Cauliflower Pizza: for the gluten-free
Image Posted on Updated on
They say you are what you eat, so I recently became interested in cooking healthy meals at home. It is my belief that what we eat ultimately has positive or negative ramifications on our brain chemistry, our emotions, and what we ultimately manifest in our lives. This dish may look like its loaded with saturated fat, starch, and bad carbohydrates, but it is actually extremely healthy for you. If you like pizza, try making cauliflower pizza.
The health benefits of cauliflower pizza is obvious. It is a very low calorie/fat veggie and is loaded with fiber not to mention a ton of vitamins (see vitamin chart here.) Cauliflower pizza is also gluten-free, plus it’s high in protein and low in carbohydrates. Roughly 9 months ago I started on a pescatarian diet mostly comprised of fish and veggies. Although I have never considered becoming a vegetarian, vegan, or raw foodist. I have certainly felt the benefits of incorporating more veggies and less meat. For this dish however, I did choose to make it with lean ground turkey instead of tofu. I will try and cook it meatless next time.
I got this recipe off the web after hearing about cauliflower pizza from a very close vegan, gluten-free friend of mine who told me all about it. I did tweak this recipe to fit my own preferences. Now, I didn’t have a pizza pan ready so I decided to make mine with a rectangle, deeper dish pan. It ended up tasting more like a gluten-free lasagna/pizza hybrid which I have heard no complaints from those that have tasted it.
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower (or less depending upon how thick you want the crust)
- 1 cup of tomato sauce (I actually ended up using more because I love lots of sauce. Customize as you wish.)
- 1 cup of chopped tomatoes (Again, I actually used more than a cup of chopped tomatoes because I love tomatoes.)
- 1/4 cup of flax seed meal
- 1/4 cup of almond meal
- 1 cup of lean turkey meat (can substitute for meatless options such as tofu)
- 1 cup of cheddar cheese (or tofu cheese or any other cheese of your choice)
- 5 eggs (or less, I like the thickness when I added the 5 eggs)
Boil the cauliflower until soft, mash it up- I like to use a food processor. After the cauliflower looks like mashed potatoes you want to add the eggs, flax seed, and almond meal. You mix this altogether, again I used a food processor to make my life simple and the kitchen less messy. You dump the concoction into the pan and bake it at 400-425 degrees. Depending upon the thickness of, your crust, you may need to cook it longer. I had to cook mine for 20 minutes roughly. After the crust is cooked you take it out, let it cool for 10 minutes and then add the tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, grated cheddar cheese, and ground lean turkey meat or tofu (and any other topping of your choice). The thicker you make it, the more filling. Since I made mine rather thick, make sure that you have plenty of mouths to feed because the dish is yummy and if there’s only 1-2 people in the house, be prepared for left overs. The great thing about this dish is that it is very customizable and practically fool-proof, so don’t be afraid to experiment and even look up other cauliflower pizza recipes online that you find.
Since I have been eating healthier, I get the blues a lot less and I feel more positive about life in general. Life is simple, eating well makes you feel better, proper exercise and sleep also makes your life manageable. I strongly believe that healthy eating can help lower depression and also reduce a host of other ailments. The more your mind is clear, the more you can manage your emotions and focus on positive change.
Writing With Hope 