Greek Veggie Pizza

Winner, winner, Greek dinner. Ok, this isn’t Vegas, but I feel like I won the jackpot with meal! Slices of warm toasted focaccia topped with creamy hummus, succulent sautéed veggies and feta cheese. It’s fresh and full of flavor!

The eggplant is absolutely divine and adds a great meaty texture to the dish similar to that of portabella mushrooms. I know most people shy away from cooking with it, but I promise it’s actually simple to prepare. It’s 3 minutes of work and 30 minutes of just waiting, which you can totally use to make the hummus. Now clearly, you could just leave out the eggplant and double the zucchini, but believe me it’s worth it!

As for what you are getting on the nutrition front:

The hummus is packed with fiber thanks to the chickpeas, which regulates blood sugar, aids in digestion, allows your intestines to absorb more nutrients from foods and lowers levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides. The beans also offer a good amount of protein from the chickpeas. Read more about benefits of fiber here.

With zucchini you are getting a great source of vitamin A & C with only 30 calories a cup! Great for weight management. The red bell pepper gives you huge amounts of vitamin C as well as A and E. Eggplant is also very low in calories and the dark skin contains phytonutrients, such as caffeic, chlorogenic acid and flavonoids like nasunin. Nasunin is a powerful antioxidant that protects cells membranes from damage. For more on eggplant nutrition, creat out this link. 

Greek Veggie Pizza 

Serves 4.    |    Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients:

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1-2 T. olive oil
1 large zucchini, diced
1 large eggplant (preparation tips below)
1 red pepper, finely diced
1-2 cloves garlic
¼ cup green olives (optional)
1-2 pepperoncini peppers (optional)
1 T. Balsamic vinegar
90 grams (3 oz.) feta cheese
Salt & pepper (to taste)
Hummus (click here for my recipe)
Focaccia or pita bread
Garnish: Lemon and fresh basil

Directions:

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Important: If you plan to make hummus as well, start preparing the eggplant first to minimize waiting time. Preparing eggplant is simple and doesn’t take much effort at all, but it does take time.

Eggplant preparation: Slice the eggplant into thick rounds (about ½ inch). Take a casserole dish, salt the bottom and place rounds in, heavily salt the eggplant from the other side. Don’t worry, we will wash the salt off again so be generous with. It doesn’t need to be crusted in salt, just more than you would want to eat. Make as many layers of the salted eggplant as necessary. Let the eggplant sit for 30 to 40 minutes or until it gives off a decent amount of moisture and becomes soft and less spongy. The salt also pulls out some of the bitterness of eggplants so do not be alarmed if the liquid is a brown color. Rinse and pat dry.


1.  Chopped the eggplant. In a nonstick pan on medium heat, add olive oil and sauté the eggplant, zucchini and red peppers until they are all soft about 4 minutes. Add crushed garlic, peppers and vinegar and cook for an addition minute. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. 

2.  Thinly slice the focaccia (1/2-inch to ¾-inch thick) and toast it 8I got 3 layers out of my loaf). Cover bread with hummus, top with veggies and crumbled feta. Garnish with lemon slice and fresh basil.