Category Archives: beans

Navy and Kidney Bean Pizza Recipe

Posted on February 29, 2012 | 8 Comments

Navy & Kidney Bean Pizza

I celebrated the start of February with a heart healthy pizza and will wrap up the month the same way.  Navy beans and kidney beans are an excellent source of fiber, protein, and calcium. Both beans help regulate blood sugar levels, which was of particular interest to me for this pizza because one of my guests struggles with diabetes.

After pre-baking my homemade dough (50% spelt, 50% white flour), I spread on a little of my homemade pizza sauce and sprinkled on cheddar cheese. I topped the pizza with kidney beans, Navy beans, cilantro (another food that regulates blood sugar), green peppers, and onion.

I’ve found that cilantro can overpower other flavors, but on this pizza it complimented the flavors very well. My Navy and kidney bean pizza was a hit and I am certain I’ll experiment with beans on pizza again.

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Posted in beans, cheddar cheese, cheese, herbs, Onion, peppers, pizza, pizza sauce, sauce, vegetarian, veggie

White Bean Pizza with Caramelized Onions Pizza Recipe

Posted on January 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

White Bean Pizza with Caramelized Onions Recipe

White bean pizza was one of my surprise favorite pizzas of 2010, but back then I still hadn’t learned the art of caramelizing onions. I’ve since caramelized onions on a few pizzas and been looking forward to including them on my second attempt at white bean pizza. I was not disappointed – the caramelized onions added to the already tasty combination of white beans, roasted garlic, and mozzarella cheese.

Caramelizing onions require patience. The first time I tried caramelizing onions I gave up too soon and ended up with regular sauteed onions. Here’s how I prepared them for this pizza: I sliced a sweet onion, cooked it in a pan on medium heat with canola oil, stirred them every few minutes for 20 minutes. This long cook time allows for the sugar in the onions to brown. Check out Pizza #21 from my 52 pizzas project for the details on how I prepared the rest of the pizza.

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Posted in beans, cheese, garlic, herbs, mozzarella, Onion, pizza, vegetarian, veggie

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Guacamole Pizza Recipe

Posted on January 19, 2012 | 4 Comments

Guacamole Pizza

Do you have a standby recipe for nights when you don’t like to cook? One of my standbys is layer dip. Individually the ingredients aren’t that bad for you and together they taste so good. I was curious to see what layer dip might be like on pizza so I gave it a shot this week and have to say that my guacamole pizza is one of the most dense and filling pizzas I’ve made. I was surprised that I was able to recognize all the distinct flavors after baking the pizza. It tasted like layer dip with a crispy, chip-like crust.

While pre-baking the dough, I prepared the guacamole by combining one avocado with store bought guacamole mix. Then, I used my potato masher to smash a can of pinto beans and mixed the beans with taco seasoning. To assemble the pizza I spread a thin layer of the smashed pinto beans on the dough, followed by a thick layer guacamole. Then I added a layer of salsa and cheddar cheese. Finally, I topped the pizza with a few chopped onions and sliced black olives. I’m thinking Guacamole pizza might give layer a dip a run for the money at our Super Bowl party this year.

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Posted in beans, cheddar cheese, cheese, olives, Onion, pizza, salsa, sauce, vegetarian, veggie

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Greens and Beans Pizza Recipe

Posted on January 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

Greens and Beans Pizza

Greens & beans is a healthy meal that is inexpensive and simple to prepare. I make my recipe as a soup a few times each winter and have been waiting for the right time to turn this comfort food into a pizza. It can be risky to take something that is already delicious and change it so that it works on a pizza. With my greens and beans pizza recipe I worried that it might be a bit dry, but it worked out great. Here’s how I put it together.

I started by breaking up spicy Italian sausage with a potato masher in large pan on medium-high heat. In a separate pan, I sauteed a chopped white onion and garlic. Then I added escarole so it would wilt. To finish the preparation of the greens and beans I added cannellini beans and the cooked sausage to the pan.

To create the pizza I put mozzarella cheese onto pre-baked dough and topped it with the greens and beans. Finally, I added a light sprinkle of parmesan cheese after I took it out of the oven. Next time I create this pizza I might try making it a vegan friendly pizza by leaving off the sausage and the cheese.

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Posted in beans, cheese, escarole, garlic, greens and beans, herbs, Italian sausage, Meal->Pizza, meat, mozzarella, Onion, Parmesan, pizza, Seasonal, veggie, Winter Recipe

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Succotash Pizza Recipe

Posted on September 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

Succotash Pizza

Andrew must have heard the word succotash recently because he suggested that I make a succotash pizza and then asked what goes into succotash. He knew that it had corn in it because he suggested this when I was asking what we could do with the fresh corn on the cob we got from The Good Food Collective (GFC).

To be honest, I had to look up the actual ingredients too. I read that succotash was a popular dish during the Depression because it was inexpensive. The main ingredients are corn and lima beans. I decided to add onion, garlic and pepper to give the pizza some flavor.

First, I shucked, boiled, and cut the corn on the cob. I chopped fresh onion that we also got from the GFC, then sauteed these ingredients with minced garlic. Then I added chopped red bell pepper. When the onion, garlic and pepper were finished I added the corn and lima beans. I made fresh pizza sauce and added some minced summer savory that we got from the GFC. After pre-baking the dough I spread on a thin layer of sauce, sprinkled on mozzarella cheese, then the succotash and let it bake.

This low budget pizza was fantastic. The summer savory added a spicy, peppery flavor to the sauce. The veggies tasted fresh and flavorful and the beans made my succotash pizza recipe pretty filling.

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Posted in beans, cheese, corn, garlic, herbs, mozzarella, Onion, peppers, pizza, pizza sauce, sauce, Seasonal, Summer Recipe, summer savory, veggie

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California Burrito Pizza Recipe

Posted on December 6, 2010 | 2 Comments
Sacramento, CA
If you walk into Adalberto’s Mexican Food in Sacramento, CA and order a California Burrito you might be surprised when you take your first bite. What makes a California Burrito different from any other burrito you ask? In addition to beans, salsa and cheese, you’ll find streak and french fries. Genius!
Our friend Lauren calls Sacramento home and she grew up enjoying this west coast guilty pleasure so we invited Lauren to indulge in my California Burrito Pizza recipe.
I started by  seasoning the strip steak with garlic salt and pepper. Then grilled it. After pre-baking the dough, I spread on a mixture of salsa and marinara, sprinkled on Mexican cheese, the beans and the steak. Prior to assembling the pizza, I baked the french fries to make sure they got crispy. After adding the other toppings I threw on the french fries and another sprinkling of cheese. I knew Andrew and I would love this pizza. It was a burrito with french fries made into a pizza; come on now. But I was looking forward Lauren’s opinion since she has had the real deal. She loved it too. She did comment that mine tasted healthier, less greasy than the typical Adalberto’s California burrito. This pizza was so good I think I may need to take a trip to Sacramento to try the original!

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Posted in beans, beef, cheese, french fries, Meal->Pizza, meat, Mexican, salsa, sauce, veggie

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Boston Baked Bean Pizza Recipe

Posted on November 28, 2010 | Leave a comment

Boston, MA

Beans, beans the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you… The history of Boston Baked Beans is rooted during the time of the Triangular Trade. Sugar cane was imported to Boston and made into sugar.  A by-product of this process is molasses, which is used to sweeten the baked beans unique to Boston.

B&M is known for making authentic Boston-style baked beans. I was happy to find these on the shelf at Wegmans. I spread the molasses sweetened sauce on the pre-baked crust, then sprinkled on mozzarella cheese, sauteed onions, bacon and finally the beans. We are a bean loving family so we definitely enjoyed this pizza. Bacon, onions and beans always taste delicious together and so did my Boston Baked Bean pizza recipe.

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Posted in Bacon, beans, cheese, meat, mozzarella, Onion, veggie

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#38: Roast Beast Pizza Recipe 7/31/10

Posted on August 4, 2010 | Leave a comment

My father’s birthday was this week so today we had the family over to a little pizza party. He’s had a unique influence on my cooking style. As someone who believes, “the stranger the food the better,” (e.g. he taught me to make “Fart” soup), he has unknowingly inspired me to take risks and get creative with my cooking. And that I did.

This week we received beets and green beans in our food collective batch. Having discovered that beets on pizza taste great, we thought why not give green beans a try too? I roasted the beets and beans with canola oil, salt and pepper. I slathered the leftover horseradish spread on the dough and topped that with Swiss cheese. Then I tossed on sliced roast beef, the beets and lastly the green beans. I took a moment to assess whether or not this would be strange enough for my dad and decided it had to be. Well, he loved this recipe and seemed very proud of the lesson he has passed down to me, “The stranger the food the better.”

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Posted in beans, beef, beets, cheese, horseradish, meat, sauce, Swiss cheese, veggie

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#24: Moe’s Pizza Recipe 5/26/10

Posted on May 27, 2010 | 2 Comments

The credit for this delectable pizza goes to three people, none of which is me. Andrew’s boss Barry and his wife Chris threw a party for the student team which was crucial to the success of Imagine RIT 2010. Moe’s Southwest Grill catered the party and lucky for me, there were tons of leftovers. So my first shout out goes to Barry and Chris for the leftovers. Lindsay, an RIT student who tasted my Imagine RIT pizza, suggested to Andrew that I turn the leftovers into a Moe’s pizza, sheer genius. Thanks Lindsay!

To start, I spread some salsa mixed with marinara on the pizza dough, topped it with seasoned chicken, black beans, and jalapeño peppers. Now, I’ve only been to Moe’s one time but burned into my taste bud memory is the creamy and spicy flavor of Moe’s queso dip, yum! Andrew brought home what seemed like a bucket of this magical sauce, which I drizzled over the toppings and then wiped the drool from my chin. The pizza only took 12-15 minutes to bake, but it seemed like it took forever with all of my anticipation.

Joining us for this pizza was our good friend Steve, and the three of us tore into what was one of the most flavorful pizzas yet! The queso dip did not disappoint and was the star flavor of the pizza. My last shout out goes to Moe’s because this amazing pizza wouldn’t have been possible without you.

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Posted in beans, cheese, chicken, marinara, Meal->Pizza, meat, peppers, salsa, sauce, veggie

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#21: White Bean Pizza Recipe 5/5/10

Posted on May 7, 2010 | 5 Comments

With a busy weekend ahead of us I chose to make a mid-week pizza. The recipe I prepared calls for a white bean, garlic and onion puree. However, after I had chopped the onion and garlic and rinsed the cannellini beans I realized that I was missing an important tool that would allow me to make a puree, the food processor. We are moving and have packed and stored some of our belongings that we won’t need until we move. The food processor was one of the items I thought I could live without, oops! I almost scrapped the idea but then remembered that I use a potato masher to mash pinto beans almost on a weekly basis to make burritos, and I was relieved that my pizza plan was back on track. I heated the beans in the pan with the onions, garlic and a little canola oil. Then I transferred the mixture to a bowl, added a little chicken broth for moisture and got my mash on. After the mixture was sufficiently mashed I slathered it on the pizza dough, topped it with mozzarella cheese and baked it for about ten minutes. Now, Andrew and I were extremely hungry, so that could have played a part in the fact that this was our new favorite pizza. The garlic and onions added a great flavor to the beans and that all played nicely with the cheese. The beans held the heat in more than the usual toppings and I burned the roof of my mouth but it was totally worth it because it tasted fantastic!  Saved by the potato masher!

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Posted in beans, cheese, garlic, mozzarella, Onion, vegetarian, veggie

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