For the past few weeks, whole wheat pizza dough had been sitting in my freezer being defrosted and then refrozen, which I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to do. Mark and I finally got around to putting it to good use this weekend.
We followed the directions for the whole wheat pizza dough that we bought from Whole Foods. You can also get the pizza dough from Trader Joe’s. We then loaded the dough with healthy toppings! Namely, brussels sprouts, which are excellent sources of vitamins K, C, and Folate.
Ingredients:
- Whole wheat pizza dough
- 2 cups brussels sprouts (sliced)
- 4 cups spinach (chopped)
- 3/4 cups onions (diced)
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (or more if you’d like)
- 4 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 3-4 Tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Preheat the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit
- Defrost for 4-6 hours, then oil the baking sheet, flatten the pizza dough, stretch the pizza dough between your fingers, roll it out to the thickness that you want. Leave it aside.
- In a small pot, heat about 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Cook the onions until their translucent, add the spinach and cook until wilted. Turn off the heat and mix in 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Add balsamic vinegar and sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste. This is your base.
- Spread it evenly over the flatbread dough and leave about an inch for the crust.
- Toss the sliced brussels sprouts with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. Top the rest of the pizza with brussels sprouts. If you have extra brussels sprouts, just set it aside for something else. Then add the rest of the Parmesan cheese over the pizza, grind some pepper over it, and then sprinkle on some salt. If you want, you can drizzle a little more balsamic vinegar.
- Bake the pizza for 8-12 minutes.
Voila! That’s all there is to it! Crispy thin crust with flavorful greens. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have been eating it everyday for lunch at work.
Healthy pizzas, it is doable! And guess what? It’s also quite inexpensive. Eating healthy is definitely possible, and the key to ensuring a well balanced diet is probably being educated about what makes a healthy diet. Let me know how this pizza goes for you all!
Side personal note:
My students gave quite impressive, informed presentations about nutrition and healthy lunches to the heads of our nutritional services program today, and I couldn’t be prouder. They may have not persuaded nutritional services to change the lunches they serve, but they worked hard, stood up, and spoke out about making a change (that’s the first step to making a positive difference in the world). I honestly don’t understand how logical adults can think that kids can always make the right choices about their meals. Most adults will choose to eat pizza rather than the healthier alternative, so what makes these adults think that children will know how to make the right choice?
Schools really need to figure out how to encourage students to eat healthier and somehow limit their intake of unhealthy foods at school. Pizza and burgers every week? Those are some things that should only be consumed once a month or once every two months, not on a weekly basis. But I suppose I’m biased being a health nut and all…
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