It's week #5 of my 2018 challenge to try one new whole-food plant-based (WFPB) recipe each week. I found this recipe on the Minimalist Baker website. You can get the recipe, and many more healthy recipe ideas, at minimalistbaker.com.    

What I like about this recipe (besides the fact that it's healthy):

• It's pizza! (What more can I say?)
• It's quick and easy. Instead of preparing dough, I used whole grain pita bread. This is a great option for weeknight meals. 
• It's loaded with veggies and full of flavor. 

A couple notes:

1. A plant-based Parmesan cheese is made from raw cashews, nutritional yeast, and spices. This was simple to make. Once you have the ingredients, it takes less than a minute to mix it up in a food processor or blender, and it stores well in the freezer.  
2. If you are unfamiliar with nutritional yeast (note: this 3-minute video explains what it is and how it is used), or if the thought of cashews as a pizza ingredient freaks you out, don't let this scare you away.  It's quite good! You could easily make this recipe with regular Parmesan cheese too. It won't be entirely plant-based, but it will definitely be healthier than traditional pizza.  

What I ended up using/doing:

• The Minimalist Baker recipe gives different options for crust. You can make one or buy one. As mentioned, I ended up using pita bread as my crust, which was super-convenient. It also made my pizzas small and cute. (I like cute food.) I used Ezekiel 4:9 Prophet's Pocket Bread, which I found in the freezer section of my grocery store. 
• I made the sauce exactly like the Minimalist Baker recipe. 
• I made the "Parmesan cheese" exactly like the Minimalist Baker recipe. 
• The fresh veggies I chose were: green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion (sweet variety), spinach, broccoli florets, and mushrooms. The amount will depend on the size of pizza(s) you're making. I sauteed the veggies with a tiny bit of olive oil, just until the colors turned bright. This step really brings out the flavor of the veggies and keeps them from making your pizza watery as it bakes. (Genius idea!) Next time I plan to add some Kalamata olives too. 

I basically covered the pita bread with sauce, piled on the sauteed veggies, then cooked it at 400 degrees until it was sufficiently warmed/browned (mine took about 10 minutes). Afterward I added the "Parmesan cheese" and some red pepper flakes. 

SO good... 

Who says pizza isn't healthy?!

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This post was originally published on February 1, 2018.