Guiltless Tarts

Pizza Bianca(ish)

  Though I've made many pizzas since taking an interest in cooking, this is my first vegan pizza. I can hear the "eww" ing now. ;) I can assure you there was no "eww" ing going on when Richard killed three pieces in less than 10 minutes! Hardly enough time to savor the flavors. lol

  Being cheese lovers, we've been pleasantly surprised with the veggie and soy cheeses on the market today. Tonight was no exception with the mozzarella  Veggie Shreds. We never would have guessed we weren't eating dairy if we hadn't purchased the ingredients ourselves.

  Well I'm not much in the mood for writing tonight, so I'll just get right to the recipe.

Ingredients (Not vegan? Substitute away!)

1 Pizza crust

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

10-12 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 package frozen spinach

1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives

1 package button mushrooms, sliced

1 package vegan shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup chopped red onion

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400˚F.

2.  Pour the extra virgin olive oil in a bowl.  Add the 10-12 cloves of minced garlic to the olive oil and let soak while you prepare the other ingredients.

3.  Cook frozen spinach as directed.  Continue to step 4 while spinach is cooking.

4.  Drain kalamata olives, adding juice to sauce pan.

5.  Slice mushrooms and add to sauce pan with kalamata juice. Saute.

6.  Drain cooked spinach and set aside.

7.  Brush pizza crust with balsamic vinegar, then extra virgin olive oil/garlic mixture.

8.  Cover pizza crust with the mozzarella Veggie Shreds, then mushrooms, kalamata olives, spinach and onions.

9.  Bake for 10-15 minutes.

10. Optional; Lightly spray or drizzle the pizza with some of the remaining balsamic.

Hope you likey.

Protein Bars

  The original version of this protein bar recipe, found on www.allrecipes.com, includes vegetable oil, whole wheat flour, brown sugar and sunflower seeds. The omission and substitution of those ingredients plus a few other modifications result in a delicious, non-crumbly,  healthy alternative to store bought nutrition bars.

  I usually make 2 batches and bake them side by side. Yields  enough to last 2-3 people a little over a week. Great for a healthy snack or for refueling after a workout. They are actually quite filling too. 

  It took over a month to tweak this recipe to our liking. My sister-in-law Beth remarked that while she found them very good they were a bit crumbly. (Admittedly that was an understatement. lol) The next day I got to tweaking again and now we are saving electricity without the daily vacuuming around the coffee table. Thanks Beth! :)

Ingredients 

1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup protein powder (vanilla)
1/2 cup Grapenuts TM
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 beaten egg (substitute)
1/4 cup & 2 tablespoons applesauce (unsweetened)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped dried fruit 

Try different variations of nuts and fruit (e.g. walnuts & dried cherries, almonds & dried oranges). Be creative.

Unfortunately I have an electric oven. Boo! 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) may work better for you.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a 9 inch square baking pan with foil. You may spray or lightly grease the foil if you like. I prefer not to.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, protein powder, cereal, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the egg, applesauce and honey. Mix well. Stir in the nuts and fruit. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan.

3. Bake until firm and lightly browned around the edges and a light golden brown overall. (20-30 min) Remove from oven and let cool. Use the foil to lift from the pan. If you did not spray or grease the foil (like me), after 10 or so minutes of cooling, flip the protein 'cake' upside down on a cutting board and peel away all of the foil. Be sure to remove any tiny remnants of foil from the edges etc. Flip right side up on the cutting board and cut into squares or rectangles when finished cooling.