With fall settling in, it's time to crank up the oven. I try to keep the oven off during the hot summer months to save on electricity, so when it starts getting cool, I'm ready for some oven baked goodness. And one of my favorites is pizza! In fact it's usually what's for dinner on Halloween. Not that I'm a Halloween fan and need a reason to "party." To be honest, I really don't like this so called "holiday" where kids get dressed up in scary costumes and go door to door asking for candy, which in my opinion, they get for breakfast, lunch, and dinner these days. But I guess I'm not a complete scrooge when I still have an urge to do something fun. So home made pizza it is!
Since my days of downing a whole small little Caesars Pizza in one meal are gone, thank goodness (!!!) I've discovered that pizza really can be a healthy food and when you make it Health for Life style and include a big green salad and healthy soup, you fill up pretty quick and couldn't possibly eat the whole thing! I start off with a 100% freshly ground whole wheat flour for the crust. This crust is so fast and simple to make and has no oil! I top the crust with a quick and easy home made tomato sauce, and than add toppings of choice. I'm pretty traditional and usually stick with onion, peppers, mushrooms and olives, but for class I'm going to add some sun-dried tomatoes and spinach to make it extra tasty and nutritious. Top it all with sesame parmesan and you have a pizza fit for a vegan king!
Even though my pizza is quite healthy, it's still low on the anti-oxidant scale. Therefore, I always include a nice big green salad with the meal. For class it's going to be a Caesars Salad made with a creamy Caesar's type dressing. This dressing does contain cashews but could easily be made with sunflower seeds or other seeds which are less allergenic.
Along with the salad comes a nice warm Rustic Italian Soup. This recipe comes from my favorite southern California restaurant cook book, Real Food Daily. It's a tomato based soup with kale, white beans, and lots of garlic to keep the vampires away!! (and, unfortunately, my hubby) It's perfect for a cold Halloween evening.
And for dessert.....is it ever to cold for ice cream? I don't think so. What better way to top off a pizza party then with ice cream! I'll be demonstrating the basic vanilla cashew ice cream that I've done for years that many of you have seen and tasted, but many have not. Maybe I'll add on a topping of some sort. The possibilities are endless!!
And there you have it! Health for Life cooking in October! I hope you will join me for dinner!
Dr. Fuhrmans wife Lisa shared her healthy Halloween tips on Dr. Fuhrmans blog. I thought it was worth sharing.
