Thursday, September 26, 2013

Arugula and Goat Cheese Pizza - 8 points per slice

Here's the first recipe I'm posting, one I made just a few nights ago. My girlfriend and I had this pizza at a restaurant in London on our vacation a couple of weeks ago, and the other night I attempted a version of it here at home. I used a pre-packaged Pillsbury pizza crust (4 points per serving) and will attempt it in the future with Trader Joe's pizza dough (also 4 points). I'm looking into recipes for homemade dough that are also 4 points or less.

The rest of this is fairly simple. I figured I'd start with an easy one.

I sprayed down the baking tray and unrolled the dough, smoothing out bumps and bunching the edges a bit for the crust. As per the baking instructions, I put the dough alone into the pre-heated 350 degree oven for five minutes. During this time, I mixed up 3 tablespoons of olive oil with diced garlic, dried oregano, and a little bit of crushed red pepper flakes (all 0 points in the amount needed for this pizza, so use as much as you want). When the dough came out of the oven, I brushed it down with the seasoned oil and let it sit.

A note on the diced garlic: Garlic can come really cheap. A lot of farmers market garlic comes two or three heads for a dollar. In many grocery stores you can get a sleeve of five for a dollar or so (some even have specials with two or three of these sleeves for a dollar!) which is easy to dice yourself. Jars of diced garlic can run between $3-5. By peeling the garlic on your own and dicing it in the food processor, you can save money and (here's where the Weight Watchers comes in!) have more control over how much oil is used. I'll frequently put two or three heads of garlic into the food processor at once with a little bit of oil, and that will last me (and you, now that you're reading my recipes) several meals. You'll use more of it later on in this pizza.

Which reminds me, back to the pizza!

While the oil is setting into the dough, I got the onions finished up. Red onions with a little oil and some salt in a sautee pan will actually cook up pretty quickly, because the salt will bring out the water in the onion. But you can also start the onions way in advance before the dough goes on the pan, and cook them low and slow, which will get a sweeter carmelization on them. Either way, you don't want the onions cook too much, because they're going to go into the oven.

You can sprinkle crumbled goat cheese onto the seasoned pizza dough while the onions are finishing up in the pan. About 4 or 5 ounces should fill the baking pan. Then pile some washed arugula on (again, 0 points, so really pile it on, because it will cook down) and top with the red onions.

Pop the whole thing back into the oven for about 10 minutes (or until the crust is just starting to get golden brown). Take it out, sprinkle some more diced garlic over the top (toldja) and about 2 teaspoons of grated pecorino cheese (0 points!) and back in for just two or three minutes. The crust should have a nice brown crisp just around the edges and the pecorino will have melted into the arugula.

Let it cool a minute, and then slice and enjoy! 6 slices will be 8 points a slice.


Also, if you don't like goat cheese (like the rest of my family) the same 4 oz of ricotta actually comes to 5 points, as opposed to the 8 points in the goat cheese. A combination of the two could also work if you like goat cheese, but need to get the points down more.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Getting to the Points

As an amateur foodie, I love experimenting with food. I love playing with flavors and trying new things. I love looking up recipes and then taking my own spin on them. This is because cooking calms me. The act of preparing ingredients and mixing them to perfection on my stove is soothing and satisfying. In part because once it's complete, I get to eat. Which can create its own stresses.

Last summer, I weighed 181 lbs and, on an extreme diet, lost 15 lbs, getting me down to 166 lbs. But somehow, by this fall, I got myself back up to 192 lbs. Not wanting to go on the extreme diet again (if you're doing the math, I have  30 lbs to lose to get to the same weight I'd gotten to last summer), I asked my gastroenterologist what would be the healthiest way to lose weight, and his answer surprised me: Weight Watchers. So, I've started doing Weight Watchers, and I'm happy to say that over a little more than a week, I've lost 1.4 lbs. So something is working.

I decided it would be best to track both my weight loss and the recipes I create to lose that weight. So, getting to the point, this blog will get to the Weight Watchers Points of all the food I create as I attempt to get back to the weight I'd reached last summer--and maybe ten or so lbs further! I invite you to follow me on my journey!
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