Hashbrown Pizza Crust

I made this hashbrown crust into a pizza with Canadian bacon, fresh mozzarella, fresh steamed spinach, and topped it with oregano when it came out of the oven. The real reason I think I like this recipe for a gluten free crust? IT HOLDS UP WELL ENOUGH TO PICK UP!

HASHBROWN PIZZA CRUST

1lb frozen shredded hashbrowns, thawed

4 eggs

1/2 cup shredded cheese

 (I used shredded sharp cheddar since I didn’t have mozzarella, and it worked great)

Set your frozen hashbrowns out to thaw an hour or two beforehand.

Preheat your oven to 400.  Beat four eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the thawed hashbrowns and 1/2 C cheese. Mix well.

Form into a crust with your hands on parchment paper (do NOT forget the parchment paper, it sticks terribly otherwise!) on top of a pizza stone or baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

Top with your favorite toppings, and bake again until the cheese is melted. Cut and serve hot.

Servings: 6

Spinach with Cannellini Beans

Want a quick healthy side dish? This one is done in the time it takes to steam the spinach in the microwave!

SPINACH WITH CANNELLINI BEANS

40 oz fresh spinach

1 16-oz can cannellini beans, drained

Olive oil

Fresh herbs (I used parsley and a bit of chives)

Fresh Parmesan 

Steam the spinach in the microwave. I steam it in a tightly covered bowl, with a little bit of water in the bottom, in batches until it is all done. Spinach cooks down quite a bit.

Add the drained cannellini beans, a few tablespoons of olive oil (I didn’t measure, but I think I used about three), whatever fresh herbs you have on hand, and a handful of fresh Parmesan (to taste). 

Serve hot.

Quinoa with Mozzarella, Snow Peas, and Cherry Tomatoes

Since this is prepared ahead of time and served chilled, it is EXCELLENT for lunches! I’m preparing on the weekend, portioning out, and chilling in individual tupperwares for the week. 

Start with 2 cups of Basic Quinoa:

Instapot Quinoa if you have an Instapot

Or Basic Quinoa here if you want to do it on the stove.

Once you’ve got your quinoa going, I’m adding some frozen chopped spinach to mine to cut the calories and up the nutrients a bit. I’m cooking two 12oz bags of frozen chopped spinach in the microwave.

Then I’m getting out my snow peas, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.

Slice your snow peas on the diagonal, and I’m sticking mine in the microwave for a couple minutes. You can use them raw if you prefer!

My super-cool yellow, red, and purple cherry tomatoes are just getting halved, and then the mozzarella log is getting sliced into bite-sized pieces.

Are those not the BEST tomatoes? Splurge on yourselves sometimes!

Mix your dressing ingredients together, and whisk well.

When the quinoa is done, let it sit 5-10 minutes, fluff with a fork, then mix all ingredients together. Drizzle dressing over it and stir well.

Refrigerate and serve cold.

QUINOA WITH MOZZARELLA, SNOW PEAS, AND CHERRY TOMATOES

2 cups dried quinoa, prepared

2 12oz bags frozen chopped spinach

8oz snow peas

1 pint cherry tomatoes

8oz fresh mozzarella 

Dressing ingredients:

1/4 C lemon juice

2 T Dijon mustard

2 T olive oil

3/4 t sea salt

1/4 t freshly ground pepper

Cook quinoa: Basic Quinoa is the link for stove top quinoa, and Instapot Quinoa for instapot. I prefer Instapot, myself, because it can’t boil over.

Cook spinach according to package directions. Cut snow peas on the diagonal; microwave 2 minutes. Halve cherry tomatoes and slice mozzarella into bite sized pieces.

Mix dressing ingredients together and whisk well.

When quinoa is done, let sit 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork. Combine quinoa, spinach, snow peas, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Drizzle dressing over quinoa salad and mix well.

Serve chilled.

Servings: 7

Calories per serving: 325