Spinach and Turkey Pizza

This spinach and turkey pizza was amazing!  I made sure to roll out the pizza dough as thin as possible and it turned out nice and crisp.  You could make your own pizza dough (homemade pizza dough recipe link here)  or use store bought.  It is actually not too hard to make your own pizza dough, and I like to double the recipe so I can always have one batch in the freezer.  If you freeze the dough, just let it defrost in the fridge the night before you need it.  Anyway, this spinach and turkey pizza was great because of the fresh spinach.  If you want to make it vegetarian, just omit the ground turkey.  What is so great about making pizza is you can use whatever toppings you have at home, that's exactly how I came up with this recipe.  Enjoy!

Spinach and Turkey Pizza

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 batch of pizza dough (recipe here)

10 ounces fresh spinach

4 ounces ground turkey

½ onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 ounces cream cheese

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ cup parmesan cheese

1 roma tomato, sliced

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

non-stick cooking spray

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Drizzle a little olive oil onto a baking sheet.

For the spinach

In a large pan, over medium-low heat, add about a tablespoon of olive oil and garlic.  Saute garlic for about a minute.  Stir in spinach.

Cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until spinach is wilted.  Stir in cream cheese, salt, and pepper.  Cook for another minute and let spinach mixture cool.

For the turkey

In a skillet, over medium heat, spray with non-stick cooking spray, and add onion and ground turkey.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until turkey is cooked through and no longer pink.

For the pizza

Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface with a rolling pin.  Place rolled out dough onto a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Drizzle a little olive oil onto the pizza dough.

Spread the spinach mixture over the dough. 

 

Top with turkey mixture.

 

Top with shredded mozzarella cheese. 

 

Top with tomato slices. 

 

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

 

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is crisp and lightly browned.

Braised Kale with Onions and Bacon

Kale is like the new spinach!  Did you know kale is actually a form of cabbage?  Kale is also high in vitamin C, vitamin K, and especially beta carotene, which is supposedly a great source of antioxidants.  Kale has many health benefits!  So ... adding in just a little bit of bacon is probably okay then, but you could always omit it or substitute turkey bacon.   Enjoy!

Braised Kale with Onions and Bacon

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale

1 tablespoons olive oil

½ onion, sliced

2 slices bacon

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper

Directions

Remove leaves from ribs and stems of kale.  Chop into bite sized pieces.

In a large pan, over medium heat, cook bacon for about 5 minutes or until crisp.   Remove bacon and set aside.  Reserve 1 teaspoon bacon drippings in pan.  (I sliced the bacon before cooking or you can cook the slice and crumble afterwards.)

In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the 1 teaspoon bacon drippings.  Increase heat to medium-high.  Add onions and cook for about 5 minutes or until tender.  Stir occasionally.

Add kale and cook for about 5 minutes or until wilted.   Stir frequently.

Stir in broth and vinegar.  Cover and cook for about 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with crumbled bacon.

Serves 4.

Santa Fe Chicken Burritos

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I had all this shredded chicken from my Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken recipe and I wanted to make burritos to freeze for future meals.  I already stocked several burritos in the freezer at my office so I can have them for lunches.  These are easy to assemble and didn't take me long at all.  I actually made the chicken and rice the day before I assembled the burritos so the filling wasn't hot.  I was able to wrap them up immediately with foil and put them in the freezer.  Easy peasy!  The burritos are great served with sour cream and lately I have been substituting plain greek yogurt for sour cream.

 

Santa Fe Chicken Burritos

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 batch Santa Fe Chicken  (recipehere)

8 to 10 large flour tortillas (burrito size)

2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar.)

4 cups cooked rice (I used plain, white rice)

Directions

Warm tortillas according to package directions. 

Spoon about ¼ to ½ cup rice down center of tortillas. 

Top rice with about ¼ to ½ cup shredded chicken.

Sprinkle cheese on top.  

Fold tortilla into a burrito.

 

I was able to make 9 burritos but you could make more if you want to use smaller tortillas.

 

To freeze, allow burritos to cool if using warmed ingredients.  Wrap each burrito tightly with foil.  Place foiled burritos in large freezer bags.  (I label the bag beforehand with what type of burrito and date.) 

 

To reheat from frozen, remove foil and microwave on high for 3 minutes.  You could also place the foiled burrito in the toaster oven at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes.

Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken

I love using my slow cooker and this Santa Fe Chicken is a super simple recipe.  I am pretty sure Santa Fe Chicken was originally a casserole type dish but making it in a slow cooker is so much easier.  I have seen several slow cooker recipes where you only need chicken and salsa, but I wanted to add a little bit more.  I already had a can of black beans and a can of corn, and those work well together.  Feel free to add in kidney beans or pinto beans instead of black beans and use your favorite salsa.  Prepare the ingredients the night before and just turn on your slow cooker in the morning.  You will have a great dinner by the time you are home.  The shredded chicken is so versatile too.  I made a little bowl of the chicken, topped it with a poached egg, shredded cheddar cheese, and plain greek yogurt; and I served it with some tortilla chips.  It was delicious!  Also,  I made a bunch of burritos with the leftover shredded chicken to freeze for future meals.  I'll try to post that recipe tomorrow. 

Slow Cooker Santa Fe Chicken

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 ½  pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs (5 pieces)

15 ounce can black beans, drained

15 ounce can corn, drained

16 ounce jar salsa (I used Desert Pepper Trading Co.’s Salsa Del Rio – Medium.)

salt and pepper

Directions

Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper.

Place chicken thighs in slow cooker.

Top with drained black beans and corn.

Stir in salsa.

Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours, until chicken is cooked through.  The chicken should shred easily just by stirring after cooking.

This is great served over rice, in a burrito/taco, or as a sandwich.

Serves 6 or more.