Thursday, February 7, 2013

Anti-Inflammatory Recipe: Quinoa Pizza Crust



As promised, here is the quinoa pizza crust I made last week! I will definitely be making it again, although next time I will follow the directions better. I found this recipe on Charity Dasenbrock's For Life! page and it looked so intriguing! Since I had just made the cauliflower crust pizza I figured quinoa had to be just as good! Plus, it's quinoa so you know it's going to be nutrient-dense and filling. It didn't fail to make me happy!

This recipe is supposed to make two 8" crusts, but I figured I would try making it in one bigger pan. It didn't totally work, so next time I will try making two smaller crusts. It still tasted great, but it didn't get crispy in the middle at all. It was a little spongy (for lack of a better word), but tasted totally fine. I'm not real picky when it comes to food! It also stuck to the bottom of the pan in the middle, so next time, yes, I will follow the directions. ;o)

1.25 cups quinoa
1/2-3/4 cup water
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Soak the quinoa over night, two nights if you have time. It will help the nutrients become more available. As Charity says, "This step is important for removing the phytates. Phytic acid is an 'anti-nutrient' which binds up the minerals in the grain and prevents the body from using them." So soak the quinoa!

When you are ready to make the crust, preheat the oven to 450*. Blend the drained and rinsed quinoa with 1/2 cup water and a pinch of salt. You may end up needing a little more water, but start with 1/2 cup. Blend the mixture until it resembles pancake batter. Divide the olive oil and cover the bottom of the two pans. Place them into the oven until the oil is shimmering hot. Remove from the oven and divide the quinoa mixture between the two. Bake for 20 minutes and then flip and bake for another 10 minutes. Put toppings on your pizza and then bake a few more minutes to warm them. (I used the rest of the avocado pesto and my toppings from the cauliflower crust pizza. Yummy!)

Voila! Crunchy, nutritious pizza crust from quinoa! Big thank you to Charity for her totally delicious recipe that I look forward to making again CORRECTLY!!

12 comments:

  1. So I take it you liked the cauliflower crust version better than quinoa?

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    1. No, not necessarily. :o) I want to make the quinoa crust again following the directions better and see what it's like. The quinoa crust requires foresight to soak the quinoa and the cauliflower crust is more labor and time intensive. Taste-wise, I like them equally, as they were both delicious! But I don't think I'd say I liked one over the other.

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  2. I sent this to my mom, she's going to love it. This looks delicious

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    1. Oh, thank you! Yeah, it is SUPER delicious!! And so, so good for you!

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  3. Wait, so you made this only with quinoa? I recently discovered quinoa and love it boiled with steamed vegetables or salad. I wonder if it is always good to soak it, for example when it is to be boiled. Does the same rule for anti-nutrients apply?

    And then again, pizza crust with quinoa and no flour whatsoever? Wow.

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    1. Yeah, it's only quinoa! It really does end up in a pancakey batter slurry and tastes awesome. I think soaking is more beneficial, because I know it makes a host of other foods easier to digest, like nuts, seeds, and the like.

      Quinoa is one of my faaavorite foods, so I'm glad you found it! Did you see the link to the quinoa and chickpea basil yumminess I posted a couple weeks ago?

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    2. No, I missed it, but I was also trying to bake salted chickpeas the other day. Disaster!

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    3. http://www.prosouppropaganda.com/2013/01/anti-inflammation-cleanse-recipe-basil.html

      It is SO GOOD!!!!

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  4. This looks really good. Yum! I haven never soaked my quinoa before, I will have to try it.

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    1. Yeah, I've heard it's better for you to do that, but I've never done it either. I would like to start, though!

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  5. Thank you so much for the tips on quinoa! I had no idea it was supposed to soak. I always just rinse it.

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  6. Gosh this looks so good! Am going to give it a shot on the weekend...
    Thanks for sharing!

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