Cold Veggie Pizza
Author: Heidi Clarke
I asked my son what he wanted for dinner tonight. It went a little something like this:
Me: What should we have for dinner tonight?
B: PIZZA!
Me: That sounds tasty! It's been a while since I made pizza.
B: No, mom. Let's just get the kind from the store that Grandmama always gets me.
Me: Oh, I'm sorry. I don't have money for a store pizza. I can make one, though!
B: (dejected look on his face, then a sudden, bright smile, radiating from his whole person) I KNOW WHAT WE CAN DO!!! WE CAN ASK GRANDMAMA TO GO GET US A PIZZA!!
I did not call up my mom and ask her to go buy us a pizza.
B's pizza idea had me going though - I was starting to crave it, too. I had a couple problems with the idea, though:
#1 - It's summer. Ain't no oven cooking coming out of this mama during the summer. It's just way too hot for that. The most heat I'll allow in the summertime is a campfire and a grill. And I’m not in charge of either of those endeavors (hubby’s territory).
#2 - We were going swimming at a pool with friends in less than an hour at this point. No time for making pizza dough and letting a pizza cook.
#3 - I had a bunch of non-pizza-topping veggies in my fridge that needed to be used - cucumbers, avocados, carrots, sprouts - and I had no idea how to incorporate any of these into a normal tomato sauce/cheese/pepperoni pizza.
#4 - I had no normal pizza toppings (other than cheese and tomato sauce).
#5 - I had NO DESIRE to go to the store with my three crazies. I’d rather starve.
#6 - I still REALLY WANTED PIZZA!
Voila: behold the birth of the Cold Veggie Pizza.
Ingredients
1 container cream cheese (I just had regular, but I think it would taste even better with the veggie-flavored kind)
2-3 TBSP Ranch dressing
1 Clove Garlic, minced
2 Chives, diced
1 Carrot, grated
1 Carrot, julienned (with veggie peeler)
2 Cucumbers, sliced
1 Avocado, sliced (small)
2 Tomatoes, sliced
Alfalfa Sprouts (a good handful)
Lemon
Whole Wheat flatbread ( you could also use pizza or biscuit/crescent roll dough) - I used 4 pieces of flatbread.
Ingredients for Sale
Home Delivered in Peachtree City
Instructions
In a medium-size bowl, combine cream cheese, ranch, garlic, chives, and GRATED carrot, and mix well. For runnier topping, add more ranch; for thicker, add less ranch.
Spread topping (or ‘sauce’) onto flatbread. Top like a pizza with veggies - sprouts, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, carrot - and really any other veggie that might suit your fancy.
Spritz lemon over the top, and serve as personal pizzas or divide into triangles.
Notes
You can put as little or as much topping on to each flatbread as you desire. If you go light with the topping, you might have some leftover. If you go heavy, you might have to make more.
A few areas I’d like to explore in for next time: adding fresh cilantro or fresh basil to the top. Both would definitely add to the flavor. I also felt like it needed a few peppers. Will try that next time...
Just realized this tastes even better after refrigerating a while. W didn't eat all of his, so I saved it and just finished it. Delicious!
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