Restaurant Review: zpizza, North Raleigh

Roasted Tomato Pesto Pizza on a gluten-free crust at zpizza in North Raleigh!

It's amazing how far my small town has come in the past 5-6 years as far as having gluten-free resources readily available! Between Harris Teeter, Walmart, Target (and soon ALDI), we have a ton of options for gluten-free baking supplies, mixes, and even bread... However pizza is still a different story.

For pizza, we make a special trip to Raleigh! And that's okay... it makes it a fun outing and something that you really enjoy when you get!

Several years ago Mellow Mushroom was my favorite place to go, but the past few times we've gone the wait has been super long and the parking in downtown Raleigh, is no easy task... so we headed to zpizza instead. There's also a zpizza in downtown Raleigh, but we were trying to get away from the traffic, so we sought out the North Raleigh location instead.

One thing I really love about zpizza is it's focus on whole, natural foods. Not every ingredient is organic, but they have 100% certified organic tomato sauce and non-GMO flours for their pizza. (I'm not sure if the gluten-free pizza is also non-GMO, but the regular crust is.)

The pepperoni is preservative-free and the chicken breast is hormone-free.  The mozzarella is from grass-fed cows and is RBGH-Free, and they offer AWESOME gluten-free and vegan options. NEARLY any pizza on the menu can be made on the gluten-free crust, and they use Daiya vegan cheese, so no soy for those of you who need to be dairy-free and soy-free as well!

I really love this handsome dude! :-) 

I had the Roasted Tomato Pesto Pizza on a gluten-free crust, which I LOVE because the sauce is not tomato-based (and my tummy has tomato issues!) The pizza was AWESOME! I love the crispy thin gluten-free crust, and the pesto was fanstastic. It tasted super fresh and with the fresh basil and mozzarella, it was lip-smackin' good! The pizza had just a handful of fresh cherry tomatoes on top that get caramelized and roasted as it bakes and it was absolutely delicious! Just the right amount of tomato for this nightshade-sensitive gal!

Michael had the All American pizza on a regular crust and was a very happy camper! It's great to go somewhere we both get an option and I still know I can get a safe gluten-free pizza!

We're big fans! If you have a zpizza nearby check it out! :-)

Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread Recipe

One of the recipes I love to teach in my gluten-free baking classes is focaccia. An Italian flat bread thats made with gluten-free flours, yeast, eggs, olive oil, and herbs. The taste and texture of a thick focaccia bread is different than any other bread you will try. It's chewy, yet crunchy, and incredibly full of flavor.

Rich olives and sundried tomatoes, dried oregano and basil, fresh garlic... personally I'd rather eat a thick slice of toasty focaccia with a hearty homemade soup, than a piece of pizza! This recipes make two round 8" loaves or "cakes" of focaccia. You can easily freeze one loaf for later if it's too much. For those of you who need a lower carbohydrate/ "paleo-ish" version of focaccia, I plan on posting one next week, so stay tuned!

This gluten-free recipe makes a very thick, sturdy dough that can be a bit hard to handle when just stirring by hand. So if you have a heavy-duty stand mixer, it's the perfect appliance to mix this dough. Whether you're using a little elbow grease, or you'd using the stand mixer, try out this recipe and have it simply with a fresh salad and a homemade soup. It makes a delicious and fun gluten-free meal to share with your family!

I learned how to make this fantastic gluten-free dough while visiting the Whole Foods Gluten-Free Bakehouse in Morrisville, NC. Lee Tobin, the bakehouse team leader and head baker, shared his techniques and his recipe with our local gluten-free support group while we toured the facility. This incredibly chewy and crunchy bread would also make an outstanding deep dish pizza crust!

Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread  free of gluten, dairy, and soy recipe adapted by carrie forbes of gingerlemongirl.com printer-friendly recipe Yields: 12-16 slices of focaccia  Dry Ingredients  1 ½ cups brown rice flour 1/2 cup sorghum flour 2 cups arrowroot starch or tapioca starch 2/3 cup blanched almond flour or non-fat dry milk powder (if you can tolerate dairy - we use the blanched almond flour 1 tablespoon xanthan gum 2 teaspoons Saf Instant-Yeast, Red Star Rapid Rise or “Bread Machine” Yeast, or Fleischmann’s “Bread Machine” Yeast 1 teaspoon salt Wet Ingredients: 1 ½ cups water heated to 110 degrees 3 tablespoons olive oil 4 egg whites, brought to room temperature 1 clove garlic, finely minced Fresh herbs, finely chopped (such as rosemary, oregano, or thyme) Olive oil for spreading dough Optional toppings: chopped and seeded kalamata olives and roma tomatoes Directions:  Line a 9x14” baking dish with parchment paper and grease parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil.  In a large bowl whisk together brown rice flour, sorghum flour, arrowroot starch or tapioca starch, almond flour or non-fat dry milk powder, xanthan gum, and salt.   In another bowl whisk together heated water, olive oil, egg whites. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir together thoroughly into a stiff dough. Continue to mix as much as you can (it is a VERY stiff dough!) for an additional 3-4 minutes.  Transfer the dough to the prepared baking dish. Drizzle the dough with a little olive oil and then evenly spread dough over the entire baking dish. Cover the dough lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for about 35 minutes.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently poke the dough all over with your fingers so small wells appear over the dough. Drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle on the minced garlic and any of the additional toppings you would like.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until focaccia is golden brown and crispy. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then slice into squares and serve.

Review: Zema's Madhouse Gluten-Free Foods

A few months ago Jill Motew, founder of Zema's madhouse foods contacted me and asked if I'd like to try some her products. I told her I'd love to try the pizza crust. So Jill sent me a super cute package of Zema's Gluten-Free Rosemary-Millet Focaccia & Pizza Crust Mix.

Then life went a little haywire for me and I didn't get to try Jill's mix until a few weeks ago.  We tried it one afternoon when I got home from work late and I didn't have anything planned for dinner.

Jill's mix is super healthy and contains lots of whole grains and healthy seeds like millet & chia. She doesn't use any gums in her mix, so it was very wet dough (compared to other gluten-free pizza doughs I've tried.) One thing I really liked about Jill's mix was that it contains enough mix to make a LARGE pan of pizza or focaccia. We used a 9x13 pan and the batter made a really thick dough.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the dough, but it made a very thick crusted pizza. Over the past 5 years of being gluten-free my taste buds have changed and I now prefer a thin (almost cracker-like) crusted pizza, so for me personally, I think I would have enjoyed this mix more as a thick, chewy bread stick or garlic bread as opposed to a pizza crust. But if you're a fan of a very thick-crust pizza, Jill's mix is for you!! The pizza made a very filling dinner and we had plenty of leftovers to stick in the freezer to take for lunches at work!

I love Jill's simple packaging and her food philosophy. The company strives to use healthy whole grains, no refined sugars, and they are free of most food allergens! Go Zema! If you want to support a family owned business that believes in super healthy gluten-free living, please check out Jill's great company!

Seriously Easy Gluten Free, Vegan Pizza Crust Recipe

GF, vegan, gum-free pizza dough just pressed out.

Sometimes you just come up with a recipe that works the first time and you have to share!! This was one of those recipes. Ever since The (Not-So) Gluten Free Pizza Crust Debate (awesome article Alta!) regarding Domino's pizza started last week... I've been a little obsessed with pizza. Honesty, I don't make a lot of pizza. A lot gluten free pizza recipes I've tried over the years are a bit complicated and have a lot of ingredients... and these days I just don't have time for complicated. 

If it's got more than 5 ingredients, I just haven't been too interested in trying it lately. So after hearing about Domino's gluten free crust, trying Domino's gluten free crust and then being sick for two full days from the "gluten free crust" (yep... I got sick), I decided no more Domino's. 

I needed a recipe for QUICK pizza at home. I personally cannot use corn tortillas as a base because corn doesn't agree with me. So what else could I use... 

Hubs had regular cheese, I had daiya cheese.

I started remembering recipes for quick pizzas I had seen lately: Alta's Easy Quinoa Pizza, Socca Pizza, Gluten Free Day's Quinoa Pizza, Almond Flour Pizza, etc... I liked different aspects of each of these pizzas... but I wanted something super easy I could put together in just a few minutes. 

This weekend my gluten free support group had our May meeting. We had a meeting geared towards kids so we made pizza! GalloLea Organics of Asheville, NC sent me samples of their amazing pizza crust kits. I was so intrigued with their gluten free crust mix. All you had to do was mix the dry ingredients with water, pat out on a pan and bake. That's what I wanted to do. (PS... if you want an awesome pizza crust kit that you don't have to make and that you can keep in the pantry, BUY the GalloLea Organics kits! We LOVED those pizzas!) 

Par-baked crust! It's darker due to the teff & quinoa flours.

I wanted to use quinoa flour for the pizza because it's very high in both protein and fiber. Quinoa is also slightly lower in carbohydrates than other gluten free flour options, so it's a better option for my pizza cravings! I thought I had a bag of quinoa flour in the pantry, but realized all I had was regular quinoa. So I used my vitamix! I love my vitamix... I added the quinoa in small batches to the vitamix and ground it into flour. It worked perfectly! To make the pizza completely grain free (as quinoa is technically a seed) use all quinoa flour or add almond flour in place of the teff.

Easy Gluten Free, Vegan Pizza Crust Recipe
free of gluten, soy, dairy/casein, gums, eggs
adapted from Gluten Free Day's Quinoa Pizza
printer-friendly version
makes one 12" thin-crust pizza

Ingredients: 
3/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup teff flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon rapid rise or bread machine yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1/2 cup warm water (+ additional if necessary)
1 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a pizza pan or cookie sheet. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together quinoa flour, teff flour, salt, yeast, and sugar. Pour warm water into the dry ingredients and stir together with a fork. Stir together until a ball of dough forms. If a half cup of water is not enough to create a stiff ball of dough, add 1 tbsp. of additional warm water at a time until you have a ball of dough. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Prepare topping while dough is resting. When ready to pre-bake crust pour 1 tbsp. olive oil onto the parchment paper and spread over paper into about a 12" circle. Place ball of dough onto the oiled parchment paper. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the ball of dough and pat out with your hands into about a 12" circle as seen in pictures above. Remove plastic wrap and place pizza crust into the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Remove from oven. Add desired toppings and bake for an additional 10 minutes until toppings are heated through and cheese or cheese-substitute is melted.

Enjoy!! :-)

Our fav toppings: 'shrooms, green peppers, pepperoni

Gluten Free Master Baking Mix/ Homemade "Bisquick" Recipes

In this gluten free journey I've created quite a few recipes over the years. One of the most popular on this site is my gluten free master baking mix. I revised the original recipe last year to create a healthier, whole-grain, soy-free, and dairy/casein-free version. Since then I've used it for countless recipes... dinner recipes...dessert recipes...snacks...you name it! It's so easy to use. It's much healthier than the Betty Crocker version, it's a more frugal option, and it's incredible easy to make.

Today I'm sharing the Revised Whole Grain Gluten Free Master Baking Mix recipe again, along with 5 additional SUPER easy recipes that you can make with the master baking mix.

I would really love your feedback on these recipes. I love the biscuits. I love the cakey-cookies. I love the easy muffins. And mostly... the pancakes just rock.

What are your favorite OLD Bisquick recipes? What would you make using this mix or the original mix? If you have a recipe you'd like me to try & feature on the blog using this mix, please email me your suggestions!

Soft & sweet chocolate chip cookies made using the GF Whole Grain Master Baking Mix. 

Flaky,  Buttery Drop Biscuits made using the GF Whole Grain Master Baking Mix. 

Ginger Lemon Girl's Gluten Free/Casein Free
Master Baking Mix (Like Bisquick)
Free of gluten, dairy/casein, and soy
Created by Carrie Forbes @ Gingerlemongirl.com
Printer-friendly recipe

3 cups brown rice flour
2 cups sorghum flour -or- millet flour
1 1/2 cups arrowroot starch -or- tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup brown rice protein powder -or- almond flour
1/4 cup ground flax seeds (optional - great for a whole grain texture & extra fiber!)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 cup coconut oil or spectrum palm shortening (I used spectrum)

Whisk all dry ingredients together thoroughly. Cut in shortening, until it is thoroughly mixed into the dry ingredients and looks like tiny peas. Store in a tightly-sealed container in fridge or pantry. Makes about 7 cups.

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Half Recipe: 
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour -or- millet flour
3/4 cups arrowroot starch -or- tapioca starch

1/4 cup potato starch

2 tablespoons brown rice protein powder -or- almond flour

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (optional - great for a whole grain texture & extra fiber!)

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup coconut oil or spectrum palm shortening (I used spectrum)

Whisk all dry ingredients together thoroughly. Cut in shortening, until it is thoroughly mixed into the dry ingredients and looks like tiny peas. Store in a tightly-sealed container in fridge or pantry. Makes about 3 1/2 cups.

A Few Gluten Free Master Mix Recipes: 

1) Easy Muffins: 
1 cup MASTER MIX
¼ cup sugar
⅓ cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
⅓ c. blueberries, chocolate chips, chopped apples, etc...

Mix all ingredients. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Fill ¾ full of batter. Bake 350 for 17-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of muffin comes out clean. Makes 6 muffins.

2) Pancakes: 
1 cup MASTER MIX
¾ cup - 1 cup milk (or non-dairy milk)
1 egg

Mix all ingredients together, you can add additional milk if necessary depending on how thick or thin you like your pancake batter. Grease pan (with butter, oil, or non-stick spray) and heat until droplets of water will sizzle. Pour about 2 tbsp. batter per pancake onto preheated hot skillet. Cook on med. high heat until bubbles form & pop on top of pancakes -or- until edges look dry. Flip cook an additional minute or so. Serve hot. Makes about 9 (2") pancakes.

3) Drop Biscuits: 
1 ¼ cup MASTER MIX
3 tablespoons palm shortening, crisco, or butter
1 egg
2-4 tablespoons cold water

Cut shortening or butter into master mix until it looks like small peas. Stir in egg. Stir in1 tablespoon of water at a time until you have a stiff dough. (You may not need all 4 tablespoons of water.) Drop batter (2-3 tbsp. at a time) on greased baking sheet, each biscuit about 2” apart. Shape each biscuit into a circle. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Place a pat of butter or margarine on top of each biscuit in the last few minutes of baking. My oven underheats, so things tend not to brown -- you may need to turn up your oven to BROIL for 2-3 minutes to brown the biscuits. DO NOT allow to broil for longer or they will burn.  Makes 6 biscuits.

4) Basic Cookies: 
2 ¾ cups MASTER MIX
½ cup palm shortening, crisco, or butter
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla
2-4 tablespoons water
ADD IN'S -- 1 cup of any of the following (or mix of the following): chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, raisins, coconut flakes, macadamia nuts, rolled oats, chopped candied oranges, etc...

Cream sugar with shortening or butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in master mix. If needed, add 2-4 tablespoons of water until you get a stiff (not crumbly) batter. Fold in any additional flavorings/spices/additions. Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet.  Flatten cookies slightly with the bottom of a glass or the palm of your hand, as they will not spread. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen 1" cookies.

5) Impossible Cheeseburger Pie
1 lb. ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (dairy free version -- shredded daiya vegan cheese)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup MASTER MIX
1 cup milk (or non-dairy milk)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" pie pan or a large baking dish. In a large skillet brown ground beef and chopped onions. Spread browned ground beef & cooked onions in the greased baking dish. Sprinkle ground beef with cheese or daiya vegan alternative. In a small bowl mix together the salt, master mix, milk, and eggs. Pour over the ground beef & cheese. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and/or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving. Makes 8 slices. Serve each slice with the option of being topped with mustard, ketchup, chopped tomatoes, and dill pickles!

Gluten Free Dairy Free Pao de Queijo -- "Cheese" Bread Recipe

Last week we had a potluck at work. I needed something quick to share that I could also eat. We have a small deli/sandwich shop where I work and they are constantly making garlic bread and rolls. The aroma is killer and really makes me crave garlic bread!

I decided on Pao de Queijo, a Brazilian cheese bread. It's super easy to make, only uses one flour and a few simple ingredients. The problem was the cheese. I really don't need to eat cheese. Dairy just doesn't like me and as much as I miss it, I know better.

I wondered how these rolls would turn out using a cheese alternative like "Daiya", a soy free, dairy free
"cheese" product. In general I think it's best just to stay away from processed foods, but sometimes it's nice to still feel like I get to eat cheese! Daiya is the only "cheese" alternative I've found that doesn't contain soy and it melts and gets gooey, just like real cheese. It makes an awesome grilled "cheese" and it's what I put on my homemade pizzas at home.

Turns out it works like a charm in these rolls too! I altered my friend Jaime's recipe to make them casein free and they were a hit. Make these with cheese or with Daiya. Either way I think you'll love them! :-)


Pao de Queijo aka Gluten Free "Cheese" Rolls 
adapted from Just a Gluten For Punishment , by Carrie Forbes at Gingerlemongirl.com
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, and grains
printer-friendly recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups tapioca starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder (optional -- good, but not necessary)
2 cups shredded cheese -OR- Daiya "cheddar-style" or "mozarrella-style" shredded "cheese"
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter, ghee, or melted coconut oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. In a large bowl whisk together tapioca starch, baking powder, and garlic powder (if using). Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add shredded Daiya "cheese", eggs, and melted butter or oil. Stir together with dry ingredients until you have a thick, wet batter. Using an ice-cream scoop or large spoon scoop 12 balls of dough and drop them onto the lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. (Alternatively you could scoop them into paper-lined muffin tins). Bake for 8-10 minutes or until they are crusty and golden brown. Serve hot.

Carrie's Notes:

• This is one of the few recipes using tapioca starch that I actually like. I think the shredded cheese & eggs, and oil remove the tapioca starch flavor. And tapioca starch is probably key in the crispiness of these rolls. If you try the rolls with another starch please let me know how they turn out! 
• This dough would also make a REALLY good pizza crust patted out and baked. Granted you'd use a lot of cheese just in the crust, but if you wanted a super easy, low maintenance, crispy, yeast free pizza crust, this dough would be awesome! Just roll it or pat it out onto parchment paper and prebake it for about 10 minutes before adding your toppings!! Enjoy!
• I buy my Daiya cheese online from Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe out of Mariette Georgia. Cosmo's has wonderful customer service and fast shipping. They are super nice folks, tell 'em I sent ya!

Gluten Free Almond Flour Pizza Crust Recipe

The kid may not like peanut butter, chocolate, chocolate chips, lettuce, or most vegetables... but he loves pizza. I'm not sure if there are too many kids who don't.

While Chris was at our house, most of his meals were gluten free... simply because I just won't buy things with gluten. It's a scary monster that I don't want in my kitchen. My husband is very lucky that I still let him buy "regular"  wheat bread and cereals... or maybe I'm the lucky one, since he puts up with me! Yes. It's most definitely the latter.

One afternoon we decided to make pizza. And not just any pizza. Pizza made primarily from almond flour. Amazingly I told Chris it was just pizza, and he didn't even question what the crust was made of. Score one for the aunt.

I've been using almond flour in most of my recent baking. It's low glycemic and it's easier on my blood sugar than using a lot of gluten free grains and starches.

This is how the crust turned out. It was beautiful. I almost reached for a tissue. I was proud! I made a thick crusted 12" pizza with this dough, but I think next time, I would split this dough in half and make two thin crust pizzas. The crust was golden & crusty on the outside, and soft and pliable on the inside.

It made a perfect gluten free pizza. No one complained. Even the husband ate 3 pieces. And they had no idea that it contained something healthy other the almond flour.

White beans. Cleverly hidden little mashed white beans for some extra fiber and just because I wanted to see if it would work. My husband is not a huge fan of beans and I suspect my nephew isn't either. And they never knew it was hiding in their pizza.

We used regular mozzarella on this pizza. I was completely out of my non-dairy casein free Daiya cheese. I knew better. In hindsight the next time this happens, I'll just leave a few slices cheese-less so my tummy will be happy. My tummy was not happy. I think just this once though, it was worth it to watch my nephew create that happy smile on our delicious almond flour crust pizza.

My tummy has since forgiven me.

Gluten Free Almond Four Pizza Crust 
Adapted from The Comfy Belly
(Free of gluten, soy, casein, yeast, and grains)
Printer-friendly recipe. 

Makes 1 large  12"-14" thick pizza crust -or- 2 medium sized gluten free thin crust pizzas.

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup mashed white beans, such as navy beans or cannellini beans
3 eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12" round pizza pan with parchment paper. 
2. In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients together.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients. 
4. Mix the wet & dry ingredients together thoroughly. You will have a very wet dough. 
5. If you're making two pizzas split the dough in half. 
6. Spread the dough in a circle on the parchment paper with a spatula. It may help to wet the spatula with water or spritz it with non-stick cooking spray to keep the dough from sticking. 
7. Pre-bake the dough in the preheated 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown. 
8. Add toppings and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until your toppings are cooked through or melted.
9. Cool pizza for about 5 minutes and then serve!
10. Enjoy!

30 Days Gluten Free Quick & Easy Meals: Day 24 - Diane's Mexican Pizza

Welcome to 30 Days Gluten Free Quick & Easy Meals!

Today's post is written by Diane Eblin author of the newly published ebook, The Gluten Free Diner Cookbook , and the blog: "The W.H.O.L.E. Gang."

Day 24 - Diane's Mexican Pizza

There is nothing our family likes more than pizza. Living gluten and dairy free has not slowed us down. It has however made me a lot more creative and we are eating amazing pizzas now, not just cheese and pepperoni.

Now that its summer and the farmer’s markets are full of amazing fresh produce, I am having even more fun with my food. Our family loves to eat many different ethnic cuisines, but I think our two favorites are Mexican and Italian. So I thought, why not combine both. On a recent trip to the farmers market I gathered some jalapeno peppers, red onion and tomatoes. That is how it all started, my Mexican Pizza. I also had tomatillos and mushrooms hanging out in the refrigerator. Why not put them all together?

I really loved how the sweetness of the tomatillos played with the spiciness of the chipotle and jalapenos. It was a party in my mouth and I can’t wait to have it again.

The great thing about this pizza and any pizza is you can literally clean out the refrigerator and prep this pizza in the time it takes for the oven to warm up.

So keep this in mind as you create your pizza, use what ingredients you like and have on hand. That’s the key to fun, fresh new pizza ideas. The fastest pizza I ever made was a Za’atar Pizza and the thickest most stuffed pizza was my Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pizza.

Diane’s Mexican Pizza
vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, soy free
Makes 8 slices unless you cut them really small, then you get 16.

Ingredients:
Your favorite pizza crust or mix. (I used Chebe all purpose mix.)
1 package of sliced mushrooms (sliced and whole costs the same)
½ red onion diced
4-6 tomatillos sliced, depending on size and pizza size
2-4 jalapenos seeded and sliced
1 large tomato diced
Daiya Cheese- cheddar and mozzarella (gluten, dairy, and soy free)
2 tsp butter (Earth Balance dairy, gluten and soy free)
Garlic powder
Olive oil
Adobo (I use Penzeys which contains-garlic, onion, Tellicherry black pepper, Mexican oregano, cumin and cayenne red pepper.)
Cilantro- dried or handful of fresh chopped
Chipotle chili powder
Ancho chili powder
Large crystal sea salt
Fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven
2. While the oven is heating up dice your onion and toss it and the mushrooms into a large skillet with the butter and a little splash of olive oil on medium to medium high.
3. While that is cooking mix your pizza dough, roll it out and put it onto your pan. Prick the surface with a fork so it don’t get one of those large bubbles. Give that skillet a little toss.
4. Slice your tomatillos, chop your tomato and seed and slice your jalapeno. I like to use one large cutting board for it all. It goes much faster that way. Give that skillet one more toss, sprinkle with a little sea salt and pepper and turn off.
5. Assemble your pizza!
6. Sprinkle the dough with some olive oil and then use the back of a spoon or your fingers (best kitchen tool) to spread it around. Sprinkle the dough with garlic powder making sure to get it all the way to the edges. Don’t use too much or it will be too over powering. Also sprinkle the dough with the Adobo, but not to the edges.
7. Add your sliced tomatillos and chopped tomatoes around the pizza. Now sprinkle with the cheeses. I don’t like a lot of cheese on my pizza and with Daiya I would not use as much as I would have it were regular dairy cheese. Remember, you can always add more the next time or even after you’ve tasted it just pop it back into the oven.
8. Now distribute the mushroom onion mixture and sliced jalapeno peppers. Sprinkle with the ancho and cilantro. The last thing I add are the chipotle and sea salt all the way to the edges. I really like to have a good seasoning on the edges of my pizza.
9. Bake according to your dough directions and enjoy!

Don’t be afraid to swap out ingredients when making this pizza. The whole idea is to make it fresh, fast and simple. If you want to add meat or seafood to this a little chorizo would be great, chicken or even shrimp would make great toppings. I also love to take leftovers from the grill to use on my pizza.

About Diane

Diane is the author of The Gluten-Free Diner cookbook just released in e-book format. It contains 48 diner inspired recipes complete with photos, index, notes area and a menu on how to combine the recipes into meals. She also authors the blog The W.H.O.L.E. Gang. Her blog and cookbook focus on eating gluten and dairy free but never sacrificing taste. Her motto Good Food No Matter What!™ runs through everything she creates. “I love to cook and I love getting others excited about it too. Let’s get into the kitchen, have fun and create great food with real ingredients.”

Diane also held the very successful event, 30 Days to a Food Revolution which was inspired by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. It was very well received and even re-tweeted by Jamie himself. On a weekly basis she organizes a blog carnival called Friday Foodie Fix. Each week there is a different Secret Ingredient. Everyone then shares their recipes that contain that ingredient. Stop by and share yours.

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Stay tuned for Day 25 of 30 Days Gluten Free Quick & Easy Meals. Tomorrow will feature another fabulous recipe from Brooke "Ness" author of Gluten Free... Who? Me?

Gluten Free Whole Grain Rosemary Garlic Pizza Crust Recipe

I really like easy recipes. My favorite recipes are the ones you just toss all the ingredients in a bowl, mix it up, throw it in the baking dish and you're done.

This recipe is sort of like that. A yeast-free (ie.. no rising time) gluten-free pizza crust that is very quick to throw together, shape on your baking sheet and you're good to go.

Another great thing about this crust is you can premix all the dry ingredients ahead of time and when you need a fast pizza just whip out the dry mix add the wet ingredients and in 5 minutes you have a pizza crust ready for baking.

How easy is that?

Summer calls for a fresh vegetable pizza. This pizza in particular is very vegetarian and almost raw. I guess it can't officially be a "raw" food since the crust is baked... but I think it's pretty darn close!

Eat your vegetables. Eat lots of them in the summer. Nearly all the vegetables on this pizza are from the CSA box we had last week.

My favorite way to make a veggie pizza is to simply bake the crust by itself. Then make a gluten free/dairy free "ranch" dressing, as your "pizza sauce" and then top it with fresh vegetables.

Done.

And then you can eat your vegetables for dinner! :-)



Whole Grain Rosemary Oregano Pizza Crust
(Gluten Free, Soy Free, Yeast Free, Egg Free, Vegan)
Created by Carrie @ Gingerlemongirl.com
Print-friendly version.

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup brown rice flour -or- millet flour
1/2 cup arrowroot flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoons crushed rosemary
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Wet Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds mixed with 1/3 cup hot water
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Optional Herbs:
1 teaspoon dried sweet basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12" pizza pan with parchment paper. In a medium sized bowl whisk all dry ingredients together. Add any of the optional herbs to the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl mix together all of the wet ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until you have a slightly sticky dough. Spread pizza dough in a large 12" circle using a spatula that's been spritzed with olive oil.

For a Traditional Pizza: Bake the crust alone for 10 minutes if you are adding traditional pizza ingredients. Remove from the oven. Add pizza sauce & toppings and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Yum!

For a Veggie Pizza: Bake crust for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven. Let cool 5 minutes and then add whatever type of sauce you want to use. Add veggies on top. Cut and serve! Yum!

Happy Birthday Michael!

That handsome guy turns the big 3-0 today! You may remember that picture from his last birthday... but I just love his smile in this picture.

I'm so thankful to be married to him. He's my best friend. I love waking up to his smile and every afternoon I can't wait for him to get home. It is simply a joy to love this man. His laughter can change my attitude. His prayers help carry me through the day. His faith lifts me up. His heartfelt commitment to our marriage helps sustain me. He is such a gift. Michael, I love you more than you will ever know. I'm so thankful you were born. Thank you for loving me deep. Happy Birthday!

To celebrate Michael's special day, I thought I'd share a few of his favorite recipes:

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Simply the best cookies ever, and Michael's absolute favorites!!


Southern Style Tuna Salad
This is Michael's first choice when I ask him to make dinner! The man can make seriously good tuna salad!


Carol Fenster's Pizza Crust
For a really quick gluten free, casein free crust, this is the best!


Karen's Pizza
But this is Michael's favorite! Thanks Karen!!


Pipin' Hot Pancakes
Our Saturday morning tradition!


Everday Chocolate Cake
Michael's favorite chocolate cake!


Rich Chocolate Brownies
The best, easy and super quick brownies!


Our favorite Grits Bowl Breakfasts
Because we LOVE grits!!


Belgian Waffles
For a special breakfast these are always a hit! You can't beat 'em!!


Cherry Fluff Cheesecake
Michael doesn't always like "fruity" desserts, but he loves this quick and tasty cheesecake!


Gluten Free Crescent Rolls
We love using these for "pigs in a blanket!"


My Dad's Caesar Salad
Michael actually enjoys making the dressing for this himself!


Red Potato Salad
Michael's mom serves potato salad at EVERY family gathering!


Cheesy Chicken Pasta Primavera
This is just a super easy, yummy, cheesy casserole!


Nan's Skillet Dinner
We both love Nan's signature dish... it's our favorite comfort food!

Don't let that lack of a smile fool you, he's one amazing, thoughtful, HANDSOME (thanks for pointing that out Rachel!!), and happy guy.
Happy Birthday babe!

Hawaiian Pizza - Go Ahead Honey It's Gluten Free, June 2008

Look good? I thought so too. We love pizza in the Ginger Lemon Girl household. We make pizza at least once every two weeks.

This pizza is actually my entry for this month's "Go Ahead Honey! It's Gluten Free!" The theme this month is one pot/pan meals. Kid-friendly if possible. And yes, today is the deadline for this month. No, of course I'm not behind in posting! (ha!)

I realize that many people do not consider pizza an entire meal. And having a good side salad never hurts, but I'm all for pizza being an all-in-one. You have lots of veggies, cheese, sometimes meat, and seriously yummy GF bread crust. Sounds totally healthy to me. :-) What else do you need??

Here is my personal favorite pizza. It's not really a recipe since I "borrowed" several other recipes in making it, but I still think everybody needs to try a Hawaiian pizza! Enjoy!



Gluten Free Hawaiian Pizza

1 gluten free pizza crust, such as Natalie's, or Carol Fenster's
1 recipe gluten free pizza sauce, such as Carol Fenster's
1 package Canadian bacon pizza slices (I used Hormel's)
1/2 large green pepper, diced
1 (10 oz.) can of pineapple tidbits, drained
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Make pizza crust as directed. Let rise as directed and then bake crust at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove crust from oven. Let cool slightly. Spread pizza sauce onto crust evenly. Layer with Canadian bacon slices, then pineapple tidbits, diced green peppers. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly on top. Return to oven and bake an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Let pizza cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!!

The roundup for this month will be posted later today, 6-30-08!
Check back soon!

Kid-Friendly Food Fridays - GLUTEN FREE PIZZA!! (GF, CF, EF, SF)

Welcome back to Kid-Friendly Food Fridays! We started this weekly event to feature healthy, yummy, delicious, and quick recipes to make for kids! For more information on this weekly event, please visit the Kid Friendly Food Fridays Headquarters! We welcome you to submit recipes and ideas for this feature to gingerlemon_girl at yahoo dot com!

This week I'm featuring a wonderful recipe from a book by Carol Fenster called, "Cooking Free."

This book by Ms. Fenster was published in 2005 and it is still very up to date and perfect for the gluten free diet. The great part about this book is that most of the recipes are also egg free, wheat free (of course), sugar free, and dairy free! How accommodating is that?

This book is perfect for those following a gluten free and casein free diet. Many of the recipes in this book are perfect for kids and most are recipes that can be prepared quickly (my favorite!) There are over 200 recipes in this well-written, informative book. The book includes very helpful appendixes which teach about common sources of major allergens, how to convert butter or margarine to oil, a glossary of gluten free cooking and baking ingredients, and pages of online, regional, and national resources for people who are on special diets. These resources alone are worth the cost of the book!

I have to admit, I was originally going to give this book away, but I think I'm enjoying it too much to share! We have tried several recipes in this book including the basic chocolate cake without eggs (pg. 175), stir-fry orange chicken (pg. 134), Ms. Fenster's quick bread focaccia (pg. 34), and her pizza crust recipe below! We have loved every recipe we have tried from this book! I really love the egg free and sugar free options that "Cooking Free" provides!! This is truly one of the best gluten free cookbooks I have used.

This book is available for purchase through Penguin Books here, or through Amazon here.

Ms. Fenster has also kindly allowed me to share her wonderful pizza crust and pizza sauce recipe with you.

We loved this recipe. This is going to be our "go to" gluten free pizza crust recipe. I think next time we will double the recipe for a thicker, deep-dish style pizza crust, but we also loved it as a thinner crust!

I know your kids will love love it! I would love to know what you think in the comments below!





Carol Fenster's Pizza Sauce and Pizza Crust
excerpted with permission from: Cooking Free by Carol Fenster, Ph.D.
All rights reserved. Copyright © Carol Fenster, Ph.D., 2005.



"This is possibly my favorite recipe in the entire book. Why? Because pizza is the food we really miss when going on a gluten free diet. I know you'll like this recipe as much as I do." -- Carol Fenster


Pizza Sauce:
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar -or- honey
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Toppings of your choice

Pizza Crust
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon sugar -or- honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm milk (cow, soy, or rice) (warm to 110 degrees F.)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Extra rice flour, for sprinkling


Directions:

1. Combine all sauce ingredients in small saucepan. Bring to boiling over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 15 minutes while crust is being assembled. Makes about 1 cup.


2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 12-inch pizza pan or baking sheet. In a medium mixer bowl using regular beaters (not dough hooks), blend yeast, flours, xanthan gum, gelatin powder, Italian seasoning,sugar, and salt on low speed. Add warm milk, oil, and vinegar.


3. Beat on high for 2 minutes. Dough will resemble soft bread dough. If dough is too stiff, add water 1 tablespoon at a time. Put mixture on prepared pan. Liberally sprinkle rice flour on dough, then press dough into pan, continuing to sprinkle dough with rice flour to prevent sticking to your hands. Make edges thicker to hold toppings.


4. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Top with sauce and your preferred toppings. Bake for another 20-25 minutes, or until top is nicely browned. Cut into 6 slices.




Ginger Lemon Girl's Notes:
I did not need extra water when blending the dough. It is a wonderfully soft dough that makes a delicious "chewy-on-the-inside, crusty-on-the-outside" crust!! Most gluten free doughs can have a tendency to stick, even to a greased pan, so I also highly recommend using parchment paper or a silpat mat for baking this crust. (Just remember not to CUT your pizza on the silpat mat!) This recipe is truly a keeper! We cannot wait to use this recipe again! Many thanks to Carol Fenster for allowing us to share her recipe!!

UPDATE: The last 2 times I made this, I allowed the formed pizza crust to rise for about 25 minutes, then prebaked it in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes before adding toppings. Once toppings were added I baked an additional 10-12 minutes to heat toppings through and melt cheese. I really like the texture of the pizza crust better with these additions! Enjoy! - Carrie