All Creature's Reviews "Heart Healthy Pizza"

The All Creatures Website has been around for OVER 15 years! One of the original vegan, animal rights websites, it is chockful of recipes, news, reviews, and information.  An obvious labor of love by the Mary and Frank Hoffman Foundation (who've supported and donated to many very important animal rights/vegan documentaries and projects over the past decade and a half), it's old school in design, but still retains its timeliness in content, heart, and spirituality.

I'm honored that they recently reviewed my book here.  An excerpt:

"The thing we like best about Heart Healthy Pizza are the wonderfully different ideas for making heart healthy vegan pizza; things that we hadn't even thought of in our decades of creating healthful vegan recipes, and publishing them on our web site."

The Recipes (with photos) section of this website is extraordinary and one of the first truly comprehensive collections of vegan recipes and animal rights information on the web.  Think about it:  15 years ago this was a godsend. It was still amazing and vital resource to many of us struggling forward without the plethora of vegan cookbooks, websites, blogs, and social media sources available these days to help people eat healthier and vegan.  By all means, check this out!  They've obviously influenced many a recent vegan cookbook author (including, I'm proud to say, yours truly!).  Lord knows how many people they've helped with their web and financial resources.

And while you're at it, check out their newsletter, and pass the link on to someone you know.  This is from two of the original groundbreakers, those who were swimming against society's tide long before many of us had our first tofu burger!  You want to see how far we've come and why? here's one of the reasons: They showed us the true power of the Internet, long before anyone else in the movements!  Explore, learn, enjoy, and marvel at their dedicated and altruistic efforts.  Thank God for all they've done, and I for one, will always be appreciative.  They were a digital oasis in a lonely world at the time, and I'll never forget the comfort I gained from spending time on their website.  Kudos!

"Pac Man" Pizzas!

For fun over the weekend, I made two whole wheat/buckwheat pizza crusted pizzas.  The recipe for the dough is detailed below (it's not gluten-free as is the buckwheat recipe in my book).  The ingredients for each pizza is listed on the main photo (sorry! the "Sorrel, Mint, Chickpea Hummus" recipe is embargoed until published in the upcoming "Vegan Culinary Experience" online magazine).  The "millet cheese-like topping" sauce is a variation from my book (using sunflower seeds instead of cashews).

After sampling each, I noted how much like a popular old video archive game they looked like... hence, "Pac Man" Pizzas!

Remember, the Special Mother's Day Discount for an autographed copy my cookbook, the 1st vegan pizza cookbook, "Heart Healthy Pizza" ends at midnight est. tonight!

 

"WHOLE WHEAT and BUCKWHEAT FLOUR PIZZA CRUST"

"Buckwheat seeds (often referred to as a grain) is most popular in Europe.  A relative of rhubarb, buckwheat has a hardy nutty taste and is often sauteed then cooked with water and other vegetables to make a great stuffy or pilaf. Nutritionally, buckwheat contains all essential amino acids, is rich in iron and zinc, and is a protein-powerhouse with loads of fiber.  Buckwheat adds a nutty flavor to a pizza crust."

INGREDIENTS:
• 1 cup of unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of unbleached whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour
• 1 T. sweetener of choice
• 1 t. salt (optional)
• 1 T. oil (optional)
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups of warm water (as necessary)
• 2 1/4 t. regular yeast (1 packet)

METHOD:
• Bread Machine: add sweetener, oil, and warm water.  Add flours, salt, and yeast. Use "dough/pizza" setting.  As the dough is being mixed, add water in small increments if necessary to get the texture of "an ear lobe" when done kneading.  Let cycle complete (dough will rise).
• By hand: add sweetener, oil, water, and yeast to a bowl, and mix.  Let sit until bubbly.  Slowing add flours, mixing, and adding additional water as needed while kneading (!).  Shape into big ball, put in glass bowl, cover, let rise until roughly doubled in size (60 to 90 minutes).
• Pre-heat oven to 425 to 450 degrees F.
• Split dough in half to make two very thin 12" pizzas, or use for one large 16" pizza.  Shape dough by hand to fit into non-stick pan (or pizza pan) of choice.  Some pans might need a light oiling, some non-stick pans do not.
• Add toppings of choice, bake in oven 15 to 20 minutes until crust is crispy and toppings are browned.

©2013 by Mark Sutton, http://www.hearthealthypizza.com

Bootleg Clips of My Cable Broadcast Debut

They're small (parents took them with smart phones, I haven't seen the full broadcast and won't until the digital version is available late this month), but I strung them together to give some friends, family an idea of how it went.

Great sport, and Jorge Mera did a fine editing job.  Details about this event can be found in my previous post and with the video.

FYI, Mark

"Heart Healthy Pizza" Demo/Interview Being Broadcast this Week

Well, it's happening. The Cable TV demo/interview taping session I blogged about earlier last month, is finally being broadcast.  It'll be in the Fairfax, VA area (ComCast Cable).  Other nearby counties will probably be able to view it as well.  I'm showing start to finish, how to make a plant-based pizza "for the busy professional" in 30 minutes or less (eat your heart out Domino's and Papa John's).
Here's the broadcast information:

"Healthy Food Happy You's" broadcast of Mark's demo of making vegan pizza & interview will be on Fairfax Public Access (FPA) Cable Channel 10 on: Wednesday, May 8th at 9:30 am; Friday, May 10th at 5:30pm; and Sunday, May 12th at 6am.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to be in Fairfax during that period to throw things at the TeeVee, but the digital version of the broadcast will be available later this month, and of course, no matter what the results, will be announced here.

...and if you happen to see it, let me know how it went, will you?  Thanks!

VeggieSue's Review of "Heart Healthy Pizza!"

"While I haven't made that particular pie of his (yet), I have made others, and they beat anything you'll find in the grocer's freezer by miles and are perfectly fine to eat on any plant-based food plan, whether it's Dr. McDougall's, Dr. Fuhrman's or even the more restrictive Dr. Esselstyn's, and everything in-between."

From VeggieSue's Veggie Adventures. I'd gotten lazy and did a web search to find the name of my own video channel (that's what fatigue does to you), and found her short, but cool review of my cookbook!  Sue's also a long-time member of the Fat Free Vegan Yahoo Group, and also, I think, the Eat to Live Yahoo Group.

Thanks, Sue!

Sorrel/Mint Hummus w/Veggies on Wheat/Millet Seed Bread

(Re-posted from April 30th):

So, what did I finally do with the unusual yard-harvested Sorrel & Mint Hummus I posted last entry?  Well, been kicking around a new bread (or pizza dough!) recipe in my head that involves using whole wheat flour and millet seed (millet is not a grain, and I'm not using it as flour herein). But, the quandary was "what" would balance with strong chlorophylly-flavored minty, lemony chickpea hummus?

I literally woke up in bed in the "wee hours" with a flash of solution, it's Middle Easternish!  Cumin and cinnamin... cool... and got to experiment with the tripod and lighting. Here's one of my favorite photos from the two sessions (yup, over a two day period). Recipes will be submitted to the Vegan Culinary Experience magazine for the upcoming "Sandwich" issue! Neat to show that I can do more than pizza in the kitchen. And of course, it's all "no oil."

Heart Healthy "Sorrel & Mint Hummus"

(Re-posted from April 21st):

Sorrel is the rare perennial green, coming back every year in more Northern climes. It's a fav in Europe, usually served as a soup with milk/cream.  Sorrel has a spinach/lemony taste.  A few days ago I picked a bunch of sorrel from the garden as well as mint.  I've only used sorrel previously in salads or on sandwiches. But, in thinking about my next article for "The Vegan Culinary Experience," and the topic will be "sandwiches" I came up with a unique "Sorrel & Mint Hummus" recipe.  I want to show that making pizza isn't all I do...

The lemony sorrel and mint combo, with chickpeas, garlic, and finely ground toasted sesame seeds (thereby no need for the very high fat/oil tahini which is customary), kicked really well together.  If I don't use the recipe for VCE, I'll post it on this blog in mid-May.  One could substitute for the sorrel using raw spinach and probably some additional lemon juice.

Here's a two photo collage of the pre and post results:

Click on to see larger image!