Right now Trader Joes and I are SO IN A FIGHT. I’m about to go stage 5 psycho on its a**.

Whenever I make homemade pizza, I use the Trader Joes premade dough because it’s makes me feel gourmet. I don’t want to make my own dough and I feel it tastes lighter and better than premade crusts. I’ve had some good experiences with it and bad, but overall, I’ve been happy.

Until now.

This weekend I made Rebecca C’s butternut squash pizza with Trader Joes whole wheat dough. I prepared, dressed and cooked it just like I do every other time except something went completely awry.

So let’s bask in my kitchen failure:

Toppings (look at how good that cheese looks)

Yep, the dough was STUCK to the pan. I had to CUT the pizza off the tin

Fortunately, the top layer was saved but my ego was bruised. I was really looking forward to making this and although it’s still tasty, I was really upset about the crust. The FAIL was totally on that crust, not on RC’s delish recipe.

Here it is:

Ingredients:

• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced into half-inch cubes
• 1 small sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• salt & pepper to taste
• 3 leaves of swiss chard, center ribs removed
• 2 Tablespoons cup crumbled goat cheese
• 2 Tablespoons parmesean cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 Tablespoon fresh sage leaves
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon aged balsalmic vinegar (optional)

Preparation:

Prehead oven to 450 degrees F. Combine butternut squash, onion, 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and salt & pepper to taste in a bowl and toss until the oil is evenly distributed. Spread squash and onions on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in the oven for 20- 25 minutes, until the squash is tender and golden and onions are soft (stir occassionally for even browning). Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Raise oven temperature to 500 degrees F and insert pizza stone into the oven if using one.

Meanwhile if using fresh pizza dough, roll the dough into a 1/4 inch thick round on parchment paper. Brush pizza dough with remaining 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to evenly coat crust. Sprinkle squash and onions, chard, cheeses and nutmeg evenly over the crust. Transfer pizza (still on parchment paper, if using fresh dough) to the oven and bake for 8 – 10 minutes until crust is crisp and the cheeses are golden and bubbly.

While the pizza cooks, heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a small pan over medium heat until very hot. Add sage leaves and fry for about 30 seconds, until leaves are beginning to crisp. Be careful not to burn them. Remove leaves from oil and drain on paper towels until pizza is ready to serve.

Verdict: Despite the crust issue, this was VERY tasty. I did not include the swiss chard or sage due to not having the ingredients, but the whole wheat crust and butternut squash did compliment each other very nicely. The little bit of crust left to accompany the toppings was really good and I would definitely make this again.

So now my question is, how do I get this crust OFF of the pan? Are you a butternut squash fan?

Hey-o! I know this week will be filled with lots of turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes but before I go into a food coma, I wanted to get some cooking in.

This week’s recipe: Mediterranean Chicken Couscous from Myrecipes.com.

And then I realized as I was writing this post that I didn’t even use the right grain with this recipe. It called for couscous and I made it with quinoa, my new default grain. Clearly, I’m losing my mind.

But in spite of this fail, here’s how it turned out:

When I look at this, the phrase “grain fail” runs through my head

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4  cups  low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
• 1  (5.6-ounce) package toasted pine nut couscous mix
• 3  cups  chopped cooked chicken
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh basil
• 1  (4-ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
• 1  pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1  teaspoon  grated lemon rind (optional)
• 1/4  teaspoon  pepper

Preparation:

Heat broth and seasoning packet from couscous in the microwave on HIGH for 3 to 5 minutes or until broth begins to boil. Place couscous in a large bowl, and stir in broth mixture. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.

Fluff couscous with a fork; stir in chicken and next 6 ingredients. Serve warm or cold. Garnish, if desired.

Verdict: Holy h*ll this is TASTY (even with quinoa.) I added some spice to the chicken and combined with the  quinoa and lemon juice, it just had SUCH a nice flavor. The Feta cheese was great too. Now, the quinoa did get a little clumpy on the chicken and Feta, but it was still really tasty. I used fresh basil from my plant too and it was even better. Just don’t over do it, like I did :) I would definitely make this again (with the right grain) and add some pine nuts for extra flavor too. Overall, two thumbs up!

What are you cooking this week before the big Thanksgiving feast?