Flatbread Pizza Salad

We have a deep affection for whole wheat flatbread in our house.  Laela loves it toasted with olive oil and topped with hummus, and as weird as it may sound to some, steamed broccoli.  Kyle loves it made as a basic pizza with sauce, mozzarella cheese, and whatever kind of meat we have on hand.

My favorite thing to do with flatbread is make what Kyle calls "Flatbread Pizza Salad".  It's super easy to make, and when I have that insatiable craving for pizza, with less of the guilt that tends to come with your typically deliciously greasy slice of tastiness, this is the pizza I turn to.

Flatbread Pizza Salad

You'll need:

• 1 slice of whole wheat flatbread
• 1tsp olive oil
• 3Tb Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2Tb Parmesan Cheese (I prefer freshly shredded)
• 1 Sprig Thyme (leaves only)
• 1 Sprig Rosemary (chopped)
• 3 Slices of roasted peppers, jarred is easier, fresh fine too. (You can also use sundried tomatoes or jarred artichokes)
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 Lemon
• 4 large handfuls of spring mix, or 50/50 arugula/spinach mix

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 400-degrees.
• Use a pastry brush to "paint" the olive oil on both sides of the flatbread. (You may use more or less oil than specified, depending on the size of your flatbread.)
• Place the oiled flatbread on a cookie sheet.  Put the cookie sheet in the oven for 10 minutes.
• Chop the roasted peppers.
• Take the flatbread out of the oven.  Top with the thyme, rosemary, cheeses, roasted peppers, salt, and pepper.
• Bake for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
• When cheese is melted, take the flatbread out of the oven.  Slice into servings (our flatbreads usually serve 2 people, unless Kyle is super hungry.)  Top with the salad mix (you can stop here if you're not a salad fan!).
• Squeeze a bit of lemon onto the salad.  Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper.

Enjoy!!

Broccoli Two Ways

I've never been one to fight about eating vegetables.  I prefer them over most foods  (I'm pretty sure Kyle is convinced I could live on broccoli and peas- plain).  I'm one of those annoying people that put peas, broccoli, garlic and onions in to pretty much everything.  I even love plain old steamed brussel sprouts with salt and pepper.
 
Needless to say, when I hear people say that they don't like vegetables, I just don't get it.  So, I've made it my mission to prove that vegetables are totally delicious.  Maybe you won't want them plain, but with a little garlic, and a lot of love, even the most boring vegetable can be fantastic!

Now let's talk broccoli.  I have seen those super creepy frozen packs of broccoli with the weird plastic-y cheese on it.  Put down the fake cheese!  Frozen broccoli is amazingly quick and simple to cook- you really don't need any mystery sauce or seasonings on it.  You can make it yourself in five minutes flat!

My family loves broccoli...but that wasn't always the case.  Kyle isn't a natural vegetable lover.  How did I convert him, might you ask? 

Broccoli with Garlic

You'll need:

• 2 cups frozen broccoli (about a half bag or so)
• 2 Tb chopped garlic (I prefer fresh, but chopped garlic jarred is totally fine too)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil (optional)

Instructions:
Put a large saucepan on medium heat.  Fill the pan with about a half inch of water.  Wait one minute for the water to get hot.  Add the broccoli, onion powder, and garlic to the pan.  Carefully stir them together in the hot water.  Add a bit of salt and pepper.  If you'd like, once the water starts to cook down a bit, you can add a tiny bit of olive oil to the broccoli (less than a half teaspoon).  I really like the flavor that the olive oil brings to the broccoli, but I don't always use it.  The broccoli should be done after about five minutes of cooking.  Taste before serving to correct the seasoning.

Broccoli with Cheese

For the cheese obsessed, this is pretty awesome.

You'll need:

• 2 cups broccoli
• 1/4 cup Italian blend cheese (parmesan, mozzarella)
• salt and pepper

Instructions:
Fill a large saucepan with about a half inch of water.  Cook the water at medium heat.  After a minute or so after the water has heated up, add all of the ingredients to the pan.  Cook for five minutes.  Taste before serving to correct the seasoning.  And of course, you can always add more cheese!


Tomorrow I'll be sharing the tastiest, absolute easiest way to make asparagus- ever. 

Flatbread Pizza!

Over the last two and a half weeks, we've done a lot.  I've signed up for two mommy groups (something I was always too nervous to do in Philadelphia), made some new friends in the area, and have discovered some really great places to eat.

The only thing that I haven't been able to find is really great pizza.  For some reason, the pizza here tastes really bland.  The dough doesn't have that amazing texture that pizzza had back home.  The pepperoni and sauce are missing that really kickin' spice that you can find in PA.  Here, people eat pizza from chains.  At home, we ate pizza from the Italian neighborhood we lived in.

Last Sunday, we went to a Greenville Drive game with a mommy group that I joined.  The game was really fun and the moms' seemed really nice!  After the game, Kyle and Laela were cheering "pizza! pizza! pizza!", so we ran to the store, picked up some ingredients, and I came up with this totally tasty flatbread pizza.

This pizza is practically effortless!

Flatbread Pizza with Tomatoes, Basil, Ricotta Cheese, Pepperoni and Mozzarella
You'll need:

• 1 tomato
• 6 basil leaves
• Pasta sauce (as much or as little as you'd like)
• Fresh mozzarella (I used mini balls, about 5 will do.)
• 1 piece flatbread
• Olive Oil
• Ricotta cheese (about 4 tsp, depending on how cheesy you want it.)
• Pepperoni (optional)

Instructions:

• Heat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Brush your flatbread on both sides with olive oil.
• Toast the flatbread for ten minutes in the oven.
• Take the flatbread out of the oven.
• Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop about four tsp of ricotta cheese onto the flatbread.
• Spread some sauce over the ricotta.
• Slice the tomato into thin slices.  Add the slices to the pizza.
• Add the basil.
• Add the pepperoni slices.
• Slice your mozzarella balls into halves.
• Place them on the pizza.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.  Serve!!

*Since Kyle does not like tomatoes on their own, I  made him the same thing without the tomato slices.