Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Who doesn't love pizza?! 

Pizza is delicious, but when you buy it at a restaurant, chances are it's not very healthy. It's loaded with grease, refined carbohydrates, and empty calories. I enjoy experimenting with food and creating healthy versions of things that I love. Even homemade crusts can make a pretty big dent in your calorie and carbohydrate intake if you're being careful about your diet. I first heard of the cauliflower pizza crust last summer and I've been making it since then, trying different methods each time (using parmesan instead of mozzarella, adding flour, different oven temps, etc.). This is the recipe that I have found works best and I've had consistently good results, even my dad who notoriously doesn't like anything that "tastes healthy" admitted to liking it, albeit reluctantly. His reaction: "Huh, not bad. Cauliflower usually tastes like s***,  but this is pretty good."

Ingredients: 

1 head of cauliflower (FRESH!! not frozen) 

1/3 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese 

1 egg 

salt, garlic, or whatever seasonings you choose to add 

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Wash and prepare the cauliflower, make sure you dry it well. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor until well-blended. There shouldn't be any large chunks and it can be anywhere from the consistency of lumpy pudding to cookie dough depending on the ratio of cauliflower to egg. I've made this same recipe many times and the texture of the raw dough has been different each time, it'll be fine once it's cooked.  Line a baking sheet with foil and then parchment paper (two sheets are important because you will use one to flip the crust over, but you can use 2 layers of foil and grease the top one if you don't have parchment paper). Pour the batter onto the baking sheet and bake until cooked most of the way, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and, using the parchment layer or top layer of foil, carefully flip the crust over. Return it to the oven and bake until desired doneness, 10-20 more minutes.

I like mine pretty crispy- golden brown throughout and darker around the edges. 

Warning: If you use frozen cauliflower, the cooked crust will be mushy and gross. When I did it, it was uncooked in the middle and burnt around the edges. Blegh. 

Once the crust is done, you can top the pizza with whatever you want! Here are some of my healthy favorites: 

Mexican Inspired Pizza

1/2 can of refried black beans (gotta have that fiber) 

1/2 cup of Greek yogurt

1/3 cup of thawed frozen chopped spinach (frozen is cheaper and in my opinion more convenient, but fresh spinach works just as well)

some chives or green onion to taste

1/2 pound of cooked lean ground turkey breast seasoned with chili powder, turmeric, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper

3-5 chopped jalapeños

1/2 bell pepper, diced 

1/3-1/2 cup of shredded pepper jack or mozzarella cheese

Spread the beans on the crust first. In a bowl, mix the yogurt, spinach, and chives and then spread over the pizza, then spread over the beans. Add the remaining ingredients and bake for 15-20 minutes, until desired doneness. 

Mediterranean Inspired Pizza

1/2 cup of Greek yogurt 

1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes 

1/3 cup of thawed frozen spinach 

1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms 

1/2 pound of cooked seasoned lean ground turkey 

2-3 artichoke hearts, quartered 

1/2 cup of feta cheese 

1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese 

Mix the yogurt, tomatoes, and spinach and use as the sauce. Top with the remaining ingredients and bake. 

Hawaiian Inspired Pizza 

1/2 cup of marinara/pizza sauce 

1/2 cup of sliced pineapple 

1/2 cup of thawed frozen spinach

1/4 pound of cooked chicken breast, cubed  

1/4 pound of Canadian bacon or thick sliced ham 

1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

Have fun and be creative with your pizza! Thanks for stopping by! 

Urban Gold

My friend Christie and I had some down time downtown!

Shirt - BCBG (~$40)

Jeggings - Forever 21 ($10)

Beanie - Hot Topic ($10)

Shoes - Target ($30)

Jacket - Forever 21 ($20)

Please visit her blog

<3

Black Noir

Hey guys, I am sooo incredibly sorry we haven't uploaded like..anything, but Rita and I have just been so busy with school and applications and test and everything in between. Plus, we don't even live in the same city so it makes it kind of hard to coordinate things. Anyways, since we haven't come up with any good recipes recently I thought I'd share you ya'll a simple outfit of the day!

• Shirt - Forever 21 ($12)
• Purse - somewhere on the streets of Asia (~$15)
• Boots - Lucky Brand (~$50)
• Pleather Skirt - Urban Outfitters ($10) 

Green Tea Panna Cotta

So, I am in love with this recipe! Panna cotta is an Italian milk/cream gelatin dessert that is sweet and wondering and so satisfying. Its even better because since it is just milk and cream based, you can easily add in your own little twist and make it practically any flavor you want! I love green tea in the summer time and thought this would be the perfect time to make it. It's so simple, yet the results would blow anyone away.

I made about 4 mugs worth of panna cotta. This might be a bit much, so if you're putting them in smaller containers I suggest halving the ingredients. I was making this for my parents, who don't really enjoy sweet desserts. I was trying to keep the flavor of the matcha authentic. However, if you enjoy your desserts to be on the sweeter side you should double the amount of sugar I used. I topped this panna cotta with honey to counter balance any bitter flavor for the matcha powder, but honey will go well on a sweet green tea panna cotta as well. 

Ingredients

• 1 pint of half and half
• 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
• about 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 3 tbs matcha powder
• 2 packets of unflavored gelatin
• water
• honey
• lemon zest (the amount is to preference)

Process

1) Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle over the gelatin, set aside to soften. For two packets of gelatin I used a little less than half a cup of water.
2) In a small saucepan, add the heavy cream, half and half, lemon zest and sugar, bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn the heat off and add the gelatin mixture, whisk for a couple minutes or until the gelatin melts. 
3) add matcha power to a little bit of boiling water and mix till it throughly dissolves. Add the dissolved matcha in mater mixture into your hot milk and gelatin mixture. 
4) repeat until all of the matcha powder has been dissolved and added. Make note of the color and taste you want to achieve. 
5) Strain this mixture through a cheesecloth on top of a sieve. Redissolve and add any matcha powder that did not pass through the strainer. 
6) repeat until the desire color and taste is achieved. Add sugar when needed.
7) Divide the mixture into ramekins or cups. I added it into 4 glass mugs and 1 tea cup. 

To serve:

If you want your panna cottas to be sitting freely on a plate, dip the bottom of each ramekin or tea cup in a bowl of hot water for 10 seconds. Run a thin knife around the edges of the ramekin or tea cup and carefully transfer it to a plate. This might take a couple of attempts. 
Whip up some heavy cream and place a dollop on top. Then, drizzle with some honey. 

And ta-da! You are finished!

Final note: As I stated before, this dessert is so simple to make. The only part that might be  a bit of a nuance is that matcha powder tends to form clumps, so be very careful when adding it to the milk. In retrospect, I would've passed it through a sieve first. 
The more common panna cotta is a vanilla panna cotta. So, instead of adding in the matcha powder, just scrape the seeds from a vanilla pod and add both the seeds and vanilla pod in! It also looks very fancy! Vanilla panna cottas are typically served with a fruit sauce on top. 

 Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!