Easy Vegan Pizza

Recently, I was looking through PETA's list of foods that are accidentally vegan, to help a friend with a vegan teenager solve her breakfast problem. This list, updated regularly, is of foods that aren't marketed as vegan, made by people who probably don't know vegans exist---but somehow, these foods are free of animal products. One of them, as of this writing, is Pillsbury's Pizza Crust, found in the refrigerator case with all the bake it yourself cookies and biscuits they manufacture.

A way to cheat through the crust part. Yay!

The vegan cheese I used is home made. It's sort of a ricotta thing that's spreadable when made with soft tofu, and crumbly when made with extra firm. To make yours, you'll need:

• 1 box (12oz) tofu
• 2 TB nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried basil
• salt and pepper to taste

I topped my pizza with veggies and herbs fresh from my garden: eggplant, tomatoes, and basil. I also had half a jar of tomato sauce in the fridge, so I threw that on. Zucchini, peppers, onions, or anything you have a bunch of that needs eating right now will make great toppings. You can put anything on this pizza. Even pineapple---I won't tell.

Slice and enjoy! This pizza serves two really hungry people, or three when served with a side salad. Leftovers store well in the refrigerator overnight.

Like many vegans, I grew up eating meat. Lots of meat. It was a running joke in my family that if there wasn't a slab of meat on the plate at dinnertime, my father would happily chow down the meat-free meal, smile at my mother and say, "That was great, honey. What's for dinner?"

I've been interested for a long time in the way food affects my body. I've tried low-fat, Atkins, and South Beach, and learned from each way of eating as I read through the books and tried the recipes. Along the way, I gave up eating sugar, stopped drinking soda, and reduced my consumption of wheat, because those things were causing me problems.

A few years back, I decided to start growing my own vegetables in my ridiculously large backyard, mostly because raised veggie beds would take up about a third of the yard, and reduce my mowing job. I really like growing things, and I also like to cook, so vegetable gardening seemed a good idea. Apparently, it was, because my garden exploded in vegetables---so many that I was giving away baskets of vegges, because I couldn't eat them fast enough.

So, that's how I became a vegetarian. I grew vegetables. When your fridge is filled with fresh veggies that have to be eaten, it's pretty easy to fall into the habit of not eating meat. Call me the accidental vegetarian.

After eating vegetarian for about a year, I decided to give vegan a try. I wasn't sure I could ever live without cheese, but within three days of ditching the dairy and eggs, I felt so much better that I just never looked back.

I blog about my garden, and occasionally about my vegan kitchen, at Lisa's Garden. Come by and see me!