White Pizza Topped w/ Spicy Chicken, Spinach, Roasted Tomatoes & Crispy Vidalia Onion Rings

This evening I made the best pizza ever using my Cheese Head Pizza Crust. After baking the crust, I topped it with Paesana's White NY Style Pizza Sauce, sautéed diced boneless chicken breast (seasoned with salt, black pepper and a bit of cayenne), wilted baby spinach, roasted halved grape tomatoes and thinly sliced Vidalia onion tossed in olive oil, spread out on a baking sheet and roasted until caramelized and crispy. The combination was amazing. Even hubby said he thought it was the best pizza he ever ate in his life. The combination of flavors was delicious. Roasting the tomatoes intensified their flavor, roasting the Vidalia onions intensified their sweetness and the spiced chicken breast and spinach along with the white cheese sauce gave it a chicken alfredo like flavor. I snapped a number of photos and included the recipe for the crust below. I roasted the tomatoes and the onions at 400-425 degrees after tossing them with olive oil and cooking them (stirring a couple times) until they were the consistency I wanted. I used my large USA Pizza Pan for tonight's pizza, but a large sheet pan lined with parchment paper works fine as well. Enjoy!

CHEESE HEAD PIZZA 

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces (2 cups) shredded mozzarella (whole milk or part skim)

3 ounces brick style cream cheese

1 cup blanched almond flour

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan (powdery style)

1/8 teaspoon salt, optional

Dash garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1 large egg

1 tablespoon olive oil (to press out dough with hands or rubber spatula)

Desired toppings (pizza sauce, pepperoni, cooked peppers, onions, mushrooms, additional cheese, etc.)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper.

Place mozzarella and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Heat cheese in microwave on high for 45 seconds; stir and heat an additional 30 to 45 seconds or until a hot melty mass of cheese is formed.

While cheese is melting in microwave, stir almond flour, Parmesan, salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning together in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and egg to bowl of hot melted cheese. Working quickly, fold and stir mixture together with a rubber spatula until a ball of dough is formed (make sure cheese mixture is hot before adding flour and egg).   

Place ball of dough in center of parchment lined baking sheet. Press dough out with oiled hands or pour the 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top of dough to help press and smooth dough out using the rubber spatula into the desired shape (round, oval or rectangular) until about ¼-inch thick. Prick holes all over crust surface with a fork to prevent crust from bubbling up. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden (be careful not to overbake so it doesn't burn when returning to oven to bake with toppings). Remove crust and top with pizza sauce, additional cheese, and any desired toppings. Reduce oven temp to 400 degrees F and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until cheese is melted and heated through. 

          

Cheese Head Pizza Night - To Each His Own

This evening we were in the mood for pizza. I usually make one large rectangular pizza using my Cheese Head Pizza Crust recipe. If hubby and I are in the mood for different toppings, I usually just make a half and half pizza with "his and hers" toppings. This evening I decided to cut the ball of dough in half and make us totally separate pizzas. I made a rectangular one for me and a round one for him. They turned out great and both of us have plenty left over for a couple of meals. Mine was topped with thinly sliced Boars Head sandwich style pepperoni, sautéed fresh baby spinach, red bell pepper rings and thinly sliced Vidalia onions (along with the usual pizza sauce and shredded mozzarella base). Hubby had the same thinly sliced pepperoni, sautéed baby spinach and chopped Kalamata black olives. I cooked the 2 pizzas side by side on the same large sheet pan. I snapped a few photos below. You can find the recipe for this crust here:  Cheese Head Pizza Crust. Enjoy!

CHEESE HEAD PIZZA 

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces (2 cups) shredded mozzarella (whole milk or part skim)

3 ounces brick style cream cheese

1 cup blanched almond flour

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan (powdery style)

1/8 teaspoon salt, optional

Dash garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1 large egg

1 tablespoon olive oil (to press out dough with hands or rubber spatula)

Desired toppings (pizza sauce, pepperoni, cooked peppers, onions, mushrooms, additional cheese, etc.)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper.

Place mozzarella and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Heat cheese in microwave on high for 45 seconds; stir and heat an additional 30 to 45 seconds or until a hot melty mass of cheese is formed.

While cheese is melting in microwave, stir almond flour, Parmesan, salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning together in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and egg to bowl of hot melted cheese. Working quickly, fold and stir mixture together with a rubber spatula until a ball of dough is formed (make sure cheese mixture is hot before adding flour and egg).   

Place ball of dough in center of parchment lined baking sheet. Press dough out with oiled hands or pour the 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top of dough to help press and smooth dough out using the rubber spatula into the desired shape (round, oval or rectangular) until about ¼-inch thick. Prick holes all over crust surface with a fork to prevent crust from bubbling up. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden (be careful not to overbake so it doesn't burn when returning to oven to bake with toppings). Remove crust and top with pizza sauce, additional cheese, and any desired toppings. Reduce oven temp to 400 degrees F and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until cheese is melted and heated through. 

          

Greek Style Spinach-Feta Pie - How To Get Your Green on for St. Patty's Day Tomorrow

I know this may sound a bit silly, but this evening I made my Greek Style Spinach-Feta Pie to work some more green into our menu for St. Patty's Day tomorrow. I know it's a bit silly to be going Greek to celebrate an Irish holiday...but food never discriminates!  LOL Plus, I really miss this dish. I have a number of different variations of this pie, but my favorite is made with my buttery almond crust. To save time, my crustless version is also good. It's also good if you have leftover bacon to add as well, just be careful about adding too much because feta is a saltier cheese. I used the remainder of the pound of Olivia's Organic Baby Spinach that I had leftover from the chicken soup I made earlier in the week. Since I had so much spinach to use, I added a couple of extra eggs to my pie this evening (I usually put 5 eggs in the filling but this evening I used 7). With all the spinach, I could have added a couple of more eggs and been good, but since it's just hubby and I, I didn't want to make too much. I used green onions instead of regular onions so this was a super green pie with over 3/4 pound of chopped spinach, dill, and the green onions. There won't be any pinching going on in my house for sure! So, if you are one of those non-corned beef people, then this pie might be the perfect dish to make to cover you in the green department for Saint Patrick's Day tomorrow.

Check out tonight's Spinach-Feta Pie below. You can find the recipe with more photos here:  Greek Style Spinach-Feta Pie. Enjoy!

 

        

Check out my Cool Deli Reuben Roll-ups

This evening, I made deli "Reuben roll-ups" for dinner. Who said Reubens had to be eaten warm or served on bread? I had some Boars Head corned beef thinly sliced at the deli and also some of their lacey Swiss cheese. I rolled up several thin slices of corned beef with the cheese after scattering them with Bubbies sauerkraut and a teaspoon of Cindy's Kitchen Thousand Island dressing (from Fresh Market). I served them on large leaves of savoy cabbage. We enjoyed our roll-ups alongside a bowl of leftover Chicken soup from last nights dinner (shredded unseasoned roasted chicken from Sprouts Farmers Market, organic free range chicken broth, diced carrots, and fresh organic baby spinach) that only took about 20 minutes to make last night. Nothing like chicken soup alongside corned beef roll-ups, right? It was actually good! So, if you are looking for another easy idea for Saint Patty's Day...here you go! Enjoy!

       

Thanksgiving Recipes: 12 Breakfast Ideas, 12 Side Dish Ideas, and 16 Dessert Ideas

Well, it's that time of year again for sharing my Thanksgiving recipes. I'm a bit late this year because things have been a little crazy around here. This will be my 6th low carb, wheat free Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe. It just seems so "normal" now that I don't stress about it or worry about what to make since I've recreated so many of my favorite recipes over these last 6 years. I still make a few things for the family that I don't eat but I really don't mind at all because I have plenty of dishes to choose from. If this is your first wheat free Thanksgiving, you might feel like you will never be able to eat your old favorites again...trust me, you will. There are so many options and choices available and so many wheat free recipe conversions of your old favorites. I'm sharing some of my favorites that I have made and enjoyed over these past 6 years.

I've attached 3 different collages of recipes below; 12 Thanksgiving Breakfast Ideas, 12 Thanksgiving Side Dish Ideas, and 16 Thanksgiving Dessert Ideas. To get to the page where you can have access to the recipes via links under each individual enlarged photo...simply click on the 3 headings over each collage below. That will take you to the blog page where you can scroll through enlarged photos of each dish with a link in the caption underneath each photo to that particular recipe. Certainly you should be able to find something you'd like to try or something you worried you would never be able to enjoy again. I hope you find some new favorites to put on your Thanksgiving table this year. These recipes also work for Christmas dinner, too. From my table to yours....Enjoy!

12 Thanksgiving Breakfast Ideas

12 Thanksgiving Side Dish Ideas

16 Thanksgiving Dessert Ideas

         

Cheese Head Pizza Topped w/ Roasted Tomatoes, Shallots, & Pepperoni

This evening I made the BEST pizza ever. I know I've said that a lot, but this evening's pizza knocked it out of the park! We needed something to cheer up an otherwise gloomy week after Hurricane Irma came through Atlanta. I know many folks had it so much worse than we did, so I'm so thankful we had no serious damage...just lots of limbs down and a big mess in our yard; we lost power for a day and night and had no cable, internet or phone for 2+ days. We also lost some food in our 3 refrigerators but thankfully our frozen stuff stayed frozen! I did NOT want to have to throw out all the wild salmon I had frozen and stashed for the winter! LOL!

This pizza, as silly as it sounds just brightened up our week with all the colors and delicious flavor. I haven't done much cooking this week with everything that went on. So, tonight when I got home, I decided it was time for a comfort Friday night meal. I had a large 2 pound container of multicolored tomatoes; red, green, yellow, orange, maroon, etc. I halved about half of them (about 1 pound) and tossed them with olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and pepper, then spread them out on a parchment lined baking sheet and roasted them at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. After they had roasted for about 10 minutes, I added 2 thinly sliced large shallots that I tossed in olive oil and spread them out with the tomatoes to roast along with them. I diced some pepperoni and sautéed it in a small skillet on the stove to begin crisping it and rendering off some of the excess fat (I don't care for greasy pizza). Rather than use traditional pizza sauce like I usually do, I spread my freshly baked Cheese Head Pizza Crust with half of a jar (about 3 ounces) of Mezzetta's Sun Dried Tomato Pesto, then topped it with shredded mozzarella cheese, then the roasted tomatoes and shallots, then scattered the pepperoni on top and popped it back into the oven for about 7 to 8 minutes. The flavors were unbelievable. There is just something about roasting vegetables that brings out their deep intense flavor. The shallots crisped like mini onion rings. Hubby who had initially turned his nose up when he found out I added shallots (he hates onions so I convinced him these technically were not onions), ended up loving it and saying it was one of my best pizzas ever! I snapped some photos below and included the easy peasy recipe for my Cheese Head Pizza Crust. If you haven't made it yet...what are you waiting for? Try it...you are going to like LOVE it!  Enjoy!

Topped and ready to go into the oven for 7 to 8 minutes

CHEESE HEAD PIZZA 

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces (2 cups) shredded mozzarella (whole milk or part skim)

3 ounces brick style cream cheese

1 cup blanched almond flour

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan (powdery style)

1/8 teaspoon salt, optional

Dash garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1 large egg

1 tablespoon olive oil (to press out dough with hands or rubber spatula)

Desired toppings (pizza sauce, pepperoni, cooked peppers, onions, mushrooms, additional cheese, etc.)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper.

Place mozzarella and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Heat cheese in microwave on high for 45 seconds; stir and heat an additional 30 to 45 seconds or until a hot melty mass of cheese is formed.

While cheese is melting in microwave, stir almond flour, Parmesan, salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning together in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and egg to bowl of hot melted cheese. Working quickly, fold and stir mixture together with a rubber spatula until a ball of dough is formed (make sure cheese mixture is hot before adding flour and egg).   

Place ball of dough in center of parchment lined baking sheet. Press dough out with oiled hands or pour the 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top of dough to help press and smooth dough out using the rubber spatula into the desired shape (round, oval or rectangular) until about ¼-inch thick. Prick holes all over crust surface with a fork to prevent crust from bubbling up. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden (be careful not to overbake so it doesn't burn when returning to oven to bake with toppings). Remove crust and top with pizza sauce, additional cheese, and any desired toppings. Reduce oven temp to 400 degrees F and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until cheese is melted and heated through. 

          

Hatch Chile Chicken Salad - It's Hatch Chile Season!

This past weekend, I picked up half a dozen fresh Hatch Chiles. I've bought salsa made from them before and loved it but I wanted to use fresh Hatch chiles and roast, peel and seed them myself and use them in some new recipes. Hatch green chiles are grown exclusively in the Hatch Valley located in Hatch, New Mexico. They have a very short growing season that lasts from August to September. I was so excited when I stumbled upon them at The Fresh Market this past weekend. I was in the mood for chicken salad which is one of my favorite things, especially in these dog days of summer, so I decided to incorporate them into a recipe for Hatch Chili Chicken Salad. It only takes about 10 minutes to roast them on the grill, turning them every few minutes. I then placed them in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for about 15 minutes until they cooled down and the steam helped loosen the skins. The skins came off easily, then I split them lengthwise and removed the seeds. I used 3 in this recipe (use more or less, to taste) and have 3 roasted Hatch chiles left to do something else with. It turned out great and hubby enjoyed it too. If you want to give these peppers a try while they are available fresh, you'd better get them soon. I snapped a few photos below and included the easy peasy recipe. To save time, rather than poaching chicken breasts like I did, a rotisserie chicken would make this a super quick and easy meal. Enjoy!

Roasted, peeled, and seeded

Hatch Chile Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

3 large cooked boneless chicken breasts, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise, slightly rounded
1 to 2 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 teaspoon roasted ground cumin (or regular cumin)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Zest of 1/2 of a large lime
Juice of 1/2 of a large lime
1 - 2 tablespoons pickle juice (I used bread and butter pickle juice), optional
2 or 3 finely chopped roasted, peeled and seeded Hatch green chiles
1 thinly sliced green spring onion

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, sour cream, cumin, salt, lime zest and juice, pickle juice and green onion. Taste dressing for seasoning and adjust, if necessary. Fold mixture into chicken and refrigerate.