Pesto & Spinach Pizza

For the past year, we here at the Gibson Abode have been on a special diet.

For instance, we don't cook with beef or pork anymore; which means we eat lots of chicken, turkey, and fish.

We also don't drink sodas, eat fried foods, or purchase white bread.

In the past few months, we've slacked off a bit, partaking in steak, hamburgers, fried pork chops {which is a double no-no, since it's PORK and FRIED!}, and we've been ordering pizza from Papa John's {we can't help ourselves-- better ingredients, better prices, better pizza....}.

But this week we were again reminded of what we should be eating. Colt's hepatologist sent us some test results which showed us what swaying from this diet can do-- nothing too drastic, but it definitely made a difference with Colt's liver enzyme count! So we're back at it-- back on the horse, or the wagon, or whatever you're supposed to ride to dedicate yourself to a cause.

As a part of changing our diet, I-- as the cook of the house-- needed to take another look at what I have been cooking lately.

For the most part, I stick to the diet pretty well with the things I buy. For one, I only buy whole wheat bread/tortillas/noodles/etc. In recent months, Colt requested we switch back to white noodles... but alas, I have restocked the whole wheat in the pantry. I also never buy beef. Why would I? We can't eat it. I do admit, however, I have purchased pork sausage a few times. :-X

One thing that I wanted to replace in my meal planning was our Friday night pizza.

Let me start by saying, the Gibsons love pizza.

Colt loves a supreme pizza with cheesy crust; I love a thin crust with pepperoni, white onion, green olives, and extra cheese; and Wyatt loves any kind of pizza we'll let him stuff in his tiny mouth.

So on Sunday night when Colt and I sat up late watching Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, featuring a great guy named Jonathan who loses an amazing 266 lbs in one year, I took note when the dietician showed Jonathan and host Chris how to make a healthier pizza.

I changed the recipe a bit, adding spinach, but I think I kept the whole basic recipe's integrity! So here it is:

 

Ingredients	Cal.	Fat (g)	Protein (g)	Fiber (g)
2 Whole Wheat Tortillas	340	8	10	6
4 tbsp. Basil/Pesto Pasta	120	11	1.5	½
1 Whole Tomato	22	0.2	1.1	1 ½
2 c. Spinach	20	0	2	2
¼ c. shredded cheese	90	6	7	0
Total calories for two people to share!	592

That’s 296 calories for one person!!

And here are the steps for creating your own Pesto & Spinach Pizza:

 

1.   Preheat oven to 425˚! Place the two tortillas onto a nonstick bake sheet; spread your basil & pesto sauce across both.

2.   Sliced into 8ths, place your tomato slices onto the tortillas.

3.   Add fresh spinach {I find that rolling the spinach, then tearing pinches off makes it a nice, eatable size!)

4.   Top with cheese! {Keep in mind that cheese goes a long way once it’s melted down—so even though ¼ c. for two tortillas doesn’t seem like a lot to us cheese lovers, it actually does a great job covering the entire pizza!}

5.  Pop into the oven. Let bake until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are beginning to turn gold-brown along the edges)

6.   Slice each pizza into 4ths and serve!

I hope you enjoy this pizza recipe as much as I did! Sadly, the hubs was working late the night I made this dish for the first time, so the jury is still out on whether or not it will be added into weekly rotation. But I can definitely say that Wyatt and I enjoyed it!!

|MrsG