Day 22, Recipe 23: Mini Pita Pizzas

Cute, great for portion control & healthy. What more could you ask for? Surely, I can't be talking about pizza you're probably thinking. Oh, but I am. I came across this idea on another blog of a "starving student". These are really cheap to make (depending on toppings) and really fast. They taste as good as the real deal too! And yes- you can eat the WHOLE thing for under 450 calories. Score!

Basics:

1 pkg                 Greek style pita breads (the ones without the pockets)
1 jar                   Pizza sauce (I use homemade, but use whatever you're comfortable with)
1/2 C                 shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
                         assorted toppings (pepperoni, bacon, mushrooms, olives- etc etc)

Arrange the pitas on a baking tray. Sauce, cheese & dress them however your little heart desires & then bake them for 10-12 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees F. Even easier- you can toast them little pizzas in the toaster oven & they'll still be amazing! I made four different pizzas, here are some topping/sauce combos I tried:

White Pizza Sauce (enough for 2 pita pizzas )

1/4 C           cream cheese, softened
3 T              creamy Ranch dressing

White Pizza #1
White Pizza Sauce
Spinach
Artichokes
Black Olives
Red Onion
Red Pepper Flakes
Mozzarella Cheese

This one got the second highest rating from my taste tester (boyfriend). The cream cheese base was AWESOME and surprisingly, had a light taste.

White Pizza #2White Pizza Sauce
Mushrooms
Red Peppers
Cooked bacon crumbles
Ranch dressing
Mozzarella Cheese

After I added all the toppings, I zig-zagged a line of ranch dressing overtop. This pizza was ranked highest (duh!).

Veggie Pizza #1Tomato Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Spinach
Red onions
Black Olives
Mushrooms
Feta Cheese

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Veggie Pizza #2
Tomato Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Red Peppers
Red Onions
Mushrooms
Black Olives
Parmesan Cheese

Sprinkled with parmesan cheese, it changes the flavors of the veggies between pizza 1 and pizza 2.
Topping possibilities are endless, don't be afraid to play around! The great thing here is that you don't have to worry about making this huge pie that has some wacky toppings on it & no one liking it! These freeze well too for lunches on the run : )



 

Day 11, Recipe 11; Meditearrean Sole

Friday has always been a traditional fish & chip day- many restaurants feature fatty, deep fried battered fish with a heaping side of french fries & tartar sauce. I wanted to keep things on the lighter side tonight, and since I still have feta cheese leftover, I wanted to incorporate that into my dish. Easy to prepare, cook in under 20 minutes & was served as a sauce to the greek rice I prepared to accompany the dish!

1 lb            frozen sole fillets
1/4 can       diced tomatoes
3 cloves      garlic, chopped
4 fresh        basil leaves, chopped
                  salt & pepper
1 T             freshly squeezed lemon juice
                  extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mix olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice together. Brush half of the mixture onto a deep glass baking dish. Layer sole on top and coat the top in olive oil mixture.
Mix tomatoes, garlic and basil leaves together. Pour over fish, coating evenly.
Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork. Mmmm, simply satisfying! Serve over plain long grain rice or greek rice (long grain rice boiled with chicken broth, lemon zest, bay leaves & salt)!