Topic: Education
This pizza set up looks pretty good, doesn't it? It's even more inviting when you realize you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator right now.
First, remember that you need to get proficient at rolling out your own thin crust pizza from prepared dough you can find in the freezer section of your local grocery or from prepared mixes--or you have to substitute the low carb, high fiber tortillas for your base.
That aside, let's concentrate on the pantry items. As you can see, they're mostly canned items. Why am I excited about using canned veggies? Because some veggies are even healthier for you AFTER the canning process than before, like tomatoes whose phytonutrients are more bioavailable after cooking, than raw.
This pizza uses:
- Pesto sauce, pressure canned in a jar
- Canned black olives, drained and chopped
- Canned, diced tomatoes, drained
The commercial canning process also destroys harmful bacteria. While we certainly wash all of our raw vegetables, there's always some residual bacteria left, the world (and your kitchen counter) isn't sterile. But subsequent appropriate cooking takes care of those bacteria. And your own gut acids and enzymes work on most of the rest. That is, unless you are on certain medications or have an immune deficiency or low white blood cell count--that may compromise those protective mechanisms. Then, you really should be careful about eating anything raw!
But you don't have to worry about compromising any nutritional value in eating commercially canned, organic fruits and vegetables. And, you'll find that you have a large assortment of items available. We're in a rut in the Midwest now--no local fresh veggies or fruit. Everything is imported from southern growing zones. The farther away from home you go, the less traceable the source, in general. Granted, I still marvel at the generally wonderful food safety profile the industry has, but don't discount the canned foods either. It's a good time to explore them until your own garden is sprouting.
