Thanks to everyone who entered the Trading Up Downtown Recipe Contest! I received 10 wonderful entries– all of which sounded delicious and included a number of great trade ups!
In the coming weeks, I will feature each of the Trade Up Recipes that I received, so you can also enjoy these tasty recipes and fabulous ingredient trade ups. So, without further ado, the winning recipe is Carolyn’s Veggie Pizzas!!! She traded up A TON of ingredients to make her homemade pizza an even more nutritious meal!
Homemade Veggie Pizzas
Carolyn has been married for almost 15 years and she is the mother to three young boys, twins, ages 8, and a 6-year-old. Carolyn constantly tries to feed her family healthy, balanced meals. She writes:
With all these boys in our home, food goes fast, and I am constantly seeking to find innovative, new ways to be creative in the kitchen while being healthy and fun at the same time. In addition to being mom, I work part-time at several jobs, including freelance writing for a local magazine, marketing consulting, and at my church in children’s ministries. I love running, reading, writing, spending time with friends and family, and delicious desserts! I completed my first half marathon late last year and am training to complete a mini-triathlon in April 2010.
As for her Veggie Pizza recipe, Carolyn says:
We have made these pizzas tons of times at our house and my husband and three boys love them! They’re healthy and great for Friday night movie nights!!
Ingredients:
- Boboli Original Pizza Crust (NuVal score: 5) TRADED UP to HyVee Whole Wheat Tortillas (NuVal score: 24) (wet them and toast them until crisp, then add toppings)
- Ragu pizza sauce (NuVal score: 53) TRADED UP to homemade pizza sauce made with Sclafani crushed tomatoes (NuVal score: 64), Goya tomato paste (NuVal score: 88), onion (NuVal score: 93), garlic (NuVal score: 96), fresh basil, dried oregano, little water, 1 tsp honey. Cook for an hour on the stove ~ easy and delicious
- Sliced pepperoni (NuVal score: 6) TRADED UP to chopped onions (NuVal score: 93), fresh spinach (NuVal score: 100), Dole pineapple chunks in its own juice (NuVal score: 25), chopped green pepper (NuVal score: 94) and red pepper (NuVal score: 96), sliced tomatoes (96).
- Kraft Part-Skim Mozzarella cheese (NuVal score: 18) TRADED UP to Kraft Reduced Fat Mozzarella cheese (23)
Directions:
- Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350*F. Spray baking dish with non-stick spray or olive oil spray.
- Wet the wheat tortilla and then cook in a toaster oven or regular oven at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes until crisp.
- Sauce: combine crushed tomato, tomato paste, and the other ingredients, and simmer on the stove for an hour. (This makes a ton of sauce! So, I usually freeze the remaining and take out when I need it.)
- Spread sauce on each crisp tortilla.
- Add fresh toppings.
- Spread reduced fat mozzarella cheese on each tortilla.
- Return each tortilla to the toaster oven or regular oven to melt the cheese and heat entire dish (5 minutes).
- Enjoy! I pair it with a side of steamed broccoli (100) or a huge salad!
Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the 
Wow so many great trade ups! I love using tortillas as pizza crust, my favorite alternative crust is whole wheat naan now.