Salad Pizza

First, I have to thank one of my besties for giving me the basis and idea for this recipe.  I first tried this salad pizza made my Heather when she brought it to a potluck, or to my house... or maybe at hers?  All I know is I've had it a few times and each time I've loved it more.  Since Heather has decided to up and move away on me (so sad), I had to find a way to recreate it, as I was seriously craving it.  The version I made is a little different than Heather's original but the idea is the same... a crispy golden crust with a zesty creamy lebnah spread and tons of crisp yummy chopped veggies.

Tonight's version is made using organic strained yogurt, called lebnah, mixed with some Italian dressing seasoning for the zesty spread but it just as easily could be made vegan by using a tub of vegan tofu cream cheese, either home made or store bought.  Our local bagel shop has a killer vegan cream cheese that my kids love.  It's been so long since I've had dairy (for health reasons) that I decided tonight was the night to indulge.

To begin, I made my favorite whole wheat pizza dough recipe.  I'm hesitant to give my recipe that I use because I totally eyeball it.  Just use your favorite recipe or even a pre-made pizza crust from the store or some whole wheat bread dough that all grocery stores are selling now.  Spread it onto an oiled pizza stone or cookie sheet, prick with a fork and bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Let it cool completely before adding the zesty lebnah, this pizza is meant to be chilled or eaten at room temperature.

The lebnah needs to be started early in the morning because it needs to drain.  Lebnah is a Middle Eastern yogurt cheese and is simply strained yogurt.  To make lebnah,  you take two containers of organic whole milk yogurt, add a dash of salt to both containers, stir and pour them into a bowl lined with cheese cloth.  The cheesecloth needs to be folded so it's at least 4 layers thick.  Then take the ends and gather them together and tie them with a rubber band.  Hang this bag of yogurt from a cubbord knob and place one of the yogurt containers underneath to catch the whey.  I let it hang and drain for about 5 hours and let it reduce by half.  When the yogurt container is full with whey to the tippy top, the yogurt is done draining and will be thick enough.  Remove the lebnah from the cheese cloth and plop it into the other yogurt container and stir.  Take half of  this lebnah, place it in a bowl and add a packet of Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix and mix well.  The remaining lebnah can be stored in the fridge in the yogurt container and eaten as you would cream cheese or plopped on top of berries or granola... it's so yummy!  If you don't want to go through this process of straining your own yogurt to make lebnah, you can just as easily use a small container of sour cream or even cream cheese mixed with the Italian dressing seasoning.  Some stores even sell lebnah already made if you are lucky enough to find it.  It comes in a container like sour cream and says... Lebnah.  lol.

Now to prepare the pizza.  Spread the lebnah/Italian dressing seasoning mixture onto the cooled pizza crust.

Top this with a generous sprinkling of sprouts, top that with mushrooms, shredded carrots, diced red pepper, sliced scallion and parsley and cucumber, or what ever veggies are your favorites.  Cut the pizza into portions with kitchen shears or a pizza cutter... 

NOW ENJOY!