I would like to think of myself as supermom, and let’s be honest, all parents, and especially moms (no offense daddios!) are super human–we have so much on our plates: careers, our beloved munchkins, the daily chores, bills, community involvement, volunteer work, maybe even taking care of our aging parents…the list can go on; but at the end of the day we are just human, including me.
I’ve learned early on that as a parent I cannot be perfect at everything. I am still learning how not to feel guilty over not being the perfect mom that Sprout deserves (I know you, ladies, can relate, because even on a perfect day, mother nature has given us a special dose of guilt to carry around, no matter how good we are). So, I’ve chosen the areas where I know I have to be as good as possible–being loving, kind, nurturing, offering education and social opportunities to my child–I moved across the country to ensure that Sprout would have a loving family around her. Good nutrition comes of equal importance on this list–I want to offer Sprout’s developing body and mind the best I can, so she would have the best shot at life and health.
This would make you think that the best nutrition plan would be the hardest to attain–too much planning, too much cooking, too much money. Thankfully, being a whole foods vegan affords us exactly the opposite–fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes are most nourishing for our children’s growing bodies, they are the easiest fast foods, and are not that hard to find or prepare.
But we all know, that as if by a tantrum of the Universe, early on, our kids gravitate toward things that are easy to grab and look and taste fun…even if they’ve never seen a commercial or tasted fast food! This is true for Sprout. While she gets her daily share of fresh fruits and veggies, she loves her favorites: pizza, cheesy scrambled tofu, bread, mac’n’cheese, cookies, etc. I only have to keep up with her imagination.
However, I’ve already admitted–I am not a supermom, although sometimes I dream of being one, so, I always create opportunities to expand her taste horizons, while offering her what she loves most in the healthiest and easiest, i.e. mommy-cramping-for-time, form.
Yesterday she wanted pizza. I make the best vegan pizza there is (ask my husband), but I am not a fan of making a yeast-based dough too frequently–yeast aside, waiting for it to rise for a couple of hours, then prepping and baking it takes too much time for most normal days. And with Sprout’s zero-tolerance-for-waiting policy, when she wants something delicious she wants the then and there, I improvise. So, I created the most nutritious, laziest pizza you’ll ever think of, and I have zero guilt about offering it to her. Sprout happy=mommy happy=all is well in the world!
No Stress 10 Minute Vegan Pizza
But as with all good food in our household, whatever Sprout loves, Hubby loves too (do all men have taste buds of a three year old? help me out here, ladies!). He became a fast, eternal fan of my lazy pizzas (Sprout calls them pizza wraps).
I make their no-stress-no-need-to-wait-three-hours pizzas as casadias.
If you have all of the ingredients handy, my lazy vegan pizza takes less than 5 minutes to prep (I can get it done in under 2 minutes), and about 3-5 minutes to cook. That quickly, your child, and possibly your spouse, can have a child like expression of happiness and gratitude for her most delicious meal on her tiny, precious face.
I serve their casadia pizzas with a side of green smoothie. They’re happy, their bodies are happy, and mommy doesn’t have to slave away in the kitchen all day! I call it a win-win.
I guess I am an adult, because my needs for visual presentation are a bit more sophisticated, so, I create my lazy vegan pizza, as an actual pizza–pretty, exploding with colors and visually satisfying.
Any topping is permissible in our house, since we have only the good stuff filling our fridge and our pantry, so, we all get to choose our favorites. Sprout, with her toddler taste buds, gravitates to the simplest–pizza sauce and Daiya cheese, I like mine topped with pineapple or apple slices, and Hubby splashes his with hot sauce.
When I make these lazy pizzas as casadias, I like to top them off with a think layer of vegan sour cream–this creates a perfect balance between the tartness of spaghetti sauce and the coolness of sour cream. I am telling you–this is the most perfect marriage in the culinary world!
When we are hungry, as we were yesterday, we get a tad more sophisticated–we add a thick layer of ground beans to my lazy pizzas (should I really be calling them this?). It makes not only for a more appealing presentation, but also makes for a more delicious mouthful. This is the version which I am about to share with you.
Here is the good news, for all of you who are gluten free–you can use this recipe to make gluten free, yeast free pizzas!
Enjoy my yeast-free, no stress 10 minute vegan pizza recipe! (You absolutely may call them “lazy pizzas” if you wish.)
- 4-5 low fat, whole wheat (or gluten free) tortillas
- one 8 oz. bag of Daiya cheese (optional)
- a jar of your favorite pizza or spaghetti sauce
- toppings of your choosing: olives, pineapples, sliced apples, etc.
- favorite herb for garnish: green onions, cilantro, parsley, etc.
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- ⅓ cups water
- 1 lb. precooked, well drained beans of your choice
- ½ cup water (in addition to ⅓ cup from above)
- ½ cup low fat pizza or spaghetti sauce
- 1 tsp chili powder or your favorite seasoning
- salt to taste
- peel and dice onion and garlic
- preheat skillet on high heat, add onion and garlic
- when you hear the sizzle, stir, and keep an eye on the skillet--the moment you see that onions begin to stick to the pan, splash a little bit of water (out of the ⅓ cup) and stir
- keep doing so until onions are lightly browned (if you are an experienced cook, you can step away from the stove to do something else, otherwise, keep standy) [if you are not sure how to make this process happen, here is a handy HOW-TO video to give you visual instructions]
- place beans, sautéed onions/garlic, ½ cup pizza/spaghetti sauce, chili powder, and salt into a food processor and blend until smooth; if you need to pause the processor to scrape beans off sides, do so
- if you desire a thinner bean consistency add more water, as needed
- (if making a closed-face, casadia style pizza, use half of the ingredients)
- take a tortilla and spread ½ cup, or more, of refried beans over it
- spread ½ cup (or more) of spaghetti sauce over beans
- sprinkle with ½+ cup Daiya cheese
- add favorite toppings
- have oven preheated to 375 degrees
- place pizza on a baking sheet, and slide in the oven
- bake until golden brown and crunchy on the bottom (for open face pizzas, or flip half-way through for casadia pizzas), and cheese has melted--this might take 5-7+ minutes
- if you are pressed for time, or simply want to use less energy/gas, the skillet method might be for you--I use it 60% of the time. I find that it yields faster results and allows me to achieve the perfect crust crispness more evenly
- preheat a non-stick or cast iron skillet on high
- place pizza in (if casadia style, place the side with cheese on top, face down first; if making open faced pizza, you will reduce heat to medium-low and cover the skillet, so cheese can melt) and reduce heat to medium or medium low
- “bake” until each side is perfectly browned, but not overbaked
- remove from heat, slice, garnish
- give a couple of minutes to cool off and enjoy
