Recipe: Healthy Greek Pizza

Posted by: admin Posted date: April 27, 2011 In: diet, eating for life, Family, Full Strength Life, Healthy Recipes | comment : 0

This is a delicious, healthy Greek inspired pizza we made for a weekend dinner as a family.

Tsiatsos Healthy Homemade Greek Pizza

The kids enjoyed helping out too. Gets them invested too. Oh yes, while I lead the healthy pizza charge a few weeks back, this even healthier, more creative version was Angie’s truly. I helped a little but really it was hers.

Here’s how we (Angie with fam in support) made it—and how you can too. It’s not that hard and it tastes amazing.

Whole Chicken:
I made my chicken the day before, marinating it with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, oregano, ¼ lemon, 4-5 cloves of garlic, and my favorite spice blend from Savory Spice Shop called “Capital Hill Seasoning.” Of course, if you don’t have time to bake a chicken, buying a whole roasted “classic” chicken from Whole Foods or something similar will do just fine too.

A couple of hints to baking a yummy chicken, if you choose that route, are to get the marinade down in between the skin and the meat of the chicken. Pull the skin away from the breast, thighs and back and spread your marinade throughout. Also, I use one of those funky chicken stands and bake it upside down—this way it’s sure to stay ultra moist!

* For Vegan Pizza… leave the chicken off! Duh!

For the Pizza: (that holds the chicken)

Chicken—chopped into tiny bite-sized pieces
Pre-made dough (I got mine from Whole foods—it’s also pretty easy to make)
Stone ground Whole Wheat Flour
Olive Oil—just enough to spread over pizza(s) and for sautéing
Kalamata Olive Tapenade—to your liking
Monte Bene Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce (or other similar tomato sauce)
Spinach—about 1 Cup, finely chopped
Basil—1 or 2 stems full, finely chopped
Green onions—about 3, finely chopped
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 zucchini (thinly sliced and cut in half)
Red peppers, chopped
Fresh Sliced mushrooms
Italian Spice blend
1 large heirloom tomato
(Artichoke hearts would be a great addition as well!)
*Daiya Vegan Mozzarella Cheese…
Or (for the Non-Vegan crowd) a blend of Mozzarella and Feta Cheeses

(*We use vegan cheese because of our Son’s food allergies. While this is optional, Daiya makes a fabulous vegan version and it definitely helps to keep the fat content down!)

Preparation & Baking

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Roll out your dough onto surface dusted with flour—shape onto your pizza pan (stone and metal both work great)
Lightly spread olive oil over your crust and bake for about 5 minutes

Take pizza out and lightly, evenly spread on tapenade (I used just a small amount—this all depends on how much you like Greek olives J) Then evenly spread on sauce. (If you add too much, it can make your crust a little soggy… the pre-baking helps!) Cover the pizza with chicken—I use a lot, because I want a good portion of protein. The smaller pieces (make it more kid friendly).

Add the chopped green veggies (spinach, onion, basil, parsley) and the mushrooms
Quickly sauté the peppers and zucchini a bit of olive oil and Italian spice, and add to the top of the pizza
Cover lightly with your cheese of choice