Name: Grilled Naan Bread Pizza with Grape Tomatoes & Basil
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 4 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: canola or vegetable oil for the grill; 4 naan bread rounds; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 4 ounces mozzarella, grated (I used fresh but you could also use low-moisture); 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved; 1/4 cup chopped or julienned basil

Grilled Naan Bread Pizza with Grape Tomatoes & Basil

May 30, 2018

If you are like me, you can’t get enough grilling in the summer. What better way to hang out in the great outdoors, keep your kitchen cool, and get great tasting food? Grilled naan bread pizza is an easy crowd pleasing weeknight dinner!

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Who’s Responsible for the Grill?

I used to fall squarely into the trap of “men grill and women cook in the kitchen”. I just started grilling last summer, after almost 16 years of marriage. One day I just decided that it was summer and I wanted grilled food and since Philip’s schedule is too crazy for him to do much grilling I was going to have to do it myself!

Our grill went kaput at the end of the summer last year so we just got a new one. Cook’s Illustrated recommended the Weber Spirit E-310, but since it is just the two of us we decided that we didn’t need three burners. We went for the two-burner Weber E-210 instead and it has been great so far!

Grill All the Foods!

Speaking of Cook’s Illustrated, I got an America’s Test Kitchen book, Master of the Grill, to help me with cook times and ideas for the grill. I am sure that you will see me refer to it plenty of times over the summer! I have been putting everything I can think of on the grill. I make it a goal to never turn on my oven from May to October because it is so hot here. Grilling helps me accomplish that goal (I occasionally break the rule if I need to bake something in a pan that is too big to fit in my countertop oven).

Grilled Naan Bread Pizza

Costco sells giant packages of naan bread in the bakery section for just a few bucks and I love the stuff (if you happen to think ahead, though, this is an amazing recipe for homemade naan bread). I prefer it to storebought pita bread for dipping into hummus, and of course it is amazing with homemade curries (this butter chicken from HalfBaked Harvest is one of my personal favorites).

One of my very favorite ways to use this naan bread, though, is grilled naan bread pizza. I mean, what’s not to love about something that is (a) pizza; and (b) thrown together in less than 10 minutes on the grill? As in, you literally assemble it on the grill? Mine has grape tomatoes and basil, but you can customize this anyway you want.

Tips for Perfect Grilled Naan Bread Pizza

Don’t grill too hot! I preheated my grill to medium and honestly, I could have turned the heat down a little bit more and been in good shape
Get your ingredients ready before you put the pizzas on the grill. Once those bread rounds hit the grates, this is all going to go very quickly! I like to put everything in individual bowls and transport them on a cookie sheet to the grill.
Use plenty of oil! I clean my grill with a brush once it gets hot then I oil the grates with a wad of paper towels held on long tongs. Then I oil the naan bread too!
For extra non-stick insurance, use foil or parchment paper. For foods that might easily fall apart or that have toppings, I like to put a little square of foil or some parchment on the grill. The food will easily lift off of that without leaving behind half of your dinner!

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click a link and make a purchase on Amazon, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite and The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

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Mary

Yield: 4 servings

Grilled Naan Bread Pizza with Grape Tomatoes & Basil

10 minPrep Time:

4 minCook Time:

14 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

canola or vegetable oil for the grill
4 naan bread rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces mozzarella, grated (I used fresh but you could also use low-moisture)
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped or julienned basil

Instructions

Preheat the grill to medium heat for fifteen minutes. Use a grill brush to clean the grates. Hold several paper towels folded or wadded in long grill tongs. Dip the paper towels into the canola or vegetable oil and thoroughly oil the grill grates.
Brush both sides of each piece of naan bread with olive oil. Place 4 sheets of aluminum foil or parchment paper on the grill and place a piece of naan on each piece. Cover and grill for two minutes.
Flip the naan bread rounds. Divide the mozzarella and halved tomatoes among the naan rounds. Cover and grill for an additional two minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Use a large grill spatula to carefully remove the pizzas from the grill. Top with the basil, slice, and serve.

Notes

Prep time includes active time to top the pizzas while they are on the grill.

https://chattavore.com/grilled-naan-bread-pizza-with-grape-tomatoes-basil/

Southern Pimento Cheese

April 9, 2018

Southern pimento cheese is a classic staple of wedding showers, baby showers, and Southern lunches in general. This is my creamy, from-scratch version!

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Are You a Pimento Cheese Lover?

There was a huge pimento cheese boom a few years back, and you could barely set food in a restaurant – at least here in the South – without seeing a pimento cheese sandwich and perhaps a pimento cheese burger on the menu. I think that the trend has died down a little bit, but Southern pimento cheese is just one of those foods that is good enough to be on restaurant menus that range from fancy to totally casual.

The fact of the matter is, when pimento cheese is in the house I have a hard time controlling myself. Whether it’s this Southern pimento cheese that I make myself or a tub of smoked Gouda pimento cheese from The Chef and His Wife, I can’t resist dipping crackers or pretzels or whatever other crunchy, salty snacks I have in the house into it. I actually rarely make a pimento cheese sandwich in the house but I am known to order it whenever it sounds particularly tempting on a restaurant menu.

Flavor Bombs = GOOD

I’m not too concerned about it. I’m a good Southern girl and that means that I have to love good Southern pimento cheese, right? I’ve also upped the flavor quotient a little bit with a couple of additional ingredients. Feel free to add some cooked, cooled, and crumbled bacon if you want (and really, why wouldn’t you?).

Cream Cheese or No Cream Cheese?

Some people would tell you that my addition of cream cheese makes this pimento cheese inauthentic, and I suppose they might be right. I find, though, that using a little cream cheese in place of some of the mayo (always Dukes in my house – always) makes the pimento cheese less greasy. Actually, in the The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook , Matt and Ted Lee suggest that if you are going to use your pimento cheese in grilled cheese sandwiches or for melting on a burger that you omit the mayonnaise and mold the cheese into a block that you can cut slices from in order to eliminate the grease factor. Makes sense to me.

What’s your favorite way to eat pimento cheese?

This post contains an affiliate link. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite and The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

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Mary

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups

Southern Pimento Cheese

PTH30MPrep Time:

PTH20MCook Time:

50 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

1 red pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼-½ cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper, to taste
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions

Set a rack on the top level of the oven and turn the broiler on high. Slice the “cheeks” or the sides off of the red pepper, leaving the seeds and stem behind. Place the pieces of pepper skin side up on the broiler pan or a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil until completely charred. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic for 15 minutes.
Scrape the charred skin from the roasted red pepper. Cut the pepper into strips then finely dice.
Place the cream cheese in a medium bowl and use a spatula to “cream” the cream cheese until it is a spreadable consistency. Add the red pepper, cheddar, the mustard, the Worcestershire sauce, and the cayenne, if using. Add mayonnaise until you reach the desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.

https://chattavore.com/southern-pimento-cheese/

Sriracha-Ranch Chicken Nachos

January 25, 2018

This post was sponsored by Cost Plus World Market. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Chattavore running!

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There’s nothing quite a like a huge platter of cheesy nachos to satisfy everyone’s tastebuds on game day! These Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos check off all of the flavor boxes!

What are your game day traditions?

Do you invite friends over, or do you go to them? Or maybe you congregate in a “neutral” location? I don’t know about you, but for me, the only game day tradition that matters is game day food. It’s certainly no secret that I could live the rest of my life eating snack and finger foods only, so tailgating food is my jam. And I’ll be honest – we are not people that watch football religiously, but we do love to watch the “big game”…and for me (surprise) that’s because of the snacks.

Do you prefer salty or sweet?

I tend to err on the side of salty rather than sweet, well, 95% of the time. And besides popcorn, there is really no better snack in my book than nachos. A trip to Chattanooga’s Cost Plus World Market, one of my very favorite places (follow this link to find your local store), delivered all the inspiration that I needed to create the perfect platter of nachos for an easy game day snack, down to the actual platter and a great galvanized tub to hold our beverages (scroll to the bottom for links to all products). Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos seemed like a pretty perfect place to start (did you know that Sriracha is almost as popular as ketchup in the U.S. these days? It’s a fact!).

Sriracha-Ranch Nachos are an Easy Crowd Pleasing Snack!

Some shredded chicken (however you want to do it – I just put some chicken thighs in the Instant Pot, but you could totally use leftover or rotisserie chicken), Sriracha, mayo, sour cream, and some Cost Plus World Market spices were all I needed for a tangy and spicy topping for my nachos. A creamy, peppery cheese sauce, a drizzle of lime crema, some Sriracha peas, and sprinkle of cilantro were all it took to perfectly finish off the Late July tortilla chips that I found at Cost Plus World Market. I piled the Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos on a big platter and served it with appetizer plates so everyone could help themselves.

Cost Plus World Market is Where It’s At!

I love to shop the food section of Cost Plus World Market, but it’s also one of my favorite places to shop for textiles and dishes. I found a great party bucket to fill with fun sodas, global beers (no complaint from Philip there!), and Clearly Canadian (CLEARLY CANADIAN!!!!!). They always have the cutest napkins, which I stock up on for my photos, and now they have Duralex shatterproof glasses, so I was able to replace the two that I somehow managed to shatter (only I could shatter shatterproof glass) in a freak vacuuming accident.

How do you celebrate the big game? If you need a new tradition, these Sriracha-ranch nachos are a perfect fit!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

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Mary

Yield: 6-10 servings
Sriracha-Ranch Chicken Nachos
15 minPrep Time:
5 minCook Time:
20 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients
2 cups shredded chicken, warmed
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 2-ounce wedges Northwoods Jalapeño Jack cheese, grated (see note)
1/4 cup milk
2 bags Late July tortilla chips (I used Mild Green Mojo and Jalapeño Lime)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 cup Hapi Sriracha peas
Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, sour cream, mayonnaise, Sriracha, and herbs/spices. Set aside.
Place 3/4 of the cheese in a small bowl. Add the milk. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until the cheese is melted and the milk is completely incorporated to make a cheese sauce. (See notes for alternative to this cheese sauce if you are not able to find Northwoods Jalapeño Jack cheese).
Pour the tortilla chips onto a large platter. Drizzle the cheese sauce over the top then distribute the chicken over the chips. Sprinkle with the reserved shredded cheese and microwave for one minute to melt the cheese.
Sprinkle the cilantro over the top of the chips. Stir together the sour cream and lime juice and drizzle over the top (I like to put it in a sandwich bag and snip off the corner to do this). Sprinkle the Sriracha peas over the top. Serve immediately.
Notes
If you can't find Northwoods Jalapeño Jack cheese, you can use regular pepper jack to make the cheese sauce. Grate 8 ounces of pepper jack cheese. Set aside 1/4 of the cheese to melt on top. In a medium skillet, melt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and whisk to combine. Cook for about one minute. Add 1/2 cup milk and whisk until thickened. Add the remaining pepper jack cheese. Add more milk to thin the sauce to your desired consistency. If needed, add salt to taste.
7.8.1.2
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https://chattavore.com/sriracha-ranch-chicken-nachos/

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Beer Cheese Bread (Quick) + Video

October 22, 2017

This quick beer cheese bread is easy and so tasty that you’ll want to make it every week! It’s great with soup or just as a snack! Scroll down for the video.

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Cooking with Beer

So…when your husband co-owns a beer store, you have a pretty big selection of beer at your disposal and you only have to send a text to get it (just FYI, we do pay for the beer we bring home, lest you think that we are rolling in “free” beer). That seems like a pretty good excuse to incorporate beer into as many recipes as possible, no? Honestly, though, I could make this beer cheese bread on the weekly and just leave all the other recipes…that’s just how good this bread is. I promise you, it’s better than any beer bread you ever made from a pricey mix.

The tricks to this bread (which I adapted from a recipe in the Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book <–affiliate link):

1) Lots of cheese
I mean, it’s beer cheese bread. Why skimp on the cheese? Cutting the cheese into cubes instead of grating it results in the most amazing little pockets of cheese distributed throughout, and crusting the top and bottom with Parmesan means that your bread will have a nice, sharp, crusty, cheesy edge.

2) Lager or Pilsner
I mean, you can certainly use whatever beer you want (I wouldn’t recommend something chocolatey or anything like that), but the light flavor of a lager or pils works really well here because it lends a little bit of a beer “tang” to the bread without overpowering the flavor of the cheese. Philip doesn’t really drink a lot of lagers or pilsners (and you guys know I really don’t drink a lot of beer at all), but they really are perfect in this application.

3) Sour cream and Butter
The sour cream and butter up the moisture factor (but if you are out of sour cream, you can use Greek yogurt too). Full-fat will definitely lend the best texture and flavor.

Best Bread Ever?

I took a loaf of this into the shop and got rave reviews – including one guy who told me that it was the best bread he had ever had (I am not joking) and another who told me that it tasted like a Cheez-It, which is one of the best comparisons that you could possibly make in my book (I❤Cheez-Its). Trust me, you want to make this bread (and it comes together in just about 15 minutes, so you really have no excuses).

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

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Mary

Yield: 1 loaf

Beer Cheese Bread (Quick)

This recipe is adapted from The Cook's Illustrated Baking Book

15 minPrep Time:

50 minCook Time:

1 hr, 5 Total Time:

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Ingredients

butter for greasing the pan
3 ounces (1 cup) Parmesan cheese, grated on the large holes of a grater (divided)
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (you can also use half whole wheat flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, cut into cubes (about 1 cup or 1/2 of a regular block from the grocery store)
1 cup lager or pilsner beer
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg, beaten

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350?. Grease a loaf pan with butter. Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese on the bottom of the loaf pan.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne, and black pepper. Add the cheddar cheese and toss to coat with the flour mixture.
In a smaller mixing bowl or a large mixing cup, combine the beer, sour cream or Greek yogurt, melted butter, and egg. Pour over the dry mixture and stir to combine until no large dry spots remain.
Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden on top.
Cool for at least an hour on a wire rack before serving.

https://chattavore.com/beer-cheese-bread/

No-Velveeta Sausage Queso + Video

October 13, 2017

No-Velveeta sausage queso is a perfect tailgating or party snack. It comes together in 15 minutes with no processed cheese involved! (scroll down for video)

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Queso Dip

Don’t get me wrong, I can throw down some Velveeta dip, and I will never deny that nothing (nothing) melts like American cheese (which is why I almost always use it on my burgers). But when cheese is the star of the show, like it is in any queso dip, I want to go big on the flavor, and, of course, I don’t want to use processed cheese food in everything I make.

Sausage queso is a Southern staple for tailgating, birthday parties, or (if you live in my house) a quick snack supper.

Here is my method for getting it just perfect with only a few ingredients.

1) Easy on the oil
I just use the drippings from the sausage and don’t add any butter or oil to this recipe. With all that cheese, any more oil and this sausage queso dip would be swimming in orange grease. That’s never a good thing.

2) Make a roux
I learned the hard way when I was a new cook that most cheeses (aside from the aforementioned American) don’t melt well in plain old milk. Stringy city, baby. Tossing shredded cheese into a creamy roux (made simply by mixing flour with the drippings then adding some milk – like we’re making a classic sausage gravy) keeps everything perfectly smooth; that’s how I start all of my cheese sauces these days.

3) Just enough liquid
The milk is enough to get this dip, well, dippable. Any more liquid and it would be runny, which is why I drain my tomatoes well before I add them to the dip.

4) Seasoning is key
You can certainly go for some cayenne, cumin, garlic powder, or onion powder – whatever sounds good to you. For the sausage queso here I kept the seasoning simple – just a sprinkle of salt. The point is, you have to make sure you check the salt level. Sure, there’s salt in the sausage and there’s salt in the cheese, but the milk dilutes it and if you don’t check your seasonings you might end up with an awfully bland dip.

5) Garnish!
I chose cilantro, but maybe you’re one of those souls who thinks that cilantro tastes like soap. You could use some fresh or pickled jalapeños, chopped green onions or chives, or chopped tomatoes. Even some crumbled queso fresco would be great here. A little garnish goes a long way in adding some color and flavor!

Click here to save this recipe on your snack or tailgating board on Pinterest!

Shared on The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Mary

Yield: About 3 cups dip

No-Velveeta Sausage Queso + Video

5 minPrep Time:

10 minCook Time:

15 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

8 ounces breakfast sausage
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 can diced tomatoes and green chilies, well-drained
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheese - I like a mixture of cheddar and Monterey jack; pepper jack would work well too
salt, to taste
garnishes - chopped cilantro, jalapeños, green onions, tomatoes
tortilla chips, for dipping

Instructions

Preheat a 10-inch skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat. Add the sausage to the pan and cook, using a wooden spatula or spoon to break up the sausage, until well browned.
Turn the heat down to medium. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and stir to combine. Cook for about one minute. Add the milk and tomatoes and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.
Add the cheese to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until completely melted and well-incorporated. Salt to taste and serve with desired garnishes and tortilla chips for dipping.

https://chattavore.com/no-velveeta-sausage-queso-video/

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