Low calorie pizza that doesn’t taste like cardboard.
I love to eat and for the majority of my life I was of the belief that healthy food had to taste awful. On November 2, 2011 I was on the high side of 280 and April 3, 2012 I stepped on the scale and saw 216. The bottom line is that for the first time in my life I began looking at food and at dieting differently. I found that I can eat food I like and still slim down. If you want to read more about this, check out the Daddio’s Diner page.
I love pizza but didn’t touch a slice the first three months I was working on my weight loss because I thought it was the Antichrist. You may be surprised to learn that a slice of pepperoni from Costco is 620 calories. It’s a big slice, but for 620 calories I can make pizza that tastes a lot better, have a salad AND a double portion of a low cal dessert that I prefer over most calorie laden ones. [Check back in the next week or two for the dessert recipe]
In these posts I’m going to use the words “about” and “around” because I realize that every brand of a particular product has a different calorie count and that everybody doesn’t have the same stores to shop at. The idea behind this series isn’t to tell you exactly how many calories a meal or dish is but rather this is a way to look at the foods you already enjoy and find healthier versions of them.
In early February I was perusing the refrigerated section at my local Trader Joe’s and ran across Arabian Joe’s Thin Crust Spicy Spinach Pizza. These are thin pizza crusts with spinach cooked into them and aren’t as spicy as the name indicates.
Picking up the package I noted that each crust is only 140 calories and that set my mind in motion. I grabbed a jar of tomato sauce off the shelf and found that 1/2 cup serving is about 70 calories. I usually make my sauce from scratch which most likely has even fewer calories. There’s no way I would use even half a serving for the small pizza, but for argument’s sake lets assume I did use a quarter cup of store-bought sauce.
Dashing back to the cheese area I found that a quarter cup of mozzarella is about 80 calories. I like the chicken Italian sausage I get at Sprouts, which is 160 for a link. I use about 1/4 of a link so we can add another 40 calories to our pizza.
I love roasted red peppers and generally roast them myself on the grill. [When they’re done put them in a bowl with plastic wrap on top and let them sit for a while. That makes the skin easy to remove] A whole red pepper is about 50 calories, so lets say we use a quarter of the pepper on the pizza and round up to 13 . I also add garlic and basil, each having virtually no calories. Time for the math.
SAUCE 35
SAUSAGE 40
MOZZARELLA 80
PEPPERS 13
GARLIC 1
BASIL 1
TOTAL 310
Drama Queen loves Buffalo Chicken Pizza which is even lower calorie than my creation and in fact she prefers my homemade pizza to most pizza joints. On hers I use Frank’s Red Hot instead of the tomato sauce and shave off 80 calories. That’s right, Frank’s has zero calories. Other generic hot sauces have up to 10 calories per two tablespoons, but it’s still basically nothing. Substitute chicken for the sausage and you can save a few calories too. Kirkland (Costco’s brand) is 120 calories for 4 oz.of skinless chicken breast. Figuring that you would probably only put a couple of ounces on the pizza, you can drop another 10-20.
Once you have your crust decorated the way you want, pop it in the oven around 400 or stick it on the grill for a nice change of pace. If you put it on the grill I suggest taking a metal bowl (or something that won’t burn or melt) to tent over the pizza so the cheese melts before the crust is charcoal.
When I’m serving this I typically make a salad of Roma tomatoes (35 each), fresh garlic, roasted red peppers, fresh basil, red onion (10 cal. per oz.), balsamic vinegar (10 per tbsp.) and a touch of sea salt. Assuming you use two tomatoes and one tablespoons of balsamic per person, your salad would be under 90 calories.
Not a bad dinner for around 400 calories, huh? We all have busy lives so if you use canned tomatoes, pork sausage or crushed garlic it can be our little secret. Losing weight doesn’t have to be boring and bland. I refuse to eat stuff that tastes like dirt.
Now I want to hear from you. What would you put on your pizza or add to the salad? Come back next week to see what the special is and don’t forget to subscribe so you can have a table waiting.
I have to say, seeing you both before and after the major weight loss, you’ve done an amazing job and you look hot (I may or may not be biased). The pizza looks amazing. I hunk I’m gonna try it this weekend. I’ve used the same crust before and added fresh mozzarella(sliced), arugula, prosciutto, and a drizzle of balsamic dressing. It’s about 500 calories for the entire pizza but I only finish 1/2 at a time.
I’m so glad you’re sharing with everyone. You amaze me with some of the meals you create. Good job!
@TheMuse Thanks. I have fun creating new shiz.