So this Elimination Diet has made me rethink everything I have been eating – or wanting to eat. Finding ways to take into account different allergens and finding ways to remake old classics. Stir-fry without soy or tofu? Done. Fruit Crumble without sugar? Done. Now – pizza without flour or tomato sauce. Done. You need try the new craze – at least new to me – vegan and gluten-free Quinoa Pizza – perfect Elimination Diet Recipe.

Who in the world doesn’t love pizza? Usually mine are store-bought, just because it’s easier to take a pizza out of box and pop in the oven. Now, I have made pizzas before on here – a taco cauliflower crust, some wannabe pizza pockets, and some yum pizza stuffed zucchini. But this time I am going for an easy way to make pizza crust – which is always the reason that I don’t make it since pizza crust is not easy. I saw an FB video post on Cooking Light for how to make quinoa crust and decided to try it out. I don’t know if it’s actually a craze, but it might end up as one. It was so easy! The only hard part was the flip – but as long as you have a large cutting board to flip on to it’s easy. I didn’t follow the how-to video exactly; I used more quinoa, I boiled my quinoa, I added spice to my crust, and I spread it out over a larger surface. Watching the video and seeing it baked into a “personal size” pizza I didn’t want all those calories so I spread my crust over my smallest baking sheet. Super easy to do!

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So this crust is super easy to make. The toppings though were inspired by pizza nights with my family. It is inevitable that we will always have a pizza night at some point. Especially at holidays, and normally it’s store-bought crusts. But this year when I go home my mom, SIL and I will be eating this crust for sure. The toppings that we put on our pizza are almost always mushrooms, spinach, and Trader Joe’s artichoke hearts. So that was pretty much what I put on the pizza – minus the spinach since it was dang expensive. And I personally cannot have pizza with mushrooms on it – just can’t do it. Start by bringing the quinoa and water to a boil then lowering heat and simmering until all liquid is gone and quinoa is fluffy – between 20-25 minutes. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper then pour one tablespoon olive oil on paper and spread out. I used olive oil because most non-stick cooking sprays have a form of soy in them. Elimination Diet – no soy. Olive oil worked perfectly fine. Dump cooked quinoa into food processor with dried basil. Pour artichoke heart liquid into a measuring cup. Turn on FP and pour in liquid through spout; process until a ball forms. Dump onto the baking sheet and spread out and flatten to the edges with fingers. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Dump minced mushrooms, shallots, and garlic with a little artichoke liquid into a small saute pan. Cook until browned. Take crust out of oven and lay cutting board over baking sheet and flip. Pull parch paper off crust then lay new parch over baking sheet. Slide crust back over parchment baking sheet then spoon sautéed veggies over crust then lay artichoke hearts. Cook 15 more minutes. Take out and slide off baking sheet and cut into small squares. Enjoy with a fork – the crust is thin so it might not hold up finger eating.

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Quinoa Pizza,

1 C Ancient Harvest Quinoa
2 C Water
2 Tsp Dried Basil
1/3 C Artichoke Hearts Liquid
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Jar Marinated Artichoke Hearts
1 C Mushrooms, minced
1 Shallot, minced
3 Cloves Garlic, minced

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1. Dump quinoa and water into
a pot and bring to rolling boil, then lower heat and cook until all liquid is gone, about 20-25 minutes.
2. Set oven to 425 degrees.
3. Dump quinoa and basil into food processor and put lid on. Measure liquid into measuring cup then turn on FP. Pour in liquid as quinoa gets moving.
4. Process until quinoa forms a moving ball.
5. On a small baking sheet lay parchment paper then pour one tablespoon olive oil and spread over parchment.
6. Dump quinoa on parchment and spread and flatten out evenly to the sides with fingers.
7. Bake for 15 minutes.
8. While crust is cooking mince mushrooms, shallot, and garlic and saute in more artichoke liquid.
9. Take pan out of oven and lay cutting board over then flip crust onto board. Peel paper off the crust and reline baking sheet with more parchment then carefully slide crust back on baking sheet.
10. Spread sautéed veggies evenly over crust then lay artichokes out.
11. Bake 15 more minutes.
12. Slice into squares and carefully eat – better with a fork.
13. Enjoy!