Taco Bell Isn't the Only Pizza Man on the Block!

I feel like this meal needs a jingle.  Something catchy and flashy, something reminiscent of super hero wonder days.  Something like...

What happens when you replace Bruce Banner with the Taco Bell Chalupa Dog and the Domino's Noid?  No, you don't get a mean, green, mini, big eared fighting machine!  You get the Taco Pizza!

Little Dogs Dig Pizza (Totally Ripped this Pic from Google Images)

 Apparently, that picture above is what Tony thinks when you cross Taco Bell with Domino's.  Instead of just ordering some 69 cent tacos and dumping them on a pepperoni pizza, consider that both are conveniently available at most Taco Bells nowadays, we went with a healthier alternative.  We aimed to do the usual: (1) make sure Betty's veggie quota was maintained, (2) appease Tony's need for something of substantial meat and protein value (not to mention rock the spicy level), and (3) keep it cost effective with plenty of leftovers, seeing as both of us are in graduate/medical school going for degrees which are leaving us very poor.  Of course, we also wanted to make sure that it tasted good!  To be fair, we ripped the idea from another recipe, but decided to take ownership, throw out some of the ingredients and add in many of our own.

The ingredient list for this particular recipe goes as follows (the prices were just what we found):

1. Two refrigerated pizza crusts (13.8 oz measures) ($2.99 each)
2. One pack of taco seasoning (1.25 oz), we went for low sodium ($0.75)
3. One can of black beans ($0.69)
4. One can of tomato sauce with garlic, basil, and oregano ($.72)
5. One pound of ground chicken ($2.99)
6. Two cups of Mexican blended cheese ($2.29)
7. Two cans of diced tomatoes with chipotle (14.5 oz each) ($1.00 each)
8. One cup of chopped baby broccoli ($1.99)
9. One small can of diced olives ($1.59)
10. Total: $19.00

Just some of the ingredients we used.

The recipe makes 12 servings so that's a mere $1.58 per slice of pizza!  Sure, you could go and order a large pizza for maybe $10-$14 dollars and have that come out to be around $1.20 per slice... but that quarter you are saving results in not as many toppings, not as healthy, and being LOADED with grease.

STEP 1
Preheat the oven to 425 F.

STEP 2

This was the first time either Betty or Tony had used the refrigerated pizza crust.. it was a fun learning experience.  You'll need a cookie/baking sheet that is 15x10 inches.  ACTUALLY... you'll need TWO of them.    Unroll the pizza crust into the two baking sheets.  One trick that we used here was to put a very light layer of olive oil on the baking sheets.  This would help the pizza crust not stick and also add some flavor to the crust!

Betty's first time with the pizza crust was MUCH better than Tony's... which is conveniently not shown here.

STEP 3
Place the two baking sheets with the pizza crusts into the oven.  Bake them for 5 to 7 minutes.  They should start rising during this time and maybe even turn lightly brown.

STEP 4
While the pizza is baking, its time to make the sauce.  Mix the black beans, tomato sauce, and 1 table spoon of the taco seasoning in a small bowl.  One trick Betty used here was after draining the black beans, she ran water into the can and drained them again to help lower the sodium content.  One trick we used here was to add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and red pepper (always more red pepper!).  This is your chance to really experiment, as it is the sauce-mix stage.

Warning, eating this healthy may make you BUFF (with appropriate accompanying work out plan)

STEP 5
Start cooking the ground chicken.  Its best to break it up into little pieces as if you were making the ground Taco Bell meat.  Then mix in the taco seasoning as per the directions on the package.  Tony used a little less water than directed as one tablespoon of the seasoning had already been used in Step 4.

STEP 6
Remove the pizzas from the oven (keep the oven on!).  Spread the bean-tomato sauce mix over the pizza crusts.  Now split the mixed cheese equally between the two pizzas.  Then add the broccoli to the two pizzas.  Next, add the diced tomato (Drained) with chipotle and mix in the olives.  Finally, layer the chicken meat onto the pizzas.

STEP 7
Put the pizzas back into the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes.  Tony set it for 10 minutes just to be safe then played it up a minute or two.  You'll know its done because the cheese will have melted and the crust will be a gold brown.

So huuuunnnngry

STEP 8
EAT!  Nom nom nom.  Cut each pizza into six slices (so 12 slices in all).

Oh, yeah, we made rice too!  Nom nom nom.

We welcome your comments and any experiments YOU make with this recipe, enjoy!