Is it a pizza? Is it a salad? It's dinner!

Ever since my book club had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (I know - I have great restaurant taste, huh?!), I've been craving a Cobb Salad. But three nights of chicken would be a little too much, so I decided maybe I'd try it with shrimp. Good plan - but I forgot the shrimp. One thing I definitely did not forget is the chewy, crispy flatbread. That part was inspired by Quizno's flatbread salads (there goes my good taste again!). So this is like one of those fancy "pizzas" that has no baked on toppings, but is topped with a liberally dressed salad. Oh dear lord was this good! And super easy!

Flatbread Cobb Salad


pizza dough, enough for one 12 inch pizza, from your favorite chewy, thick crust recipe - I love this one from 101 cookbooks
olive oil for brushing
2 Tbsp crushed garlic
1/4 cup parmesan
garlic powder, Italian seasoning and black pepper for sprinkling


2/3 cup chianti vinegar
1/4 cup orange muscat vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp grated parmesan

1 lb. baby lettuces, washed and spun dry

3 hardboiled eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper then chopped fine
1 large heirloom tomato, chopped
6 cooked pieces of bacon, crumbled
2 ears of sweet corn, kernals removed (I love my corn zipper)
1 large ripe avocado, pitted, sliced into chunks and removed from peel
1 cup grilled chicken or shrimp, chopped


Two hours before preparing, take the risen dough out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. After 30 minutes, roll the dough out to desired size on a floured surface. Let rest and rise at least one hour.

Preheat oven with a pizza stone on the middle rack to 500 F. Brush crust with olive oil, evenly distribute garlic and sprinkle on cheese and seasoning. Set aside until oven preheats.


Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a blender. Blend until well combined and emulsified. Toss dressing with baby lettuces, set aside.

Bake pizza on pizza stone until just cooked through 5-10 minutes. Top with dressed lettuces and other Cobb toppings.



P.S.
Boiling eggs is easiest if you start them submerged in cold water, bring to a boil, lid and remove from heat. There's enough heat left over to cook them perfectly.

I cook the bacon in the microwave. It sounds weird, but it comes out perfectly crispy, mess free and never burnt! Just sandwich slices of bacon between doubled sheets of paper towels and cook on high 5-6 minutes for 6 pieces.