Spinach and Mushroom Pizza with Moroccan Tomato Salad

At last, I get the chance to once again cook a vegetarian meal! While I absolutely love seafood, I actually am a big fan of vegetarian recipes as well. But, alas, there are others in my household who are 100% meat-etarians... and we only agree on seafood. But, every so often, a vegetable meal comes along again. This time it is a delicious mushroom and spinach pizza which is rounded out by a Moroccan Tomato Salad.

Pizza is fantastic to make for groups since you can top it with anything that you want. I'll explain my method of preparing the spinach and mushroom, but feel free to get creative as you cook. Throw other things in the pan, prepare other vegetables (or meats!) in a similar manner, or just sit back and make a cheese pizza if you prefer.

To add to the vegetable and health content of this meal, you'll also learn how to make a Moroccan Tomato Salad. If you're not a fan of tomatoes, you may as well stop reading now! It's just what it sounds like - a salad made nearly entirely of delicious, ripe tomatoes and seasoned to perfection. So let's get going with this delicious vegetarian spread!

Spinach and Mushroom Pizza
The beauty of pizza is that you can make it as difficult or as simple as you like. There are basically three options for the dough (as you will know from my previous pizza post!) They are: buy the dough already cooked and in a circular shape, buy the dough pre-made but still needing to be rolled out, or make your own dough from scratch. Personally, I recommend one of the last two options.

While I am typically a fan of making everything from scratch, pizza dough is one of the few (along with brownies) where it doesn't necessarily taste better to do so. Using dough that still needs to be rolled out provides essentially the same service. You still have freshly baked dough that tastes exceedingly fresh. I am not going to walk you through making it from scratch, but if you are interested you should look here. You'll see that it even gives you options for customizing your dough! But see how much time you have. Making your own pizza dough means letting it rise, etc, as you would any bread.

I went with the second option, of buying raw dough. At my local supermarket I have two options - whole wheat and regular. While instinct, when being healthful, is to head to the whole wheat, beware! In this case, it actually had more calories and fat without a higher fiber content. Check before buying! And remember - while you can buy pre-cooked dough that is already rolled out, it's just not as good. Honestly.

Pre-heat your oven to whatever the instructions for your dough are. Don't have? 375 is a safe bet. Prepare a pizza pan, preferably a perforated one that makes the crust crispier. Sometimes they require greasing (think Pam) but a lot of the time they actually request cornmeal instead. If there are no directions, go with Pam.

Put a small amount of olive oil in two pans over medium to medium low heat - no more than a teaspoon in each. One of these will be for your toppings and one for the sauce.

For the toppings: Add a clove of minced garlic. Saute for 2 minutes. Then add the mushrooms. You can use as many or as few as you want depending how "mushroomy" you like your pizza. I used a lot! Continue to stir the mushrooms frequently to avoid burning or sticking to the pan. When they are nearly done (they should be smaller in size, soft, and wilted) then add the spinach. Remember - what looks like a lot of spinach at the start is almost nothing near the end. I used an entire bag of spinach and wished I had used more! Continue to stir the spinach and mushroom mixture often. The spinach will quickly wilt down to a small amount. Once the spinach is fully wilted your toppings are ready. Remove from the heat and keep them ready for your pizza.

For the sauce: Make sure to prepare your sauce at the same time as you prepare the toppings. Add 2-3 cloves of minced garlic depending on your taste and their size. Continue stirring to avoid burning or sticking. Add diced onion; I used roughly 1 cup of diced onion for two pizzas. Stir well and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes. Add two diced tomatoes. Stir and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. At this point the onion should be soft and translucent; the tomato should be soft and well mixed in the entire mixture with its juices enveloping the onion and garlic. Add 1 small can of tomato sauce and 1 small can of tomato paste. Remember: always use no salt added versions! Stir until the paste is melted and well mixed with the rest to give a smooth sauce. Add basil, oregano, and italian seasoning to taste. Stir and simmer another 2 minutes. You now have your tomato sauce!

Roll out your dough, using enough flour to keep things from sticking. Place the pizza on the pizza pan. Do not worry if it's not a perfect circle - mine are always only approximate. Add sauce, leaving about an inch all the way around at the edge for the crust. You'll regret it later if you don't! Add the topping evenly across the pizza. Sprinkle with cheese. I used part-skim low-fat mozzarella which is always good, but feel free to mix it up. You can use fresh mozzarella balls, a mixture of mozzarella and parmesan, or even something different like asiago.

Bake according to the dough's instructions. If there are no instructions, start at 10 minutes and check on the pizza. When it is fully cooked the cheese will be melted, the crust will begin to look slightly golden, and you should hear a slight hollow sound when you tap your knuckles on the crust.

Enjoy! Leftover pizza is great for lunch the next day.

Moroccan Tomato Salad
I love tomatoes! Really! Truly! As a kid, when we went to restaurants, all I wanted was a plate of plain tomato cut up and shrimp cocktail. Let's just say that I was a unique 5 year-old.

This simple salad is very fast to make but tastes best when refrigerated for an hour or two before eating to allow the tomatoes to soak up the sauce. It's based on some Moroccan ideas but is simplified here. If you are not a fan of tomato, I'm guessing this dish is not for you since that is largely the only ingredient. However, if you too are a fan, dive right in. This unique salad satisfies immediately and provides a new flavor to tomatoes that you've most likely never tried before.

Cut up a bunch of tomatoes in wedges and place in a bowl. I used 4-5 tomatoes in my salad for 2-3 people. Tear up a handful of fresh basil leaves and add those. If you do not have fresh you can use the spice, but it won't turn out quite as well! Liberally sprinkle the tomatoes with red wine vinegar. You'll want to use enough to coat the tomatoes and pool a bit in the bottom when they are well tossed. Sprinkle a little, toss, and see how it goes. I probably used several tablespoons. Pour on some very light olive oil. You'll want to use high quality olive oil here since you will not be cooking with it. Make sure to use far less oil than vinegar to retain some health! Probably 1/2 as much is plenty to suffice, but you might even start with 1/3 and see how that goes. Toss the mixture well. There should be a little bit of liquid at the bottom of the bowl but not much. Remember - this is salad, NOT soup. If you see a lot pooled than you used too much.

Refrigerate until ready to use - best if it sits for 1-2 hours before serving.