Thai Chicken Pizza, an inspired choice!

A pizza crust is a blank canvas with plenty of possibilities and I like to sneak veggies onto my blank pizza canvas.  Thai Chicken Pizza is one of my husband's top meal requests---even with shredded carrots in plain sight!

The use of a commercial peanut sauce makes this a very easy and non-intimidating meal.  Someday, I'd like to create my own peanut sauce from scratch as the sodium level in most prepared sauces is higher than necessary, but the concoctions I've created haven't tasted nearly as good as House of Tsang's.  I did find this recipe for spicy peanut sauce over at anoregoncottage.com if you would like to try making it yourself.  

This recipe for whole grain pizza dough makes enough for two pizzas.  We only eat one pizza in our house, leaving enough dough for a quick follow up meal.  I either pre-bake the plain crust and freeze it, or if I am feeling extra ambitious, I make calzones or mini pizzas for lunch later in the week or just to keep in the freezer.

Recipe for Whole Grain Pizza Dough:

1 1/2 tsp Raw Honey

1 1/4 cups Warm Water

1 tbsp Active Dry Yeast

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp Salt

1 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour

2 1/2 cups Whole Grain Flour (Mixture of Whole Wheat flour, Oat flour, and Brown Rice Flour)

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in water.  Add salt, oil, and honey and let sit for about 5 minutes for yeast to dissolve.  Add flours and knead until smooth, adding a little flour if too sticky.  

Spray large bowl with non-stick cooking spray.  Put dough into bowl and roll in oil.  Cover and let rise until dough doubles in size (about 2 hours).  I put mine in the oven (turned off) to keep it out of drafts.

I like to pre-bake the crust at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes before piling on the toppings.

I have worked on the ratios of whole grain flour to all purpose flour and find that if I add any more whole grain flour than what I have posted, the pizza gets pretty dry.  You may choose to simply substitute whole wheat flour for the whole grain flour in the same ratio.

Now to paint that blank pizza canvas!  For Thai Chicken Pizza, I start with about 1/2 cup House of Tsang Bangkok Peanut Sauce.  It is a bit spicy, but my kids tolerate it in this amount and the dough absorbs some of the heat.

My favorite toppings for this pizza are

Green onions

Shredded Carrots

Red Bell Pepper

Cilantro

You may also try fresh mushrooms.  I tried bean sprouts once, but it was too weird for my taste.

Pizza is a great dish to cut down on meat consumption as well, I easily satisfy a family of four's desire for meat with just 4-6 oz of cooked chicken.  I season the chicken with garlic powder and onion powder as I cook it.  

I top off this pizza masterpiece with part skim mozzarella which doesn't melt as well as the full fat stuff, but allows me to eat three pieces instead of two.  I have found that both the crust and the cheese are much tastier if the pizza isn't overcooked, so watch closely the last few minutes of baking so you can take the pizza out of the oven at the prime moment just when the cheese starts to brown, usually about 12 minutes at 400 degrees in my oven.

I cut the pizza into 12 slices.  I used to do eight, but I find that my brain is more satisfied after three small pieces than after two large pieces.  

Traditionally Americans drink soda with their pizza.  I think there is something about pizza's savory taste that goes well with contrasting sweetness.  Pizza and pop was a hard habit for me to break, but now I drink water and enjoy fresh fruit as my sweet side.  Grapes or oranges are my favorite with pizza.  No empty calories for this pizza lover!

Even with my healthy substitutions, this dinner comes in higher than most of Kitchy Mama's Meals, but with the following meal plan, you can enjoy Thai Chicken Pizza on a 1600 Calorie Diet.

Breakfast- 369 Calories

Cinnamon Apples

1 cup Yogurt

2 Tbsp Pecans

Snack- 130 Calories

1/3 cup Banana Chips

Lunch- 414 Calories

Veggie Gyros (1 1/2 sandwiches!)

1 cup Red Grapes

Snack- 117 Calories

13 Almonds

Dinner- 587 Calories

3 slices Thai Chicken Pizza

Clementine Orange

Total Calories = 1614

Behind the scenes at Kitchy Mama Meals, I am working to improve navigation by including a meal plan index and recipe index of all the meal plans and recipes posted on Kitchy Mama Meals.  I am also working on full week meal plans with printable grocery lists and more.  I'd love to hear your meal planning tips, so I can include your strategies in my meal plans!