Vegetable Pizza with Feta Cheese

It's Friday night and it is time for pizza. So, I decided to make a vegetable pizza. It is low in calories and it has good nutrition. I used already sliced crimini mushrooms that have an earthy flavor and firmer texture almost like a meat. Mushrooms are very low in sodium and fat and excellent source of potassium which makes this vegetable heart healthy. I added grape tomatoes and red onion both are rich in antioxidants and they are an anti- inflammatory food that help the immune system fight infection. I used fresh pizza dough from the grocery store to save time in preparing the pizza. The dough needs to be at room temperature before shaping. It will take 2 hours to get to room temperature.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound bag fresh pizza dough
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 pound fresh crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
6 fresh basil leaves, torn
salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces feta cheese, cubed

Directions:

Preheat oven 475 degrees. Take a cookie sheet and spread 1 tablespoon of yellow cornmeal on sheet to prevent the pizza from sticking.

In a medium non-stick pan, on medium heat put oil in pan and saute onions about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and salt, pepper, thyme and cook about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, spinach, basil, and salt and pepper and cook about 3 minutes. Set aside.

On a floured surface, with a rolling pin roll dough out until all the air bubbles are out and it does not have to be perfectly round. My dough ended up kind of oval shape. Put dough on prepared cookie sheet and drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and take a pastry brush and brush the oil all over the dough. The oil will prevent the dough from getting soggy from the vegetables. Pour the vegetable mixture on top of the dough and spread it out with a spoon. Sprinkle the feta cubes all over the vegetables.

Bake 475 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into desired pieces. Enjoy!