Low Carb Recipe: Pizza!

As I've said several times here, I'm on the Atkins Diet (well, a slight variation), and it's working very well. Even with a four-day "cheat" window for my trip home for Thanksgiving, the low-carb diet, along with regular exercise has led to a 30-pound weight loss. But it isn't easy, don't let anybody tell you it's easy. It isn't because you get hungry, it's because you get bored. So this time around, I'm trying new things and new combinations of things, to make the diet fun.

I'd already come up with my own low-carbohydrate pizza, which you can find here. And that particular recipe is really good, no lie. But only if you use Mission brand white tortillas. All the others I've tried are awful. Annnyway, I wanted a full-size pizza. I knew there had to be a way.

Click to embiggen

Some of the things you can use as flour substitutes are: flaxseed meal, almond flour, whey protein powder and soy flour, used in various combinations. Flax is the coolest, because it a) has as much fiber as it has carbs, which cancel each other out, and b) it has a benign, not unpleasant taste. The same cannot be said of soy flour, which I try to avoid. So for my first try at a full-size pizza, I decided to go for flax. The result can be seen in the picture, and as you can see, I can make a mean pizza. But how does it taste?

Great. I had three slices! Nobody would eat a flax-crust pizza, and not know something was different. But it's a passable substrate for my wonderful toppings. The only problem is, it's not particularly sturdy. You can pick up a slice, but it would likely crumble as you eat it. So, I'm on a quest for a stiffer crust. Whether that means adding something (xanthan gum?), or an entirely different recipe, I don't know. Perhaps a little garlic and Parmesan cheese in the batter would be good too. Anyway, if you're on Atkins, and you're bored, this isn't a bad change of pace.

I can't really give a carb count here. The recipe includes one, but I don't buy it. Pizza sauce (Ragu or store brands) has a few carbs in it, and you can compare for the lowest, but you don't need much really. The crust has virtually no net carbs in it, according to my flaxseed meal's nutritional information. Meats have nothing. Cheese has a little, but not too much. Just to be safe, be really good all day, and then use this to round out your carbs for the day!

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 C flax seed meal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• Sweetener to equal about 1 Tablespoon of sugar
• 3 Tablespoons of oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 C water

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 F.

1. Mix dry ingredients together.
2. Add wet ingredients, and mix very well.
3. Let sit for about 5 minutes to thicken.
4. Spread on pan (I put it on a silicon mat or greased parchment paper).
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes until cooked through, then add toppings* and cook until they are done.

Nutritional Analysis: Whole crust has 7 grams of effective carbohydrate, plus 52 grams fiber, 47 grams protein, 130 grams healthy fat, and 1525 calories.

SOURCE: About.com

*My toppings included Kroger pizza sauce (not too much, just enough to spread around), pepperoni (two layers!), plenty of shredded mozzarella, a little shredded sharp cheddar, some shredded ham, crumbled bacon and more pepperoncini slices. My cook time after adding the toppings was about 15 minutes, with the convection on.