Gluten-Free, Tropical, BBQ Pizza

Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Almond Flour Pizza Crust with Coconut Oil:

• 2 cups almond meal/flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil

Our Tropical Toppings:

• 1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used a sweet and spicy Chipotle BBQ), divided portions
• 1 1/2 cups diced roasted chicken
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 8 ounces chopped pineapple
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 purple onion, finely diced or sliced
• handful of chopped cilantro, stems removed

Directions:

Mix crust ingredients together to form a dough. It will look just a bit sticky at this point. That is expected. Just let it rest in the bowl for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Tear off two pieces of parchment paper just larger than your pizza pan or stone. Cut one piece to the round shape and size of the pan or stone and make that the bottom piece. Place dough between the two pieces of parchment paper and roll it until desired thickness. You might find it more of a pressing out with the rolling pin rather than rolling, but just roll it out to the size of the bottom parchment piece. I made mine in a 15-inch round pan which produces a thin crust that is plenty sturdy to handle lots of toppings.

Remove the top paper and discard. Trim the edges into a nice round crust like you might a pie crust edge, and then transfer the crust, leaving it on the bottom paper, to a pizza pan.

Bake for 10–15 minutes until middle is firm, just barely beginning to hint at browning. Don’t let the crust get too crispy because it will cook more after toppings are added. Don’t overcook at this point.

Take out of the oven and top with your desired pizza toppings. We used these.

Add a very thin layer of your BBQ sauce, using a spatula. This makes this easier to spread and get it evenly to the crust edge, and then add the cheese. Ours is 2 cups of good quality mozzarella. Next, mix the remaining BBQ sauce with your deboned and cubed roasted chicken. Cover the top evenly with the BBQ chicken. Sprinkle with the shredded coconut, the drained pineapple bits, and the finely diced purple onion.

Put the pizza back in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until hot and the cheese is beginning to brown and bubble.

Top the cooked pizza with the fresh chopped cilantro and serve!

Michelle from Branson, MO, just won $50 for this recipe and photo! Submit yours here.

This is a nourishing and delicious, tropical treat, perfect for chasing away the winter blues and giving you plenty of energy to follow through on those New Year’s goals! 😉

Caramelized, Tropical, Peach Smoothie

Servings: 2–3
Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk*, plain kefir or grass-fed milk
• 4 soy-free egg** yolks (optional, but adds lots of sustaining nutrition and energy) – See Note below.
• 1 tablespoon Virgin Coconut Oil, melted
• 2 tablespoons coconut flakes
• 1 tablespoon whole sugar (+/- to taste – this is what gives the delicious, caramelized flavor)
• 3/4 cup frozen peaches
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash salt

**This recipe contains raw or undercooked eggs. Please make a substitution if you have concerns about consuming raw eggs.

Directions:

Blend all ingredients thoroughly until smooth. If desired, stir in a small amount more whole sugar to each serving for a delicious caramel crunch. Enjoy! 🙂

*For the freshest coconut milk, make homemade coconut milk. (See video at this link.)

Recipe and photo submitted by Lydia, Salem, VA.

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