Gluten Free Almond Meal Pizza Crust with Turkey and Spinach Topping

We're constantly looking for new, exciting and tasty ways to explore healthy food in my house.  Myself, I have a gluten sensitivity (which I tend to ignore) that makes me feel kind of icky. We also have heart disease in my household so low fat, low sodium dishes are a must for us.  Low sodium, low fat, no gluten...no flavor, right?? Definitely not the case in my kitchen most of the time.  I love to try new recipes but even more so, I like to throw some stuff together and hope for the best when it's time to eat it.  That's kind of where we went with tonight's meal and I couldn't be more pleased with the results! We had "pizza" tonight that was low fat, low sodium, gluten free and totally delicious. What I loved the most was the crust has four main ingredients and combined in a bowl, no mixer required.

Gluten Free Almond Meal Crust (makes 1 crust)
2 cups almond meal/flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 tsp olive oil
2 egg substitutes (mine was 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 375 with a pizza stone in the oven to preheat as well.  Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a spatula. It will come together quickly and should be moist and slightly sticky.  Place the ball between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4" thickness. Mine is never totally round. I like to call it rustic :) Remove top layer of parchment paper.  I prefer a bit of an edge on my crust so I folded over the outside by about a half inch. Pick up the parchment and place in crust in the oven on the stone.  Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, add toppings, bake again for 10-12 minutes or until edges start to brown or cheese (if you're using any) starts to melt. The crust is thin, crispy and delicious!

Turkey and Spinach Topping (makes two)
20 oz lean ground turkey
1 can no salt added diced tomatoes
2 tbsp stone ground mustard
1 tbsp no sugar added pickle relish
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/4 cup dehydrated onion (if you don't have these on hand, dice a small white onion and brown with the ground turkey)
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less based on heat level desire)

In a large skillet, brown the ground turkey and drain any grease.  Add remaining ingredients excluding cheese and heat slightly.  Add half of the mixture to the top of your warm crust.  Evenly spread cheese over the top. Bake 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is starting to brown.

Your left over topping would freeze well or use it to make a second pizza while you devour the first. My family also likes to eat this mixture with fresh baked corn tortilla chips as well!

While I haven't yet tried it, I think this crust would hold up well to having added spices.  Some Italian seasoning would be a lovely addition to give it some more flavor.  It would also hold Parmesan cheese well but would likely require a little additional oil to retain the moisture.  I will most certainly continue to experiment with additions to this crust because I am in LOVE :)

I'd love to hear about your experiences with this recipe!  Use the comments or email me :)

Easy, yummy dip for your NYE get together

I want to share a super easy, super yummy dip/spread I made for my Christmas party this year.  This is an adaptation of a recipe I found in one of those little cookbooks they sell at the check out line at the grocery store.  I tend to like to change things up.  Can never leave well enough alone!  It ended up ok.  There was none left at the end of the night.  Here's what you'll need:

1 brick of cream cheese
1/2 cup peach preserves
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and minced
1 sweet red pepper, seeded deveined and minced
Crushed black pepper

Put your preserves in a microwave safe dish and nuke for 30 - 60 seconds.  You want the jelly to be melted and easy to stir.  Add your minced peppers and about 8 turns from your pepper mill.  Stir to mix well.  Dump it over top of your cream cheese.  Done.

I had several different types of crackers out and there didn't seem to be a preference.  I will say, however, that the nice combination between spicy and sweet even made my gluten free crackers taste good!  I'm going to whip a bit up for a New Years Eve party I'm going to tomorrow because everybody needs some creamy, spicy, sweet goodness to ring in the new year!

**Note on the sweet red pepper.  I'm not talking about using a big ol bell pepper.  Sweet red peppers are generally about the same size as a jalapeno, sometimes a little larger.  If you can't find them at your local grocery store, try another variety of small, sweet pepper. Don't be afraid to ask your produce manager for suggestions.  I find that the larger bell peppers have a little bitter flavor that doesn't pair well with the peach.