Vegan Pizza
I get the urge to create vegan dishes at the most inappropriate times. Today is an excellent example, In Maryland the temperature was 95 F, with the humidity it felt as though it were around 101 F. Guess who got the bright idea to make a homemade Vegan pizza.? Yeah that would be me, crazy I know!
However around 12:00 pm, there I was in the kitchen getting ready to preparing a Vegan Pizza. I enjoy coming up with my own recipes, so last evening you could find me thinking aout the numerous vegetables and spices I could add to my veggie pizza (more on my pizza inspiration later.)
Fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, onion, mushrooms, rosemary, nutritional yeast, dark leafy greens, curry, and mushrooms were all items I considered using. With the exception of the mushrooms, the remaining ingredients all found their way into the homemade pizza, along with a few more food items.
Breadmakers make it easy
To make things a little easier on myself I pulled out my Breadman Pro and created a flavorful pizza dough. I love a crust that has a bit of flavor, but not so much that it overpowers the toppings on the pizza. What did I add to the crust? A small amount of rosemary (fresh from the garden), a tiny bit of curry (mainly for color), salt, olive oil, yeast, smidge of roasted garlic, and a few other spices I cannot think of at the moment. I know, I should have written this stuff down, but I didn’t.
What I enjoy about bread machines is I simply add my ingredients into the breadmaker and walk away until the cycle is complete. I’ve had this particular breadmaker for over four years. Although it doesn’t take the place of traditionally made pizzas & breads (at least not for myself) it speeds the process up tremendously and if you don’t care about traditionally made breads or pizza dough but love that down home taste, a bread machine might be a good choice.
Vegan Pizza: Hmm. It looks like dairy cheese, but it isn’t.
I’m not a big fan of store bought “vegan cheese.” Checking out the ingredients on a few of the Vegan cheese I’ve seen, has turned me off, since the ingredients weren’t healthy. I know I can eat good food that is delicious and is nutritious for me too. Why skimp on nutrition just to have a delicious meal? Sorry, I don’t think so. I’m still working on tweaking my cheesy version. Cheese isn’t something I miss when I made the switch to vegetarianism in 1992. I rarely make this “cheesy sauce.”. However, I’m happy with the results. It’s flavorful and a much healthier option then some of the products I’ve seen advertised.
One of the most enjoyable parts of making your own pizza is kneading the dough. At least, that is one of my favorite parts. My seven-year old daughter enjoys it too. I eagerly showed her the fine art of kneading pizza dough. She loved it. Once the pizza crusts were ready, she helped me add the numerous vegetable toppings. The only thing I didn’t make was the sauce, I selected a really nice pasta sauce, and added tomatoes freshly picked from our garden. I added a few additional spices. The sauce was amazing.
Pizza Inspiration
Perhaps I should blame this on Suituapui? 😉 He’s the amazing man behind the fabulous foodie blog, Still crazy after all these years. Suituapui is an amazing storyteller, so prepare to be entertained while you read his foodie posts. No, Suituapui isn’t vegan, but I’ve received many ideas simply by reading and checking out the photos he shares with his readers.
In yesterday’s post, Suituapui, posted about a pizza restaurant his daughter and a few of her friends had visited, and gazing at the pizza photos he included had me craving for a good homemade Veggie Pizza. The only problem was it was late in the evening when I read his post, and I wasn’t about to make pizza, and so I mentally added that to my “To Do” list for today. On second thought, why would I blame him? My daughter and I had a blast making the Vegan pizza, and we enjoyed eating a few slices too. The best part is, there are leftovers. Suituapui, thanks for the inspiration!
If you enjoy food, and a good story definitely check out Suituapui’s virtual home. I’m always fascinated by different cultures and enjoy reading the foods they eat and getting a glimpse at traditions too. Suituapui gives me a taste of both at his virtual home. Even though his site is fairly popular he goes out of his way to make his visitors feel welcome, so stop on by when you have the chance and don’t forget to subscribe to his RSS feed.
Ooo…your vegan pizza sure looks good too! Drool! And thanks for your kind words and compliments…
@suituapui, Thanks, It was a lot of fun to make. My daughter loved making the dough. It reminded her of play dough. 🙂
That does look pretty delish. Your Breadmaker Pro, however, reminds me of one those little toy ovens that were around when I was kid lol. You know, where you can could bake things to force your parents to eat.
@Wayne Howard, LOL, I never thought of that before but you’re right it sort of reminds me of them. Hey, I was cooking since I ws four years old, with adult supervision of course. My first real cake was baked at seven. 🙂 I do have fond memories of making simple things for my father. 🙂
@Wayne Howard, Did you have an Easy Bake Oven?
Hey Moondancer,
My mouth is watering! I know you and your daughter tore it up! 🙂
Heya @Evelyn, Oh she loved it. I had a slice, but this was regular flour. Gluten and I aren’t friends, lol. 🙂 It was delicious though! 🙂
Girl, Girl, Girl…Thanks for the intro to Suituapui and look how easy you made it for us to subscribe – wow, that’s over the top! Your efforts aren’t in vain because I’m taking advantage.
Okay, what do you know about Daiya cheese because I thought I was on to something! I’m so glad I have you and Evelyn in my life now …
side note: You’ve been blogging for 9 years and apparently been a vegan/vegetarian the same amount of time… let me find out that blogging is a gateway to self awareness. 😉 Okay, I already know there’s probably hundreds of posts to drive that point … I’m just saying.
I digress, are you saying I don’t have to buy “Follow Your Heart” or “Daiya” cheeses any more? I can make a dish, even pizza, with nutritional yeast?! Huh?
Girl, Girl, Girl … what a find!
Heya @Kissie, I try to make it as easy as possible, when I feature my blog buddies.
Re: making the switch.
It was a little longer I made the switch in 1992, but I was online (forums) around that time.
Yes, nutritional yeast, nut cheeses, are all nice alternatives. I hesitate to call them “cheese” since people might think they are just like the dairy cheeses they were used too.
I haven’t tried the Follow your Heart brand or the Daiya cheese. I do remember checking their ingredients online. The one thing I didn’t like about Daiya cheese was the amount of oil that was in it. SoulVeggie has two posts about the ingredients in Follow your Heart and Daiya Cheese.
Over the past few years, veganism/vegetarianism has been in the spotlight, largely due to the fact that more celebrities have made the switch. People started making “healthier food choices” on their own, or because their doctor has instructed them vegetarianism/veganism. Naturally, companies are taking note of this and will try to capitalize on it, and so you’ll see a lot of vegetarian/vegan junk food too. Are they healthier? Perhaps, but you have to read the ingredients. There is a lot of vegetarian and vegan junk food available that s just as unhealthy as foods containing animal products.
@Moondancer, How well I know. You should see the looks I get when people learn I’m a vegan (lol) … like there’s a law to be a chunky/chubby if you don’t eat animal products. They must think I eat like you!
Seriously though, I once heard Bill Mahr say he doesn’t eat anything packaged. If I need a rule to follow, that’s a great place to start. One of my main problems is I need to think like a vegan and stop trying to substitute what I had when I wasn’t. It’s all about what’s in my head …and look at you, another resource (SoulVeggie) for a sister – you are fast becoming a good friend. Maybe you need to invite me over for some fresh veggies. 😉
Hiya @Kissie,
Vegans come in all shapes and colors.
For some people, thinking like a “vegan” can be tough. That’s completely understandable. In many cases, the person has been used to including animal products in their lives for years, so it’s hard to break away from a familiar way of eating. The problem arises when people aren’t ready to break away from their old eating habits. To compensate with what they think they’re missing, they include faux animal products into their “new way of eating.” Have they really made a change? In some ways yes, they aren’t eating animal products anymore. However, they still are clinging to their substitute animal products. Quite a few of these are bad choices, since many of them are unhealthy and high calorie products too. It’s great to save the animals by not eating them, but we need to remember to save our health by making smart food choices. You can still eat delicious foods without the added junk 🙂
It’s important to help one another out if/when we can. I’ve been following SoulVeggie for a few months. I really enjoy reading what he has to say. You can find more Vegetarian/Vegan links on my Celebrate Life Link page.
Oh I’m sure we’d have a blast! 😉
@Moondancer, Thanks for your help. Here I thought I knew EVERY vegan website I should know … NOPE! I didn’t.
I started my vegan diet because I was on a six-week raw foods fast. So when it was over I couldn’t understand the need to return to my former lifestyle. However, I got discouraged (and greedy) by the naysayers telling me what I would miss and how bland my food is going to be — of course I know better now and knew better then but I REALLY know now. (lol) Again, I’m getting my mind together because I want to live a healthy life and set the right example for my grandchild, Kassie. Too many of us remember our grandmothers for the foods we should NOT eat. I want to start a new trend in my family.
THAT is definitely the sort of pizza I want.
Best wishes from Hamburg
Will
Hi @Will,
It was delicious. My daughter has been asking me to make other things with the breadmaker. 🙂
I hope you’ll post your recipe for the “cheesy sauce” once it is tweaked to perfection. I’d love to try it! 🙂
Hi @Ali – YumVeggieBurger,
I’ll definitely be doing that. I still have a few vegan recipe post I need to publish, including two bean burger recipes; black bean veggie burgers and black eyed peas veggie burgers.
Put this on delicious, appropriately enough. The rosemary and homemade crust alone sound really tasty. Will put this on Stumbleupon in a little bit.
Oh my… Veggies in pizza? I soooo love it!
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