Grilled Chicken Taco Pizzas

Tonight we made some grilled chicken taco pizzas.  Since it's summer, we like using our grill a lot, and we were looking for something different and fun to make.  We have tried these pizzas once before, but since it was so long ago, we didn't remember how they turned out.  So we decided to give them a try again.  They were delicious!!!


Grilled Chicken Taco Pizzas
Adapted from this recipe on FoodNetwork.com

Prep Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3

Ingredients:

  For the taco seasoning:

• 2 tbsp. onion powder
• 2 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 - 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp. ground black pepper

 For the pizzas:

• 1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 (16 oz.) tube pizza dough
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 avocado
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. diced red onion
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Mix all the taco seasoning ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Mix 2 tbsp. of the taco seasoning and the canola oil in a shallow bowl or small baking dish.  
3. Pound chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap until they are both the same thickness, roughly 1/2".  
4. Add the chicken to the bowl, turning to coat.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
5. Preheat gril to medium high heat.  Grill the chicken for about 5 minutes per side.  Let cool, then cut into bite-size pieces.
6. Divide the pizza dough into 3 pieces.  Roll out each piece onto a floured surface until you have an 8" circle.  Brush each side with canola oil and sprinkle with taco seasoning.  Grill 3-5 minutes or until crisp.  Remove from the grill.
7. Mix the cheese in a bowl then sprinkle on the crusts.  Top with chicken.  Return to the grill, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  
8. Mix the avocado, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and red onion.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  
9. Top the pizza with the avocado mixture, salsa, sour cream and cilantro.

Notes & Suggestions:

I made the pizza crust from scratch instead of using the store bought kind (only because I wanted to try making it from scratch).  Boy was it worth the little bit of extra time!  I will include the pizza crust recipe in this post as well.  

On the taco seasoning, I only used 1/2 tsp. of the cayenne pepper.  If you have little ones, you may want to use a little less because the pizza crust was a bit spicy.  The recipe makes about twice as much as you need, but you can always use it for other recipes, or to make tacos.  :o)

I let the chicken marinate for a couple of hours, instead of the 30 minutes.  While my husband was grilling the chicken, I rolled out the 3 pieces of pizza dough into 8" circles (about 1/4" thick) and got them ready for the grill. We weren't real sure how they were going to hold up on the grill, but they ended up grilling up beautifully.  

I think next time we will try pico instead of salsa.  It seems like it will go better because it's in small chunks like everything else.  Also, we thought we could use more avocado mixture because there was only enough for 2 of the 3 pizzas.  

All in all, it was very yummy!  It was a little bit of work and it got a lot of dishes dirty, but it was definitely worth it. This one will go in our favorite recipes binder for sure!

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

Adapted from this recipe on Williams-Sonoma.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water (105 degrees)
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 cup plus 3 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast, sugar and water.  Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. In a food processor bowl, combine the cake flour, all purpose flour and salt.  Pulse 3-4 times to mix.
3. Whisk 1 tbsp. of the olive oil in the yeast mixture.
4. With the food processor running, slowly add the yeast mixture a little at a time to the flour mixture, allowing each addition to be mixed well before adding more.  After all the yeast has been added, pulse 10-15 times to knead the dough.  The dough should clean the inside of the bowl but still be a little sticky.  
5. Coat the inside of a large bowl with the remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil.  Dust your hands with flour and remove the dough.  Form dough into a ball and place in the bowl.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, place in a warm place and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  Divide the dough in half and roll out as directed in the pizza recipe.  Makes two 10" pizzas.

Notes & Suggestions:

I followed the recipe exactly as written.  I was surprised how easy the dough was to make, as well as how easy it was to handle and roll out.  I'm not very good at rolling out any kind of dough, but I didn't have any problems with this one at all.  Very impressed!  

When making the chicken taco pieces, I just separated the whole dough ball into 3 pieces and it worked out to be just the right amount for that recipe.  

If you have the extra time, I would suggest trying this pizza dough.  I don't think you will be disappointed.

Chipotle Crusted Pork Tenderloin & Yellow Squash Casserole

Tonight we tried a new pork tenderloin recipe.  Pork tenderloins don't go on sale very often, so when they do, I buy a couple, vacuum seal them and throw them in the freezer.  (I try to do this with other types of meat that are on sale as well).  I have a handful of favorites recipes for pork tenderloin (I will share these in future posts), but I wanted to try something new.  I came across this recipe, and It turned out really yummy!  

Chipotle Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 3/4 tsp. onion powder
• 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 (1 lb.) pork tenderloin

Directions:

1. In a resealable plastic bag, combine the onion powder, garlic powder, chipotle chili powder, salt and brown sugar.  Put the pork tenderloin in the bag and shake to coat evenly.  Refrigerate 10-15 minutes (or longer if desired).
2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat (400-425 degrees).  Cook pork tenderloin for 4 1/2 - 5 minutes per side (for a total of 18-20 minutes), depending on desired doneness.  
3. Let meat rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Notes & Suggestions:

Before putting the rub on the pork tenderloin, I marinated it in pineapple juice (a 6 oz. can).  After a couple of hours, I drained it, put the rub on for another 2 hours.  About 15-20 minutes before grilling time, I took the meat out of the fridge so it can warm up a bit.  We do this to any type of meat before we grill it because it allows the meat to cook more evenly.  If the meat is really cold, it won't cook as well in the middle.  Another tip is to use tongs and not a fork when you're grilling any kind of meat.

My husband grilled the pork tenderloin for 4 minutes and 45 seconds per side, and it was still a little pink in the middle, which is the way we prefer it.  Remember to always let any meat rest after grilling before you cut into it. It keeps the juices in and keeps it from drying out.  Plus once you cut into it, it cools quickly so don't cut it until you're ready to eat.  

We both liked this recipe a lot.  My husband thought it needed some type of sauce, but I thought it was great the way it was. It is a little spicy, but not so hot that you can't eat it.  If you don't like a lot of spice, just cut back on the chili powder.  The whole tenderloin was plenty for the 2 of us, with enough leftover for one of us for lunch.  We also made the following squash casserole to go with it.

Yellow Squash Casserole

Adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 2 large yellow squash, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 35 buttery round crackers, such as Ritz or Town House
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp. salt
• ground pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  
• Place squash and onions in a large skillet with 1-2 tbsp. olive oil.  Saute over medium high for about 7 minutes.  Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Saute another minute or until squash are tender.
• In a medium bowl, mix together cracker crumbs and cheese.  Stir half of the mixture in with the cooked squash and onions.  
• In a small bowl, mix together the eggs and milk.  Add to squash mixture.  
• Stir in melted butter.
• Spread mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and spread with remaining cracker mixture.
• Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Notes & Suggestions:

I used my mandoline to slice the squash into 1/4" pieces.  While I was sauteing the squash, I seasoned it with 1 1/2 tsp. of Tony Chachere's instead of the salt.  I've made this dish a couple of times before and it never seems to have enough seasoning, so I figured I'd try that.  If you don't want to saute the squash and onions, you can also steam them.  Place them in a large skillet, add a small amount of water, cover, and cook until squash are tender, about 5 minutes.  You can also substitute zucchini for the squash as well.

The squash still turned out a little bland, so next time I will add some salt as well as the Tony's.  This doesn't make very good leftovers because when you reheat it, it becomes mushy.  So I would suggest cutting the recipe in half if you're only serving 2-4.

Welcome to my Food Blog

My husband and sister-in-law have been trying to talk me into doing a food blog for sometime now.  I don't consider myself an extraordinary cook, but some may say otherwise.  I definitely love to cook, and I enjoy hunting down new recipes to try (my husband calls me a recipe sleuth), as well as trying to improve on old, favorite recipes.

I come from a family of great home cooks.  Growing up, my Grandma would always have a big family lunch every Sunday after church.  It was good 'ol fashioned, Southern home cooking, such as fried pork chops and fried chicken with all the fixings.  My Grandma is now 97 years old and her vision isn't good so she can longer cook, so sometimes I will take her over some of my food.  I feel it's a token of gratitude for all the wonderful meals she made me all those years.  My Mom was also a great influence.  She cooked dinner for us every single night.  She wasn't able to experiment with many new recipes or foods because my family had a couple of very picky eaters.  When I was 19, my mom passed away from cancer, so I had to step up and take care of my Dad and brother.  That was when I started to cook.  At first, it was quick, easy meals like Hamburger Helper.  It was all I really knew how to do.  Now, 17 years later, my culinary skills have greatly improved, and now I will very rarely make anything out of a box.  I think fresh ingredients are key.  I am not a "health nut" by any means, but fresh food just taste better and is better for you.

My husband and I are just an ordinary couple who have busy lives, just like everyone else.  We enjoy cooking together, and we are always trying to improve on our cooking skills with every new recipe we try.  Some of meals we prepare are quick and easy, while other are more involved, which we usually save for the weekend.  We don't have a big, fancy kitchen (it's actually pretty small because we are always bumping into each other when we're cooking) or a lot of fancy cooking tools.  Those things don't make you a good cook.  All you need is a willingness to try new foods and recipes and not be afraid of messing up every now and then.  Everything we make doesn't always turn out great, but we learn from our mistakes and keep going.

So this blog will be written for people like me, an average person in the real world.  I'm hoping that I can pass along some yummy recipes, helpful tips and meal planning ideas with this blog.  Enjoy!