Hi friends and happy 2017!!!
I hope your year is off to a tremendous start!
I’ve been out of blogging commission for a little while, but I am back in the saddle and ready to share some healthy, innovative dishes!
I spent the last few months of 2016 just trying to find balance. It’s been a little nuts with two kids now in school and a toddler to manage at home. There are loads of school commitments, plus my husband/family commitments, while also trying to fit in a little time for myself (mainly exercising)… It ain’t easy being MOM, but I’m hoping with mindfulness and intention I will get back on track and back to doing what I love; food blogging!
My goal for this blog has always been to come up with healthy dishes that have not been done before. THAT is what makes blogging fun for me and WHY I spend my (limited) time doing it! Anyone can take a recipe off the internet and turn it into a blog post, but I don’t ever want to do that (unless it’s just amazing and I’ve altered it a bit, which I’ve done before and shared). I want to be a trailblazer when it comes to healthy-food recipes and share things that might spark some new cooking ideas and habits for YOU!
This little dish is right in line with that!
This pizza is light, highly nutritious and easy to digest; components that are the essence of my blog.
I found my inspiration for it after reading a health magazine which showed different pizza options with *cooked* vegetables. These pizzas had veggies, a doughy crust, marinara sauce and cheese. That’s not exactly how I like to eat pizza. I like to keep it low calorie, low carb and dairy free.
I’ve been making tortilla pizzas for awhile now, (check out my post on Butternut Squash Skillet Pizza and an Italian Tortilla Pizza), so I immediately thought, “I’m gonna recreate a vegetable pizza, but put my own vegan spin on it!”
The reason I avoid dairy is because it’s highly inflammatory and hard to digest. I also try and consume as much “raw food” as possible. That simply means eating fruits and vegetables that are uncooked and unprocessed. Heat destroys food-nutrients and enzymes, basically all the things you NEED for food to be digested properly. It’s just a great way of eating even if you can just do it for one meal a day!
For this pizza you just need; a tortilla, preferably gluten free (gluten is often hard to digest and linked to allergies and tummy troubles); some of your favorite veggies like bell pepper, radishes and arugula; a batch of cashew cheese.
Cashew cheese is not as intimidating as it sounds! It’s basically cashews that have been soaked a few hours and rinsed, then blended into a creamy cheese with the help of some seasonings. This cheese is super easy to make and great with so many things!
Once your cheese is blended you simply chop up some fresh veggies (if you meal prep on Sunday, you can have everything already chopped up in a sealed container, so assembly is even easier).
Toast a tortilla in a pan on the stove.
Spread a heaping tablespoon of the cashew cheese onto your crispy tortilla, cut it into fourths and then layer on your veggies (or layer on your veggies THEN cut it into fourths).
The creamy, yet slightly tangy cashew cheese is the perfect complement to veggies. (I’ll use a batch of the cheese as a veggie-dip for my kids, it’s awesome.)
The sweetness of the bell pepper comes through, with a hint of bitterness from the arugula and radishes, plus the crispiness of that tortilla crust… magic in your mouth!
You can even switch up the veggies to try different combos. Try some red onion instead of the radishes, or try cucumbers and tomatoes, or spinach instead of arugula… so many possibilities with this one.
You won’t find a pizza that’s more filling or healthy than this. It’s worth a try… trust me! 😉
Vegetable Tortilla Pizza Ingredients:
1 gluten free tortilla
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1 medium radish
1 c. fresh arugula
1 Tbsp cashew cheese
Cashew Cheese Ingredients:
1 c. raw, unsalted cashews (soaked in water for 4 hours)
2 Tbsp filtered water
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
the juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp pink himalayan salt (season to taste)
Directions:
- Soak one cup a cashews in a bowl (water needs to cover the cashews) ideally 4 hours. (I’ve done this for as little as 30 minutes before and it still works, just not as creamy.) Once done soaking drain the water, lightly rinse cashews then put cashews in a blender along with 2 Tbsp water, the nutritional yeast, lemon juice and sea salt. *START with 1/4 tsp of salt, then season to taste, add a pinch of salt and re-blend if you need more flavor.*
- Warm a medium sized pan on the stove, place tortilla inside and brown on one side 3-5 minutes, then flip it and brown the other side 3-5 minutes until slightly brown and crisp.
- Cut up vegetables. Thinly slice the red and yellow bell pepper, radish and wash arugula, set aside.
- Take *cooled* tortilla and spread 1 to 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of cashew cheese onto the tortilla.
- Layer on veggies in a pattern of your choice; arugula, yellow bell pepper, radish and red bell pepper and cut into fourths. (For smaller pieces cut the fourths, in half to make eighths.)
- Serve immediately.
~ Serves 1 to 2 people
(*You’ll have leftover cashew cheese. You can easily make more pizzas, just use the left over bell peppers and chop up more veggie ingredients, wash arugula and another small radish.)
**NOTES**
*Food for Life, Engine 2 Plant Strong and Sonoma all make good, gluten free tortillas. Just check ingredients list to make sure you know what you’re consuming.
*You can make the cheese the night before. It holds up well in the fridge lasting 3-5 days.
*You can also use a tablespoon of the cashew cheese to make a SALAD DRESSING. Just thin it out with water, more lemon, or apple cider vinegar. You can also throw in a dash of turmeric, ginger and/or chopped garlic.
*Try and let tortilla cool before layering on cheese and veggies. Tortilla can get a little soft if not cooled.
