My husband and I met at UConn. We have so many fond memories of that place. One of our favorite foodie spots was (is) a place called Willington Pizza. They make, arguably, the. best. pizza. ever. My husband's hands-down favorite; Red Potato Pizza. It's an amazing creation. Take a delicious loaded baked potato... sour cream, green onions, broccoli, cheddar cheese, and bacon... and add an amazingly crispy thin pizza crust. Pure heaven. Of course, it's not exactly what I'd call health-food.
Tonight's mission, create a healthy version of the nostalgic potato pie.
Local readers will completely understand when I repeat... I'm sick of winter. The piles of snow have literally made it over my head, and my husband's head. We're talking piles over 6 feet. So I figured I'd make something that reminds me of summer. Green trees, blue skies, the smell of charcoal grills and fresh cut grass. Pizza, chicken, and a sweet BBQ sauce. Of course, peaches are not exactly in season right now. I had to improvise.
I have this little Hawai'ian cookbook (see below) that we found on our honeymoon, and I have yet to make any recipes from it. So I figured what better time, than the dead of winter, to crack open a tropical recipe? Of course, they've been modified to account for seasonal availabilities. I made a breakfast pizza and a little fruit salad.
Breakfast Pizza: (2 servings) This one is modified from it's original recipe in the book. It basically doubled my recipe and kept the yolk. Whatever floats your boat.
If you've never had Naan before, it's usually with the wraps or bread. It's kinda like flat-bread. I used Nature's Promise Traditional pasta sauce. I like it because I don't have fresh tomatoes to make homemade sauce, and this is pretty close without being ridiculously expensive. No complicated flavors. Just sweet yummy tomatoes with a few spices. And it's organic, bonus.
Also - This is a cool recipe for a brunch. Really easy to make a bunch of these at once. Cut them in half or quarters and throw them on the buffet line. It's a nice punch of color in winter too.
1 Naan EVOO 2 tbsp marinara sauce 2 sprinkle parmesan cheese 2 egg whites 1/2 cup arugula salt & pepper
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
1. Brush the bottom side of the Naan with a little bit of EVOO (olive oil) (or cooking spray, whatever you have at hand). Cut it in half.
2. Place on cooking sheet. (I line the sheet with tin foil for easy cleaning).
3. Layer marinara sauce, parmesan cheese, and egg whites (yup just drop it right on top of the sauce), one on each Naan half.
4. Bake for about 12 minutes, until the eggs are cooked.
5. Remove from oven, sprinkle with salt & pepper, top with arugula.
Enjoy!
For the fruit salad I had actually purchased mangos... big mistake. They didn't look, feel, or smell great. But I thought I'd take a chance. It was terrible. Lessons learned: If it doesn't look, feel, and smell great... don't buy it! Duh.
NOTE: You can cook your ingredients (cook plain crust until crisp, cook meat, and saute veggies), assemble the pizza, and freeze for a healthy quick dinner later in the week.
Serves 4 1/2 pound ground turkey 1 medium/large onion 1 tbs EVOO 1/2 cup grape tomatoes (sliced in half) 1 cup low fat (skim) Mozzarella cheese sprinkle Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup low sodium tomato sauce 1 pre-made whole wheat/grain crust
1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Roughly chop the onion. Add onion, ground turkey, and EVOO to saute pan. Break up the meat and saute until meat is cooked through. Onions will be caramelized.
3. Roll out crust into a 16 inch circle. Place on pizza pan.
4. Assemble - Sauce, meat & onion mixture, halved tomatoes, mozz, and a sprinkle of parmesan.
5. Either Freeze for later use or Bake at 450 for 18 - 20 minutes.
This one is pretty easy, and quick if you have the chicken made ahead of time...
(ugh... sorry about the pics. Natural sunlight just makes things look so much better. My kitchen lighting is just not cutting it!)
(serves 2, takes 20 mins start to finish, more if you have to cook the chicken)
2 whole grain taco size tortilla shells 1/4 cup tomato sauce (lowest sodium content you can find) 1/4 cup chopped fresh tomatoes 1/2 red bell pepper (chopped) 1 small onion (chopped) 1 boneless skinless cooked chicken breast (chopped) tbs EVOO 1/2 cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese italian seasoning
1. Put pizza stone or baking sheet in oven and preheat to 500 (pan should be hot to make the crust crispy on the bottom).
2. Chop veggies & chicken. Saute onion and pepper with EVOO for about 3-5 mins (until carmelized).
3. Take pan out of oven temporarily. Assemble pizzas directly on pan as follows... tortilla shells, sauce, chopped veggies & chicken, cheese, sprinkle italian seasoning.
4. Bake at 500 for 5 - 7 mins, until cheese and/or tortilla shell turn golden brown.
5. Cut as you wish. Cool for a minute (that cheese is HOT). Enjoy!
NOTES: Sooo many variations for this one. Just make sure you get your lean protein and veggies to keep this meal nutritious. And try not to over-do it with the cheese. I could literally eat the whole bag if I'm not careful!!
