Simplifying has been a necessity in my life the past couple weeks but I am not very good at it. Last week brought an onslaught of activities like an impromptu fishing trip with my dad and husband in St. Joseph, a visit with my friend, Ashton, who returned from China after living there 3 years with her two dogs, and an emergency trip to the vet after a less than successful meeting with one of her dogs and my boy, Denver. Luckily, everyone is fine but Den did have to wear the elizabethan collar for 48 hours. I only had to endure the heartbreak of watching Den clumsily scrape the walls as he made his way around the house for 12 hours before I dropped him off at the kennel and headed back to St. Joe for another weekend away on Jay’s fishing boat.
After all that, I am wiped. Between maintaining the house, taking care of the dogs, work, and general life responsibilities, I’m finding a need to slow down, reorganize my priorities and simplify whenever I can. This can be hard for me, especially when it comes to food, but I’m allowing myself to indulge in the following conveniences:
- Swapping a full breakfast for avocado toast
- Bottled salad dressing
- Store bought hummus
If you are a normal person, you probably already do these things. But I’m giving up some control in order to be able to continue to make good eating decisions because a salad is so much more appetizing when the dressing is already made and these naan pizzas become infinitely easier when you don’t have to fight with your blender to get your hummus to a perfectly creamy consistency.
The chicken is really the only thing that gets cooked here, everything else just gets popped on the grill or thrown under the broiler. I like to cook a big batch of chicken at the beginning of the week and keep it on hand for stuff like this. I marinade the chicken in olive oil, lemon juice, and a blend of mediterranean spices and throw it on the grill until it’s cooked through. This can be done a day or two in advance or right when you want to assemble your pizzas.
All you have to do is top your naan with some hummus, harissa, feta, and chicken, give it a little heat under a broiler or on a grill and serve. I found small loaves of naan which works beautifully for single servings, but you could use the larger kind and enjoy the naan cut like a pizza
Try it out and tell me about it in the comments below!
Naan Pizza with Hummus and Chicken
Makes 4 small personal naan pizzas or two regular sized naan pizzas
For the Chicken
- 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- Juice from 1 Lemon
- 1 Tbsp Cumin
- 1 Tsp Turmeric
- 1 Tsp Coriander
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
- Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper
- Pinch of Black Pepper
For the Naan Pizzas
- 4 Mini Naan Loaves
- 1/2 Cup Hummus
- 1/4 Cup Harissa
- 1/2 Cup Feta
- Parsley
Whisk all of the ingredients for the chicken in a large bowl and add the chicken breasts using your hands to ensure the marinade is rubbed into the meat. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. You can either grill the chicken over medium heat until or bake it for about 20 minutes in a 425 degree oven. Just be sure the internal temperature reaches 160. Wait until the chicken has cooled at least 10 minutes before slicing.
If you plan on grilling your naan, preheat the grill to medium and toss the naan on the hot grill and allow to cook for a couple minutes to develop char marks on one side and flip. To assemble the pizzas, spread the hummus and harissa on each of the flatbreads. Add the chicken and sprinkle the feta on top. If using the grill, close the lid to allow the feta to melt for another couple minutes. If broiling, pop the assemble naan pizzas under the broiler until the feta gets bubbly and melty. Serve immediately and enjoy!
