I am trying grain-free at the moment – paleo diet style. You might ask why I am doing first sugar-free and now grain-free. Well, I am trying various different options in an attempt to eliminate certain issues I have been having for years. Probably since I was born actually. When you know no different, it takes a while to click that perhaps this is not the way it should be. I won’t go into unnecessary details but I will tell you that it got a lot worse six years when my father died and I took on a very stressful job. Until then, I had coped but now it was painful and limiting. I tried seeing doctors but that can be a useless path to take if you don’t have a broken bone which is easy to diagnose so I eventually gave up on that. I then tried to analyse the situation and narrow down the triggers, but it was too complex and I was too busy to spend the time needed to do the job properly. So on it went with no relief.
A little over a year ago, I finally left that stressful job and started a new one. There was immediate relief with a few flare ups. Now that I have the head space, I can try again to work out what is wrong. Hence the experimenting. I have been sugar-free for several weeks, with a very few slip ups but nothing much has changed so about two weeks ago, I started on grain-free. I am being very rigid with this despite the difficulties inherent in such a choice. My last post was of three grain-loaded dinners I made for the family. They have no such problems and my son and my husband need the grains to survive, both being very active. With each of those meals, I had to remove the grain element and eat what was left, which turned out to be plenty.
Hence this pizza with a non-grain base.
Unfortunately, Christmas is around the corner with all it’s temptations but I will try to be true.
This is not a low Fodmap recipe.
- 1 small cauliflower
- 1.5 cups almond meal
- 2 eggs
- zest of 1 lemon
- a few sprigs of rosemary, chopped finely
- ⅓ cup Parmesan, grated
- salt & pepper
- 100g smoked salmon
- 100g feta, diced
- 100g cottage cheese
- 1 avocado, diced
- ½ cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
- 1 big roasted & skinned pepper, chopped
- ½ cup toasted pinenuts
- Olive oil
- ½ cup Edam cheese
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350²F.
- Place two pizza stones in the oven.
- Place the cauliflower in the food processor and whiz until it is in small pieces.
- Tip into a bowl and add all other base ingredients.
- Mix well and place half the mixture onto a sheet of baking paper and spread out into a thin circle.
- Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
- Place these onto the pizza stones in the oven.
- Bake about 30 minutes until browned and crisp.
- Remove from the oven and add the toppings. (I placed the red peppers on 1 pizza and the tomatoes on the other).
- Sprinkle lastly with the cheese and drizzle over a little olive oil.
- Place back into the oven and heat until the toppings are hot and the cheese melted.
This looks like a great pizza and it doesn’t look like it’s missing that grainy ingredient either. I’ve never heard of making a pizza base out of cauliflower before but I’m sure it’s a lot better for you! I see a naturopath who strongly suggests a dairy-free and gluten-free diet although he does allow spelt. He says gluten and dairy and refined sugars are triggers for many of the debilitating conditions we have today. Good on you for trying to do something about your health and all the best for getting through the Christmas season – it’s not easy! xx
Thanks, Charlie. There are quite a few grains which are gluten-free but I thought it would better to remove all grain and, if I felt better, then I could add them one at a time to see which are causing problems.
Suzanne
Love your pizza & best of luck to you on your food journey 🙂
Thanks, CJ.
Suzanne
This pizza base looks wonderful! It looks delicious and crispy. I commend you for trying these various diets, I always say I will then I get a week or so into it and switch back.
I am going to try to stick to it because I think it can take weeks to feel any difference. It’s not immediate unfortunately.
Suzanne
That take some determination and courage Suzanne. Good luck with Christmas. I am sure you’ll think up some brilliant substitutes (although good luck with talking the boys into it!)
Adriano and Dario are continuing to eat normally. I just make dishes where it is easy to remove the grain for me. It takes some thinking though. Christmas day will be a challenge.
Suzanne
How ingenious to use cauliflower in your pizza base! This sounds like a wonderful idea for those avoiding grains.
At least this way you don’t feel like you are missing out.
Suzanne
You made the toppings so good and I have to say that I love the combo. Adding cauliflower in the base is a first for me and I think you did a wonderful job in making this grain-free pizza look and sound delectable. Good luck in your new diet. It needs perseverance but I am sure you will be able to do it.
Thanks, Rowena. Christmas day is the issue but I can choose salad,vegetables and the meats without any issues. No plum pudding or Christmas cake though.
Suzanne
Since I have absolutely no food allergies bar durian [yep, the SE Asian stinky fruit 🙂 !] I have for long restricted most sugars but certainly no healthy grains. Love your pizza tho’ – actually the topping appeals to me! And since I eat a lot of cauli, want to see how that base turns out: so thank you for your homework! [Oh, with the last post ere Yule into my community y’day pm, was thrilled certain ‘unpromised’ parcels actually arrived! Amongst them Jamie Oliver’s ’15 minutes’! Sat up half the night reading! Absolutely love it!!!!! Now, I do not normally use quick rice/polenta [but there is oft some ‘proper’ cooked in the fridge!] or stock cubes [but you may have some of the real ones in the freezer!], but the meals truly are what you and I would be thrilled to have with a few glasses of vino any night! Good buy!!!!] – (OK, Poppy, Daisy, Petal and Buddy to whom he fondly dedicates the volume . . . hmmm!)
Durian sure stinks – had a whiff of it in Vietnam and never want to meet it again.
I do use the fast polenta because otherwise it would just take too long to get dinner ready after work when you can’t leave the pot for half an hour or so.
I really must get my hands on Jamie’s latest book – maybe someone will think of it at Christmas.
Suzanne
I’m trying to use more traditional grains like spelt, rye and buckwheat, I’m certain they are better for you than full refined flowers. Have a wonderful Christmas. Alli x
I’m sure they are too, Alli. I think I will probably be able to reintroduce some grain at a certain point and will be leaning towards those ones. Merry Christmas to you too.
Suzanne
I truly hope that you succeed in your new diet plan, it is not easy and I wish you luck! Now this pizza looks great, I love cauliflower but never thought using it in pizza dough base. Very unique and delicious by the way.
Wishing you and yours very happy Holidays!
Thanks, Sandra. Happy holidays to you too.
Suzanne
I hope the gluten free diet helps you. I know people who swear by it. I don’t know your issues, but an awful lot of people seem to have problems with tomatoes and peppers (I’m glad that’s not me; I couldn’t live without them!). Anyway, really nice pizza. I’ve heard of making pizza crust with cauliflower, but haven’t gotten around to it – it sounds like a great idea. Thanks for this. And I hope you and yours have a terrific holiday.
Thanks, John. I hope it helps too. And I sure hope that I am not allergic to peppers and tomatoes. Tomatoes are a staple of my diet and a big favourite. Merry Christmas to you too.
Suzanne
Suzanne, this looks wonderful. I particularly like the combination of Salmon and feta cheese to be very interesting especially with this cauliflower crust! Happy Holidays.
The combination was good for me but my son said the feta was too strong with the salmon so it could go either way.
Suzanne
Suzanne, good on you to take this path! Good luck and hope you find comfort in some of the lifestyle changes you’ve done. I’ve heard so many benefits on going gluten-free: from losing weight to getting better moods to clearing up skin and hormone regulation. Because wheat and refined sugar are so highly processed now, people develop allergies and adverse reaction to GMO’s and fructose, etc. I sincerely hope you find relief. I know I should be going down that path as well. Maybe for the New Year’s, that’s going to be a resolution!
I also keep reading about the numerous health benefits of going gluten-free in particular but I am trying to avoid as many processed foods as possible as well. Let me know how the New Year’s resolution goes.
Suzanne
Wow, your ingredients for the pizza base is so clever!! I hope you will be able to find out what the cause of this is! I had terrible health issues in a previous job, but once I changed jobs it disappered completely and I think mine was just stress related!
It’s amazing what stress does to the body and yet so many people stay in stressful situations for years when a different choice is possible. I certainly stayed too long in my last job.
Suzanne
Good luck with your food trials Suzanne. I’ve been seeing these cauliflower pizza bases popping up all over blog-land. They really do look yummy xx
Thanks, Emma. I get inspiration from your blog.
Pizza looks lovely! Good luck on your journey! I’m on a 3 month experimental GF journey of my own. Eight days down!
That’s great you are giving GF a try. Hopefully you see good benefits from doing it. I have plenty of gluten-free recipes for you to try here. Good luck.
I ran across your blog from a link on the Orgasmic Chef. Her mention of your pizza got me curious. It looks delicious, and perfect for my gluten free daughter.
Welcome to my blog, Kristi. All recipes here from about four months ago onwards are gluten-free. It’s amazing how little really has to change when baking. Once you have a great gluten-free flour mix, you can make most things. I hope your daughter is doing well on the diet.
In this case you want to first eliminate all gluten products from your home,
along with any products that may have been contaminated such as a peanut butter jar that
has been eaten out of with a knife that you had also used to cut a gluten product, such as a
bagel or a cake. The taste buds of these kids have become very sophisticated so
that school dining halls go to the extent of hiring chefs, dieticians
and nutritionists to ensure not only to ensure the safety
of the foods they serve but meet these students fancies as
well. Hence, gluten-free food is showing remarkable advantages.
Thanks for the advice, Peter.