Recipe Rehab: Pizza on a diet, Part II

Our weekly feature, Recipe Rehab, takes a recipe -- sometimes basic, sometimes decadent and sometimes just plain unhealthy -- and turns it into a scrumptious and healthy dish, pumped up with nutrition. Sometimes all it takes is a few alterations to prepare a dish that would make even your nutritionist proud.

Last week, we featured a sausage and cheese pizza. If you're a vegetarian, that doesn't work for you, but don't think just because you're eating vegetables, that pizza is necessarily good for you. Many of them feature vegetables fried in oil and high fat cheeses. Even most salad pizzas, like today's recipe, have high fat dressings, cheeses and meats like prosciutto, which are high in both fat and sodium. The point of eating salad is for it to be good for you, and taste good too. This recipe is vegetarian, but you can modify it by adding lean grilled meat if you like.

Remember, if you don't have time to make the crust, you can buy whole wheat pizza dough at places like Trader Joes or Whole Foods.

Healthy Salad Pizza

For dough:

1 package yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup very warm water (125ºto 130ºF)
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
no-stick cooking spray

For topping:
1/2 cup part skim milk mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Romano cheese
3 cups mixed baby greens, preferably red leaf, tatsoi, spinach and other dark leafy greens
1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes
6 fresh basil leaves, torn
1 whole peeled cucumber (1 medium) -- sliced
1 whole green pepper -- sliced
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1 cup fat-free Italian salad dressing


In large bowl, combine first four ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes, until bubbles form on the surface of the water. Add salt and slowly stir in the flour until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Return to the bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, about two hours. Divide into two balls and let rise until doubled in size again

Preheat the over to 450 degrees.

Spray two 12 inch pizza pans with cooking spray. Roll out a ball onto each pan until it reaches the edges. Alternatively, make one ball with all the dough and roll it out to cover a large cookie sheet. Divide the cheeses in half and sprinkle both over the two pizzas. Bake for 10 minutes or until the crust has browned and the cheese is melted.

While the pizza is baking, mix together the dressing, basil and mixed greens. When the pizza is done, divide the greens between the two baked crusts and cover with the remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.

Rehab Rundown

• Half the flour in the dough was replaced with whole wheat flour, adding B-vitamins and fiber
• The olive oil and salt in the crust were reduced by half, cutting down on fat and sodium
• Fat free dressing was substituted for the standard italian dressing, reducing the fat and calories without sacrificing any flavor
  
• Part skim mozzarella cheese cuts down on the fat and the total amount was reduced, to cut down on the calories
• Mixed dark leafy greens were substituted for iceberg lettuce, adding vitamins and fiber

Rehab Reveal

Based on 1/12 recipe

	Original	Adapted
Calories	282 (48% from fat)	181 (19% from fat)
Fat	15g	4g
Saturated Fat	4g	2g
Protein	7g	13g
Carbohydrate	31g	7g
Fiber	2g	4g
Sodium	390mg	390mg