Make: Blue Cheese, Bacon and Spinach Salad Pizza

Fall is here—officially so next Sunday, in fact—and while I love this season, I still want to hold on to the last bit of summer when it comes to my produce choices. Since cherry tomatoes, fresh greens and fragrant chives are still brightening up my Saturday morning walk through the West Chester Grower’s Market, I decided I would enjoy them right up to the bitter end with one of my favorite indulgences: pizza.

Let me ask you a question, healthy Philly folks: Do you pair your pizza with a salad to lessen the cheesy, greasy, mouth-watering guilt? I do. I feel like if I eat a giant plate of salad I’ll only want two slices instead of four. But what usually happens is I still eat four and feel bloated from all the greens. Sigh.

That’s how I came up with this idea: putting my salad on my pizza and enjoyed the best of both worlds! In other words, the crispy, chewy pizza crust acts as a salad vehicle—no fork required. If you don’t have a pizza stone I’d suggest you make the purchase. Easy to store, fairly inexpensive and worth every penny, they ensure a crispy crust, which is paramount for this pizza.

Blue Cheese and Spinach Salad Pizza
Serves eight

1 lb whole wheat dough*
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ c. crumbled blue cheese, divided
¼ c. snipped chives
1 c. cherry tomatoes
Half a shallot, or 2 tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. honey
½ c. frozen soy beans (edamame), thawed
3 slices turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
3 c. baby spinach leaves

*To make whole-wheat dough: 2/3 c. warm water, 1 tsp. yeast, 1 tsp. sugar. 1 c. whole wheat flour, 1 c. all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt. Stir water, yeast and sugar together. Let sit five minutes. Stir in flours and salt and knead for 10 minutes. Let sit, covered in a greased bowl, for 1 hour.

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees, and if you have a pizza stone, preheat it in oven. Ideally, stone should preheat no less than 20 minutes in a hot oven.
2. Roll out dough to a 14-inch round on parchment paper or lightly floured countertop; spread oil across surface and top with ¼ c. of the cheese (reserving ¼ cup for salad) and chives. Bake for 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, stir tomatoes, shallot, vinegar, mustard and honey together in a large bowl and set aside.
4. Right before pizza is done, add soy beans, chopped bacon and spinach to dressing and toss to combine.
5. When pizza crust is cooked top with salad and serve.

Per slice: 193 calories, 5.3 fat grams (including 1.9 grams saturated fat), 10 milligrams cholesterol, 336 milligrams sodium, 27.9 grams carbs, 1.8 grams dietary fiber, 2.2 grams sugar, 7.9 grams protein.

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Becca Boyd is a wife and mom who creates healthy and delicious recipes in her West Chester kitchen. She blogs about them on her website, Home Beccanomics.