pizza with a twist

I think for Christmas I should get a chef's hat because I'm starting to feel like a real pro in the kitchen.  I've been pretty lucky recently and haven't had any duds (knock on wood), but I'll be baking cookies this weekend so that streak might be in jeopardy.  For those of you that didn't have to eat my sugar cookies last year, be greatful, and for those of you that did, I'm very sorry.  No worries, that recipe is not making a comeback.

Tonight I made Mini White Pizzas with Vegetables.  Before my big grocery shopping trip yesterday, I picked out some simple but comfort food-ish recipes from my Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals cookbook.  Yeah yeah, Cooking Light again.  They have great recipes what can I say. 

I can't find this recipe on line, so here goes:

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 9 minutes

4 (6-inch) whole weat pitas
Olive-oil flavored cooking spray
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion, separated into rings
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light garlic-and-herbs spreadable cheese (such as Alouette Light)
6 tablespoons shredded Asiago cheese

1.  Preheat broiler.
2.  Place pitas on a baking sheet; broil 3 minutes.
3.  Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; coat pan with cooking spray.  Add zucchini, onion, pepper, and salt; saute 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
4.  Remove pitas from oven and spread 2 tablespoons garlic-and-herbs spreadable cheese over each pita.  Top evenly with vegetables and Asiago cheese.  Broil 3 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cheese melts.  Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 pizza).

Nutrition info: 272 calories, 8.7g fat (sat 4.6 g, mono 1g, poly 1g), 11.9g protein, 40.2g carbs, 5.5g fiber, 24mg cholesterol, 2.2mg iron, 505mg sodium, 137mg calcium

Even Will agreed that my pizza looked very similar to the picture in the cookbook, if only a little less crispy.

These were super yummy.  I made 2 because I planned on having one for lunch tomorrow, but then I remembered I agreed to go out to lunch tomorrow (something I rarely do) so I guess it will just be dinner again.  I had snacked on some turkey pepperoni and string cheese when I came home so one of these guys filled me up, but tomorrow I'll probably try to throw a spinach salad in there to make it a little fancier.

Notes:

- I would say prep time is more like 10 minutes instead of 5, but that could just be because anytime I put a kinfe near an onion I start crying uncontrollably

- I didn't follow the whole "1/4 cup red onion" - since I was making 2, I just eyeballed how much I would want/need

- I didn't find the Alouette Light spreadable cheese they mentioned, but I did find another brand that was also light and garlic and herbs so alls well that ends well (found in the special cheese section in the produce department)

- Every single time I see Asiago cheese in a recipe, I go straight for the Sargento 4-cheese reduced fat Italian shredded cheese (and bonus, asiago is one of the 4 cheeses)

-  You could totally sub any other veggies you wanted, but I was a big fan of this veggie combo and the fact that zucchini was involved because that's one of my favorite things

To sum it up: Easy peasy.  So yummy.  Cooking Light obsessed.  Happy and full.