Mick Ross

Mom and I were not too hungry. We just wanted something light to eat and then put in a movie. It turned into one and a half bad picks.

My friends and I in OKC like to have themed potluck dinners and I like to organize them. Our kickoff theme dinner was Asian cuisine. About 30 people showed up with various dishes including rice, sushi and chow mein. Our next theme in January is Tex-Mex and I decided to try out a new appetizer called Southwestern Pizza. It’s very simple to make but I wasn’t sure how it would taste. This would be my dry run.

It turned out to be the ‘half bad pick’. At first it had a good taste, but the salsa started to overwhelm everything else. Mom and I discussed a few changes and I think the next rendition for the theme dinner will work out much better. Here is the original recipe:

Time/Servings:

• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 10 minutes
• Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 ready-made thin-style pizza crust
• Olive oil, for basting
• 3/4 cup black bean salsa or other spicy salsa mix
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese mix
• 2 tablespoons canned kernel corn
• 3 ounces chorizo sausage, sliced thin
• A few sprigs fresh cilantro, stems removed and chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly coat pizza crust with olive oil using a basting brush.
2. Spread salsa on top of pizza crust evenly. Top with shredded cheese, corn and chorizo slices.
3. Bake for approximately 10 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, and garnish with chopped cilantro. Cut into 12 slices with pizza cutter and serve immediately.

What was the ‘full on bad pick’? It was the movie. Emma Thompson deserves an award for her performance, but ‘Wit’ was very depressing.