I almost didn’t make it to the second installment of giz and psychgrad’s food event, Tried, Tested and True. I had a hard time deciding what to make for this event because the instructions clearly stated:
We are asking you to submit your health-promoting tried, tested and true recipes. This can be any sort of dish – appetizer/soup/bread/main/dessert – your choice. But, it should be a low calorie dish, one that you’ve adapted from a higher fat to be a healthier choice, a vegetarian option, just to give you a few suggestions. Please don’t feel restricted. Just think about a submission that’s healthy and tastes good – that you would feed to someone you love knowing that you were promoting good, healthy eating.
I have been trying to eat more healthily lately, but I make up most of my food as I go along. So after a lot of thinking I decided to give a dish that most people wouldn’t consider very healthy a make over, pizza. I have been making my own pizzas for several months now (after I got disgusted with the greasy, fat crust pizzas that most pizza chain restaurants deliver), but only lately I gave the crust a healthier turn, a whole-wheat crust. For the toppings I use a lot of vegetables and lean meat such as chicken and turkey, but for this particular pizza I wanted to use one of my favorite healthy Mexican dishes from my childhood, calabacitas.
Calabacitas is a side dish prepared with zucchinis, corn kernels, tomatoes, onions and Poblano peppers. What can be healthier than that? This is what I used for this healthy recipe:
Mexican Pizza
Serves 4-6 portions
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutesFor this recipe you will need:
- 1/2 recipe whole-wheat bolillo dough (to make this whole-wheat, just replace 1/2 all-purpose flour for whole-wheat flour)
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1 white onion, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 chicken breast, shredded
- 1 Poblano pepper, roasted, skinned, cleaned and sliced
- 2 medium summer zucchinis, diced
- kernels of 2 corn ears (this video is good guide to do it)
- 1 14oz (450gr) can of diced tomatoes
- salt and pepper to taste.
- 1 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese
Preparation:
- Preheat your oven to 425ºF (220ºC)
- Roll out your pizza dough and put it on a pizza tray.
- Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Add shredded chicken and Poblano pepper and let it cook until chicken starts to brown.
- Stir in zucchini, corn and tomato and season to taste.
- When the vegetables are cooked, around 8-10 minutes, pour over pizza dough and top with mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges of the pizza pie start to turn golden brown.
- Cut, serve hot and enjoy.
Giz and psychgrad are attaching a very noble cause to the food event, organ donation. This cause is very important for them because on January 6th, 2007, giz was the recipient of a successful kidney transplant. A second chance at life, as she puts it. Her life turned around thanks to this event and now they want to create awareness about the difficulties that patients in the waiting list for organs faced. I believe this is a very noble cause and I join them with this humble recipe in their quest. If you want to learn more about organ donation you can visit any of the links listed on this transplant related organizations list.
Buen provecho!
24 Replies
I am a pizza fanatic — this not only looks good, but it’s healthy too! I’m all about the crust — it looks crisp and chewy — do you deliver?
Posted on July 21st, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Ben,
This looks incredible! I had no idea it was a healthy recipe until I read the post. How cool is that? Proof you can make your family eat healthy without them even knowing. Ha!
Francie
Posted on July 21st, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Ben, this pizza is colourful, filling and healthy…I could eat the whole pie bu then that wouldn’t be healthy.
Posted on July 21st, 2008 at 8:42 pm
This recipe looks really tasty. I’ve only had corn on my pizza a couple of times. I must remember to add it next time I make pizza because I really liked it. Great adaptations to the pizza to make it a healthy recipe. Thank you for the thoughtful post about our Tried, Tested and True Two event and helping to communicate about the cause of organ donation.
Posted on July 21st, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Good job Ben! Healthy AND delicious . Who could resist. You know, any dish can be prepared a little more on the healthy side, even quick dishes that we enjoy so much…like pizza. You’ve demonstrated that very well. Great post.
Posted on July 21st, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Ben, your pizza is “out of control” (in a good way). I love the ingredients in it. I haven’t eaten pizza since I can’t remember when but this one would be worth trying. You’ve done such a great job of switching it up.
It’s really exciting to see how many people are so much more aware of the benefits of healthy eating. If they don’t know what to do to cut saturated fats, I see them asking questions in forums and really and truly making the attempt. I only hope that this awareness is moving outside the realm of foodies and to the general population.
Thank you for your support! This cause is very important to me. I was a lucky one – so many are not. Ben – you make a difference!
Posted on July 21st, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Absolutely delicious Ben! I love all the ingredients and the colours…well done.
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 at 3:41 am
Que pizza tan deliciosa Ben! I love the way you name your dishes… Calabacitas… sounds so sweet!!!! The pizza looks wonderful and the veggies super! Hand me a piece please
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 at 3:43 am
[...] Here is the original post: Tried, Tested and True – Mexican Pizza [...]
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 at 5:43 am
This is my kind of pizza. Whenever I make pizza at home I always make a vegetarian type for me and use low fat cheese as well. However have never made pizza with chicken, or zucchini or corn so this is new to me and shall have this in mind for a future pizza.
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 at 6:07 am
Pizza – lovely with all that topping great love it Ben!
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 at 8:18 am
This looks fabulous, and includes a lot of ingredients I have to use up tonight. Yay!!!
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 at 8:34 am
Que rica pizza!!! y buena idea hacerla con la masa para bolllos!!
Muy buenas fotos Ben!
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
That pizza looks so good! I like all of the vegetables on it!
Posted on July 22nd, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Looks delicious. I just started making some non-mexican pizzas, so this will have to be the next one I try.
Posted on July 23rd, 2008 at 8:52 am
Hey, I made Mexican lasagna the other night! I made up a Spanish name for it, so it would sound better: Cazuela de chorizo y queso. Is that even a real thing? :\
Your pizza looks great. Really great! When I was a kid, taco pizza was my favorite. This is much more sophisticated.
Posted on July 23rd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Yum! Looks delicious. I was looking for a good idea for dinner tonight and this will be a great way to use up some of that produce from the garden!
Posted on July 25th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
[...] at What’s Cooking? gives us a tried and true recipe for mexican pizza. After making my margherita pizza, I really want to try [...]
Posted on July 27th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Sounds wonderful Ben:D
Posted on July 28th, 2008 at 7:39 am
The family loved the pizza! Thanks for the great idea!
Posted on July 28th, 2008 at 10:18 am
We loved the pizza! Can’t wait to try it again!
Posted on July 28th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Great fusion of Italian and Mexican cuisine! Love the idea
Posted on July 29th, 2008 at 8:59 am
I think I love you.
Posted on August 14th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
[...] – bookmarked by 5 members originally found by czshiryu on 2008-08-22 Tried, Tested and True – Mexican Pizza http://whatscooking.us/2008/07/21/mexican-pizza/ – bookmarked by 4 members originally found by [...]
Posted on September 14th, 2008 at 3:45 am
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