Fresh and Healthy Thai Pizza

Good afternoon! I've been MIA lately as some mini family crisis's have kept me away from my usual computer time, but I'm back! And make no mistake, I have still been collecting and cooking while I was away!

Today's recipe was given to me via a great friend, who gives me loads of great recipes. I'll be featuring more of her delightful dishes in the future. Since it is now summer break in many parts of the country, I thought I'd feature this delish pizza that loaded with fresh veggies and chicken, and only a little bit of cheese.

Now, as I've mentioned in the past, I'm not keen on making my own dough. I seriously mess it up every time. I think it's because I'm pretty impatient. well, that and I'm not one to follow recipes exactly- so when it says "put yeast in water between such and such temperature", I tend to throw it in too hot (or cold) and yeast does not work that way my friends! Thank goodness for frozen dough balls in the store!

Pinterest has sparked my curiosity on the cauliflower crust though. I'm pretty sure it's yeast free and I'm super excited to try it sometime in the future. Plus it's more healthy. I'll bet it's still delicious when piled high with these topping too!!

Although I'm not a huge fan of making my own crust from scratch, I am a huge fan of Thai food. I love coconut everything, and Thai food uses plenty of it. I like their mix of sour and salty and their use of cool veggies that I have to trompse (is that even a word?!) through town hunting down ll kinds of cool oriental shops to find ingredients. I feel like I'm a kid on a treasure hunt and I love it!

I do however recognize that not everyone is up for this kind of food fun treasure hunt, so you'll be delighted to know that all the ingredients can be found at your friendly neighborhood market.The original recipe is from Rachel Ray, but I have altered it a bit to make it easier and tastier.

So, get cooking, and invite a few friends over for dinner! They'll love this gem of a pizza!

 Thai Pizza

• 1 pizza dough, any brand- thawed if frozen
• 1/2 jar duck sauce or plum sauce(I've even used hoisin!)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 package (2 cups) shredded provolone or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 rounded tablespoonful peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons grill seasoning
• 4 chicken breast cutlets, or already cooked chicken (like rotisserie- or leftovers!)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1/2 C shredded carrots
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 2 cups fresh bean spouts
• Palm full cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, 2 ounces

Preheat oven to 430-440 degrees F.

Form pizza crust on pizza pan or cookie sheet.(I roll mine out on a baking stone. I don't need to use extra flour or oil!) 

Top with duck or plum sauce(here I used 1/2 jar of hoisin as that's all I had. It's a bit spicier and a little heavier than duck or plum) - spread it around like you would pizza sauce. 

Sprinkle the pizza with some crushed red pepper flakes then top with cheese and peppers.


Preheat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Combine vegetable oil, soy sauce and peanut butter with hot sauce and grill seasoning. Use the microwave to loosen up peanut butter if it is too cold to blend into sauce, 10 seconds. Add chicken and coat evenly with mixture. Let stand 10 minutes then cook chicken cutlets 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until firm. Slice into small chunks.
**(If using rotisserie or leftover chicken, as I did, skip the cooking part and just chop chicken into chunks and coat with peanut butter mixture.)

Add the chicken to your uncooked pizza and bake for 15-18 minutes. check it after 11. Pop any bubbles in the dough.


While pizza cooks, mix honey and vinegar and add the carrots. Turn to coat evenly. 

 (fresh out of the oven- so delicious looking isn't it?!)

When Pizza is a nice brown and bubbley color pull it out. Let stand just a couple of minutes, the pile on all your fresh goodies. I start with the bean sprouts, then I add the green onion, the carrots (drain them of the liquid they've soaked in), and finally the cilantro and peanuts.

 (It's a feast for the eyes and for the tum!)

Now, get ready to become addicted! I'm sure this will become a regular on your menu just like it is on mine!

Hunger Games cake

Do-DO-do-Do.

That my friends, is the sound of the hugely popular Hunger Games theme song. Or at least that's how I type what I hear in my head.

Knowing how popular the books and movie are, I decided to take today to show you this cake, and describe how I made it. Just in case you have a fan out there who wants one for their special day.

First, I do this as a business. So I do have skill (sometimes!) and tools. But many people could pull this off. Beware! It's gonna take some time if you plan to make it. I would set aside about 6 hours from start to finish. Yes, 6 hrs. I know on all the cake movies they just make stuff happen, but that's after editing out hours and hours of artistic prep work. Ever look at a cake and wonder how they did it? TIME! They took lots of time :) That's why they both A)Look so good and B) cost so much money!

So, now let me begin by saying I didn't take one photo of the process. I wasn't planning to post it- but I loved the way it turned out- so I have to share.

You'll need:
A 2 layer cake, filled, iced, and covered with black fondant or icing.
Gumpaste
2 sizes of circular objects to fit your cake (to trace)
A print out of the Hunger Games pin sized to fit the top of your cake
A small sharp, sharp knife or exact-o knife
Chopstick or something to detail your gumpaste Mockingjay
Gold luster dust
Grain Alcohol
Paint brushes
Red, orange, yellow food coloring
A spaghetti noodle

I begin with a nice 2 layer cake. I overfill my cake pans (using a box mix? Use 2 to fill 2 8" pans- one mix isn't enough. You'll have leftovers, but make cupcakes! Or cake balls!)

When cakes are cold, fill and ice them. Make sure you ice them cold. Like fridge cold- it'll help with the crumbs.

At this point, I roll out and cover my cakes in fondant. You always have the option of just icing them well. Make it as smooth as you can either way!

For the logo on top, you'll need gumpaste. I make mine, but you can buy Wilton brand at most Walmart's. Micheal's, Hobby Lobby. Use as directed! 

Roll out and cut a circle shape- as big as your cake. For mine, I used the cake pan that I baked it in. I use a sharp exact-o to cut. Then find a smaller circle and cut the middle out. Carefully place it on your cake.

Find a hunger games logo on Google. Size it to your cake. Print. This will be your "bird pin" template- so cut out the bird. Roll out some more gumpaste to fit you bird, lay your paper template on top and carefully cut it out. Quickly make all the feathers and details before it dries. Use a chopstick or anything like it if you don't own gumpaste tools to "draw" the details on.

Use the same template to cut the pieces for the arrow. Use a piece of angel hair pasta as your arrow, ad use icing to "glue" the arrow together.  

Now, pain the whole thing gold. I carefully painted the outer circle while it was already on my cake. But the bird/arrow needs to be done before adding it. I use a mixture of petal dust and grain alcohol to paint. After it's done and paint is dry, carefully place it on the cake.

I used a shimmery rouge color to add some dimension to the "pin" in spots.

Now for the flames. You'll roll and cut these also out of gumpaste. I did a few "flames" at a time, then added them to my cake. After all the flames are cut and applied to the sides, paint them! I used liquid food coloring. You could use wilton gel colors and just make them thinner with grain alcohol, or you could buy that simple 4 pack of food coloring sold in the baking isle.

Using a small and med. brush, paint red on all the flames edges. After they're all done, go back and paint orange on the inside of the red, followed by yellow. Blend the edges a bit and voil'a! They really look like they're on fire!

I used a food coloring pen to write on the outer ring of the pin, but proceed with however you'd like to finish it.