If you consider yourself a healthy eater while still having an inordinate obsession with pizza, you might play the same tricks I do. You know, blot grease with napkin (which ps can actually save up to 100 calories), pulling off some excess cheese, or skipping the crust (I don’t use that trick – crust is my favorite part). The best (and healthiest) trick is to serve your pizza up with a big plate of salad. Tons of munching for so few calories might fill the pizza void and prohibit me from eating 4-6 slices. I’d seen recipes for salad topped pizzas and I wondered, would it still seem like pizza?I packed my salad portion with indulgences like crumbled bacon and tangy blue cheese, and brought in even more flavor from healthy faves like chives. The salad itself was delicious, and eating from a vehicle of chewy warm crust is a wonderful thing. There’s protein from the bacon, cheese, and edamame but shredded cooked chicken would be a welcome addition and would work just fine. If you don’t have a pizza stone I’d suggest you make the purchase. Easy to store, fairly inexpensive and worth every penny, they ensure a crispy crust, which is paramount for this pizza.
Blue Cheese and Spinach Salad Pizza
Serves eight
1 lb whole wheat dough*
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ c. crumbled blue cheese, divided
¼ c. snipped chives
1 c. cherry tomatoes
Half a shallot, or 2 tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. honey
½ c. frozen soy beans (edamame), thawed
3 slices turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
3 c. baby spinach leaves
*To make whole-wheat dough: 2/3 c. warm water, 1 tsp. yeast, 1 tsp. sugar. 1 c. whole wheat flour, 1 c. all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt. Stir water, yeast and sugar together. Let sit five minutes. Stir in flours and salt and knead for 10 minutes. Let sit, covered in a greased bowl, for 1 hour.
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees, and if you have a pizza stone, preheat it in oven. Ideally, stone should preheat no less than 30 minutes in a hot oven.
2. Roll out dough to a 14-inch round on parchment paper or lightly floured countertop; spread oil across surface and top with ¼ c. of the cheese (reserving ¼ cup for salad) and chives. Bake for 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, stir tomatoes, shallot, vinegar, mustard and honey and edamame together in a large bowl and set aside.
4. Right before pizza is done, add chopped bacon and spinach to dressing and toss to combine.
5. When pizza crust is cooked top with salad and serve.
Per serving: 193 calories, 5.3 fat grams (including 1.9 grams saturated fat), 10 milligrams cholesterol, 336 milligrams sodium, 27.9 grams carbs, 1.8 grams dietary fiber, 2.2 grams sugar, 7.9 grams protein.
