Pizza - Diet Pizza 2... Salmon White Pizza with Peppers & Onions

First, the diet update... 


We are in the home stretch... 15 days of the "17 Day Diet " and all is well.  In fact, after three days of static (and even one day of actual weight gain),  powered through the small plateau.  Today I am at 17 pounds loss in the 15 days of the diet.  Baring any more weight fluctuations, I will end the little experiment with at least a pound a day gone..  So, 2 days to go, I feel like I could do this in my sleep.


OK, I am going to repeat my mantra...


This is a quick fix to a lifestyle.  A pound a day weight loss has NOTHING to do with true permanent weight lose.  Jackie and I started this with the sole intention of getting into the pants that make our butts look good in time for a wedding.  True weight loss comes from a combination of a consistent lifestyle change of eating properly and making changes in the amount of calories burned (dare I say an exercise program).  ANYTHING else is just a quick fix at best and more likely, a band-aid over a cancer.  If I want people to be able to continue to see a good looking butt, I have to think about the decisions I make every day.


But at least for today...


Whoo Whoo - My butt looks good in my pants!!!


Just a fast overview of the diet... Unlimited food!  Eat all you want.  Trick is that you have a list of 2 or 3 dozen foods that are allowed.  Everything else is forbidden.  The first 17 days is meant to be a cleansing of sugars, fats and carbohydrates.  So, no bread, no sugary desserts, no red meat, no cheese... No bacon!.  


BUT, chicken, fish, some fruits, most vegetables, seasonings, condiments in moderation are all allowed.  Eat all you want.  So, for the most part, I have never been hungry a single day on the diet.  I was told to eat the amounts I wanted, and I did.


I also thought long and hard about how to arrange the possible combinations to create a dish within the limitations.  Kind of like a 17 day episode of CHOPPED from the Food Network.  Here's a box of ingredients, now go wow the judges...

A couple of packages of Salmon
3 Eggs 
a Vadallia Onion 
2 TBS of my "Not your Grandmother's Herbes de Provence" Mediterranean Herbs mixture.  


Some of you might see a salmon Frittata.  I see a pizza crust!

When I opened the packages of salmon, I was not pleased with the look of the fish.  Just too white.  I had a vision in my head of what I wanted, so I added a TBS of Smoked Paprika to the mix.  This way, I would get a bit darker of a "crust".  When making a faux pizza, always best to keep the look as close to authentic as possible.  Including color.

And OK... There are a few tricks you need to know to take the salmon mixture and create a pizza crust (given the limitations of the diet)...


PIZZA STONE.  It's a must.  Preheat the oven AND stone to 500 degrees.  You want the stone to cook the entire crust to firm.  If you use an unheated cookie sheet, the center will not be evenly cooked (gooey, liquid eggy texture compared to the more firm edge.


I spread the mixture on a sheet of parchment paper.  Makes it SOOO much easier to move from prep area to pizza stone (a pizza peel is now a must for me, again, makes it SOOO easy).


Next is to pre-cook that crust before you add sauce and toppings...


500 degree for 12 minutes.

Sorry, I didn't take a shot of the crust without the sauce and toppings, but this close up gives you an idea... Slightly crisp looking to make that pizza crust look.


OK, the crust is the hardest part of making a faux, diet, carbohydrate free pizza.  But, sauce and toppings equally need to be considered.  Especially picking items that compliment your crust.  Again, no cheese, so the sauce needs work.


I selected a white sauce, again, once that look and taste is decided, the ingredients are easy.  Just heat 6 ounces of fat free Greek Yogurt (my NEW favorite ingredient... tastes like cream cheese, but fat free and filled with flavors).  I added 8 Garlic cloves, finely minced and stirred over medium heat until warm (warning, do not let this get too warm, it will separate).


As to toppings, I just can not get enough of those Vidallia onions.  I cut one into large quarter size chunks and started sauteeing.  I added some small Sweet Peppers, cut into rings with just a TBS of Olive Oil.  Mixed them until they were warm as well.

Spread the warm suace, add the warm peppers and onions on the cooked crust.


Return to the oven, still at 500 degrees and cook fro an additional 10 minutes...

If it looks like a duck (pizza), and It quacks like a duck (has a crust, sauce and toppings)... It must be a just ducky PIZZA!


And it does taste amazing!  Garlicky, lots of veggies, the sauce shines and the eggy crust is perfect!
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