Battle: Paleo Pizza...volume 1

I should preface this post by stating that this is likely the first installation of many future paleo pizza battles. This was initially inspired by my buddy and fellow fitness/foodie freak, LAQ (http://laqfitness.com) who posted her recipe for Paleo BBQ Chicken Pizza. Mind you, paleo pizza is no new phenomenon. "Meatza" is definitely well-known within the paleo community...and is known to satisfy our primal cravings for a round object we can cut wedges out of and eat with our hands. Her post, however, lit a little inspiration fire within me to have yet another throw-down. I decided that yes, I would not only make (my variation, of course...why can't I just stick with the recipe? I'll never know) her version, but also have a little fun with a cauliflower crust as well. Why not, right? What else would I rather be doing on a rainy Friday evening?

Check out the link for LAQ's recipe. My modification was making it a "personal" pizza...and, because of not wanting to get a whole pound of ground chicken...I got 96/4 ground beef (1/4 lb). Pros: hearty, flavor was good. Cons: maybe I didn't use enough egg (tried to do about 1/2 an egg for the 1/4lb of meat), so it wasn't staying circular as I moved it around.

crust vs crust

cauli crust pre-consumption

open up!

Cauliflower crust:
1 cup raw cauliflower
2 cloves garlic
1 egg
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp tomato sauce (whatever you're going to top your pizza with)
1 tsp almond meal
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
dash of cayenne pepper or red chili flakes

Heat oven to 400 degrees. boil cauliflower and garlic until just tender. drain excess water, place in vitamix. Add egg, cheese, spices, and almond meal and blend until everything is integrated. spread mixture evenly on parchment lined baking sheet. Place on center rack and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until evenly brown and crispy.
Top with your fave toppings. I used mushrooms, roasted peppers, carmelized onion, kalamata olives, bacon, roasted kumato, and goat cheese. Toss back in the oven for about 5 minutes, remove, and enjoy!

As I'm writing this...I'm already looking at other crust ideas. Talk about paleo ADD. Geez. Can't. Get. Enough! :) I don't have an official verdict. Meatza is fabulous and filling...but cauli crust did me right re: feeling like I was eating (very thin crust) pizza. Post-wod....just have both!

Well Hello, Artichoke

Confession. I had never done anything with a fresh artichoke for nearly 30 years of life. Whaaaat? How could this have happened? Well, my theory is that mom must not have liked artichokes, because I'm not sure I even knew what an artichoke was until I started seeing them in salads and on restaurant menus as an adult (I use that term loosely). Thanks to the 2 for $5 sale at whole foods last week...artichoke experimentation began. 3 artichokes, 3 different preps. One hungry CrossFitter.

At about 60 calories a pop, and actually a decent bit of protein considering its a vegetable...these puppies are a win. After pinteresting away for a while, and considering my typical flavor combos...here's what I came up with:
3 - white wine/garlic/lemon

1 - garlic/lemon

2 - balsamic/feta

3 - white wine/garlic/lemon

Cooking method:
Crank the oven up to 400-425 degrees. Cut the top part off, and pull apart leaves to create space so you can shove flavorful goodness in every nook and cranny (thanks to Thomas' English Muffins for that phrase) you can find. Wrap it up in foil, place on baking sheet, and roast for about 40-50 minutes. When you remove from the oven, give it another few minutes wrapped before unleashing the beast.

Results:
One conclusion that I easily made is that wrapping in foil while roasting is a must. Trial #2, although it looks gorgeous...was quite dry, therefore less meaty than #1 and #3. Lesson learned.
Artichoke hearts from fresh artichokes are SOOOO much tastier than anything canned or jarred. So good. Worth it.

Re: flavors. Based on my 3 tests, I'd go with #3, then #1, then #2. I'm wondering what other cheese might work well though. Parm? Goat cheese? I know there are loads of recipes for artichoke dips that are mostly cheese with a bit of artichoke. Regardless, I've got many years ahead to find millions of different ways to make artichokes delicious. Go try some!