Whole Wheat, Veggie, Low Calorie Pizza

I try to balance my diet like my check book: I pick what’s worth it and what’s expendable. In saying that, pizza is still one of my staple favorites. At the restaurant I work at, we have a huge woodfire oven out of which springs the most delicious pizza. I wanted to create a recipe for a whole wheat, veggie pizza for dinner with half the calories, half the carbs and half the sugar [ yes, tomato sauce is usually filled with sugar ].

I found some whole-wheat pizza [ this has double the fiber than regular crust ] at Trader Joe’s, that would only take five minutes to cook. I scoured the shelves for a fresh, organic pizza sauce. My rule of thumb is to check out the ingredients – if there are any that are foreign or have suspicious chemicals are added to the recipe, they’re out of the question. The sauce I chose was a Trader Joe’s brand – it included fresh basil, tomatoes, lemon, pepper, olive oil and a few other spices. After choosing my sauce, I decided on a LITE mozzarella cheese [ you will not even notice the “LITE” part ] and all my favorite veggies. The veggie part is fun to get creative with – I am a huge jalapeno fan, myself!

Whole Wheat, Veggie, Low Calorie Pizza

Whole-wheat, pre-packed pizza dough [ always option to use gluten-free ]

5 tablespoons of fresh, organic pasta sauce

A handful of LITE mozzarella cheese

1 sliced organic tomato

8 pieces of cut up broccoli

½ a red pepper [ diced ]

½ a green pepper [ diced ]

Handful of spinach

1/3 of a red onion

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

A sprinkle of sea salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

A sprinkle of basil (I prefer fresh basil)

About 10 black sliced olives

A sprinkle of chili flakes

½ a lemon

1 sliced jalapeño [ option to add spice ]

1 tablespoon oat or almond flour

[ Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out pizza dough on to a cutting board. Let pizza dough sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, marinate sliced tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Then take the tablespoon of oat/almond flour and rub it on pizza dough. Use a rolling pin to roll out dough in to a giant, thin circle. Bake in oven for five minutes on cooking sheet. Take out of the oven spread with sauce. Top with cheese and veggies [ besides lemon ]. Cook for fifteen to twenty minutes. Squeeze your lemon on, add some chili flakes and enjoy!