Barbeque Chicken and Vegetable Pizza

Tonight we made an awesome pizza for dinner, so I have to share it!  For us, pizza is actually a great way to get a ton of veggies and some lean protein in a quick meal that is easy to clean up.  

Ingredients:

- Pizza crust

- 1c finely shredded Parmesan cheese  

- 1 chicken breast, cut into small pieces 

- 1 red pepper, cut into bite-size strips

- 1/2 yellow onion, cut into bite-sized pieces

- 1/2 jalapeno pepper, very finely cut (more or less depending on your preference)

- 1-2 cobs of sweetcorn, cut off the cob

- 2oz chevre cheese

- 2-3c arugula 

- 1T chili powder

- 2t cumin

- 1t oregano

- 2T smoked paprika

- 1T tomato paste 

- 1/4c chicken or vegetable stock

- 1/4c barbeque sauce

- Salt and pepper

- Canola/Vegetable Oil

To prepare your chicken and vegetables, season the cut chicken pieces with salt and pepper, and smoked paprika.  If you don't have smoked paprika, there's no need to run out and buy it for this recipe.  You can substitute in some of the chili powder and cumin.

Saute your chicken pieces until cooked.  Set aside.  In the same pan, saute the red pepper, onion, and jalapeno until cooked but still crisp.  Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper and cook for another minute.  Add tomato paste and cook for about a minute.  The mixture should be pretty pasty at this point, so you will probably need to loosen things up with some stock (or substitute a little water for the stock if you don't have it on hand).  Add barbeque sauce.

To assemble the pizza, first spread the Parmesan cheese onto crust.  This will create a barrier between your crust and the wet ingredients, so your crust doesn't get soggy.  Then add the arugula, corn, chicken, and sauteed vegetables.  Top with crumbled chevre cheese. 

Cook at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Another great feature of pizza is that you can easily change it up and substitute in ingredients you may have on hand for those that you don't.  This recipe itself was a first-time experiment based on a southwest-style salad we've been loving lately, but it turned out great!