what's for dinner wednesday - black bean pizza

when i was a cadet, i usually relaxed at my sponsor family's house once a week.  pam made some absolutely delicious meals and when i graduated, she and the kids put together a cookbook of some of our favorite recipes.  i still have the book (complete with cute drawings and jokes) and this particular recipe has probably gotten the most use.  i'll give you the original recipe but let you know how i've tweaked it over the years.

one of the things i love about this is how fast AND easy it is.  all the main ingredients are pre-cooked so it's very quick.  i'm not endorsing any specific brand.  i almost always use boboli because it's easiest to find.  i use a different salsa pretty much every time.  i'm also not particular on the brand of black beans or cheese (i like anyone who makes a mexican blend).  so minus onion and garlic, here are the ingredients i used...

chop some garlic and onion and sautee in a  little olive oil, like so...

add the chicken then beans (i usually cut the chicken up a little more and drain the beans).

next, add some salsa.  this time i chose a jalapeño and tomatillo salsa (which is why it looks yellowy-green in the pic).  the real recipe has a measurement but i never measure.  i kind of eyeball it.  the salsa takes the place of tomato sauce on a traditional pizza so it's really about how much you want.

now, the key ingredient to this whole recipe is the cumin.  i never stocked my spices with cumin until i found out it was in this dish.  i love cumin.  it now makes an appearance in many of my dishes and even in the baby's food.  ok, enough cumin love for now.  stir it all together and heat on low until the oven is done preheating.  oops, i may have forgotten to mention that the oven should be preheating to whatever temperature the pizza crust instructions call for.  in this case, boboli says 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  so i drizzle a little olive oil on the crust and then load the toppings on.  again, i don't measure the cheese.  put on as much or as little as you like.  i actually made a cheeseless version for my lactose-intolerant friend and it was still quite delicious.

some people like to add slices of pepper or other fun ingredients.  i just stick it in the oven like so.  about 9 minutes later, it's ready.  and you can fill that wait time by washing the one pot and cutting board you used!  just look at all that melty, cheesy goodness...

check out the original recipe below.  i added chicken because i wanted to.  it's also fun to use the mini pizza crusts and make a few different topping versions.  enjoy!

1 medium onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 Tbl olive oil
3/4 cup pace picante sauce
16 oz black beans - can
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp basil
large red and green pepper in rings
1.5 cup monterey jack cheese
grated parmesan cheese

saute onions and garlic in oil until tender.  stir in picante sauce, basil, cumin, and beans.  simmer 2 min.  spread on crust.  overlap pepper on top of bean sauce.  sprinkle with cheese.  bake according to pizza crust recipe.

if anyone tries their own version of this, let me know what you did and how it turns out!