Cheeseless pizza--a way to patch up and create a flavorful memory

I firmly believe that our strongest memories are associated with food. I cannot pass judgement. But I know it is true for me. The most vivid memories of my childhood, adolescence, my adult life so far, has always had a attachment to food--the aroma of cardamom from the kitchen suggestive of a 'rule' breaking sunday breakfast, the first time I had angel cake at my friend's birthday party, the aroma of fresh vegetables in the farmers market I used to frequent with my mother, the pinics that we used to have, the taste of samosas in the college cafeteria, the very first time I used to make food by myself in the dorm kitchens -- all of it. I find it  incredible that  almost always reminiscing down the memory lane starts with food.

Food also has a therapeutic effect. And this I did not know. Till a few days back.

I had a rough couple of days with R. Altercation of any manner leaves me very emotionally drained and vulnerable. I have been like this for a long time now. I hate confontrations. I somehow find myself very out of touch with my usual self, which even if I may add is pretty fun and optimistic. A bit forced, at times. but I like the feeling of being happy. I remember that as a child my parents, like all other parents I am sure, ran into confrontations of very serious types. At least they looked very serious from where I was standing, 4 feet above the ground :) And the first thing that happend was both of them refused to eat. They could go on for a couple of days on minimal eating. I used to get very scared. The feeling of the kitchen being off was certainly the worst thing that could ever happen. And I always rejoiced when my mother would go back to the kitchen after they had resolved whatever it was that was bothering them and my father would say how good the food tasted..etc. Seemed like everything was fine with the world again.

For me, however the kitchen is where the solutions lie. The other way for me to think through problems is to take long long walks. When I have to figure out something out, mathematical or emotional, the kitchen or the road is my refuge.  As I was saying that I had a rough couple of days with R. And I wanted to figure the root of the problem. And I started making a dish. As  the home filled up with a lovely smell, the problem lost its over bearing presence. It is as if a geanie appeared from the pot and smiled at me and said, 'Really is this what you are making of all that has been said?'.  Of course the problem could not be so important to have such a big impact. The  cause and the solutions lay clearly before my eyes.  And with that  I started to fill happy again.

There is no better way to say sorry than with food. I think it kind of shows that you mean what you say. you are ready to put an effort into saying it. And more importantly food appeals to us humans in a vey basic, good kind of way. I have always done this. And I have always appreciated when someone said 'sorry' with food. For me, of course it has to be choclate and wine :)

I wish my mom knew had figured that geanies reside in food and one just needs to rub tha pot and the solutions would be there. Right there. Food is therapeutic. Making it and eating it together brings people closer, helps ending altercations and creates the best and nicest memories, even from situations which can turn real nasty. So next time you have an unhappy day, try this recipe. Its a great way to dispel bad feeling and retsore the aroma of the house :)

So here is that fiery chicken recipe which solved my dilemmas . And you can do one more fun thing with it...but that is for, after the recipe :

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Skinless boneless chicken. Darker thing meat is better. Organic is even better. But use whatever  you have on hand
1/4 th cup of red wine vinegar. You can also use balsamic vinegar. Better actually
1 tsp of hot sauce. If you don't have hot sauce use A pinch of cayenne pepper powder
1/2 tsp of crushed chille flakes
1 tsp of fresh rosemary leaves. Diced. Or you can use dried ones too.
3 tbsf olive oil
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Nothing really to do :)

Mix all ingredients together and marinade chicken in it for ~ 10 min. Heat oil in a skillet and cook them on high on each side for 4 minutes. Let that brown color develop. You can also grill your chicken.

Tak eit out of the skillet and rest it for ~ 10 minutes.

The chicken is very versatile. You can use the chicken as your entree, on your salad. As an appetizer. Whatever. Its real spicy and makes for a wonderful barbeque substitute as well.

Or you can do what I and R did.

We chopped the chicken up and used it as a topping for our thin crust pizza along with  bell pepper, onion and jalapeno. We also used garlic-olive oil- lemon-pesto sauce (we made up this combination) to coat our pizza crust.

I tell you it is one of the best pizza we ever had! Also it was so flavorful, we did not use the cheese. How fantastically low calorie, flavorful and therapeutic does that sound? Wait, here is how it looked :)

Happy eating and healthy living!!