You might be thinking, "How is this possible??", "How much extra do I have to pay for "healthy"??", and "Am I getting Punk'd right now??"
History and science have "proven" pizza to be a carb-laden, cheesy, greasy, deliciously evil thing, that I just can't seem to stop myself from craving at least once every couple of days... or hours...
I'm here to set things straight and tell you that for the price of actually having to make this pizza from scratch, and not much price out of pocket, you will not only enjoy and savor it's flavor, but you will be guilt-free as it hits your gullet.
This is not a clean and easy task though. It is not as simple as buying a pre-made crust, or waiting for your favorite bakery's dough to rise, this.. is a project.
I get e-mails sent to my phone everyday that give me a daily challenge. Yesterday's challenge I decided to wait for today to conquer. The challenge was to "Change up your craving".. I ate ice cream last night regardless, though I did get the 1/2 fat 1/2 calories one. Anyway, said challenge asked me to find a healthy alternative to a food that I crave. So my brain turned over, fired up, and started thinking. Some little synapse in my melon pulled an old file out of my seemingly infinite storage space and reminded me of something called "cauliflower pizza crust."
Now, cauliflower isn't usually number one on people's palate, but this is a great way to sneak a veggie into your diet that you might not eat very often, or may have never even tried!
Cauliflower is that white broccoli looking stuff that may taste like nothing if you don't have a great palate for vegetables.
What's good about it is that it's low in fat and carbs, which regular pizza is not. Cauliflower adds fiber and vitamin C to your meal, something that a Papa Johns delivery pizza is definitely lacking, not to mention science has noted that it aids in the repair of DNA, and like most other veggies, protects against cancer cells. Sounds a bit more appealing now, doesn't it?
So like I said before, this is somewhat of a project, though most of it can be done from the same bowl and cutting board. Once the crust is ready you can add your favorite sauce and toppings (nothing too heavy as this is not as sturdy as regular pizza crust). I did some searching and found a really great recipe for black bean pizza sauce to add some extra protein, and threw some roasted veggies on top for color and flavor.
What you will need:
Cauliflower crust:
1/2 Head of cauliflower (about 2 cups when riced)
1 minced clove of garlic
1 cup "part skim" mozzarella cheese
1 beaten egg
1tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
Black bean pizza sauce:
1 can black beans
1/2tsp cumin
1/2tsp oregano
1/2tsp garlic powder
1/2tsp onion powder
1/4tsp cayenne pepper
2-3 minced cloves of garlic
Roasted veggies:
(must be cooked before added to pizza)
Pick your favorites!
I used yellow squash, broccoli, mushrooms, and red onion.
olive oil
Salt
pepper
misc spices to taste
The Project:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lucky for us the veggies and the crust cook at the same temp!- Make sure you have a pizza pan prepped, or pizza stone for when crust is ready
- Clean your toppings and cauliflower and get ready for chopping! Try to cut your toppings into uniform size pieces so that they cook evenly.
- Toss veggies in olive oil, salt, pepper, and spices mix (season to your palate)
- Spread veggies out evenly and pop in the oven for 8-12 minutes (keep an eye on em!)
While the veggies are cooking
- Remove stems from cauliflower- Chop the florets into small chunks
- Pulse cauliflower chunks in food processor until they resemble little grains of rice
*IF you do not have a food processor, the florets can be chopped or grated with a cheese grater
(I used a magic bullet style blender and had to go back in and use the cheese grater to get missed chunks.. Hey, it could happen to you, so be aware of that as you don't want any chunks.)
By this time
- Your roasted veggies are probably done- Take veggies out of oven and set aside (leave oven on 400 degrees)
Back to the cauliflower
- Once riced, cook cauliflower over low-med heat in non stick pan for 6 to 8 minutes or until translucent (we are not really cooking it so don't let it get brown)-While cauliflower is cooking - mix egg, basil, oregano, and cheese in a bowl
-Add cooked cauliflower and mix well
-Spread crust on pizza pan 8-10 inches in diameter and 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch thick (trust me, you don't want to spread it too thin)
- Place the crust in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until edges are crispy and the center is golden brown and cooked all the way through.
While crust is cooking it's time to makea da sauce
- Add beans, spices, and garlic together and stir it up (I used the same bowl for mixing veggies, mixing cauliflower, and making sauce)
- Put bean and spice mix in blender or food processor and pulse until smooth.
The sauce doesn't take long to make,
so now is a good time to get some of the cleaning out of the way.
- When the crust is done remove it from the oven and add sauce, cheese, and toppings.
- Switch oven to broil
- Broil pizza for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted
- Cut and serve immediately
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| Not so great cell phone picture. I will update this post with better photos as soon as I find a card reader for the camera! |
What I learned while making this dish
1. Make sure you get all of the chunks out of the cauliflower
2. Make sure you don't spread the crust too thin
3. Don't cook it on tinfoil (it will stick and make you want to cry)
4. This pizza is a job for a fork and knife
5. Prepare to have leftover sauce and veggies (maybe put it over some zucchini pasta tomorrow night?)
6. It's delicious and worth the wait!
I hope you get a chance to try this, or have someone willing to make it for you!
Coming soon:
-Zucchini pasta-
-Buffalo Chicken Sushi!-
