Portobello Mushroom, Artichoke Hearts and Goat Cheese Pizza

So I finally have my kitchen back!  Last night I didn't have the bf and/or his kids to cook for, so I made something quick, delicious AND nutritious!  I found the recipe on the Allrecipes.com last fall and I finally got around to making it.

I changed the recipe up a little bit since I don't like red and yellow peppers, but you can add them or anything else you think might be good for that matter.  This is a GREAT versatile recipe for kids and adults.  I added spicy Italian turkey sausage and pineapple b/c I had the pineapple already and I wanted some meaty goodness too.

The recipe calls for using the store-bought refrigerated pizza dough, but I remembered that the Publix bakery makes their own take-home pizza dough and so I figured that was a good compromise between homemade dough and canned dough.  (I suck at making dough, plus this was supposed to be an easy meal.)

Okie dokie - Go ahead and preheat the oven to 350° and then roll out your pizza dough big enough to fit a large circular baking sheet.

 

And then drizzle the dough with olive oil and scatter two cloves of minced garlic on top of the that.

 

After taking care of the dough, I removed the turkey sausage from its casings and put it into a hot pan with a light coating of olive oil on medium-high heat.  Brown the sausage and then drain on a big ole pile of paper towels.  (I have a picture of this, but its kinda gross looking so I won't be posting it!)

 

Once the meat is drained and patted "dry" with the paper towels, we're ready to start loading up the crust with goodies!  Slice portobello mushroom caps to a medium thickness and arrange on the pizza first.  On top of that add marinated (and drained) artichoke hearts, pineapple chunks, and the turkey sausage.  This is where you can shine as a cook!  Add anything to the pizza that you think you or your family might like.  You can use tofurkey crumbles instead of meat or actual tofu.  Feel free to add things like broccoli, peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, shrimp, etc... Next, I topped it off with 4 oz. of goat cheese, crushed red pepper and a good drizzle of balsamic vinegar. (The balsamic vinegar kind of caramelizes in the oven and ends up smelling and tasting like honey!  It's awesome!)

 

Now stick that bad boy in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes or until the crust turns a lovely golden color.

 

Viola!  Portobello, Artichoke, Pineapple, Sausage and Goat Cheese Pizza! I wish ya'll could have smelled the kitchen while it was baking because it was incredible!

 

I removed the pizza from baking sheet and onto a piece of parchment paper so I could easily cut it with my pizza wheel and not mess up my new pizza baking sheet.   Just slice 'er up and serve!  ENJOY!!

  

 Portobello Mushroom, Artichoke Hearts and Goat Cheese Pizza

Ingredients:
1 - 10 oz. can refrigerated pizza crust dough (or homemade)
1 tablespoon olive oil


2 cloves garlic, minced


2 Portobello mushroom caps, medium-thin slices


1 - 6.5 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained

1/2 lb. of spicy Italian turkey sausage

1 small can of pineapple chunks (or you can use the pineapple rings, if you like)


4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled


3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 

2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a baking sheet, or round pizza pan.

Spread pizza dough out evenly on the prepared pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the garlic over the crust. Arrange mushrooms and artichoke hearts then add any additional toppings, and crushed red pepper.  

Finally dot with pieces of goat cheese and drizzle balsamic vinegar over the top.

Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until the edges are golden brown.

Chinese Pineapple Chicken

Well, first things first, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!  I hope ya'll had a good time and made sure to eat your collard greens, black eyed peas and cornbread.  I made, probably the best batch of my collard green soup ever, while visiting my friend, Greg, in North Carolina, where they still have Harris Teeter or as my grandmother used to call it "Teeters".

 

Meanwhile back at home, I've not been to the grocery store since before Christmas and I wanted to cook tonight, so I rummaged thru my recipes and pantry and came up with Chinese Pineapple Chicken.  I've been wanting to make this for awhile because I love Chinese food, but the only Chinese restaurant I'll eat at here in Montgomery is Ming's Garden, but they don't deliver and it's kinda far away.  So if I could make some good-ass Chinese food at home - all problems solved.  Plus I know exactly what goes into it!

Let's get started, shall we?  Ok, so I was kind of a nerd and prepped all my ingredients this time using the new prep cups my aunt gave me for Christmas.  I was waiting on the brown rice to cook, so I figured why not?  No one in their right mind would normally do this.

 First, cut four chicken breasts into medium-sized chunks/

[ASIDE: Now this is where I would like to say, thoroughly read your recipe when you decide to make it because I didn't read it this morning and was quite surprised to find out it required 2 hours of marinating.  To the average person, this would pose a problem, but to those of us lucky enough to have a FoodSaver®  we don't need no stinkin' 2 hours.]

Anyway, the point is:  Mix your soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and eggs together, pour into a large bowl and add your chicken chunks . Cover and let marinate in fridge for 2 hours or an hour if you've got the marinating container for your FoodSaver®.

After the chicken's marinated, add flour and cornstarch to the chicken to create a thick batter.

[NOTE: If you've got a container with a lid, I would transfer the chicken and marinade into that before adding the flour and cornstarch since shaking the mixture is a great way to evenly distribute the batter over the chicken.]  

See?

Next, heat oil in large frying pan or wok on medium high heat. Add chicken and fry until browned, turning when necessary. Be patient frying the chicken chunks, frying them too quickly will make them ugly and have dark brown burned spots on them. 

Also, monitor your oil temperature, adding oil if necessary and adjusting the heat if the chicken seems to be cooking too fast or slow.  Frying can be tricky, so take your time.

I did my frying in 6 small batches since I didn't have enough oil to use my huge Calphalon pan.  [Remember the whole "haven't been to the grocery store in a month" thing.]  Once each batch is done, transfer it to either a paper towel-lined cookie sheet or a cooling rack on top of a paper towel-lined cookie sheet.  A slotted metal spoon or tongs are perfect for removing the chicken from the oil.

While your chicken is cooking, move onto the yummy pineapple sauce. 

In a medium saucepan, combine pineapple chunks and pineapple juice. Bring to a boil then add your brown sugar and soy sauce, and let simmer for 7 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water into a paste.

Stir the paste into the boiling sauce, turn heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally until thick enough to coat a spoon.

Finally, pour chicken pieces and sauce into a large bowl and mix until thoroughly coated.

I chose to serve mine over a bed of brown rice because it's yummy and good for me!  Now, unfortunately, I am kind of congested today and haven't really tasted anything all day, BUT what I could taste was awesome!  And I'm totally eating leftovers all week long! :)

Enjoy!!

___________________________________________________________

Chinese Pineapple Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken and Marinade:

4 chicken breasts

4 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. sesame oil

2 eggs

1/2 tsp pepper

6 Tbsp flour

6 Tbsp cornstarch

corn or canola oil for frying

Sauce:

2 cups pineapple chunks

2 cups pineapple juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch + 2 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp soy sauce

Instructions: 

Cut four chicken breasts into medium-sized chunks.

Mix your soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper and eggs together, pour into a large bowl and add your chicken chunks . Cover and let marinate in fridge for 2 hours or an hour if you've got the marinating container for your FoodSaver®.

Add flour and cornstarch to chicken to create a thick batter. 

Heat oil in large frying pan on medium high heat. 

Add chicken in small batches and fry until it is browned, turning when necessary. 

Once each batch is done, transfer it to either straight onto a paper towel-lined cookie sheet or a cooling rack on top of a paper towel-lined cookie sheet.  *TIP: A slotted metal spoon or tongs are perfect for removing the chicken from the oil.

In a medium saucepan, combine the pineapple and pineapple juice. Bring to a boil, add brown sugar and soy sauce, and simmer for 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water into a paste.

Stir the paste into the boiling sauce, turn heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally until thick enough to coat a spoon. 

Pour chicken pieces and sauce into a large bowl and mix until thoroughly coated.

Serve on a bed of white or brown rice.

Pineapple Cheese Casserole

I know what you're thinking..."Pineapple Cheese Casserole? Ew." Well, stop that right now because once you've tasted it, you'll never question me again! NEVER! :)

The first time I ever had this dish was when I was in Montgomery, AL with my mom. We were cleaning out my grandmother's house and decided to order dinner from Martin's Restaurant. That place has THE best fried chicken among other things. Anyway, so at Mom's suggestion, I tried their pineapple cheese casserole and well... obviously I liked it seeing as I'm making it here. :)

Now this isn't their recipe, per se...but they are all pretty much the same. So onto the food!

This is a super simple recipe and it takes no time at all. So this would be great for a week night dish and if your picky eaters like cheese and pineapple - you've got a crowd pleaser on your hands!

Preheat the oven to 350° F and spray a medium-size casserole dish with cooking spray. Now I veered off the recipe here - actually, I just didn't read it very well and used a 9x12 dish. If this is what you end up using, be aware that you will have to make 1 1/2 times the topping recipe.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar and flour.



Next stir in 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.


Add the drained pineapple chunks. Make sure to get your spoon up under the pineapple chunks after adding to the dry ingredients, the flour and such likes to hide underneath. Mix until well combined.


Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. *Remember - I would recommend using a smaller dish than this 9x12 one.


In another bowl, combine one sleeve of Ritz™ crackers* (smashed into crumbs), melted butter, and reserved pineapple juice. Mix until well combined!

*While at the grocery store, buying some things I needed for the recipe, I noticed that Ritz™ now makes whole wheat crackers. I figured why not try to make this a LITTLE bit better for me or at least have more nutritionally-redeeming qualities so that's what I used. And by the way, they are good!

Go ahead and spread the crumb mixture on top of pineapple mixture.



Now, pop it in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown. (There will not be much difference in color between the casserole before you put it in the oven and when you take it out.)


This makes a good side dish, but I also eat it by itself as a snack or even dessert.

Enjoy! Next post: I'm thinking about Chipotle Bean Burritos.

_______________________________________________
Pineapple Cheese Casserole

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups grated sharp cheddar
2 20 oz. cans pineapple chunks, drained, and 6 tablespoons pineapple juice reserved
1 cup cracker crumbs (recommended: Ritz™ Whole Wheat Crackers)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Prep a medium-size casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar and flour. Next, stir in the cheese.

Add the drained pineapple chunks, and stir until ingredients are well combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish.

In another bowl, combine cracker crumbs, melted butter, and reserved pineapple juice, mix until evenly blended.

Spread crumb mixture on top of pineapple mixture.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.