Roasted chicken, kale, and mushroom white pizza- #unprocessed October food challenge

White Pizza

Did you read my pledge to eat only unprocessed foods this month? A few friends of mine are taking the challenge as well, and it’s exciting to see what everyone’s coming up with as far as meal plans.

Last night I made a roasted chicken, kale, and mushroom white pizza.

Dough:

For the dough, I used my bread maker on its dough setting. I’m so glad someone gave that to me as a wedding present! We don’t eat a lot of bread, but the machine has been indispensable for when we do and also when I want to make pizza dough. I can make pasta sheets with it too, but I haven’t tried that yet.

Sauce:

For the sauce, I sauteed a small chopped onion, then tossed in two gloves of chopped garlic. After they were translucent, I turned the heat down, let the pan cool a bit, then poured in a cup of heavy cream and two tablespoons of olive oil. I brought the mixture to a rolling boil, then whisked in a teaspoon of flour.

Next, I turned the stove top down to low heat and let the mixture simmer until it thickened. After that I turned it off, let it cool, and refrigerated the sauce until I was ready for it.

Toppings:

I roasted some chicken breast with salt and pepper in the oven. Once it was cool, I just chopped and shredded it into the size I wanted. I also washed and sliced some onions and kale. For the cheese I used pepper jack. Mozzarella probably would’ve made more sense, but pepper jack is what I had.

Future changes:

I’d use less dough. The majority of the calories in this pizza are in the dough. Next time, I’ll freeze half the dough and then use the rest to make a thinner crust. Hubby also would like me to add more garlic to the sauce, so I will. I also thought it could use a little more sauce, so I may double the recipe.

All in all…it was really tasty, and I was pleased with how it turned out!

Do you make your own pizza? What are your favorite toppings?
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How to dry chilies in the oven

I’m probably a little late posting this, but maybe someone can use this as a guide next season! The peppers in my little balcony garden were a big fail this year, but I was fortunate that my friend Nicole from The Fresh Kitchen had a beautiful haul this year and shared the wealth with me.

Although fresh chilies are delicious, there are reasons why drying them for later works well. Perhaps you have an abundance and some are at risk of spoiling. Maybe a specific recipe calls for dry peppers. I wanted to make chilli jam with mine, but didn’t have time to get it done before they went bad.

You can dry chilies a few different ways: in the sun, in your oven, in the dry air, or in a dehydrator. I chose the oven for my chilies. I’ve also dried figs in the oven, by the way; it’s the same concept.

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Oven-dried Chilies:

To dry chilies in the oven, make sure your oven is on the lowest setting possible, no more than 130 degrees fahrenheit. If it’s too hot, the chilies will just cook. The time to dry is going to vary, depending on your oven and the size and type of your chilies. Expect it to take at least six hours, but check every hour or two.

You want to release the moisture from the air, so either leave your oven door open, or crack it open every hour for a few minutes. With the second method, you may have to leave the chilies in the oven longer. I ended up doing most of my oven drying after Baby J went to bed, because I was concerned about leaving the oven cracked while he was awake. If you have pets, that’s something else you should probably monitor.

If you want, you can turn the oven off before going to bed, leaving the home, etc. The chillies will be just fine. Just start up the oven again when you get back.

One thing to note…the fumes from the drying chilies can be really strong. Make sure the area is ventilated. Set up a fan, open the windows, etc. You’ll know the chilies are dry when they are easy to snap into two.

That’s it! Very simple.

Have you dried chilies in the oven before? How did they turn out?
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