did want to make something for the challenge, so that is what I made. Here is the dough recipe I use with my bread machine:

1 tsp dried yeast
16 3/4 oz bread flour (I used 3 cups - have used AP as well)
1 TB milk powder
1 3/4 TB sugar
1 TB butter
11 3/4 oz water (almost 1.5 cups)

I think the milk powder just gives it a richer texture. Anyways, after the dough is done, I roll it out and prick it with a fork. If you like thick crust, make 1 pizza, thin, you can get 3. I usually get 2. If it is is just us for dinner, I use half and freeze the other half for later.

After rolling out, I go ahead and bake just the crust at 400 for 8-10 minutes. Then I top and bake an additional 10-12 minutes.

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Saturday, April 10, 2010

Roasted Corn, Poblano, and Cheddar Pizza

This is an old Cooking Light recipe that I've made several times. I really love it but I've had mixed reactions from others about it. It's light and fresh tasting .... and I love anything with roasted peppers on it.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

PIZZA!

Michelle came up with this one: how about a pizza challenge?

Get to it!