Whole Wheat Spinach Pizza with Four Cheeses...and a few comments on misleading advertising

I just finished eating half of the above pizza (I'll save the other half for tomorrow...gotta love leftover pizza). But before I talk about the pizza I have to mention a few things about the dough (no surprise, right?). If you know me or if you are a a regular reader of this blog then you know that I love to make bread (and I encourage everyone to include it into their daily routine...it is not as difficult as you may think), and I also do not believe carbohydrates make a person fat. I eat some sort of carb--pasta, rice, bread--at virtually every meal and I am well within my proper weight range. But as usual, I'm getting off topic. What I want to talk about is how easy it is to make pizza/bread dough (I made mine then put it in the fridge to ferment while I went to the health club and grocery shopping...when I came home it was ready) and also the few ingredients that go into it. A good dough needs nothing more than four ingredients (click here for a recipe), but I also included a bit of honey and olive oil (click here for a recipe)...and this brings me to the somewhat misleading advertising. As I passed the refrigerated section in the supermarket a pile of this (below) pizza dough caught my eye, mostly because of it's title (and yes, I took pictures of it in the supermarket--I didn't purchase it--and people were looking at me like I was a little crazy...who cares). First look at the title, then look at the ingredients. Whole wheat flour--the only "whole grain" listed--is more than halfway down the ingredient list.

Most of the ingredients listed in that dough are unnecessary...you only need four. The pizza I made tonight (pictured above and below) is not only delicious but also very easy to make...as easy as any other dinner you may make from scratch. And it's super healthy, too...whole grains (for real), tomatoes, spinach, and some cheese. What's not to like? For more explanation on making pizza--with pictures and recipes--click here.

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Captain Hairdo said…
Oh man, now I need to make some pizza! I want to tell you Joe, in all seriousness, your encouragement to make bread got me to do it. Literally the first time I ever made bread, I used your recipe for honey whole wheat bread. My son and I did it together, and we had a wonderful time doing it. The credit is to you, not me- I just followed the recipe- but the bread turned out delicious! We've been making bread together every other weekend (that's when he's with me) for about a year now, and he's always excited for it. It's incredibly gratifying for us both when we break the bread we made together. He also takes some with him to give to his friends and he's always very proud. My friends always want me to make them bread too. Of course I'm happy to do it, but I don't know if they realize how easy it is. Like riding a bike, people think "Oh that's just too complicated and difficult, I'll just drive," I'm sure they think, "Making bread/pizza dough? That's just too complicated and hard, I'll just buy it." If they'd just try it, they'd realize it's easy and fun. And for me, it's a bonding time with my son. Who'd have thought that a 40ish man and a teenage boy could have so much fun and bond so much making bread? So thank you for the encouragement, and the recipe, that made my world a little bit nicer.
May 10, 2011 at 7:26 PM
Joe said…
CH: Thanks so much for your kudos and kind words. When I hear that even one person has been moved to make their own bread it makes it worthwhile for me...but to include your son, that's awesome! Peace.
May 16, 2011 at 8:29 PM
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