Pizza! Pizza!

Sometimes eating healthy can be boring.  It isn't always all about eating tofu, salads, and fruit.  Sometimes we want comfort food, and for me, that comes in the form of pizza.  The trick to leading a healthy lifestyle vs. being on a diet is not to deprive ourselves from the foods we love, but to figure out how to adapt those foods into something healthful.  That way, we don't starve, starve, starve, starve, eat an entire box of oreos in 3 minutes, then continue starving ourselves again.  There IS balance, and with a little pre-planning, we can enjoy all the foods we already love in a way that shows we love our bodies!

This post may be a little sad to some, because I made this recipe in rememberance of my partner from culinary school who passed away a couple of days ago.  One of my favorite memories of us is from the first night of school when we made homemade pizzas.  Everyone really enjoyed that night, and we had fun piling our pizzas high with all kinds of wonderful ingredients then all of us sitting down as a family and eating them.  It is a memory that I had forgotten until recently, but I figured this was a fitting way to honor our team.  Here's to you Brian- we won't forget you!  Cheers, buddy!

L to R:  Garlic and herb pizza creation; slaving away over tomato sauce; graduation day with one of our Chefs

HomeMade Pizza

Vegan Herbed Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white bread flour  + ¾ cup flour, divided
• ¾ tsp kosher salt
• 1.5 tsp white sugar (or splenda, it works just fine)
• 2 tsp pizza herbs or italian seasoning

• 2 & ¼ tsp of very fresh yeast.  If yours has been there a while, get some new!
• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus more for coating the bowl
• 2/3 cup very warm water (not lukewarm)
• More flour for surface when kneading 

Directions:

1.  In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup of flour, salt, sugar, pizza herbs, yeast. Stir well.  

2.  Now quickly add in 2/3 cup of very warm water along with your 3 tbsp of oil. Stir well.  It will be very wet and sticky at this point, don't over do it!

3.  Add about 1/2 a cup more flour until it starts to pull away from the sides and actually make a 'dough.'  You may have to use more or less depending on the humidity that day.  

4.  Generously flour a countertop, table top, or any flat surface you can knead your dough on.  Don't be shy!

5.  Plop your dough out on the counter, and get to kneading!  You want to do this for about 5 minutes, until it gets really good and 'doughy.' 

Don't forget to 'punch it down!'

6.  When it is good and mixed, roll the dough into a ball.  Rub some olive oil around a clean bowl and place the dough inside.  Rub some more oil on top of the dough to keep it from drying out.  Place in a warm area covered with a damp paper towel or cloth for a couple of hours.  You could also do this the night before!  

7.  After the dough has risen, separate it into 2 crusts.  

8.  Flatten the dough and begin shaping it into a circle.  

9.  Place onto an oiled baking sheet or pizza stone and get ready for toppings!

Garlic and Olive Oil Spread

Ingredients:

• 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 3/4 Cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon pizza seasonings

Directions:

1.  Put all ingredients into sauce pan.

2.  Bring oil to a soft boil (until you just see bubbles), then turn off the heat.  Let mixture cool and store in an air tight container.  Good for a few days, but the garlic can go rancid.  Only make what you will use, but believe me, it's good on anything!





Roasted Peppers

Ingredients

• Bell peppers of any color
• Gas burner, or very high heat broiler

Directions

1.  Turn on your gas burner to a medium high flame.  Place pepper directly on flame.  (If you don't have a gas burner, place the pepper on a sheet pan under the broiler).You will hear some crackling/popping as the pepper cooks.  This is a good thing!  It means the skin is getting charred and the flesh is going to be sweet (think a roasted marshmallow, how the outside is crusty but the inside is nice and soft). 

2.  Let peppers stay on flame (or under broiler) for several minutes.  Turn them with tongs when one section is charred.  Be very careful when doing this, you don't need to set yourself on fire!  Also, do not leave this unattended!!!

3.  You know the pepper is done when the skin is charred all over, and the pepper begins to 'shrivel' a little bit. 

4.  Remove peppers from the flame and place in a bowl.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for at least 10-15 minutes.  This step is very crucial.  The plastic wrap is creating steam which helps loosen the pepper skins.  If you skip this step, you may have trouble removing them. 

5.  After the peppers have cooled, simply slip the charred outer skin off with your hand or a paper towel.  Remove the stem and seeds from the pepper and chop or slice.  If this seems like too much work, you could buy the jarred kind.  Trust me, this is much better!!!





Assemble your pizza!

Gather your toppings.

Slather some olive oil spread (or pesto, tomato sauce, alfredo sauce, etc) on your nicely shaped dough.

Load up with veggies, seeds, nuts, low fat or no cheese, and whatever else your heart desires.  Just remember, 4 types of meat is probably not the healthiest option.  If my hubby can eat a no meat vegan pizza, so can you!!!

 Preheat your oven to 450 or 500 degrees.  Make sure it is fully heated before putting the pizza in.  Cook for about 10-15 minutes, depending on toppings.

Slice it up, and enjoy every bite knowing that it is home made, healthy, and deliciously satisfying! Bon Appetit!