Chicken Ceasar Flatbread with Salad

So, one day at work, as I was sitting at work typing feverishly reading blogs, I was hit with the urge to have ceasar salad and pizza for dinner...

What?  You don't get those urges????  Oh, maybe that is just me.....

But anyways, as I'm trying to be more creative, I asked myself about how to give that meal some pizazz.......put dressing in the dough for extra flavor (nah I'm scared of doing that...messing with my old trusted pizza dough recipe...ummm no)?  serve the pizza on top of the salad (nah...I really don't dig wilty lettuce)?....I thought....why put the flavors I love on top of the dough and serve a salad on the side.....BINGO!

Long story short, that is how my idea was concocted.  Now, I know its nothing new...but it is to me, so come along on my picture tour of how to make this deliciousness that is ceasar-y and chicken-y and well, just darn good!

Here is what you will need:

chicken tenders, shredded cheese (either mozzarella or cheddar...whatever you have on hand), salt, pepper, canola oil, bottle of ceasar dressing, pizza crust, and ceasar salad mix with croutons, dressing, and cheese all mixed in

Making the dough is the easy part...follow the directions on the bag (mine just requires water and 5 minutes to rest and 5 minutes of pre-baking prior to adding your toppings).....

Add your hot water, mix it together, coat it lightly with oil, and let it rest for 5 minutes

Then, I on a baking sheet, I coat it with cooking spray and a light sprinkling of corn meal....it really helps make the crust crispy...not to mention prevents the crust from sticking to the tinfoil

Now comes the fun part.....stretching the dough out....

I'm not all for tossing it up in the air or anything fancy....too complicated and I have visions of me either getting the dough stuck on the ceiling or throwing it on the floor for the dog to eat....

And while my dog would love that, she just doesn't need that in her belly......

So, I just use my fingers to stretch it out and then poke it with a fork to prevent it rising too much...that creates a whole other problem entirely!

Pre bake for 5 minutes and then take it out to top...here is where I added a light coating of dressing on the bottom as my sauce....

Top with chicken that I precooked in a bit of canola oil, salt, and pepper and shredded up....

And then topped with shredded cheese and stuck it back in the oven for 9 to 11 minutes until done.....

While my flatbread was baking, I whipped up the ceasar salad...

Once the flatbread is cool...just cut and serve with the salad on the side......

In the words of Rachel Ray....YUM-O!  Completely hit the spot!

Enjoy!

See ya'll soon~
B


Chicken Ceasar Flatbread with Salad

Print this recipe!

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken tenders
1 tsp canola oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 bag pizza dough, prepared as directed on bag (I used Great Value brand)
1 jar ceasar dressing (I used Kraft's light creamy ceasar dressing)
1 bag of ceasar salad mix (I used Dole garlic ceasar mix complete with croutons)
1 bag of shredded cheese (use mozzarella, cheddar, whatever you have on hand)
tinfoil
cooking spray
cornmeal (if desired)

Directions:

for the chicken:
1.  Heat canola oil up in large skillet over medium heat.  Salt and pepper one side of the chicken strips and place salted side of chicken down in skillet.  Season other side with salt and pepper.  Cook 3-5 on that side until it easily releases from pan.  Flip and cook 3-4 minutes until cooked through.
2.  Take chicken out of pan and using fork and knife, shred chicken into pieces.  Set aside.

for the flatbread:
1.  Prepare dough as directed on back of bag, allowing dough to rest if needed.
2.  Prepare a baking sheet with tinfoil, cooking spray, and a bit of cornmeal if desired.
3.  Spread out dough with fingers on baking sheet.  Prick dough with fork.  Pre-bake if necessary.
4.  Remove from oven (if necessary).  Top with a thin layer of ceasar dressing, spreading it around so it coats all of the dough.
5.  Top with chicken and shredded cheese.  Stick back in the oven 9 to 11 minutes or until done and crust is golden brown.

for the salad:
1.  Mix salad together as directed on back of bag.  Set aside.

to serve:
1.  Remove flatbread from oven and allow to cool.  Slice into 6 slices (mine was square, so I had 6 square slices).  Serve with salad on side.  Enjoy!