Personal Pizza of the Week

Caramelized Onions & Sundried Tomatoes

This one is a no-brainer! Here are the steps to this out-of-the-box personal pizza:

1- Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

2- Heat up 3 tbs of olive oil in a skillet and fry 1 large sliced onion until caramelized (brown and toasted). Add a little salt and 3 tbs dried oregano. Then throw in 1/2 cup of sliced sun-dried tomatoes and cook for about 1 more minute on high heat. Turn off heat.

3- Spread cheese on your homemade pita (I normally use fresh mozzarella but I only had shredded mozarella-cheddar today). 

4- Top pita with the onions mixture including the drippings from the pan and add sliced Kalamata olives and fresh Italian basil leaves. 

5- Coat pizza pan with a drop of olive oil, place pita on the pan, and bake for about 5 minutes.

6- Enjoy you personal pizza by yourself or share with someone...remember, sharing is caring!

Wild Rice Baguette Bites

I made these for a "purple-theme" event. Wild rice, also known as Forbidden rice, turns dark purple when cooked. Just slice baguette and toast in the oven. Then spread real butter on them and add a layer of wild rice. Cook rice according to package instructions--usually same rice-to-water ratio and cooks in about 45 minutes, just cook it in water, salt, and garlic powder. I topped them off with a slice of radish for more flavor and a contrasting color. They turned out delicious!

Deviled Eggs Gone Nice!

Have you ever wondered why Deviled Eggs are called "deviled?" My explanation is: deviled eggs typically include both egg yokes and mayonnaise, both packed with bad cholesterol. Now is that evil or what?! Hmm, let me see, it tastes great...but it's bad for you...hmm sounds deviled to me. But don't panic, I bare good news. I bring you the healthier alternative of deviled eggs. They are still a little evil (they still provide culinary pleasure) but with a kinder effect to your body. Many people opt for Deviled-Eggs-Gone-Nice by substituting the mayo with avocado. GENIUS! 

I'd like to take credit for the invention since I ALWAYS use avocado instead of mayo...but, I didn't come up with this version of deviled eggs. In fact, I would like to give credit to whom credit is due (and a big THANKS) but we don't really know who started the trend. Oh well, life goes on, so here is the recipe for our beloved DEVILED EGGS GONE NICE:

Ingredients

6 eggs

1 large avocado

3 tbs chopped fresh parsley or cilantro (save a little for garnishing)

1 tbs mustard

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil or lemon juice

1/2 tbs salt(or to taste)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika powder (for garnishing)

Boil eggs for about 15 minutes. Once hard transfer to a bowl of ice cold water for a few minutes and then crack shells and gently remove them. Next, cut each egg in half--try to be as precise as possible-- and gently remove the egg yokes and place them in a small bowl. Add diced avocado, parsley/cilantro, mustard, oil/juice (note: cilantro will pair better with lemon juice while parsley goes better with the olive oil), salt, and pepper. Mash everything together until well mixed. Next, scoop out the mix and place about a spoonful in each egg-half. Lastly, sprinkle paprika and remaining parsley/cilantro on top. Transfer to a clean dish to serve. ENJOY!

Homemade Chunky Guac

This is one of my first video blogs! I do sound a little nervous but hopefully that'll improve with time. However, the star of this video is the guac, so test it out at home and ENJOY! 

Shredded Chicken Tostadas

Chicken tostadas are quick, nutritious, and delicious. My little sisters love them too because they get to assemble their own and choose their toppings. When it comes to tostadas there isn't really a specific recipe but it's more about what you like and what you feel like eating at the time and throwing it in a tostada tortilla, which is like a giant tortilla chip; basically, it's a corn tortilla that's been toasted/baked and is therefore super crunchy. Here is a pic of the end results:

In this case, I used my homemade "refried" beans (recipe coming soon), shredded chicken breast (skinless chicken breast, boiled, cooled, and shredded), romaine lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, diced roma tomatoes, diced onions, cilantro, homade guacamole, and "queso fresco" which is a Mexican fresh cheese--you can also just use parmessan cheese. You can pick any ingredients you'd like and just throw them on the tostada and VOILA you got lunch ready! You can always top with spicy sauce and try my recipe for Green Salsa! ENJOY!

Just look at that! So fresh and filling!

Fresh Jicama Salad

Fresh Jicama Salad

Jicama, jicama, jicama...what is that? I had heard the word a couple times from different Mexican friends, but I never really inquired about what it was. The other day, my little sister came home from school RAVING about jicama and how good it tasted with lemon. She also said that some people add both lemon and spicy sauce but she didn't enjoy the latter. For a couple days she kept begging for us to buy some jicama. So, when we finally got it I was a little confused. It looked like a root vegetable--something like a potato or a yam? It didn't look very appetizing as I don't think of foods in that category as appealing unless they are cooked. But my sister insisted I try some with lemon. 

Jicama has a very mild flavor, somewhat that of a potato but not as starchy. It is also crisp and somewhat juice. Kind of like an apple. As I was chewing it I started to feel it'd pair well with yogurt, vinegar, lemon juice, and the such and I immediately thought of a salad! So here is what I came up with. This salad is so fresh and inviting and also very healthy! Here is a picture followed by the recipe:

Ingredients:

Jicama

Green apple

Red onion

Cucumber

White vinegar

Olive oil

Greek Yogurt

Honey (optional)

Salt to taste

Just cut everything in cubes (your preferred ratio of each thing). In a bowl whisk together the Greek yogurt, white vinegar(you can also try lemon juice), honey, olive oil(just a little bit to emulsify but you don't want it oily, about a teaspoon should do), and salt to taste. Once dressing is well combined, add to the rest of the ingredients. Also, I put everything in a closed container, shook it up, and put it in the fridge for over an hour so it would be really chilled by the time I served it. For serving suggestion, I served it  in a bowl and was very generous with the dressing so that everything was kind of "floating" in it.  It was SO delicious, especially picking up the bowl at the end and drinking the left over dressing from it! You can also sprinkle minced fresh mint for garnish and aroma right before serving.This salad is ideal for the summer, a must try! ENJOY <3