Death Valley Couscous and Chicken

These are the foods we invent when obvious recipes with traditional ingredients evade us. This is SUPER easy to make, and will provide you with tasty leftovers for days. Now, you can make this dish as spicy as you'd like... and you KNOW I did. Here's what you'll need:

2 cups of Couscous (uncooked)
1 onion (thinly diced)
1 can of Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (diced 1/2 inch cubes)
1/4 cup dry parsley flakes (use fresh if you can)
1/4 teaspoon of Cumin, Onion Salt, Cajun Seasoning, Table Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup of SparkPlug

Easiest step first... make the Couscous by boiling 2 cups of water in a large saucepan. Once at a boil, pour couscous in water and stir, stir, stir. Cover and remove from heat. You're done with this part until the end.

Next, saute one diced onion in a tablespoon of olive oil. After about 5 minutes throw the chicken in with the onions. Stir fry for a while. Don't worry if the chicken sweats a bunch and the sauteed mix seems to be drowning. That extra moisture will be necessary later. Feel free to add all our spices in with the saute.

While you're sauteing, make sure to stir often to get the chicken evenly cooked. You can also open that can of diced tomatoes and chilies, drain and dump into the couscous. Don't worry if a little water from the can gets in there. The couscous is pretty dry and will need a little moisture.

Lastly, throw the saute mixture in with the couscous and tomatoes. Stir it up well. The extra moisture from the saute helps loosen up the couscous and maxes everything mix much more evenly. Now, add your hot sauce and, again, stir thoroughly. I call for a lot of hot sauce. I enjoy the heat as well as the added moisture. Feel free to use less if you like.

I liked this dish because it satisfied my "pasta" craving without committing me to making a strainer full of spaghetti. Also, tons of poultry-based proteins. Don't forget there's about 4 servings of vegetables in there. Works well as a side or an entree! Feel free to let me know how your version turned out!

A Little Bit Healthy Pizza

1 "Mama Mary's" Whole Wheat thin pizza crust (pkg comes with two)
1 tbsp rosemary infused olive oil
2 tbsp grated parmesan & romano cheese, divided
1/2 cup shredded cheese (whatever you like, fat-full or fat-free)
15-20 leaves of basil, chiffonade
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
5 or 6 marinated artichoke hearts
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Roma tomato, sliced
salt
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450F

Spread olive oil on crust evenly, all the way to the edges. Sprinkle garlic evenly over crust, then add basil strips.

Sprinkle on half of the parmesan/romano cheese. Sprinkle on salt (I use about 1/4 tsp of kosher salt, but I like things salty) and a couple of twists of pepper.

Add mushrooms, artichoke hearts and shredded cheese, then the other half of the parmesan/romano.

Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven. Slice tomato over top and NOM. :)