Taco Pizza

My children love taco night.  When I say “taco” I mean the ones you buy in the box that have crispy and soft taco shells, a taco seasoning packet and some taco sauce.  They don’t want adventurous fish or chicken taco’s.  And that’s okay, because I can enjoy that ground meat mixture in a corn shell taco just as much as an elaborate one.

I ended up with leftover taco meat and toppings and decided to switch it up and throw it on top of some pizza dough.  It made my children happy not once but twice this week when dinner was served. 

It also made my life a little easier knowing dinner would be quick and easy to throw together.

You don’t need to have leftovers from taco night to make this, you can just follow the basic recipe below and make the pizza by itself.  Yum!

 

TACO PIZZA:

• Fresh Pizza Dough (either homemade or purchased) *please do not use the one in the can in the refrigerated section.  Many grocery stores now sell fresh pizza dough if you don’t want to make your own.
• 1 lb. lean ground turkey or beef, browned and drained
• 1 Packet of Taco Seasoning (follow packet directions for adding to the beef or turkey mixture)
• 2 Medium Tomatoes, diced
• 1 1/2 Cups Freshly Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Shredded Lettuce
• Taco Sauce (I buy the bottle in the taco section of your grocery store)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a skillet, begin browning your meat.  Drain of all fat, add the taco seasoning packet and the amount of water instructed on the packet. Stir together, remove from the heat and set to the side.

Add a little olive oil to a sheet pan and some to the outside of the pizza dough.  Work your dough into a rectangular shape on the baking sheet.  If you use a pizza stone, which is an even better choice), work the dough out to fit the size stone you are using.  I used a standard size sheet pan and worked my dough to fit the size of the pan.

Using a slotted spoon, cover the top of the pizza dough with the ground meat mixture.  Top that with the cheddar cheese.

Place on the bottom rack of the oven and bake until the bottom is nice and crusty.  If the top of the pizza dough is not browned enough, move it to the top rack and place it under the broiler for a minute or two to make it the color/crispness you are looking for.  Be sure to watch it closely since it takes only seconds to burn!

While the pizza is baking dice up your tomatoes and shred some lettuce. 

As soon as the pizza is done, remove the oven and place on a cutting board.  Top with the tomatoes, lettuce and sprinkle with over some taco sauce, using just enough so that it doesn’t make it too soggy.  You don’t want it dripping in the sauce!

Add whatever other toppings you like such as sliced black olives, diced onion, avocado, cilantro, or sour cream.

Enjoy!

Mexican Chicken & Lime Soup

I’ve been looking at this recipe for a while and salivating over it.  I saw it in Everyday by Rachael Ray’s magazine,  October 2009 issue and have wanted to make it ever since.  Finally, I did. 

If Chicken Soup is considered Jewish Penicillin, than this soup should be considered Mexican Oxycodone!  If you have the least bit of a cold or congestion, this soup will pretty much blow a hole right through it and then some.

What intrigued me about this recipe was that it has some of my most favorite things.  Cilantro, lime, tortilla chips and avocado.  And the flavors work well together.  The creaminess of the avocado does help to tone down the spiciness of the chipotle chiles.  Not to mention the corn chips that just make it for me.

It was simple and took minutes to throw together.  My husband has been feeling a little under the weather lately.  I have a feeling after a bowl of this, he will be feeling back to normal in no time. 

I pretty much followed the recipe, but did up a couple of the ingredients.  I’ll give you the original version of the recipe and note at the end what I changed up a bit.

MEXICAN CHICKEN & LIME SOUP:

Recipe from: Everyday with Rachael Ray October 2009 issue

Serves 6

• 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Small onion, finely chopped
• 6 Cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 Canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons of adobo sauce.
• 6 Cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 Cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Juice of 2 limes
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 Haas avocado, thinly sliced lengthwise into 12 pieces
• Crushed Tortilla Chips

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Stir in the onion and garlic, lower the temperature to medium and cook until the onion begins to brown, about 7 minutes.

Increase the heat to high, push the onion and garlic to the side of the pan and add the chicken and cook, stirring  until golden, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the chipotle chilis and adobo sauce, then stir in the chicken brother.

Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, skimming of any foam.  Stir in the cilantro and lime juice; season with the salt and pepper.

Place 2 avocado slices in each of 6 soup bowls and pour in the soup.  Top with the tortilla chips.

Now here are the changes that I made.  I added the onion first, and when it was halfway done, I added the garlic (which I chopped instead of sliced).  Once I had both the onion and garlic done, I removed it from the pan and then added the chicken.  Garlic burns too quickly and I wasn’t going to take that chance.  After the chicken was done, I added the onion and garlic mixture back to the pan.

I toasted the tortilla chips in the oven for a few minutes on 350 and then crushed them and added them to the soup.  It really brings out the flavor of the chips.  Just watch you don’t burn them.

I served with a lime wedge for some extra zing. 

If you want to cut the heat, remove the seeds and membrane from the chilis before chopping them and adding them to the soup. 

I also added additional fresh cilantro to the bowl just before serving.

If I had some sour cream, I would have stirred in a teaspoon of that as well.  Next time!

Mexican Rice

 

I love Mexican food and I love rice.  So of course, Mexican Rice is my favorite thing to have on the side of a great Mexican meal.  There are a million and one recipes for this, but this is the one I adapted that works best for me and my family.  It is simple and delicious!  Give it a try!

MEXICAN RICE:

• 1 1/4 Cups Uncooked Par-Boiled Rice
• 2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1 14.5 oz. Can Diced Tomatoes
• 1 Small Yellow Onion, finely diced
• 1 packet Goya Sazon
• 1 Tablespoon Salted Butter
• 1 tsp.  Ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1/4 Cup Chopped Fresh Cilantro
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Serves 6

Finely chop your onion.  Place the tablespoon of butter into a large skillet and turn the heat to medium.  Dump in the onion and sauté until translucent. 

Pour in the diced tomatoes, with the juice and stir to combine with the onions.  Add in the rice, cumin, salt, Goya Sazon, and some freshly ground black pepper and chicken broth.  Stir until combined and then cover.  Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.  This should take about 20 to 25 minutes, but depending on the rice, can take a bit longer. 

Just before serving, pour in the quarter cup of fresh cilantro and stir gently.  Garnish with some additional freshly chopped cilantro.  

So, so good!