VLGL pizza with kale-walnut pesto

If thy food be thy medicine, thy pizza be thy Xanax ~ my husband

While many foods claim to be "comfort foods," none can compare to the glory that is a crusty, gooey, savory PIZZA.

Sadly, most pizza crusts -- even "whole grain" or "gluten free" pizza crusts -- are very high-glycemic. This effect can be mitigated somewhat (though not adequately by someone seeking low glycemic load foods) by choosing a thin crust and piling on extremely protein- and fiber-rich toppings. This is little comfort for someone whose favorite part of a pizza is a very thick crust; until I began practicing VLGL, my go-to pizza was a local joint's "double dough" crust with vegan cheese.

...however, after some experimenting, tweaking, and failures (I'm looking at you, horrifying "paleo" almond flour crust), I found my pizza-crust savior in the form of chickpea flour -- a magical ingredient in many VLGL creations, such as my chickpea-flour omelettes. By employing certain technique, usually-hefty besan can rise into a pizza crust that is sturdy enough for even the most generous toppings, fluffy on the inside, and toothsome on the outside.

While I usually make my VLGL pizza simply with chunky tomato sauce, vegan cheese, fresh basil, and chili peppers, I spiced it up this day with homemade kale-walnut pesto, which is packed with protein, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and antioxidants. Perhaps most importantly, it is delicious.

While homemade nut-based cheese makes for the tastiest (and often the healthiest) topping option, I kept it easy-breezy here with Follow Your Heart parmesan-style shreds. This is the first plant-based parmesan "cheese" that I have ever snacked on straight out of the container, just as I once and often snacked on cow's milk parmesan. 

Despite their humble reputations, legumes, leaves, and nuts truly carry so much soul-comforting culinary potential.

☼ VLGL