Recipe of the Week: Chicken Thai Pizza

The hardest part of recipe of the week will be remembering to take pictures of my dishes. Its already a circus trying to keep Reid calm while I prepare dinner. Now I have to add whipping out my camera to the routine?  I had a lovely chicken taco recipe all typed up and ready to go, but then I realized recipes are pointless without a picture. So, for backup I'm taking this entry off my once-started-but-totally-failed recipe blog. It was one of only 2 recipes with pictures. Oops.

Chicken Thai Pizza, the birth story: long ago Ben and I decided our Friday night dates didn't have to include dinner at a nearby restaurant.  It was a bold move, but a good one.  Good for our budget, good for our quality of time together, good all around.  Who knew snuggling up with each other, a box of red vines, and the cast of 30 Rock can be even more intimate than footsies at a side booth in California Pizza Kitchen (which I still mistakenly call California Pizza Chicken, or California Chicken Kitchen)? The sad part was, I knew if we only dined out once or twice a month we'd never choose CPK again. Sure they have good food, but the Crystal/Pentagon City neighborhoods had better dinning to offer.

This meant I had to come up with my own way to make Thai Chicken Pizza.  We tried just buying the freezer aisle one at the store, but it wasn't nearly as good as the real thing.  So, we decided to just read the ingredients on the back of the box and try making it fresh.  Brilliant!  This is so easy to make and tastes way better than the frozen kind and only slightly less better than the actual restaurant one.

Chicken Thai Pizza, the recipe:

Pizza dough (we just use a Pilsbury can, cause I'm terrified of making bread from scratch).

3 TB Peanut Sauce (found in the asian aisle of your grocery store)

Shredded Carrots (generous handful)

Bean Sprouts (generous handful)
1 chicken breast, cooked and cubed (I use really small pieces, usually just by tearing at the cubes, and I usually don't even use a full breast, this is a go-to skimpy-meat meal when our budget needs a squeeze)

1 1/2 cups low-moisture, part skim, shredded mozzarella cheese

5 or so steams of cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Basically just prep the oven however your pizza dough tells you to.  Grease a baking (or pizza) sheet and then layer on all the ingredients in the order I have them listed, starting with the peanut sauce and ending with the cilantro.  Cook until desired crust is achieved (Ben likes soft, I like crunchy...) and cheese is melted and a little bubbly (about 11 to 14 minutes at 400 will do).  

It really is so easy, quick and cheap. We love it. I actually think Ben would tell you he prefers it to the one at the restaurant. I probably don't, just because the one at the restaurant requires no prep on my part :).  I think we've added chopped up peanuts before too, and that adds a nice crunch.  

Another way to make this a supper budget friendly meal, is to use up the rest of the carrots, bean sprouts, and other half of the chicken breast in a stir fry the following night. Just combine those left over ingredients with a couple scrambled eggs and some chopped brocoli crowns, toss it all in a stir fry sauce and pour it over a bowl of rice. We almost always have to two dishes one day apart (and at the end of the month, when my grocery budget is in the red). Enjoy take out style food right at home!