Summer Garden Pizza

It’s fine if your kids don’t like veggies, just make them a pizza…

As the twilight of summer crescendos with beautiful blossoms on sun-ripened fruit, there is a fleeting hiatus amid the sweat of summer and the first frost of fall. The circle of life manifests with a symphony of colorful flavor and succulent scent, and every day meals become an exploration of divine expression.

Which sounds SUPER awesome if you are a gardener at heart. But my kids are typical, and suffer from the modern malaise of the ADD/ OCD hybrid. The excitement of planting and cultivating our own food was lost to the daily weeding and watering back in June. They don’t want to pick, pluck or pull the peas, potatoes or peppers. And FOR SURE, they don’t want to eat them.

So when they notice that I’m preparing a vegetable stir fry with the proceeds of my daily harvest, they begin to whine. They just want pizza. And as gardening has taught me that you must leave room for nature to take it’s course, I consent.

No problem. Kids don’t like vegetables, and I don’t want a fight. Pizza it is!

They fail to notice the smirk on my face as I continue chopping and they run off to play. Really, darlings. Have we met? Do you think my evil vegan plot to save the planet with vegetables is going to be undone with a simple request for pizza?

Not a chance.

I use low heat to simmer the kale, green and white onion, red pepper and yellow tomatoes, adding a few cloves of garlic, a pinch of sea salt and a drizzle of butter infused olive oil from the Olive Twist. I always cook in a cast iron skillet to boost the iron content of the meal. I sauté until the veggies are bright, and transfer it to the Vitamix. For authentic pizza flavor, I add sprigs of fresh thyme, basil and oregano, as well as 1/2 cup of yeast flakes and a few tablespoons of maple syrup.

After I give it a whirl, I see the color is too green to escape suspicion, so a can of bright red pizza sauce is added to the mix. It would be better to use half of a small red beet, as they cover green better than anything, but I have none on hand.

I make two pizzas, one crust is rolled from homemade dough by Lotsa Pasta, and the other is Udi’s Gluten Free. The vegan cheese is mozzerrella by Follow Your Heart. I order all of these through Green B.E.A.N. Delivery.

As the sun sets and hunger brings the kids to the table, a harmless looking, gooey cheese pizza is cooling on the oven. I’ve also blanched fresh green beans and flavored with a balsamic glaze.

Because the kids know their mother would never serve pizza without forcing an obligatory side of vegetables.

For sure, they are right about that.

Just because kids don’t like veggies, doesn’t mean they won’t eat them.

Colleen