Just Call Me Rachel Ray!

I had my moment to shine in the kitchen tonight and thought it deserved its own blog post. Just a small disclaimer before I continue. I can cook fairly well (thanks to learning young), but I have a tendency to cook the same things over and over. My recipe list under my favorites tab is RIDICULOUS, most of them never making it to my plate. I'm scared of wasting food by making something gross, so I just stare at the recipes thinking "hmmm I bet that tastes delightful".

Anyways...tonight I was pondering what in the world I was going to make for supper with the bare bones in my cabinet (a little broke this month, c'mon Peace Corps payday!) and noticed a can of black beans. My LAST can of black beans. UGH. The grocery store that carries black beans is completely out of my way, so I have to be in the right mood to make the trip and buy in large quantities. I have eaten my fair share of black beans and rice, black bean enchiladas and black bean burritos in the last few weeks that I wanted something new. Hmmm...lets refer to that wonderful recipe list and see if I'm up for getting creative. Yup, in truth I was, and thats how black bean pizza came about.

I love pizza. Any way I can incorporate cheese, sauce and bread into my diet I will do it, regardless of health consequences. I'm hitting all the major food groups right? I put veggies on pizza all the time, although I haven't found a way to incorporate fruits into pizza, hmmm. I will report back on that one asap. This pizza was an experiment but TOTALLY worth it, as it turned out one of the best pizzas I have ever made. YAY for ME!

Black Bean Callaloo Pizza Recipe

Pizza dough (I make no yeast pizza dough because I don't like little creatures causing my bread to rise)
1 can of black beans
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of chili powder
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic (or 7 if you like garlic like me! Its good for the immune system)
1 cup callaloo (a veggie similar to spinach and native to the Caribbean, so you can replace with spinach)
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup cheddar cheese (monterrey jack or mozzarella would be better, but we don't have it here)

Directions
1. Bake pizza dough until done, remove from oven.
2. In skillet, saute onions, garlic and callaloo until tender
3. Mash black beans in bowl with cumin and chili powder, spread evenly on pizza crust.
4. Add salsa on top of black beans.
5. Add onions, garlic and callaloo to pizza.
6. Spread delicious amounts of cheese on pizza
7. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
8. Bathe in the glory of deliciousness.

Now THAT is Rachel Ray quality pizza right there. I might go to her website and nominate myself for the next up and coming star. Just saying. Hope you enjoy my new creation as much as I did.

Before taking the dive into the oven

OH. EM. GEE.

Don't you worry, I ate half the pizza!