Caesar Salad Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 (10 ounce) can pizza dough, refrigerated (I use homemade)
• 1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated (divided)
• 1/2 cup caesar salad dressing
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 cups chicken breasts, cooked diced and cooled
• 4 cups romaine lettuce, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1 (3 1/4 ounce) can black olives, pitted drained and sliced (or sub pitted kalamata olives for even more zip!)
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. 1
   Roll out and bake pizza crust according to package directions.
2. 2
   In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup parmesan cheese with the Caesar dressing, lemon pepper seasoning, and garlic. Mix well.
3. 3
   In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and half of the dressing mixture. Mix well. Fold in half of the diced chicken.
4. 4
   Place lettuce, bell pepper, and olives into a bowl and add remaining dressing mixture. Toss to coat.
5. 5
   Spread cream cheese mixture onto cooled pizza crust. Top with lettuce mixture, then arrange remaining chicken over the salad. Sprinkle on the remaining parmesan cheese and top with freshly ground pepper.
6. 6
   Slice with a pizza cutter and serve immediately.  Serves 8.

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Serves: 8   Prep time: 15 min   Cook time: 20 min

You can make Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi soup just like the Olive Garden does. Just a few ingredients and you can enjoy this famous soup at home.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons extra virgin oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 quart half and half
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
• 1 cup onion, finely diced
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 14 ounce cans of chicken broth if you enjoy thick soup, use one can
• 1 cup carrots, finely shredded
• 1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced (you can use a rotisserie chicken)
• 
  
• 1 package gnocchi, cooked  (you can find these in gourmet/pasta section of the grocery store - you may want to cut the gnocchi in half if it is large, or purchase the mini size if available)
• 
  
• 1 cup of fresh spinach coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Instructions

Saute the onion, celery, and garlic in the butter and olive oil over medium heat until the onion becomes translucent. Add the flour and make a roux. Let the butter and flour mixture cook for about a minute before adding 1 quart of half and half.

Cook gnocchi according to package directions.

Into the roux, add in the carrots and chicken. Once the mixture becomes thick, add the chicken broth. Once the mixture thickens again, add the cooked gnocchi, spinach, and seasoning; simmer until soup is heated through.  Before serving season to taste by adding additional salt.

Island Pork

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 pork tenderloin (or two small) - I bought the two pack at Costco - each pack has two smaller loins and so I just used one pack

2 Tblsp olive oil

1 cup brown sugar

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

2 fresh mangoes, chopped (can also use 1/2 bag of frozen mangoes from Trader Joes)

Mix salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder and cinnamon in medium bowl. Trim fat from tenderloin and roll in spices, coating completely. Brown tenderloin in olive oil for 1-2 minutes on each side. Put in 9x13 pan. Mix brown sugar, garlic, Tabasco sauce and 1-2 Tblsp water. Pour sugar mixture over tenderloin. Place chopped mango over sugar mixture. Bake 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until internal temperature of 155 degrees.

Coconut rice

White rice (Indian basmati) - I used a brown basmati

One can of cream of coconut - This is what they use to make pina coladas and has added sweetner. I found it in the liquor section in a squeeze bottle and just added enough until it seemed right.

Cook rice as directed and when done stir in desired amount of cream of coconut. The original recipe recommended about 1/4 - 1/3 cup per one cup of rice.

As a side note, the USDA lowered its recommended temperature for whole meats to 145 degrees (it used to be 160 degrees for pork) - and then let it rest for a minimum of 3 minutes - the internal temperature will continue to rise as it rests. I checked the temperature before pulling them out and it said 155 and then I let it rest about 10 minutes before we ate. I later realized I had checked the smaller of the loins so I'm guessing the larger loin was a little lower temp. The meat was very moist and was still a little pink. Do not overcook the meat or it will not be as good.