Gluten Free Pizza and Chickpea Feta Salad

For me,  Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix is the best thing since sliced bread! Pizza was one of the things I desperately hated denying myself when I first found out I was gluten intolerant.  Can you imagine a life without pizza?!  Clearly, this was long before I knew of all the gluten free bread options out there.  But being the worst baker in the world, my chances of having pizza often wasn’t’ high to say the least.

Enter the Bob’s Red Mill company.  I love these people and all their great gluten free bread mixes, flours and grains.  After trying many of the already made loaves of gluten free bread in the market that end up tasting like sandy bricks, each of their mixes are a marvelous find.  They are moist, delicious and miraculously gluten free.  I love it!

As you can imagine, after my long 12 day fast, I went to Henry’s and stocked up on amazing greens, and food to fill the pantry with.  I’ve also collected a series of lists, all filled with dishes I want to play with for the next few months.  This was dinner the other night!

::Chickpea And Feta Salad::

Juice of 2 organic lemons

1 1/2 – 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cups of minced leek (white part only)

2 cups chiffonade kale leaves

2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 15oz can organic chickpeas)

2 large carrots grated

1 red pepper finely diced

1/2 cup of raw sunflower seeds, hulled

2 large leaves of romaine lettuce torn, per salad plate to be served

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1.  Whisk the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper and minced leek together and then set aside.

2.  Mixed together the kale, chickpeas, grated carrots, diced red pepper, and sunflower seeds in a bowl.

3.  Add the lemon/leek mixture and toss until its all coated.

4.  To serve create a circle along the plate of the romaine lettuce and in the center spoon the chickpea mixture into a lovely mound.

5.  Garnish each mound with crumbled feta cheese and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

This mixture is enough for about 8 salads.  It keeps well as a leftover for about 2 days.

::Gluten Free Broccoli Pesto Pizza::

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix

2 cups cut broccoli florets

1/4 red onion sliced in rounds

4 garlic cloves sliced thinly

4 Tbs of already made pesto

2-3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

chile pepper flakes (optional)

1.  Follow the instructions on the pizza dough package.

2.  I always have pesto on hand in the refrigerator or freezer.  Freshly made is always best, but because we just don’t get an abundance of basil up here, I always have some Trader Joe’s, or the one that we happened to have which was from Costco.  With that said, I layer in this order:

a.  Spread the pesto over the entire crust, leaving a one inch margin around the perimeter.

b.  3/4 of the cheese gets sprinkled on top.

c.  Evenly disperse the broccoli and the onions.

d.  Sprinkle the garlic slices over it all.

e.  Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.

3.  Place in oven as directed by the dough package

Thats it!  Easy peezy.  And a super delicious but casual dinner.