Pizza Reloaded

Well, after nearly 3 full weeks on my GF Adventure, I have had some ups and downs. I feel fantastic, I have more energy than I have had in years, but I really thought that I had lucked out and missed the worst of this here Gluten-Free Detox... well, was I ever mistaken!! Just this last week I woke up, in a cold-sweat as usual, with a pounding headache, nausea like I had the flu and just feeling all over yuck. I did some research and learned that its all part of this detoxing routine, so I drank a lot of water and that seemed to help some. Then the following morning I had the same thing, along with a pounding headache. It was NOT a good day, to be sure. I have seriously increased my water intake and that seems to be making an improvement, although I have come down with a cold this week, so I am not my usual bouncy self. However I have still managed to keep up on my GF cooking and baking, so that's saying something.

Now, with the Gluten-Free Pizza crust recipe I posted a little while ago, Garren and I have been craving pizza. However, I try not to cook things which require a lot of dairy when my son is around, since he can't have it. I prefer us to all eat the same things when we're all together, so nobody feels left out. It can be rather challenging to bake a dairy-free pizza that tastes good and isn't dry. So I decided to experiment with toppings. It was SO good that I decided to share what I came up with. (I wish I'd taken a picture, but I didn't ... I will next time!!)


Prepare your crust as outlined in my other post. Then prepare your favorite pizza sauce. I just used some tomato sauce (actually I was out of tomato sauce so I mixed some tomato paste with water until it was the consistency of tomato sauce) and then mixed in some Italian Seasoning (1 or 2 tsp) and garlic powder, salt and pepper until it smelled appealing, it really is a personal thing. Then I chopped up one medium onion, dividing about 1/4 of it and mincing it finely and setting it aside. Then I sliced up some red bell pepper, leaving some in large slices and some I diced. I also drained some pineapple and set it in a bowl. Then I took one large chicken breast and chopped it up into small pieces, about the size of a nickel. I heated a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, quickly sauted the diced onion (making sure to leave the minced onion out of the frying pan) and then added the chicken. I seasoned my chicken with garlic, pepper, salt, Italian Seasoning (Basil, Oregano, Thyme) and cooked it through. Then at the end I added a dollop of Jamaica Mistake Salad Dressing and heated it until it had reduced a little and permeated the chicken.

Now that all my toppings were prepared I spread the sauce on my pre-baked crust, I gave it a generous helping because I didn't want a dry pizza, and the lack of cheese can sometimes seem dry because it is missing a substantial amount of oil. Then I sprinkled my minced onion evenly over the sauce, topped it with pineapple, then I added my chicken, making sure to get every last drop of the liquid from the pan (once again, we don't want dry pizza). Finally I topped the pizza with the sliced and diced red pepper. I only used this order because it was aesthetically pleasing. Do whatever order / toppings you like, but I highly recommend making sure you have a few things to increase the moisture and really amp up the flavor, otherwise you will seriously miss the cheese. However, this pizza was AMAZING. I didn't miss the cheese at all, I actually preferred it without because I didn't feel sick after. Garren said he still wanted cheese, so I made another one later that night with the same toppings and added cheese, I didn't like it as much, but Garren is a cheese addict. Lol. The longer I go without gluten, the more I notice my dairy intollerance and I am definitely leaning towards cutting it out of my diet entirely as well. I don't like feeling crappy after eating and if I can do things which make me feel fantastic all the time, why wouldn't I? I will list the ingredients at the bottom of the post, but as you can see, this is more of a "little of this, little of that" kinda deal, but thought I would share my creation for you just to give you all a little inspiration!

Pizza Crust

Tomato Sauce
Garlic
Italian Seasoning (Basil, Oregano, Thyme)

Chicken, diced
Onion, minced and diced
Red Bell Pepper
Pineapple
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Italian Seasoning (Basil, Oregano, Thyme)
Jamaica Mistake Salad Dressing