Recipe: Chicken Pesto Pizza

Did I ever tell you about that time Mr. B and I made pizza?

Flour is for faces, yes?

I had been wanting to make pizza for a while — it had been months since we’d done so. Besides, cooking together is like two bits of goodness in one: We get to make delicious food, and we get to spend time together. True confession time: I typically get really annoyed when other people are trying to help me cook (just ask Rosebud), but with Mr. B it’s different — and it’s fun.

So, after much deliberation, we decided on what we wanted to eat on our pizza and went to work.

First up? The whole-wheat crust. From scratch, nonetheless.

• 1 package yeast
• 1 c. warm water
• 1-1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1-1/2 c. white flour

1. Mix yeast in 1 c. white flour, stir together with whole what flour, sugar, salt, olive oil, water.
2. Knead in rest of white flour. (Note: Some of us have different definitions of what “knead” means.)
3. Spray medium-sized bowl with nonstick spray and place dough in bowl, turning to coat top. Cover and allow to rise in warm place for 20 minutes.
4. Spray pizza pan and stretch dough to fit.
5. Flute edges.
6. Preheat oven to 425 while you prep your toppings.
7. Top crust with favorite toppings. (See below)
8. Bake until cheese is melted and crust is brown.

The makings of a good pizza start with a good crust.

While the crust was rising, Mr. B and I prepped our toppings, starting with the from-scratch pesto:

• 2 c. packed fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 c. pine nuts
• 1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil (Note: Original recipe called for 2/3 cup of olive oil, but Mr. B and I thought that looked like it would be way too much.)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan (Note: We didn’t use the cheese in our recipe because the pizza was already going to have plenty of it.)

1. Combine basil, garlic and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
2. Add oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth.
3. Mix in cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Once that was made, we chopped up our toppings:

• Chicken breast (Shouldn’t-have-to-say-it-but-feel-I-should note: Please make sure you cook it first)
• Artichoke hearts
• Black olives
• Tomatoes (Note: Romas work best because they’re not quite so juicy and have more meat to them)
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese

The right toppings can take a pizza to a PIZZA!

We put them on the pizza and played the waiting game while it baked. The waiting game involves me, wandering around the kitchen sniffing the air and peeking in the oven.

It was hard not to open the oven door and take just a little taste.

And then … cue harps and chorus of angels … the pizza was done! And it smelled and looked absolutely delicious.

We were pretty proud of this beauty.

We grabbed up our outside-eating blanket, our citronella candle and our chilled bottles of mini wine and headed out to the backyard for our pizza picnic.

Mini wine. Pizza. Candlelight. The great outdoors. Mr. B. What more could a girl ask for?

Happy bellies = happy faces.

Recipe: Curry and Goat Cheese Stuffed Peppers

Every now and then I get a random craving for something. This time around, it was curry. I really love curry. And, with a freshly stocked fridge — and a bin on the way from Doorganics — I had myriad options. After all, curry is so good on anything and everything. The verdict? Stuffed bell peppers. With ground turkey. And, my two other super-favorites: goat cheese and balsamic vinegar.

What follows is a completely made-up recipe, so you may need to adjust to your tastes. And, remember, I (usually) cook for one — if you’re cooking for more than that, multiply accordingly.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces extra lean ground turkey
• 1 medium bell pepper
• 1/6 c. old fashioned oats
• 1/4 c. sweet onion, diced
• 1/2 Roma tomato, diced
• 1/4 c. crumbled goat cheese
• 3 tbsp. egg whites
• Curry powder (as much as you’d like, based on your deep, deep love of curry)
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar (an afterthought, so it didn’t make the picture)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Clean out your green pepper — careful you don’t cut through it

• Combine all other ingredients in a bowl
• Mix them all up using your hands — honestly, this is the worst part of cooking. I hate touching raw meat. So. Very. Much.
• Stuff it into the pepper and place in a glass dish and put in oven
  
• Call Mom to see how long she thinks you should bake the pepper. Agree on half an hour (ish). Set the timer.
• Find out that half an hour is not enough. Put it back in the oven for about 15 more minutes.
• While it’s finishing cooking, put balsamic vinegar in a saucepan and heat until it boils. Whisk it as it boils until it becomes somewhat thick.
• Decorate your plate with balsamic reduction.
• Take pepper out of oven and place on balsamic-ed plate. Drizzle pepper with remaining balsamic reduction.
  

And for those of you who are watching what you eat, here’s the nutrition breakdown, according to MyFitnessPal:

• Calories: 350
• Fat: 10
• Carbs: 29
• Protein: 40
• Fiber: 6
• Sugar: 9

Recipe: Sweet Potato Goat Cheese Nachos

Subtitled: “Sweet Potato Goat Cheese Not-Yours”

So, as I was driving home, I realized I had nothing to make a decent dinner. Then I remembered my sole sweet potato left from this week’s Doorganics delivery. And the green onions, and the tomatoes, and the garlic — all fresh, all local. And, conveniently, I had bought goat cheese to top my spaghetti squash marinara at lunch. (Yes, you did the math right, I ate goat cheese at two meals today — it’s not my fault that stuff is super delicious.)

That set my mind wandering to the different concoctions I could make. And I came up with these … erm … nachos.

Ingredients*

• 1 medium sweet potato, sliced
• 1 roma tomato, diced
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 1 ounce crumbled goat cheese
• Salt
• Olive oil
• 1/4 c. (ish) balsmic vinegar (I used chocolate)

Preheat oven to 375 — also note, my oven almost always is at 375, so that’s probably what all of my recipes say to do.

Slice sweet potato into decent-sized “chips” — I like mine a little on the thicker side because I like my sweet potato chips to retain a little softness.

Sweet potatoes make me feel all warm and snuggly.

Next, spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Spread sweet potato chips out on tray and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with the tiniest bit of salt. I don’t normally use salt. In fact, I didn’t even know I had it in the house until Mr. B found it in the cupboard. So, I used salt today for the first time in who knows how long.

Anyway, put them in the oven when it’s ready. Then, you can either watch them get all juicy and delicious looking …

I admit it: I'm a little impatient when I cook.

… or you can be productive and cut up the toppings while you wait.

Veggies are oh-so pretty.

After the toppings are all cut up, I took some time to put away dishes from the dishwasher and load it back up. I only tell you this so you can get some kind of an idea how long things take. Because, I’ll be honest, I bake like my mom — all approximate-like.

Once the sweet potatoes are done — again, cooked to your done-ness-preference. I like mine a little soft and not crispy. I pull them out of the oven when they’re just brown around the edges. Turn off the oven. Plate the chips and top with the veggies and goat cheese on an oven-safe plate. Put them in the warm oven while you make your balsamic reduction.

Confession: I'm a bit of a vinegar snob, and I have way more bottles than a single person should ever need.

Once the “nachos” are keeping warm in the oven (and the cheese is getting all melty-like), put your balsamic vinegar in a nonstick saucepan on the stove. Turn the heat to medium-high-ish. Get out your whisk and whisk continuously as the vinegar boils. Continue to whisk it while it boils until the vinegar is a syrup-like consistency. Remove from heat, remove nachos from oven. Drizzle balsamic reduction over nachos.

A feast for the eyes and for the mouth.

Take a minute to appreciate the beauty of the food. Then dig in!

*Remember: I cook for one. Adjust accordingly.

Recipe: ‘Roasted’ Turnips and Chicken

As many of you know, I joined a subscription farm service — somewhat like a CSA, except they deliver. To my door. Yes, I pay someone $29 a week to deliver fresh, local produce to me. It’s a genius idea, and I’d pay even more for it (shh … don’t tell them).

Anyway, every Tuesday morning we get notification about what’s in our boxes that will be delivered that night. (They pick it fresh that day, so they can’t tell us any earlier what we’ll be getting.) So, I try to plan that evening’s dinner around what’s in the bin.

Well, this week, in addition to all sorts of other goodness, they brought me tiny white turnips.

A feast for the eyes and the mouth.

While I’m certain I’ve eaten turnips before — it just sounds like something my mom would make — I have never cooked them before. And I certainly didn’t know what to serve them with. All I knew was that they were cute. (I like cute food.)

Awww ... cute little turnips.

So, with a little help from the Twitter-verse, I decided to roast them (well, packet-bake them cuz that’s how I cook everything) with some chicken breast and fresh rosemary, which was also delivered in Tuesday’s bin.

Ingredients:

• Two medium-size, tiny white turnips (peeled and chopped)
• Two defrosted chicken breast tenderloins (I buy the Tyson All-Natural IQF kind because I don’t like to handle raw meat, and these are trimmed and ready to go.)
• A few bits of fresh rosemary
• Garlic salt (I was hoping to use fresh garlic, but I was all out)
• Olive oil

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 380 degrees (random, but that’s what it was set at and I didn’t feel like changing it)
• Spray a piece of foil (that’s big enough to fold and seal into a packet) with just a bit of nonstick spray
• Place defrosted chicken breast on foil
• Sprinkle rosemary over the chicken breast
• Put turnips on chicken breast
• Drizzle with olive oil
• Sprinkle with garlic salt
• Roll foil to seal packet on all four sides
• Place packet on cookie sheet and put in oven
• Bake for 25 minutes (or so)

I served mine with some steamed wax beans, which I got in my bin last week. I should have served it with the green beans I got this week because this was a very bland color palette for a meal. Usually I like more colors than this. But, the wax beans needed to be eaten. I’m also thinking that next time I’ll put some bright, red bell peppers in the packets, too. They’ll help liven things up a bit.

It may not be pretty, but it sure was tasty!

Recipe: Shakshuka

Shakshuka is seriously the easiest thing ever to make — and a great fall staple. And, you can change it up based on your preference. Most are heavily tomato based (if you Google it, you’ll find all sorts of variations). But here’s how I made mine:

• Drizzle some olive oil in the bottom of a pan
• Add minced garlic
• Saute your choice of cut-up veggies. I chose: onions, acorn squash, yellow bell pepper and mushrooms
• Add spices (I love to use curry, black pepper, a tiny sprinkling of crushed red pepper and some Mediterranean salt. Again, whatever you like.)
• Add canned tomatoes (about one can/pint jar)
• Add tomato sauce (This could be marinara, tomato paste, a little salsa — whatever suits your fancy. I used about 1/2 cup or so.)
• Bring just to a boil and simmer for a minute or so
• Crack egg into boiling veggies
• Add spinach
• Allow spinach to wilt and egg to poach (might be helpful to put a lid on it for a bit)
• Pull out a ladle and serve it up

The work of edible art in progress.

Once you make it one time, you’ll find the perfect combination of everything. Just takes a little bit of funsperimenting. I think next time I’m gonna use eggplant in mine.

Plus, the leftovers work lovely for the next day’s lunch, sans egg. This version is the Shakshuka base with some Morningstar Farms Grillers Crumbles served over spaghetti squash.

Shakshuka — one day later — fancied up to create a whole new dish.

Recipe: The Beet Goes On

Let me just say that I love beets. Actually, I don’t think that does it justice: I LOVE BEETS!

My favorite time of year: Beet season!

In fact, ask my mom, and she’ll tell you just how much I love beets — it involves a very concerned daughter calling her from college with a condition she thought would land her in the hospital (all due to eating too many delicious, delicious beets).

Anyway, whenever I hit the farmers’ market this time of year, I come home with more beets than a single person should ever have in her possession. But I don’t care. They’re delicious. I usually just boil them, peel off the skins and eat them. Typically, most of them don’t even make it as far as the dinner plate because they pop so perfectly right in my mouth. Tonight I wanted to try something different. After chatting with my mom about some options, I decided to roast them — secret packet-style, of course. Because, let’s be honest, that’s how I like to cook the most.

Beets all ready to go

So, here’s what I did. First, pre-heat the oven to 375. Cut off the beet greens — save them if you’d like, they have a number of delicious uses of their own. Wash the beets and place them on foil, which I sprayed with nonstick spray (you also can drizzle it with olive oil). I drizzled the tops of the beets with dark chocolate balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil. I then rolled up the sides of the packet, followed by the ends — making sure to seal them all tight.

Bake them for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the beets. Mine were little, so I cooked them for 22 minutes. If you’re not sure, open the packet and test them with a fork. They should be tenderly delicious. If they’re not, seal it back up and put them back in for a few minutes.

Packet perfect beets

After they were done, I peeled off the skins — I had to use a knife because they were so hot and I couldn’t wait for them to cool enough to peel the skins off. But, yes, they do peel off quite easily — no knife required. You just need the patience to let them cool down a bit.

Beets with a side of grilled chicken and some peas. Yeah, the beets were the stars of this show!

All in all? Roasting beets is a delicious, easy way to cook them. I can’t wait to experiment with them a little more next time around. I hear they’re delicious with goat cheese. And I love goat cheese almost as much as I love beets.

Recipe: Roasted Vegetables, Featuring Fennel

I got some fennel in my first bin from Doorganics yesterday. I’ve never cooked fennel, so I had no idea what to do with it. I found a couple of recipes, but nothing was sounding like what I wanted when I got home. When in doubt: Roast it. So that’s what I did.

Ingredients (Serves: 1)

• One bulb fennel, cut in wedges
• Four very baby potatoes (also courtesy Doorganics), cut in half
• 1 cup zucchini, sliced in fairly thick slices and cut in half (again, Doorganics)
• 1/3 cup onion
• Approx. 2 tsp. olive oil
• Spices of your choice (I used Penzey’s Mural of Flavor)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Place roaster pan in oven while it heats
• Chop vegetables
• Place all vegetables in zipper bag with olive oil and spices
• Shake bag to fully coat all veggies
• Once oven is heated, remove roaster pan and put veggies in it
• Bake for 25 minutes, until veggies are tender
• Serve with your choice of protein. Tonight’s choice? Trader Joe’s Mango Chicken Sausage, which I sliced then grilled in my grill pan and mixed in with the veggies.

 

Quick and Easy Chicken Salad

I forget how much I love this quick, easy and, most importantly, delicious chicken salad.

Chicken Salad

• 3 oz. cooked chicken breast (I boil it cuz it’s extra juicy that way)
• 1/2 an avocado
• 1/3 c. onion
• A sprinkle of garlic
• A sprinkle of dill
• 5 dried cherries (they were left in the bottom of a bag, so I tossed them in)

Mix all ingredients (except cherries) in food processor. Eat in your preferred way: Today I had mine on a bagel thin with spinach and a side of carrots. Typically, I just glob it on a bed of baby spinach (or other greens) and enjoy.

Side note: Replace the chicken breast with tuna fish, and it’s also delicious.

Nutrition information (including the bagel thin and the carrots), according to MyFitnessPal.com: 410 calories, 53 g carbs, 11 g fat, 29 g protein, 13 g fiber

Zesty Zucchini Casserole

Tried a new recipe that is definitely a keeper.

• 1 egg*
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 c. shredded zucchini
• 1 chopped, seeded jalapeño pepper*
• 1 tbsp. finely chopped onion
• 1/3 c. biscuit/baking mix
• 2 tbsp. shredded cheddar cheese*

In a smallbowl, beat the egg, oil, salt and pepper. Add the zucchini, jalapeño and onion. Stir in biscuit mix and cheese.

Pour into a 15-ounce baking dish, coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 2.

The aroma, the taste, the texture — twas all delicious.

*I replaced the egg with 3 tbsp. egg white, the jalapeño with a serrano and the cheese with nutritional yeast. Though I did sprinkle just a tiny bit of cheese on top for a little crispity, cheesiness. Here’s the nutritional information for my version: Calories: 216; fat: 9; protein: 9; carbs: 20; fiber: 3; sugar: 3

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken and Asparagus with Goat Cheese

Tonight was another “hmmm … what’s in the fridge?” kinda dinner. Chicken, asparagus and goat cheese are pretty much a given any day of the week because they’re perpetually on the grocery list. So, I decided to wrap ’em all up. Haven’t had chicken-wrapped anything in a while (the bacon comes into play later).

So, first step, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Then, pull out your trusty meat tenderizer/mallet. Or, as I do, your trusty borrowed hammer, which has been thoroughly cleaned and sanitized. Place chicken breasts in a plastic baggie or under some plastic wrap. Pound the chicken thin enough to wrap — but not too thin or else it will break apart when you roll it up around the goodness inside.

Note about the chicken breasts: I prefer to buy Tyson Natural IQF Chicken Breast Tenderloins because, honestly, touching raw meat gives me a serious case of the heebie jeebies. And these are already trimmed and ready to go.

Place flattened chicken breasts on a nonstick-sprayed cookie sheet. Another note: I always cover my pans in tinfoil because it’s way less messy that way.

Then, you can basically place whatever you’d like on top of the chicken breasts, leaving enough room at the edges to wrap the chicken. As is obvious by the name of the recipe, I chose goat cheese and asparagus. I also ground some Italian herbs on there for some added flavor.

Enter the bacon: As I was putting away the goat cheese, I saw one lonely leftover piece of bacon. Not one to let someone feel lonely for long, I decided to slice it in half lengthwise and wrap it around the chicken breast bundles before I put them in the oven. So, around and around the bacon went. Place a toothpick through the chicken breasts to keep them closed as they cook. Note: I’ve refallen in love with bacon since finding a store that specializes in locally raised meat products and has nitrite-free bacon.

Place in oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Check them around the 20-minute mark or so to make sure they don’t get overcooked and dry out.

While the chicken was cooking, I happened to glance up and catch a peek of my multiple bottles of balsamic vinegar. And I was like, “Hmm … wonder what I could do with that … “ Um, hello?! Balsamic reduction anyone? So I Googled how to make a balsamic reduction. Turns out it’s super duper easy. (I’m sure you all already knew that, though.) Only problem: I didn’t have enough of any one kind of balsamic vinegar to make my reduction. So, I combined regular balsamic, coconut-infused balsamic and grapefruit-infused balsamic. It smelled divine as it was cooking, so I knew it would taste delicious.

Here’s how you do it: Pour vinegar into a saucepan. You’re going to want about twice as much vinegar as you’ll need for the reduction because, well, it reduces. Put the pan on a warm burner and continually stir with a whisk as it comes to a boil. Keep at a boil and whisk away until the vinegar becomes syrupy. Once it’s at the desired consistency, remove from heat. Be careful, as it apparently burns easily.

Fortunately, mine came out perfectly and was just what this dish needed.

Serve with the side dish of your choice. They’d be good on rice or with quinoa. I’m having mine on a bed of baby spinach with a nice, tall glass of ice water.

And to think … I used to just eat cereal for dinner because I thought cooking for one was a waste of time and energy. Boy was I wrong!

Enjoy!