Thursday, July 23, 2015

Get Your Veggies by Eating Pizza!

I am not the most healthy person when it comes to what I eat and drink. Now that I am getting older and "maturing" I suppose I have more of a guilty conscience about this, which often results in pathetic attempts to make myself feel like I am being healthy. For example, I'll notice on the ingredient label on the back of a bag of chips that you get 2% of your recommended vitamin A from Doritos. Or I'll get fast food and then make a salad with it just to "even" it out. My husband will joke around with me and say something along the lines of, "That salad totally cancels out the chilly cheese fries you just ate!" Well, every little bit helps, right?


Pizza is a guilty pleasure that I share with most Americans. In my opinion, I've never met a pizza I didn't like. From Little Caesar's to the pies I had in Italy, it's all good in my book. Sometimes it's fun to make pizza at home, and what could be easier than using something simple and quick like the Indian flat bread naan as the base? To go along with the idea of finding the healthy elements in junk food, I loaded these naan pizzas up with tons of veggies.



Last night I made two veggie-laden pizzas: pizza primavera containing everything but the kitchen sink in terms of fresh, spring veggies and a spinach pesto pizza. Sure, these aren't exactly diet foods, but they do give you a healthy dose of vegetables. Below you will see the ingredients for both pizzas, plus a little step by step walk though of how to throw these two pizzas together at home.


I'll start first with the primavera pizza. First preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Then practice good mise en place by getting your veggies ready. I used these: asparagus tips, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and yellow squash. Feel free to experiment with whatever you want.


  Next, set your naan (or you can use pizza dough) on a baking sheet and create a glorious blank slate of sliced mozzarella and ricotta cheese.


Then layer on the veggies in an artistic way. I like to pretend I'm the Picasso of pizza! If I were the TV chef The Barefoot Contessa, I'd ask the rhetorical question she always does: "How easy was that?" (That rhetorical question of hers seriously drives me nuts!)


Now, I'll move on to the pesto spinach pizza. It's just as easy as the first. Begin by spreading some pre-made pesto sauce onto the naan. (I sometimes make my own pesto sauce, but I was in a particularly lazy mood this week.)


Next, top the pizza with a bed of fresh spinach. It will wilt in the oven, so don't be afraid to be fairly generous. Plus, spinach is really good for you, so you can justify the next part by knowing that it's underneath all the glorious cheese!


Top the pizza with more mozzarella and some Parmesan cheese.  I really love cheese, in case you didn't know. You can use any cheese you want for these. It's always fun to experiment. 


Before you put these in the oven, there is one last step. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on top. (I would say, "use a good olive oil" like the annoying Barefoot Contessa always does, but mine is just from Trader Joe's, so it's nothing fancy, but still very tasty.) Also add a little salt and pepper, especially to the pizza primavera to bring out the flavors of the veggies.




Now bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling at 400 degrees in the oven.


When the pizzas come out, let them cool for a couple minutes and then slice. Or, if you are doing a blog about said pizza, take lots of pictures of your creation while your husband and dog patiently wait to eat.



By the way, I am working on my food photography. It's hard to make food look cool, but I am working on it! Bon Appetit!




Linking Up With: Motivational Monday

2 comments:

  1. Oh Katie, we are so similar in this regard! I am a terrible junk food addict but the older I get I feel like I should be feeding my body some healthy goods! I totally do this with pizza ALL the time. Because all those veggies totally make the bread and cheese not as bad right? Right! Loved this post, those pizzas look delicious! XO -Kim
    www.thethirtysomethinglife.com

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    1. I am glad that I found another junk food addict! I also feel as I get older I should be healthier, but sometimes the ease of junk food and my love of the taste wins out in the end!

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