This is our fourth installment in a series from Food Heaven Made Easy, a weekly healthy cooking webseries that I co-host with my BFF and fellow nutritionista Wendy. We are both nutrition nerds and have masters degrees in nutrition science. Each week, our show alternates between a healthy cooking recipe and evidenced nutrition topic. We’re here to show the world that healthy cooking can be fun, culturally relevant, easy, and affordable.

By Wendy and Jess of Food Heaven Made Easy

Pizza gets a bad rep for being unhealthy junk, which sucks because it’s so delicious and loved by many. This week we whipped up a healthy (and always tasty) whole wheat pizza recipe! This yummy dish is spiced with tomatoes, black olives, and fresh basil. It’s perfect for lunch or dinner, and pairs perfectly with a leafy green salad. Happy eating!

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 2 cups of whole wheat flour + 1 tablespoon of whole wheat flour
• 1 packet of active dry yeast
• 3/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of hot water

• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup or honey
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

For the toppings:

• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 tomato, sliced length-wise
• 1 cup of tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons of basil, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of black olives

  

Directions:

For the dough:

• Mix flour, salt, and yeast together.
• Add in oil, water, and honey/maple syrup.
• Using your hands, work the dough into a smooth ball. The dough should be soft yet sturdy. If the dough falls apart easily, add more flour. If it’s too stiff, add in some water. Knead for 5 minutes.
• Lightly wet 3 paper towels with water.
• Place the dough ball in a bowl, and place the moist paper towels on top of the bowl. Then cover the entire bowl with a plastic bag.
• Let the dough sit at a warm spot in the house for a minimum of 1.5 hours.

• When the dough has doubled in size, remove from the bowl and on a lightly floured work surface, flatten out the dough ball with your hands until it’s about double in diameter.
• Now if you don’t have a rolling pin, you have to keep stretching out the dough with your hands until it’s uniform.
• If you do have a rolling pin, your life will be much easier. Roll out for about a 1/4 inch crust thickness.
• With your fingers, slightly crease up the edges of the pizza dough.

For the toppings:

• Place dough on a round baking dish.
• Add tomato sauce evenly to pizza dough. Then add tomatoes, black olives, and cheese.
• Bake at 500F for 10-12 minutes or until crust is crispy.
• Remove from oven, and sprinkle fresh basil. Enjoy!