Meatless Monday – Pizza, of course!

Pizza has to be one of the easiest meals to make meatless.  There are so many wonderful, delicious, and healthy toppings to put on a pizza and you won’t even miss the meat you might be used to!
Friday night is always pizza night in our home.  The kids know it, they count on it, and I love that they will take it with them into adulthood as one of their favorite childhood memories.  Making the crust is so easy and more healthy and much less expensive than store bought.

Here’s a super basic recipe for homemade pizza crust:

• 1 tablespoon Active Dry Yeast ( I buy in bulk, super cheap)
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar (or honey)
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. First, put the flour, sugar, and salt into a medium size bowl.
2. Next, dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl.
3. To the water and yeast mixture add the oil and flour mixture.
4. Stir until a ball forms.
5. Lightly flour your counter top and knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
6. Pour about a teaspoon of olive oil into bowl, roll the dough around to coat, cover with a damp cloth, and allow to rise until doubled in size. (about 20-30 minutes)
7. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
8. Divide the dough in half and spread each with floured fingers onto a round pizza pan.
9. Spread some sauce, your favorite cheese, and dried oregano.  If you have it, freshly grated parmesan adds an amazing flavor!
10. Add veggies and more veggies!! (some favorites for us are onions, peppers, mushrooms, pineapple-yes, I know, that’s a fruit) 

*A way I love to make pizza healthy when on a time crunch is to prepare them on flour tortillas or pita pockets.  Yummy and crunchy with way less calories!