Fajita Chicken & Salad Pizza on Quinoa & Chia Seed Flatbread

* This recipe includes support for Paprika * 

This morning when I got up I decided that the last thing I wanted for breakfast was porridge or granola or eggs - I was starving! I wanted PIZZA!!

I looked in the fridge and spied a lonely chicken breast and some baby spinach, and decided on a quick chicken and salad pizza... I know, that doesn't sound much like breakfast food, but I tend to have all sorts of odd things for breakfast. I prefer a savoury breakfast to a sweet one. (Although I will make an exception for chocolate.)

The base of this pizza is made from quinoa and chia seeds, so it's a lot higher in protein than a traditional base. Protein is great in the morning as it fills you up for longer and gives you energy, whereas carbs will make you feel stodgy and sleepy. So skip the cereal and toast and go for pizza! ;-) That is, healthy pizza - not a stodgy, carby pizza. This one is gluten free, dairy free, egg free... even grain free if you don't count quinoa as a grain! (Which I don't, since it's really a seed.)

You can make the base soft or crunchy, depending how you like it. I use this pizza base recipe for flatbread too - I make mini ones for the kids lunches quite often. Spread them thin and cook them until just cooked, and they'll wrap around a filling. Or cook them longer so they're crisp like crackers and serve them with dips.

Snack size quinoa & chia seed flatbread with avocado & fire-roasted capsicum

Try some different toppings, like smoked salmon, sheep's fetta (if you can have it), olives, avocado, or fire-roasted capsicum. Or for a more 'breakfast-y' breakfast, top with scrambled eggs, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach, or a poached egg! Yum.


Quinoa & Chia Seed Flatbread (gluten free, dairy free)

Makes 2 large pizza size flatbreads, or a few mini ones

1. Toast the quinoa in a dry frying pan by stirring over medium heat for a few minutes. Or toast in Thermomix at 100C for 10 mins, speed 1, with MC off. [Optional - to get rid of saponins on outside of quinoa as it may otherwise taste bitter.]
- 150g white quinoa

2. Grind quinoa, chia and salt in Thermomix bowl for 1 minute, speed 9:
- toasted quinoa
- 2 Tbspns chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp sea salt

3. Add water and mix on speed 5 for 10 seconds:
- 180g water

Note: For a soaked version of the flatbread, skip the toasting of the quinoa. Instead, cover quinoa in water and leave overnight, strain in the morning and add quinoa to the Thermomix bowl with the chia, salt and water. Blend on speed 9 for 2 minutes, adding a little more water if needed, and scraping down now and then with the spatula.

4. Drizzle pizza trays with some extra virgin olive oil (use baking paper if needed), and divide dough between trays. (The dough will be more like a sticky batter.) Drizzle the dough with some more oil.

Using your fingertips, pat the dough out evenly into a thin circle, about 3mm thick. I find it's easier to use my fingers than a spatula, as the dough is very sticky. The oil will stop it sticking to your hands.

There should be oil all around the edge of the dough, and a thin sheen over the top. This will make it crispy. If you want it soft, there's no need to use much oil.

5. Bake at 200C for 20-30 minutes, depending how crispy you like it.

(You'll notice mine's quite brown after 30 minutes - don't cook it this long if you want it soft like the picture of the snack size flatbread.)


Fajita Chicken & Salad Topping (gluten free, dairy free)

While the pizza bases are cooking, make the toppings.

1. Chop garlic on speed 7 for 3 seconds

- 2 garlic cloves

2. Add the remaining ingredients except the chicken and mix on speed 5 for 5 seconds

- 20g extra virgin olive oil
- 10g tamari or gf soy sauce
- 1 Tbspn honey
- juice of 1/2 a lime
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/8 tsp onion powder
- dash of mesquite smoke seasoning (optional)

3. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes, Varoma temperature, reverse speed soft, with MC off

- 1 chicken breast, thinly sliced

   (There will be a bit of 'juice' left after cooking the chicken - you can just lift the chicken out with a fork or slotted spoon. I actually drizzled the juice over the top of the pizza because it was too yummy to waste!)
 

4. When flatbread is cooked, remove from oven and top with
- baby spinach
- chopped tomato
- thinly sliced Spanish onion
- fajita chicken
- dairy free sour cream (optional - I didn't have any and was in a hurry to eat!)

Warning: this can be messy to eat, but it's worth it. :)