Mexican Pizza

There is some seriously road tripping about to happen in my life in the next 30 minutes, and I'm getting pretty excited! Here’s hoping there is some nice cold weather and a few glasses of wine in my weekend to come :)

I set out to do another 12 mile run today (with some excellent company I might add!) but managed to fail miserably after only  about 3 due to some sort of pulled muscle in my leg…which is still causing me to walk funny. Post run I got to thinking about all the races I am looking forward to in the next year and thought I’d share! While lots of them are either really soon or probably will only happen in my dreams…here’s my little list:

2012 Upcoming Race List

 

Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half Marathon Relay - January 15th 2012
Disney Tinker Bell Half Marathon - January 29th 2012
Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon - March 4th 2012
Pat's Run 4.2 miles - April 21st 2012*
Warrior Dash Arizona - April 28th 2012*

 

*Still need to sign up for these ones, but they’re on the calendar :)

 

2012 Race Wishlist

Kiss Me I'm Irish 17k - March 17th 2012

Lost Dutchman 10k - February 18th 2012 – This one looks really great but we might be out of town that weekend :/
Tri for the Cure - March 25th 2012 - I would really like to do a triathlon this year and this one looks like a good first one
Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon - June 3rd 2012 <-- Yes, I do mean the FULL – and that is if Ari ends up convincing me to be insane
Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon - September 2012  This would be fun but it’s in Florida…or maybe just settle for the Disneyland Half?
Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon - December 2012 - hopefully they will sort out all of the mishaps of last year..

Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon – July 2013 <—I will need to jump on this one before it sells!

Enough race dreamin…now onto this pizza!

Since it’s still the first week of January I am almost positive that I am breaking some kind of unspoken blogging rule related to not posting unhealthy recipes to make people want to quit their newly committed diets – but this pizza couldn’t wait :) Besides, its on a whole wheat crust and has no meat on it – so it might be a winner in your book!

 

The puree that makes up the sauce of this pizza is really good I probably could have eaten it right from the food processor with a spoon. Aaand Lance liked it too, which is a huge plus since there is zero meat on this pizza. It’s actually pretty easy to make with just a few ingredients (and of course toppings of your choice) it makes a delicious meal that is somewhat reminiscent of a giant plate of nachos.

 

Mexican Pizza

Ingredients:

1 cup canned black beans, rinsed

1/2 cup coarsely chopped jarred roasted red peppers

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

Kosher salt

1 pound whole-wheat pizza dough

Cornmeal, for dusting

1 cup shredded low-fat Monterey Jack cheese (3 ounces)

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup pitted black olives, sliced

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1 cup shredded lettuce

3 tablespoons sour cream

3tablespoons guacamole

 

Directions:

Set a pizza stone on the bottom of the oven and preheat the oven to 450°. In a food processor, combine the black beans with the roasted red peppers, garlic clove and chili powder and puree until smooth. Season with salt.

 

Stretch the pizza dough to a 12-inch round and transfer to a cornmeal-dusted pizza peel. Spread the black-bean puree on top, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle with the cheese, tomatoes, olives and scallion.

 

Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone and bake for 12 minutes, until the bottom is crisp and the cheese is bubbling. Transfer the pizza to a work surface and top with the lettuce and dollops of the sour cream. Cut into 4 or 6 wedges and serve at once.

Recipe slightly adapted from Food and Wine