Greek Pizza for Foodie Friends Friday

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Just another version of awesome pizzaness!

Toppers: Chicken, Baby Arugula, Onion, Peppers, Garlic, Tomato slices, Feta Cheese

First get your dough ready:

Dough Recipe

Oven should be the highest it can go- mine goes to 550 degrees F.  Let it preheat, along with your pizza stone if you have one (and if you don't just use a pizza pan or baking sheet)

Ingredients

• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small bite sized pieces
• 1 large tomato sliced
• 2 large handfuls of baby arugula
• 1/2 pepper, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• a fist sized piece of feta cheese, crumbled
• salt, pepper and red pepper flakes

Directions

1. In a skillet saute the chicken breast and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
2. When cooked through remove from skillet and reserve.  Then add half an onion, half a pepper (I used green bell pepper) and garlic.  Saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. When the dough is ready roll out and lay on your stone/pan.  Then layer your sliced tomatoes, chicken, pepper onion mixture, arugula and then finally the cheese.
4. Cook for about 12 minutes and always keep an eye on it- because sometimes it will cook faster or slower depending on crust thickness and oven temps.
5. When it came out I drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and let cool a couple minutes then slice and serve!

You can also top with some olives- yum.

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Please check out my fellow Friday Foodie Friends…

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom
Robyn at Robyn’s View
Angie at A lil Country Sugar
Wayne at Passione Per Cucina
Sarah at Everything in the Kitchen Sink
Michelle at From Calculus to Cupcakes
Marlys at This and That
Lois at  Walking on Sunshine
Erika at Chef Picky Kid and Me
Lindsey at Family Food Finds
Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings
Skye at A Virtual Essence
Sheri at Homemade Served Here
Keira at Luscious Delights
Amber at Mama’s Blissful Bites
Rhiannon at Baked In The South
Brianne at For the Love of Food (and Eating!)
Pooja at Saffron N Appetite

Last Weeks Top 3 Voted Recipes

1. Marlys at This and That with her Lemon Lime Sugar Cookies

2. Spatulas on Parade with Fish Tacos 

3. Spatulas on Parade with Sock It To Me Cake

Last Weeks Top 3 with for Most Clicks Are:

1. Spatulas on Parade for the Sock It To Me Cake

2. Chef Picky Kid for the Teriyaki Pulled Chicken

3. Country Girl at Home with the Chocolate Gravy

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Spicy Grilled Shrimp w/ Couscous

So this isn't just any grilled shrimp and couscous- its spicy garlic shrimp with feta, tomato, and red onion couscous all topped off with a kiss of olive oil and lemon juice.  Believe me this is a recipe you are going to want in your back pocket, especially on those REALLY hot days where even using the microwave makes you feel hot.  I'm sure everyone knows that this past week has been murder with temps reaching well over 100 degrees (well, in NY anyway where we aren't used to it being that hot). I love to break out my trusty George Foreman grill for things like this, but the shrimp can be cooked just as easily and quickly in a saute pan.

I actually went out and bought uncleaned shrimp, and yes you could say it was "rewarding" to stand there and clean about a pound of shrimp, but for the extra dollar a pound I should have bought the cleaned ones.  I would recommend buying the uncooked (or raw, grey colored), cleaned and deveined shrimp versus the pre-cooked ones (the pink ones) because I personally feel it is fresher and the shrimp wont be overcooked.  I left the tails on just for show really, but you can just pull them off if you want before cooking.

Oh and if you are curious, when you say "deveined" shrimp, it just means that the shrimp has had its digestive track removed (yea I know it's a little gross).  It's one little "vein" looking thing that runs along the inside of the shrimp and it's really no good to eat- so they remove it.  If you decide to clean your own shrimp make sure you remove the outer shell and the digestive track.

Another tip on shrimp: They come in a variety of sizes, I actually forgot what size I purchased specifically for this dish, but it was the one on sale.  The numbers usually found under the name of the shrimp signifiy the "count" or about how many shrimp there are per pound.  Obviously, there will be a higher count per pound of smaller shrimp, and fewer (like extra large or colossal) shrimp per pound once they get larger in size.  The count is a range that can look like 31-45 or 31/45. 

Ingredients

• about one pound of raw, cleaned and deveined shrimp
• 3 garlic cloves, minced or grated
• 1 tsp of red pepper flakes, 1 tsp of salt, fresh black pepper
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• ½ red onion, diced (or you could use the whole onion- too much raw onion gives me agita)
• about ½ c. of feta cheese, add more if you like
• handful of chopped fresh parsley
• 1 lemon
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup of couscous (or your favorite box of couscous)

Directions

• Preheat your George Foreman grill, grill pan, or your saute pan.  If I was sauteing the shrimp in a pan I would use about a tablespoon of butter as well as oil.  Don't blast the heat with the oil in the pan until you are ready for the shrimp because the oil might start to smoke and the butter might burn before you are ready.  If the oil does smoke just remove from the heat.
• In a bowl, take the shrimp, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  Cover with about 2-3 tablespoons of oil just to coat everything.  Mix well and set aside. 

• While we let that hang out for a few minutes, chop your tomatoes, onion and parsley.  Then put into a large boil.  Crumble in your feta cheese as well. 
• Follow the instructions on the box of couscous.  Usually you bowl water and salt, then when it comes to a boil you put the couscous in, stir, then cover and let sit for about 5 mins.  When the couscous is done it is important to fluff it before adding to the bowl with the tomatoes and onions.  Combine couscous and other ingredients in the bowl well.  Add about 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and taste to see if more salt and pepper is needed- it probably will need some. Set aside.
• When your cooking vessel is hot- add the shrimp.  It should only take about 1-2 minutes on each side.  Cooking shrimp is probably one of the easiest foods to know when it's done- it goes from grey to pink/orange color.  Try not to overcook them though- otherwise they will taste rubbery.

• Family style and individual plating is basically the same.  Take your couscous and cover the bottom of the plate and then place the shrimp on top of that.  Squeeze the juice of the lemon on top and serve with an extra sprinkle of parsley if you want.

Stuffed Peppers- w/ Beef, Orzo and Feta Cheese

I usually don't make stuffed peppers, but I saw these peppers at the store on sale and I just couldn't resist! Look how pretty they are! Anyway, I've been on bit of a Greek streak lately so enjoy this Greek inspired stuffed pepper.  It can be a side dish, but I served it as a whole meal. These are really easy too.  Some people cook the peppers before you stuff them, but I don't like mushy peppers I like them with a bit of a bite still left, so I didn't pre-cook them.  If you usually do that- by all means go for it.

Stuffed Peppers W Beef, Orzo and Feta

·  4 pepper

·  1 lb beef

·  ¾ cup orzo

·  1 onion

·  2 garlic cloves

·  1 cup (or a handful of grape tomatoes)

·  ½ cup- 1 cup of black olives

·  2 tsp fennel

·  2 tablespoons of oregano

·  2 tsp red pepper flakes

·  1 tablespoon or coriander

·  1 tablespoon dill

·  Salt/pepper

·  3 tablespoons of tomato paste

·  ½ cup of feta cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350°
2. Sauté beef in some olive oil until brown.  Then add in onion and garlic. Then half of all the spices. When all cooked through turn off the heat and put in a large mixing bowl.
3. Bring some water to a bowl for the orzo, salt it and cook orzo to al dente. Drain then add to the mixing bowl.
4. Chop tomatoes and olives and add to the meat and orzo. 
5. Then add the feta, the rest of the spices and tomato paste. Mix together well.
6. Prep the peppers by cutting off the tops and scooping out ribs and seeds.  If your peppers won’t stand up straight you can always cut a little bit off the bottom so they have a stable foundation.
7. Stuff peppers and cover them up again- if the tops wont stay on I used a tooth pick to hold in place.
8. Set in a baking dish and fill the baking dish with a about a ½ inch of water so the peppers wont dry out. 
9. Bake about 30-40 mins.

Feta Cheese- yummmmmmmm. Salty, tangy cheese that crumbles easily.  A staple in Greek cuisine.  Feta is a sheep's milk cheese (or a combo of sheep and goat) that is made (curdled in a brine) then squeezed together to shape and then packed usually in its brine and/or water.  Can be used is cooking, salads, or just drizzled with oil.  Actually, the Greek word "feta" comes from the Italian word fetta ("slice) (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feta).  The good: This food is a good source of Protein, Riboflavin, Vitamin B12, Calcium and Phosphorus.  The bad: This food is high in Cholesterol and Sodium, and very high in Saturated Fat. (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/18/2)