Pre-Baked Pizza Crusts

These are the 1 of 5.

Her little pizza is the 4 of 5

Ingredients:

1 packet yeast OR 2 1/4 t.

1 1/4 c. warm water

3 c. bread flour

1 1/2 t. sea salt *

2 T. olive oil

* I didn't have any sea salt so I just used Kosher salt

Recipe:

1. Add yeast to warm water. Mix and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

2. If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook. Mix flour, salt, and olive oil. Add yeast mixture and on medium speed, mix dough. Continue letting dough hook kneed until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).

3. Line two baking sheets with parchment and dust with flour.

4. Divide dough into 16 even pieces. Tuck edges under to make 16 small balls of dough. Place each ball onto prepared baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and place in lukewarm oven for 45 minutes to rise.

5. After rising, roll dough out into 3-4 inch circles. Dough should not be too thin.

6. Place baking sheet in oven and preheat everything to 475 degrees F.

7. When oven and sheets have preheated, bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

8. Use immediately, store in air tight container for 3 days or freeze.

9. To use dough to make fresh pizza straight from the oven rather than pre-baked crusts, increase oven temperature to 500 degrees, and after rolling out the dough, top raw dough with sauce, cheese and toppings and bake on pizza stone for 10-15 minutes or until browned and bubbling.

Rating: 1 of 5 (adjusted 4 of 5)

First things, first. I loved working with this dough. It was so smooth and fluffy and felt like it was going to make a delicious pizza crust. I love bread flour! However, I think the temperature and cook time were way too high/long. Instead of soft little pizza crusts, they came out as hard burnt crackers (as seen in the picture). I, thankfully, saved a few just in case it didn't turn out and cooked them at 450 for 6 minutes. They turned out perfectly! So, I don't really like the recipe as is, but with the adjustments it turns out well.

Source: Out of the Box Food, Pre-baked Pizza Crusts

Easy Bean Dip

Ingredients:

1 can of refried beans

1 can of corn, drained

1 can of olives, drained and sliced

3-4 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1-2 c. shredded cheese

1/2 - 1 c. chopped cilantro

Sour cream

Recipe:

1. Heat beans. Slice olives, chop tomatoes and cilantro.

2. Layer in a 8x8 pan:

beans

a little cheese

corn

olives

tomatoes

cilantro (or you can just put it on top)

sour cream

remaining cheese

3. Serve with tortilla chips. Refrigerate leftovers.

Rating: 3 of 5

I think LaDon would probably give it a higher rating, but I don't think it's that amazing. It's good though. Easy to put together. I think taco flavored meat on top of the beans would be good too.

Source: my own

Katie's Mexican Salad

Ingredients:

2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped

1 can black beans, drained

1 can corn, drained

1/2 red onion diced

2 roma tomatoes diced

1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded

1 avocado, cubed

1 small can sliced olives

ranch dressing

BBQ sauce

2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced

Recipe:

1. Toss all together using equal parts ranch and BBQ sauce. You can also sprinkle some crushed tortilla chips on top. Super easy. Super yum.

Rating: 4.5 of 5

Seriously, so good. This one was my favorite of the night. It sounds strange, BBQ and ranch? Yeah, but it's soooo good.

Source: Katie Walker

Greek Cherry Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

24-oz cherry tomatoes, halved

1 ½ cucumbers, cut into ½ inch cubes

20 large kalamata olives, halved

½ medium red onion, chopped

2 T. fresh parsley, chopped

¼ t. salt

¼ t. sugar

10 oz. feta, cut into ½ inch cubes

½ c. extra-virgin olive oil

½ c. fresh lemon juice

1 T. oregano, chopped

Recipe:

1. Toss cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, red onion, parlsey, salt and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

2. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and oregano.

3. Cover and chill vegetables and dressing separately until ready to serve.

4. Just before serving, drain vegetables and add feta.

5. Pour dressing over the top and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately.

Rating: TBD

I missed this one too and I'm not sure how. I'm anxious to try this one! It sounds like the perfect summer salad!

Source: Laura Hauley

Greek Chicken Cutlets

Ingredients:

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1/3 c. pitted Kalamata olives

4 oz. Feta cheese, coarsely crumbled (1 c.)

½ c. fresh mint leaves

2-3 T olive oil

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 ½ lb. Thin chicken cutlets (about 8)

Recipe:

1. In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, olives, feta mint, and 1 T. oil. Season with salt and pepper; set aside

2. Heat a grill pan over high; brush lightly with oil. Season cutlets with salt and pepper. Cook, working in batches as necessary, until chicken is cooked through, 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Top chicken with tomato mixture, and serve.

Rating: 3 of 5

Low rating, not because it wasn't good. It's a Greek dish (supposedly) and is just a different taste than we are used to. I think the thing I didn't like about it was how strong the mint flavor was. So, if I make this one again, I'll cut the mint by half....at least. The chicken was really good though. It's a combination of flavors that I'm not used to, but, hey, now I know what to cook when I want to shake things up a bit!

Source: Food on the Table