Mexican Corn Pizza

Homemade pizza is a quick, easy and highly adaptable meal that everyone can enjoy. Like pasta sauce, everyone has their own methods and today I'd like to share mine. For the base I prefer to use either wholemeal pita bread or tortilla wraps and I'll be researching gluten-free bases in the near future! Pita bread and tortilla wraps are cheaper, thinner and therefore a comparatively healthier option to designated "pizza bases" available in the supermarket.

If I'm in a rush I usually make a quick tomato sauce using 2 tbl tomato paste, 1 clove of crushed garlic, 1 tbl water, 1 tbl olive oil and some fresh basil/oregano. If I have more time, I make a tomato sauce along the lines of my Tasty Tomato and Mushroom Pasta Sauce except I skip the mushrooms, making it with anchovies, garlic and a tin of tomatoes and let it simmer it for 35-50 minutes.

 

Today's recipe has a vague Mexican twist. I made these pizza's just before I decided to take a break from gluten. They were delicious and a lovely change from the more traditional homemade style of pizza.

Sauce

3 tbl Black bean pate/refried beans

1 tbl tomato paste

1 clove garlic

1 tbl olive oil
1 tbl water

 

Toppings

spring onions

black olives
jalapenos

quick roasted corn

red capsicum

mushrooms

grated cheese

Making a pizza is similar to making a stir-fry, the key to low stress cooking is doing all your prep before you start putting your pizza together.

 

So first of all pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.

Next start on the quick-roasted corn. It may seem tedious, but the sweet roasted corn flavour is pretty central to this recipe.

Heat your the BBQ and wet a peeled ear of corn under the tap (do not dry). Place corn on a plate and cook in the microwave for 2 minute bursts until it is cooked. Mine took about 6 minutes total, but all microwaves are different.

 

Place the corn on a medium heat BBQ, turning frequently for about 5-10 minutes until all sides are golden. Once it is cool enough to handle, cut the corn away from the cob ready to be used (I eat whatever corn is left on the cob).

Prepare you tomato-bean sauce.

 

I  had a bunch of left over Martha Rose Shulman's Black Bean Pate. It tasted great but I think I cooked it too long and it was a little dry. You could easily substitute this for tinned refried beans.

 

Mix 3 tbl Black bean pate/refried beans, 1 tbl tomato paste, 1 clove garlic, 1 tbl olive oil and 1 tbl of water in a small bowl.

Then finely chop a little spring onion, mushroom and capsicum. Remember any vegetables you add, contain water and you don't want a mushy pizza, so cut them finely.

Now you are ready to make your pizza. Add a thin layer of tomato-bean sauce

Veggie it up, don't forget the black olives and jalapenos!

Then cheese it up

Bake until golden. Once out of the oven, let it rest for a good 5 minutes
(or as long as you can retain self control)

Enjoy!
 

 

Baba Ganoush (eggplant dip)

In the spirit of cutting back on bread and trying to find interesting alternatives for satisfying lunches I made a big batch of Baba Ganoush. It's very similar to humus, except the main ingredient is eggplant instead of chickpeas. Roasting the eggplant is time consuming but as long as you are home for the hour or so it takes to roast, it isn't be too much of an inconvenience.

 

2 large Eggplants

2 tbl tahini

1 tbl yogurt

1 small clove garlic

juice from one lemon

salt to taste

2 tbl olive oil

 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, cut eggplants in half,.

 

Sprinkle lightly with salt and a little olive oil.

 

Roast for ~45-90 minutes, until golden brown and more or less halved in size.

 

Using a spoon scrape the flesh away from the skin and place into a deep bowl. The skin of the eggplant has great nutritional value. Unfortunately baba ganoush is a smooth, creamy dip with the removal of the skin being a critical step.

 

As a compromised, I eat the skin while I'm making the dip. As a cooks treat and so as to not waste any of the eggplant.

 

Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl.

 

Using a handheld mixer, blend until smooth.

 

Enjoy generously with raw vegetables, pita bread or as part of a big salad

Is it time for gluten-free?

It’s pretty trendy to go gluten-free these days, the Paleolthic diet for example has an almost cult-like following these days. Personally I believe total elimination of any single food group is a tad extreme and should be avoided wherever possible; although if you’re a celiac you don’t have that luxury.

 

The key to a healthy diet is lots of fruits and vegetables, with everything else in moderation, but moderation is a tricky thing to quantify. A typical western diet can contain up to 3-4 serves of gluten based foods every day, not exactly what you would call moderation.

 

I’ve had IBS since I was a kid. A few years back I had all kinds of tests, only to be told, “hmmm there doesn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong with you. You have IBS”. Followed by some sketchy advice about how to manage it. All this really meant was that this particular medical professional didn’t have a clue what was wrong with me. I am not alone.

I know some people diagnosed with IBS have had success undergoing the long, tedious process of strict elimination diets -  no processed sugar, alcohol, caffeine, dairy and gluten. Where slowly you reintroduce one element and see how your stomach reacts. The only thing is food intolerance's have been shown to be cumulative, making the whole elimination diet path a drawn out, challenging process. Not to mention, who really wants to know they shouldn't eat donuts?

 

Over the years I have identified a few triggers, roasted red capsicum, roasted pumpkin, too many chickpea based dinners, red meat and high fat foods all cause me grief if I over indulge. As far as dairy is concerned, I only eat cheese and cream in small, infrequent amounts, whereas cows milk out. Interestingly a daily serve of natural yogurt seems to cause me no grief at all.

 

So why am I talking about this now? I have some reoccurring issues with my lower back and recently my osteopath suggested my digestive issues and lower back problems might be linked. I put up with my IBS because I can tolerate the side effects. However the lower back stuff is pretty shitty and if they are in fact linked, I'd even consider giving up alcohol if it would make it stop.

 

As a result, over the past month and a half I have been experimenting on myself. Ten days without any gluten based foods, then a few days with and I am sad to report I think there is a direct correlation between my stomach’s happiness and my consumption of gluten. This is one of the main reasons why I haven’t blogged.

 

So for now breakfast is a rolled oat, puffed rice, coconut, almond and apricot muesli, often prepared the night before with a spoon full of yogurt and 1/8th of a cup of water. Making it super creamy in the morning. Lunches are the hardest, I’ve been alternating potato, sweet potato and chickpeas with salad. Making eggplant dip or humus has also been a nice lunch time snack. I'm also partial to an apple, some cheese, sultanas and nuts. In an attempt to not impose my gluten free efforts on my boy I had bolognaise sauce with chickpeas the other day while he had pasta. I tell you it wasn’t half bad.

 

I see this as an intolerance issue, I’m not giving it up for good… because well I don’t want to. I’m also hoping in time, after it's had a break, my tummy will protest less when I indulge in the occasional piece of cake or toast.