Tag Archives: mozzarella

Meatless Monday | Grilled Green Tomato Caprese

14 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in Appetizers, Entertaining, Grilling, Healthy, Meatless Monday, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetarian

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Oh Hey. Sooo I know Green Tomatoes are kind of a “Summer” thing…But here in the Northwest…I still have tons of Green Tomatoes on my plants. I did get some ripe ones out of my summer…but some didn’t quite mature. But that’s okay…Because!!!Green Tomato CapreseFun times with Green Tomatoes! A recipe that is a bit healthier than Fried Green Tomatoes…These Grilled Green Tomatoes made into a Caprese Salad!Grilled Green TomatoesI like this recipe because it is waaay easier than Fried Green Tomatoes. Just marinade them in a little saucy sauce, throw em on the grill…and add mozzarella and basil! We took the extra step to melt the mozz under the broiler, but this recipe is great with fresh cold mozzarella as well!Grilled Green Tomato Caprese

Recipe
Grilled Green Tomato Caprese
serves 8 as an appetizer or side
adapted from Southern Living

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (we used regular, it was still delish)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 4 medium-size green tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 2 lb.)
  • 1 (16-oz.) package fresh mozzarella cheese
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

Directions

  1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl or baking dish, stir. Add tomatoes and cover, letting chill for at least 1 hour.
  2. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Remove tomatoes from marinade, reserving marinade. Grill tomatoes, covered with grill lid, 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until tender and grill marks appear.
  3. Arrange alternating slices of warm grilled tomatoes and mozzarella cheese on a large, shallow platter. We put our dish under the broiler for a minute to melt the cheese a little bit, it’s great both ways! Drizzle with reserved marinade; season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with basil.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

14 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in Bloggerific, Healthy, Main Dish

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Delicious toppings on Cauliflower Crust Pizza.

If I were to eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would probably be pizza. Not because pizza is so damn delicious, but because you can do so much with it. There are so many possibilities – thai pizza, mexican pizza, greek pizza, buffalo chicken pizza, veggie pizza, meaty pizza…I could go on and on and on. I even had gyro pizza once, and it was phenomenal.

Then there’s the crust. Thin crust, thick crust, flatbread, chicago style, deep dish, STUFFED CRUST! SO.MANY.CHOICES.

Cauliflower Crust – lots of flavor and added kick in there!

But wait…Cauliflower crust?!? Seems immoral. Not okay. But at the same time, you realize you are instantly intrigued. Pizza that is…somewhat healthy? Practically guilt-free? A vegetable crust? No way. You just have to try it for yourself.

Cauliflower Crust – Super flavorful and surprisingly delicious.

You wouldn’t even know this pizza had a healthy crust!

Recipe

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Recipe from Eat.Drink.Smile.

Serves 2-4 (depends on if you want leftovers!)

ingredient

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt
olive oil (optional)

pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings

directions:

To “Rice” the Cauliflower:
Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater). Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes (some microwaves are more powerful than others, so you may need to reduce this cooking time). There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.

One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

To Make the Pizza Crust:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9″ round. Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

Enjoy!

*Note that toppings need to be precooked since you are only broiling for a few minutes.

Baked Pesto Chicken

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in Bloggerific, Chicken, Easy, Main Dish, Weeknight Meals

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Whenever I feel like I need to eat healthier, I head on over to Kalyn’s Kitchen for inspiration on low carb, south beach style recipes. Her food has never disappointed, and I am happy to be finally sharing one on Daily Deliverables.

Baked Pesto Chicken. Only 3 ingredients. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

Super Easy and Cheesy!!!

Of course, I usually cancel out the healthy factor by adding bread, beer, wine, or all of the above to the mix. And probably extra cheese. No one was around to stop me…

Pesto chicken and some crusty bread

This recipe is SO easy. Start by spraying some non-stick spray in a pan and then adding a layer of pesto…

spray pan with nonstick spray. Coat bottom of pan with a layer of pesto.

Lay your chicken on top of the pesto. I always buy Costco’s convenient chicken tenders. I also buy Costco’s convenient jarred Pesto…This is because I once had an incident with homemade Sage pesto that I don’t like to discuss.

lay chicken tenders flat in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

The hilarious thing is I seem to lay out the step-by-step photos on the easiest recipes I post.

Cover chicken with remainder of pesto.

Don’t forget to cover the pan with foil before placing in the oven! These don’t take as long to bake as larger chicken breasts, they only took about 20 minutes before I took them out to flip them over.

ready for a generous sprinkling of cheese...

I have this weird thing where I have to flip things that go in the oven to “even them out.” OCD, yes. But I don’t flip everything. It would be pretty ridiculous if I had to flip items like pizza in the oven…

cheese added, ready to go back in the oven.

Recipe

Baked Pesto Chicken by Kalyn’s Kitchen
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients: 
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8 – 12 boneless chicken tenders
salt and fresh ground black pepper for seasoning chicken
1/2 cup basil pesto
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 375F. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken pieces, then cut each chicken breast lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces. (If you are using chicken tenders, no cutting necessary!)

Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/4 cup basil pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken strips over the pesto, then spread 1/4 cup more basil pesto over the chicken.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the chicken for 20-25 minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through. (Don’t cook too much at this point, or the chicken will be overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.)

When chicken is barely cooked through, remove foil and sprinkle chicken with 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese. Turn on your broiler. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 minutes more, just until cheese is melted and until you get to desired browned crispiness.Serve hot. There will be some flavorful juice in the bottom of the dish when this is done, and if you are like me you will throw low carb out the window and serve over pasta or grab some crusty bread for dipping. Other options include brown rice, quinoa, or cous cous.