Mediterranean Salad Pizza

This cold veggie-topped whole grain pizza ensemble is the epitome of the Mediterranean lifestyle – simple, colorful, and full of flavor.

It’s the perfect pizza to have on a hot summer’s night when you just want something cool, refreshing, and nourishing. In fact, you can make the pizza crust and salad topping ahead of time, making this pizza ideal for picnics, backyard gatherings and pool parties since it is served cold. Eating fresh and delicious food with friends and family – it’s what summers are all about. Good wholesome food. Oh, and eating that good wholesome food with your friends and family, of course.

There are four distinct aspects of this Mediterranean Salad Pizza. First, there is the crust. Second, you need tasty hummus. Third, you’ve got ample fresh vegetables to place on top of your hummus. Fourth, you’ll need delicious kalamata olives. And finally, you need good tasting parmesan-style cheese shreds – I like Follow Your Heart parmesan-style cheese shreds because they taste and look great.

Let’s first chat about the dough since it is the first component of this pizza (and my favorite part of any pizza). We used to order pizza at several different restaurants because we simply adore yummy pizza. But now that we are trying to consume less salt and oil, we tend to make a lot of our own breads, including pizza crust. If you’d like to read more about the potential effects of excess sodium consumption and why we avoid it, go ahead and click here. I fully explain our story.

My pizza dough recipe is perfect for this mediterranean salad pizza. In fact, it’s my go-to pizza crust. Using only three ingredients, including cold water, it’s simple, reliable, tasty, and healthy. And my pizza dough creates all the right components of a good pizza crust – a soft and chewy inside and a nice crisp crust – and no salt or oil. The trick is using a high temperature plus a pizza stone that retains the heat when you open the door to bake the crust. Click here for the recipe.

Now I must warn you that a peculiar phenomena occurs when you bake pizza dough without any toppings. The disc of dough can literally blow up like a balloon when there isn’t anything to weigh it down. It’s expected and perfectly normal. In fact, this is precisely how the pocket of pita bread is formed.

Science is so cool!

But since we’re not making pita bread, you’ll need to prick the pizza dough with a fork right before baking it in the oven or grill. And you may need to prick it and deflate it by pressing the baked pizza crust down lightly to help release some of that trapped air after you take it out of the oven. You may consider this tough love; but I assure you, this pizza crust tastes great and loses nothing by temporarily becoming a balloon. Besides, you can not tell it was ever a balloon when its covered with your delicious veggie salad toppings. Once it’s deflated, you’ve got a flavorful crust ready to dress with the freshest vegetables.

Now it’s time to grab your hummus. You can use any hummus you like – commercial or homemade. You can use it with the traditional chickpea or other variety, including cauliflower. There are so many different types of hummus options available today. I found an olive tapenade hummus and thought it would be ideal with a mediterranean salad pizza – and I was right! It’s perfect. You can always add some finely diced olives to your hummus to infuse it with that distinctly olive flavor, if you’d like. It’s delicious on carrots and on this pizza.

Check out these vegetables! They are bursting with color and flavor and just need to be devoured. I love eating rainbow foods and this pizza certainly delivers. (pun intended). It truly is reminiscent of the flavors and colors of the Mediterranean lifestyle. And like all things in the Med, it is simple and easy to make. I chose the classic summer favorites for this recipe; but feel free to add or omit any, based on whatever you prefer or have on hand. For instance, our daughter hates tomatoes, so she would not want this pizza if it were topped with tomatoes. This pizza (and most pizza) is fairly flexible and accommodating. You are in charge of what you put on your pizza. However, I highly recommend you try it this way at least once. It’s delicious.

Once you have your pizza dough, grab your favorite hummus and cheese. We are ready to make some incredible Mediterranean Salad Pizza. Let’s get that oven or grill fired up!

Ingredients

• 1 whole grain pizza dough recipe
• 1/2 cup hummus
• 1 cup salad greens, chopped
• 8-10 cherry tomatoes, sliced in quarters
• 1/2 cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1-2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup roasted bell peppers, sliced
• 10 kalamata olives, sliced or chopped
• garlic powder to taste
• Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence
• vegan parmesan-style cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat oven or grill to 550 degrees or as hot as your oven can go.
2. Divide pizza dough in half.
3. Roll out dough into desired shape and pierce all over with a fork.
4. Place on a hot pizza stone in your oven or grill for 4-6 minutes, until golden brown.
5. Pierce a few fork holes and deflate.
6. On each pizza, smear about half of the hummus in an even layer on top of your cooked crust.
7. Sprinkle generously with salad greens, veggies, tomatoes, olives, and cheese.
8. Dust with garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
9. Repeat the process with the second pizza dough.
10. If you’re not serving immediately, wait until just before serving to top with hummus and toppings.

Notes

If your pizza dough disc inflates like a balloon in the oven, simply prick again and press down lightly to help release some of that trapped air. Once it’s deflated, you’re good to go.

It is so much easier to cut the pizza right after you put the hummus layer on. Trust me. Keep all of the pieces together and sprinkle your toppings over the whole thing. Then you can easily take whichever pieces you want.

To print or save this recipe, click on the pdf below: