California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza

A single-serve BBQ chicken pizza that is SO rockin' it hurts. CPK, eat your heart out...I love this recipe and make it all the time.

Ingredients
Serving Size: 1 pizza (entire recipe) 340 Calories
1 stick light string cheese
3 oz. cooked boneless skinless lean chicken breast, chopped
2 tbsp. your favorite BBQ sauce with about 45 calories per 2-tbsp. serving, divided
1 high-fiber or whole-wheat pita
1 1/2 tbsp. finely chopped red onion

Optional
1 tsp. chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Break string cheese into thirds, and place in a food processor or blender -- blend at high speed until cheese takes on a shredded or grated consistency. (Or just tear string cheese into pieces and roughly chop.) Set aside.

In a small dish, toss chopped chicken with 1 tbsp. BBQ sauce and set aside.

Place pita on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Spread remaining 1 tbsp. BBQ sauce onto the exposed side of the pita, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge.

Sprinkle evenly with shredded/grated cheese. Scatter saucy chicken over the layer of cheese, and then sprinkle with onion.

Bake in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes, until pizza is hot. Top with cilantro, slice into quarters, and enjoy. YUMMMM!

I sometimes top mine with grated Parmesan cheese! It all depends on my mood. Again sorry for the bad pic. My blackberry isn't the best device for taking pics.






The Original Sin: Comparison Time

CPK is a place full of cool, innovative, and delicious dishes. I LOVE that, but there are a few major flaws. First, the portions. Those pizzas are too large to be considered single servings, but too small to be shared without ordering a few. And second, the stats. So many of the menu items are super high in calories. Even the kid-sized version of this pizza has nearly half a thousand calories and double-digit fat grams. This one is NOT hard to make over, people. The key is finding a BBQ sauce you love that has about 45 calories a serving (I use Jack Daniels Original Recipe BBQ sauce), shredding up some string cheese (it melts SO much better than the pre-shredded stuff), and getting some good high-fiber pitas. And this pie ACTUALLY serves one -- it's perfectly sized! So if you know someone who thinks they're gonna steal a slice of yours, you'd better double the recipe. Just a friendly little tip...


Serving Size of a CPK BBQ Chicken Pizza: 1 pizza
Calories: 1,136

Yeah didn't that just make you cry a little...