15-Minute Mini Veggie Pizzas

Let's get real for a moment, shall we?  After several failed attempts over the past few months, I have come to accept that I cannot make a pizza crust from scratch to save my life.  And if we allow ourselves to get even more real... who wants to make a pizza crust from scratch anyways when my local natural foods store sells perfectly awesome whole-grain flatbreads?  Especially when these perfectly awesome whole-grain flatbreads look mighty cute as the crust for mini pizzas.

I almost hesitate to call this a recipe because it's so easy, fast, and adaptable, but isn't that what a recipe should be?  Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees.  Lay your flatbreads (or pitas) out on a sheet pan and top with marinara sauce.  Bonus points for you if you have some homemade basil pesto or garlic scape pesto hanging around in your freezer.  Both of these can be used in place of marinara or mixed in with it.

Next, sauté some minced garlic, green bell peppers, and maybe some mushrooms in a little olive oil for about three minutes.  Add the veggies atop your marinara or pesto.

Then top with some other favorite veggies like red onions or broccoli (these don't need to be precooked). Finally, sprinkle with some fresh or dried herbs as desired.  Maybe some red chili pepper flakes if you're feeling zesty.  Bake for 6 - 10 minutes (until the flatbread/pita is cripsy). 

And there you have it... easy peasy veggie pizzas!

It seems silly to me to write out a full recipe for this, so here are some guidelines for those of you that like a more structure: 

• Any flatbread or pita should work as a crust. 
• The cooking time varies depending on what you put atop your pizza. If you have a lot of sauce or toppings, expect it to take 8 - 10 minutes to crisp up.
• I'm not sure what the "proper" portion size should be, but I needed two mini pizzas for my meal.
• It doesn't take a lot of veggies to fill these up pretty quick.  I could fit about 1/3 cup of veggies per pizza. 
• The smaller the veggies are chopped, the quicker the cooking time. (And the easier it is to fit the pizza in your mouth.)
• This is the perfect way to use up leftovers in the fridge.  Got some random extra veggies hanging around?  Toss 'em on the pizza!
• These pizzas are meant to be quick and easy for weeknight dinners, but if you want to make it even easier for yourself: prep your veggies ahead of time so everything is already chopped and ready to go.  Then when dinner time comes, simply assemble and bake!

Chuck E. Cheese's: Where A Kid Can Be A Kid!

Just a few weeks ago my husband and I trekked to a nearby Chuck E. Cheese location with our son and his two cousins.  We had our 7 year old and 3 year old nephews along with our 1 year old son.  Thankfully there were not too many birthday parties booked on the particular weekend that we went so it wasn't as kid crazy as other times that I can recall.  We ordered pizza, of course.  The boys ate before playing any games - we were surprised that they were able to contain themselves and eat first!  Kudos to their parents for raising well behaved children!  They seemed to have liked it - what kid doesn't like pizza?  I had some and found it to be OK.  It's taste, to me, is geared more for a child's palate so I didn't expect much.  I did have a second piece, now that says a lot because I can be picky when it comes to pizza!

Our family has be invited to check out Chuck E. Cheese's NEW pizza recipe!  Not only will we be able to sample any large pizza of our choice + beverages...BUT (drum roll please...) we will also be provided with tokens for the kids to enjoy the MANY game choices.  The skeeball and basketball games are my favorites.  I say that just in case the kids get too tired to use up all of the tokens.

Hopefully our schedule will free up one weekend soon so we can taste it for ourselves and share with you our reactions. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, here is a video on the new recipe and customer comments:




Is your family a fan of Chuck E. Cheese?

We did not receive any compensation for this post.  A complimentary family meal and game tokens were provided to sample the new pizza recipe at Chuck E. Cheese's. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Raw Tomato and Pesto Pizza

The other day someone asked Ashley why Americans love pizza so much.  She answered that it must be the cheese.  Her logic is that any pizza with good cheese is going to be delicious. What are your thoughts on the subject?

I'm not sure how I feel about the cheese theory.  Don't get me wrong - in my former life I have eaten plenty of pizzas topped with cheese, stuffed with cheese, and even overflowing with cheese.  Most of them were very delicious.  But now, living the cheese-less life, I still have faith that a pizza can be delicious without the meat, without the cheese, and (dare I say it?) without being cooked.

There are plenty of amazing cooked vegan pizzas, but I am loving this raw one at the moment.  It's a great way to use up any pesto you may have on hand and all those beautiful tomatoes lying around. 

Pesto:
1 cup de-stemmed basil
1/4 cup walnuts
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine the basil, nuts, and garlic in a food processor and process until it forms a course paste. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady drizzle and continue to process until it becomes a smooth texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This makes roughly 1/2 cup of pesto, which is more than enough for the 8 pizzas.

Marinated onions:
Cut 1 red onion into thin slices. Place in a glass jar or container. Then fill with the apple cider vinegar marinade: 1 part apple cider vinegar to 1 part water. Let them marinate overnight. They will keep for about a week or so in the fridge.

Raw Flax Crust: From The Raw 50 by Carol Alt, this makes 8 crusts:
1 cup golden flax seeds
1 cup water
2 cups raw almonds, soaked overnight
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Grind the flax seeds finely in a spice or coffee grinder. Soak the ground seeds in the water until it is completely absorbed, stirring occasionally (this should take about 2 hours). Place the soaked flax seeds in a food processor and add the almonds, onion, thyme, rosemary, and oregano. Process until the mixture is finely ground and well mixed.

Roll the dough in your hands to form 8 balls of equal size. Once the balls are rolled, flatten them evenly with the palm of your hand.

Place the pizza breads on a Teflex-lined dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 4 hours. Then flip the breads over onto the dehydrator trays and remove the Teflex liners. Continue to dehydrate for another 4 hours, or until done. You can make bigger pizza breads, which will take longer to dehydrate.

Other ingredients:
Several tomatoes, sliced (use any variety you like)
Salt & pepper
Olive oil for drizzling
Any other fresh or dried herbs for garnish


Assembly:
Take your pizza crust and add a layer of pesto. Arrange your layer of sliced tomatoes and top with a little salt and pepper. Garnish with a few marinated onions, a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of fresh or dried herbs.

Raw Avocado and Nectarine Pizza

How have you been? What have you been up to? Things have felt a little crazy around here. I haven't been taking the best care of myself lately. Working long days. Worrying late into the night. Walking too much on my still-sore ankle. And forgetting the importance of deep breaths and down time.

The one thing I have been doing right this week is... this pizza. This pizza reminded me of the power of good food and how a good lunch is always made better by chewing slowly, eating with others, and laughter. This pizza is absolutely beautiful and delicious. I happened to have an abundance of nectarines (never a bad thing) and have been experimenting with new ways to use 'em.

I'm sure someone out there is thinking that fruit on pizza is weird. But, it's all about perspective. And maybe it's time we got a new perspective, at least, on pizza. Who knows where it might take us.


I'm not going to lie... this can be a labor-intensive pizza. But, once you've invested the time into making the crusts, sauce, and chopping the toppings, it's easy from there. Besides, we all could use a little more time in the kitchen and a little less at our computer.

Pesto:
1 cup de-stemmed basil
1/4 cup walnuts
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine the basil, nuts, and garlic in a food processor and process until it forms a course paste. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady drizzle and continue to process until it becomes a smooth texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This makes roughly 1/2 cup of pesto, which is more than enough for the 8 pizzas.

Marinated onions:
Cut 1 red onion into thin slices. Place in a glass jar or container. Then fill with the apple cider vinegar marinade: 1 part apple cider vinegar to 1 part water. Let them marinate overnight. They will keep for about a week or so in the fridge.

Raw Flax Crust: From The Raw 50 by Carol Alt, this makes 8 crusts

1 cup golden flax seeds
1 cup water
2 cups raw almonds, soaked overnight
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Grind the flax seeds finely in a spice or coffee grinder. Soak the ground seeds in the water until it is completely absorbed, stirring occasionally (this should take about 2 hours). Place the soaked flax seeds in a food processor and add the almonds, onion, thyme, rosemary, and oregano. Process until the mixture is finely ground and well mixed.

Roll the dough in your hands to form 8 balls of equal size. Once the balls are rolled, flatten them evenly with the palm of your hand.

Place the pizza breads on a Teflex-lined dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 4 hours. Then flip the breads over onto the dehydrator trays and remove the Teflex liners. Continue to dehydrate for another 4 hours, or until done. You can make bigger pizza breads, which will take longer to dehydrate.

Other ingredients:
a couple of nectarines
a couple of avocados
fresh herbs for garnish (basil or dill are nice)

Assembly:
Take your pizza crust and top with a layer of pesto. Slice up your avocado and nectarines and assemble on top. I used about a 1/4 of avocado and 1/2 a nectarine per pizza. Garnish with a few marinated onions and a pinch of fresh herbs.

BBQ Broccoli Pizza

I'm starting to love Trader Joe's more and more. Ready-made vegan pizza dough for $1.25? Sold! I didn't even make this BBQ sauce, that also came from TJ's. The Garlic & Herb dough was incredible and was minimal work (just roll and bake!) for a tasty pizza... thanks Joe! :)

I really needed some pizza this week. Something warm, savory, and spicy. And that's just what this is. I even bought a rolling pin for the first time over the weekend. I had a feeling I would be needing it for pizza dough sometime soon and I was right.

As I rolled out the dough, it kept sticking to the pin. That was easy to fix, just add more flour. But the dough just wouldn't stretch like it was "supposed" to. I knew from experience that if I didn't make it 12 inches in diameter the dough would be too thick and would stay soft in the middle. No matter what I did with that rolling pin, the dough kept bouncing back.

What an interesting metaphor for my life. I spend all this time and energy molding things in my life to be the way I think they should be. What if the life I want is the life I have? What if anything you could ever want or be... you already have and are?

I spend so much time worrying -- worrying about the past that I can't change, worrying about the future that I can't control, and worrying about the present that is passing me by. What if I put down the rolling pin? What if I stopped worrying and started enjoying my life more? What if I stopped fighting with the dough and just accepted it for what it wanted to be and everything that it was, not being frustrated with it for everything it was not?

Maybe this is a little too deep for pizza dough... but I think tonight was about taking the time to be present in the moment and stop resisting. To stop worrying. To smile a little more. To keep a sense of humor. And maybe even to dance.

This past weekend I was in class with my fellow graduate students at Antioch. What an amazing group of people. One of the groups began their presentation with having everyone dance. It had been so long since I danced. This week is reminding me that life isn't about having the perfect pizza or the "perfect life." It's about taking those moments to dance, to laugh, and enjoying the present.

So what happened with the pizza? I went ahead and baked it anyway. And guess what... it did turn out a little too soft in the middle... but it was still darn delicious.

Makes 4 large slices:

Pizza Dough (ready-made or make your own)
3 cups broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 yellow onion, sliced
3 Tbs olive oil
5 Tbs BBQ sauce
Tofurky italian sausage (you can also use tempeh, marinated tofu, or seitan)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Toss broccoli, bell pepper, and onion with 1 Tb olive oil and 1 Tbs BBQ sauce. Place on baking sheet and roast in oven for 10 minutes, turning 2-3 times. Set aside.

Roll out dough and place on oiled baking sheet. Cover with a thin layer of olive oil and bake for about 8 minutes. Add another thin layer of olive oil and 4 Tbs BBQ sauce. Arrange the vegetables to cover the pizza. Slice one Tofurky sausage link and arrange on pizza. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until crust is crispy.