Thursday, September 17, 2015

Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

 Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch strips
2 green bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
2 red peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
(I used my Marconi bell peppers this time, pictured below)
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 large tomatoes, diced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup water
juice of 1/2 lime
2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
   Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a 9x13 glass baking dish, mix together the chicken, peppers, tomatoes, and onions.  In a small bowl combine the olive oil, water, cilantro, garlic, chili powder, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Pour the mixture over the chicken and vegetables and use tongs to mix it all together.  Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.  Serve with flour tortillas, sour cream, avocados, salsa, or pico de gallo, black beans, or whatever you like!
                                                 
Marconi bell peppers
                         
                                                   

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Baked Tomatoes

So easy!  So good.

Baked Tomatoes
For each tomato half, top with:
1 tsp. pesto sauce
2 Tbsp. mozzarella cheese
drizzle of olive oil
small pinch of salt and pepper
small sprinkle of oregano
      Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.  That's it!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Pesto Pizza with Tomato Salad

Pizza Dough
(makes 3 of these 9 inch cast iron skillet sized crusts)
1 1/2 cups hot water
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1-2 cups extra flour
    In a medium bowl add the water, yeast, and sugar.  Stir and let sit for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom.  In another bowl combine the 2 1/2 cups flour, salt, and garlic salt. In a mixing bowl add the bloomed yeast and flour mixture.  Turn the mixer on low with the dough hook and mix for about 5 minutes.  Add 1 cup of the extra flour and let it mix in.  Continue to add the remaining extra cup of flour until the dough is sticky, but forms a ball.  Do not add too much flour!  You want the dough to be sticky to the touch and slightly gooey.  Turn the mixer up to high and let it knead for 5 minutes.  Remove the dough from the mixer bowl, lightly oil the bowl and return the dough to it.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise for about 10 minutes. After it has risen, cut the dough into 3 equal portions.  If you want to save any of them for another time, spray a ziploc bag and put the dough into it.  Then it can be frozen and saved for another day.
Spray a 9 inch cast iron skillet and stretch the dough out onto it.  Next, spread about 3 Tbsp. of pesto sauce (I use a premade jar.) on the dough.  Then top it with 2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and top with the tomato salad.

Tomato Salad
3 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp. fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
     Combine all the ingredient together and stir to coat.