Pork Pizza With Jalapenos and Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

For the Pizza Crust
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tsp highly active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup olive oil
For the Mango Salsa
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 mango, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp salt (or to taste)
For the Pork and Etc.
• This Recipe for Ribs - but DOUBLE the sauce ingredients - you'll need it for your pizza sauce.
• 1 lb. sliced Muenster cheese
• 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup pickled jalapeno slices

Instructions:

• 1. To make the pizza dough, combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast over the water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes or so.
• 
  
• 2.  Turn the mixer on low and add the olive oil, followed by the yeast/water mixture.
• Mix until combined and pulling away from the bowl.
• Drizzle with olive oil, turn to coat, cover and refrigerate. (It actually gets better the longer it's in the fridge).
• 
  
• 3.  Make the ribs (mine were leftover, I made mine the day before for dinner). Make sure to save half of the sauce in a separate container - you should only use half of it for marinating and basting. Pull the meat off with your fingers and shred using two forks. Set aside.
• Make the salsa by combining all ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until pizza is done.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• 
  
• 4.  Drizzle olive oil in a 10" cast iron skillet (a cookie sheet or flat pan would work as well)
• Spread half of the dough in the pan, using your fingers to stretch it. Use a little less dough if you want a thin crust, more if you want a deep pan pizza.
• Spread some of the rib sauce on the dough, followed by shredded pork, cheese and jalapenos.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and the crust is slightly brown.
• Serve with mango salsa.

Ratatouille Grilled Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 cups each of diced zucchini, eggplant, and onion
• 3 cups cherry tomatoes
• ¼ cup olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 sun-dried tomatoes, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian herb seasoning
• salt and fresh black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar
• 6 oz. cream cheese, cut into ½ inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 8 slices Italian bread
• 1 1/3 cup grated Gruyère cheese (or whatever you have on hand)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, eggplant, onion, and cherry tomatoes with ¼ cup olive oil, minced garlic, minced sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, dried herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Use your hands to mix everything together until very well combined. 

3.  Line a sheet pan with non-stick foil or parchment paper. Spread the vegetables evenly on the pan. Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, stirring the vegetables once halfway through baking. Transfer to bowl and set aside. This roasted ratatouille mixture can be made in advance!

4. In a small bowl, combine the chopped basil, parsley, balsamic vinegar, and another tablespoon of olive oil. Toss the cooked ratatouille with the cubed cream cheese. Butter each slice of bread on both sides. In a large skillet, lightly brown each slice on one side. Flip the bread and spoon some of the ratatouille cream cheese mixture on four of the bread slices. Spread a couple teaspoons of the fresh herb mixture on the other four slices. 

5. Finally top the ratatouille halves with 1/3 cup grated Gruyère cheese and cover with the herbed bread.

Bon Appétit!

Lemon Glazed Pork Chop

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 pork chops, trimmed (keep the left overs)
• 1 sprigs rosemary
• 1 sprigs thyme
• knob of butter
• 1/2 lemon, juice and rind (thinly sliced)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 550 ml malt vinegar
• 550 g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp crushed juniper berries
• 4 parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced on a mandoline

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

2. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan and fry the pork chops with the herbs and trimmings for 1-2 minutes on both sides, or until golden-brown all over. Place into the oven and roast for 7-8 minutes, or until the pork is cooked through. Remove from the oven and transfer the pork chops to a warm place to rest.

3. Return the pan to the heat and add the butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. Stir in the honey and cook for a few minutes, or until reduced to a sauce consistency. Remove the trimmings before serving.

4. Place the malt vinegar, sugar and juniper berries into a non-reactive pan and bring to the boil. Cook for a few minutes, or until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add the sliced parsnips and simmer until the parsnips are tender with a little bite.

5. Serve the pork chop with the parsnips alongside and the pork juices drizzled over.

Western style sushi

Ingredients:

• 3 C sticky rice – uncooked
• 3 C water
• ½ C rice vinegar
• ½ C granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Wash and rinse the rice thoroughly. Put the rice and water in a medium to large saucepan, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until rice is done.
2. Use a small saucepan to mix the sugar, rice vinegar and salt. Heat until sugar is melted and remove from the heat. Cool.
3. In a large mixing bowl thoroughly mix the cooked rice and the cooled vinegar mixture.
4. Allow the rice to cool before using to make sushi dishes.
5. An easy sushi dish that everyone likes is shrimp sushi. Buy prawns (one for each piece of sushi). Skewer the prawns with toothpicks from tail to head. (This will keep them flat). Boil in salted water for three minutes and then immerse in ice water to stop the cooking action. Butterfly the shrimp.
6. Take about 1 ½ TBS of sushi rice and make a ‘brick’ about two inches long. Get a cooked and butterflied prawn; rub a hint of wasabi on the underside and then place on the sushi ‘brick’.

Sweet Lemon Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 package (18.25 Oz. Size) Lemon Cake Mix
• 2 Eggs
• ⅓ cups Vegetable Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Lemon Zest
• ⅓ cups Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest until well blended.
3. Refrigerate dough for 30-45 minutes. Form dough into balls 1 tablespoon (or so) in size and cover with powdered sugar by rolling them in a small bowl until they are completely and well covered. Once covered in confectioner’s sugar, place on a lightly-greased cookie sheet
4. Place cookie sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 7-9 minutes. The bottoms get a little brown, but the insides will stay soft, chewy, and perfect!

Best Ever Green Beans

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pounds of green beans
• pinch of Kosher salt
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 1/2 Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 of a lemon

Method:

1. Line up the green beans on a chopping board and cut off the stalks.
2. Put the beans in a sauce pan of boiling water with a dash of salt and cook for about six minutes. Drain, reserving some of the cooking water, and set them aside to steam dry.
3. Put the pan back on the heat, add the oil and the garlic. Stir. When the garlic starts to turn golden, add the beans and shake them around in the pan to coat them in the garlic oil.
4. Add a small ladleful of the reserved cooking water, the parmesan cheese, and the lemon juice. Stir and simmer until the water and cheese start to form an oozy, sticky sauce. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Ingredients:

2 lbs uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ t crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup fresh basil, finely chopped
2 cups marinara/pasta sauce
1 ½ cups 2% reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese
2 oz grated parmesan cheese
3.5 oz garlic croutons, roughly crushed, leaving some larger pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.
Place the chicken in the bottom of the dish in a single layer. Sprinkle the minced garlic, red pepper flakes and basil evenly over the chicken. Spread the sauce evenly across the top. On top of the sauce, sprinkle ¾ cup of the Mozzarella and one ounce of the Parmesan evenly across the dish. Sprinkle the crushed croutons across the top and follow with the rest of the cheese cheese.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Makes 8 servings. 8 WWP+ 303 calories