Thai Chicken Pizza

Another out of the ordinary pizza combo. Thai food is so amazingly delicious and as it turns out thai flavors on a pizza are pretty darn good too. This was delightfully different. My son who strangely doesn't like pizza (tell me-what boy doesn't like pizza?!) rolled his eyes when we sat down to this meal. But we have a must-taste rule at our dinner table and before I knew it he was chowing down and going back for seconds and thirds and exclaiming "this is so good Mom!". Take THAT non-pizza lover! I found myself sneaking another piece after the kids went to bed-but hey, at least it wasn't my usual chocolate. A word to the wise-this can be a bit spicy, but just skip or tone down the red pepper flakes and you should be good. We liked ours with the heat though.

Thai Chicken Pizza

{Recipe from Tasty Kitchen Blog}

1 batch of favorite pizza dough, thinner crust is best in this case

Cornmeal for sprinkling pizza stone/pan

1/4-1/2 cup thai sweet red chili sauce (found mine in specialty asian section store)

1 whole shallot, thinly sliced

1/2 whole zucchini, thinly sliced

1 t or less red chili flakes

1 cup cooked shredded chicken (I simmered mine in chicken broth with a dash of curry powder)

2/3 cup shredded mozzarella (grating your own is always better for the melting factor)

A small handful of finely chopped peanuts

2 T fresh cilantro

2 T fresh basil (thai or otherwise)

Preheat your oven to 500 and roll or shape/stretch dough until 1/4 inch thick. Place dough on pizza stone, pan, or cookie sheet that has been lightly sprinkled with corn meal. (I usually spray first with cooking spray). Spread a thin layer of sweet chili sauce over pizza dough. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Layer on shallots, zucchini, and chicken. Spread shredded mozzarella evenly over entire pizza. Place in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes until cheese is golden and crust is lightly golden. (Keep a good eye on it, as ovens may vary). Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, cilantro, and basil. Slice and serve.

Thai Peanut Noodles

I'm a huge fan of asian noodle dishes. They are inevitably what I gravitate towards at any asian restaurant. But I'd never even considered making them at home until a couple years ago when this recipe showed up on Our Best Bites. The list of ingredients has absolutely nothing bizzare, no fish sauce or oyster sauce in sight. Just basic ingredients you can find in any well-stocked pantry and an amazing flavor with a little heat (to taste of course), crunch (thank you peanuts) and refreshing toppings that really make the dish (hello green onions, cilantro, and lime). If you love noodles you're gonna love these, guaranteed.

Thai Peanut Noodles

{Original recipe from Our Best Bites. I've adapted it to our tastes, mainly by doubling the sauce ingredients. We like things saucy, plus I find the noodles soak it up pretty quick and less seemed like it would be non-existent. Feel free to double or not according to your families tastes. However, doubled amounts are what I've written out below}

1 cup chicken broth

6 T peanut butter

2 t sriracha chili sauce

3 T honey

6 T soy sauce

3 T fresh minced ginger

5-6 cloves garlic minced

12 oz linguine noodles

chopped green onions

chopped cilantro

lime wedges

chopped peanuts

Cook noodles in salted water. In the meantime combine chicken broth, peanut butter, chili sauce, honey, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth and remove from heat. Toss cooked noodles with sauce. Add chopped peanuts to taste. On each serving sprinkle green onions, cilantro, and squeeze a wedge of lime.

*If desired, you can add meat to this dish by stir-frying shrimp or thinly slice (partially frozen first helps) chicken in some veggie oil with a couple cloves of minced garlic, some fresh ginger, green onions, soy sauce, and a small squirt or sriracha chili sauce.

Homemade Thai Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

My family and I LOVE thai food, we cannot get enough of the stuff. Even our kids are big fans. As you can imagine this means that when we go out to eat, just about every other time we find ourselves at one of our favorite thai food haunts. One of THE best things is the sweet chili dipping sauce. I pour it on everything!

This recipe was my attempt at a homemade version of the stuff. And while it wasn't as top-notch as our favorite restaurant's sauce, it was a pretty delicious alternative. We used it as the dipping sauce for out Baked Veggie Egg Rolls. I found the recipe on a thai food blog and they suggest using it just like you would any other condiment going so far as to use it on fried or grilled chicken, to doctor up salad dressings, brushing it on corn on the cob, etc. And they say it keeps in the fridge up to a month.

Dip away, I say!

Homemade Thai Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

{Recipe source: She Simmers}

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 RED jalapeno or Serrano pepper, deseeded or almost deseeded depending on your heat tolerance

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/2 T salt

1 T cornstarch

2 T water

In blender, puree garlic, peppers, sugar, 3/4 cup water, white vinegar, and salt. Transfer mixture to small saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat and simmer until mixture thickens up a teeny bit and the garlic and pepper bits soften, about 3 minutes. Combine cornstarch and 2 T water to make a slurry. Whisk cornstarch mixture into sauce pan and simmer one more minute. Use warm or at room temp for dipping. Store remaining sauce in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a month.