Chicken and Herb White Pizza

First, I want to thank everyone for their birthday wishes!  Well, my blog would like to thank you for your birthday wishes.  And really, writing without having all of you out there to read and chat with would just be no fun at all!  I can't believe it's been a whole year since I started Wilde in the Kitchen. 

I remember the first time that I got a comment from someone that I didn't know and how excited I was.  I thought "I've made it!"  Then there was the first time I broke ten pageviews, fifty, one hundred, one thousand!  I look back at some of the crazy recipes that I've posted, the oddball stories that I've told and the unusual pictures that I've taken.  Everyday is exciting when writing a blog and I've got to thank you all for following!  You've made it all totally worth it.

On other news, I'm going on vacation!  It's my first, official as a member of the workforce, vacation, taken with earned time off!  As of October 4th I had been at my job for a full 90 days and gained access to the use of my days off.  Sure, I took vacations when I was a graduate student and as a Postdoc, but this is different.

As a member of the academic working class, taking vacations is nerve-wracking.  You realize that the longer you stay away from the lab, the longer you'll be there.  For every week you take off, you add a week to your tenure as a student.  So, you try to minimize vacations (especially if you have a crazy boss) (which I didn't!  Hi former bosses!) and feel bad when you are away.  Toward the end of your vacation you are edgy and want to get back into the lab.  Gotta run that reaction!  Let me at my chemicals!

Now that I've made it into the real world, I've worked hard and earned my vacation days and I'm really going to enjoy them!  This Thursday morning at 1:00 am, boyfriend and I are boarding a plane and flying halfway around the world.  We're heading to Thailand!  We'll be spending half of our time in Bangkok, then heading south to Phuket for some fun in the sun.  Well, hopefully sun, it's the tail end of the rainy season and it's been raining and flooding in Thailand.

Worry not, I've got you all set up for some delicious meals while I'm gone.  I'll try to pop in and update you on our trip through Thailand, although I'm not promising anything...  I tend to fall asleep early when I go on vacation...  All that sun!  Here's hoping for lots of sun, not only for boyfriend and I, but also for the people of Thailand, stuggling to clean up the flood waters.

Chicken and Herb White Pizza

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

Over the past few days, boyfriend and I have been crazy busy getting ready for this vacation, so I've been making fast dinners.  For the next two weeks you'll be treated to easy-to-prepare meals, perfect for someone with only a few minutes in the evenings.  This particular meal came from the Cooking Light magazine, but I'm not sure I would call it light.  I went with a prepared pizza crust, but if you feel like baking a fresh crust, just increase your cooking time to 25-30 minutes!

I also went with a rotisserie chicken today.  You'll see the second use of the chicken on Thursday!  If you have the time to grill a few chicken breasts, feel free to do so.  If you are running low on time, pick up a chicken at the store on your way home!
 1 store-bought thin pizza crust
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
1 cup mozarella cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups shredded chicken, from rotisserie chicken
1/4 cup red onion, sliced
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 450 F and place pizza crust on a pizza sheet.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add garlic and allow to sizzle for 30 seconds.  Add flour and pepper, stir and cook for 1 minute.  Add milk slowly, whisking continuously while adding.  Cook for 3 minutes, the sauce will thicken and bubble up.  Remove from the heat and add cheese.  Stir until combined.

Spread as much sauce on the pizza crust as you would like, I used about 3/4 of the amount prepared.  Sprinkle mozarella cheese and add chicken and fresh herbs.

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, or until the mozarella cheese is all melted.