Thai Chicken Pizza

This pizza is always a favorite of mine when I go to California Pizza Kitchen. Turns out, it's  just as good at home. This last time I made this I used whole wheat pizza dough and I found that it is much better with the regular dough.  Make sure you don't overdue it on the sauce as it tends to overpower the pizza and can make the dough a bit soggy ( which will be even worse if you use ww dough.) Use a pizza stone if you have one, that is next on my shopping list! Enjoy.


Ingredients for Sauce


1/2 cup peanut butter 
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha (or hot chili sauce)
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
1 Tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 cup boiling water


Ingredients for Pizza


1 1/2 cup cooked chicken cut into pieces
1/4 cup red pepper diced
1/4 cup carrots shredded
1/4 cup mung beans
1/4 cup green onions chopped
cilantro
limes
8 oz. Monterey Jack or Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
pre made pizza dough

Directions


Preheat oven to 500 F.


Whisk all the sauce ingredients except for the water together in a bowl. Once combined, put the sauce in a saucepan and heat through. Add a little water until the sauce is a consistency you want. 
Divide the sauce in half and add chicken to one of the sauces. 
Roll out pizza dough. Spread some sauce over dough then add chicken, cheese and veggies. Leave off cilantro and limes until pizza is cooked.
Bake 10 -15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown, adding peanuts the last 5 minutes of cooking time.
Squeeze lime over pizza and garnish with cilantro. 

Granola Bars with Olive Oil

It has been a while since I have cooked, I mean really cooked. The first thing that I needed to do before I started up again was give my pantry a much needed overhaul. Throughout the process I realized I had a lot of odds and ends that needed to be used up pronto. I had rolled oats, some unsweetened coconut, a few raisins and some sliced almonds. This is when I decided on making granola bars. I've never attempted granola bars before but I remembered how much I liked the olive oil granola I made a while back. With that I scoured the Internet for a good base line recipe. I ended up using this  Barefoot Contessa recipe and made my own changes. I substituted olive oil for butter, used a bit more honey and a little less sugar and added some cinnamon. The only dried fruit I had on hand were raisins and I toyed with the idea of throwing some dark chocolate chips in for good measure but decided against it at the last minute. The final result was a very good, crunchy granola bar. It would be very easy to adapt this recipe to fit your own wants and needs, I say give it a try!

Ingredients

• 2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup rasins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a  8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a cookie sheet nd bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the olive oil, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the raisins and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

* Recipe adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa

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Labor Pains

I have been MIA but I promise it was for good reason. After a long time trying to conceive a little Snyder we were successful with our first IVF attempt. It wasn't the easiest pregnancy or delivery, see here if you want the juicy details. But I am back with a beautiful baby girl and she is getting ready to start solids. I am so excited to start trying out baby food recipes that will exercise my baby girl's palate. She is in training to be a foodie like her momma. I will throw in some "adult' recipes as well, a girl can't live on chicken and salads forever. I am getting the  hang of being a stay at home mom and trying to get back into some of my old routines but with a mini-me well I should say mini-husband by my side! I guess it's time to start cooking.