GET HEALTHY ~ EAT SALAD

Incorporate more fresh salads into your diet and enjoy the health benefits; putting it on a pizza – not so much. 

One of my favorite salads is the Cobb salad; crisp bacon, avocado, chicken, tomato and eggs diced and placed in perfectly aligned rows atop a bed of fresh greens.  How bad can that be for you?  Actually, for many years, I deluded myself into believing that a salad was a salad no matter what the ingredients were or how they were prepared.  As salads go, the Cobb can be a real bad boy with around 750 calories and 50g of fat per serving, depending on the type of dressing.  Oh yes, those counts are for salad with grilled chicken!  Now, is it just me, or do you think 'healthy' when you hear someone say, "salad with grilled chicken?"

After moving to Arizona, I began to incorporate local ingredients and spices into our meals.  I wondered if my beloved Cobb salad could go southwestern and still maintain its original integrity.  So the experimenting began; I season the breaded chicken cutlets with chipotle chili powder, used roasted red peppers, pepper jack and Manchego cheese for a southwestern flair and created an avocado ranch dressing to pull it all together.  My guess is that one good sized serving of my salad had upwards of 1,000 calories and God only knows how much fat.  Now the next question – could my savory southwestern Cobb work as topping for a pizza.  Answer – yes, yes and yes!

To make my Sunny Southwestern Chicken Cobb Pizza, I pre-grilled one side of the dough, flipped it over and spread it with roasted red pepper pesto; I then topped it with a mixture of Monterrey jack and pepper jack cheese.  I sliced my previously sauteed breaded chicken tenders crosswise and lined them up around the pre-grilled dough on top of the cheese; diced onion, halved cherry tomatoes and a light sprinkling of cheese came next; then back onto the grill for some healthy baking. 

While the pizza was doing its thing on the grill, I tossed some shredded romaine lettuce with the avocado ranch dressing.  After removing the pizza from the grill, I cut it into serving size pieces, topped it with the dressed romaine and sprinkled the minced hardboiled egg and diced cooked bacon over all.  I seasoned it lightly with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper and topped it with shaved Manchego cheese.  Although it did not have the neatly lined up rows of finely diced ingredients found in a traditional Cobb salad, I must say, it totally exceeded my expectations.  It was like eating my much-loved Cobb with a hunk of warm bread.   Try grilling some dough and topping it with one of your favorite salads – you may be surprised at the delectable end result.



Sunny Southwestern Chicken Cobb Pizza