Canadian Bacon Pizza With Lots of Veggies and Three Cheeses

Like most Americans, I love pizza. Unfortunately, pizza can be high in fat and salt, not a match for someone like me who is trying to lose weight. I wanted pizza for dinner, but a healthier version of it. When I searched the refrigerator I found a new box of mushrooms, a whole green pepper, half a red pepper, and a carton of mixed cheese.
"These will make a great pizza!" I exclaimed.

For many American families pizza is a quick, tasty meal, something everyone in the family enjoys. According to the Home Pizza Chef website, Americans eat about 350 slices of pizza a second. Wow! Seventeen percent of all the restaurants in the US are pizza restaurants. At least once a month, 93% of Americans have pizza. And this won't surprise you: Women are twice as likely to order vegetarian toppings.

I already had a thin crust cheese pizza in the freezer. It was the store brand and, though the carton said cheese, I knew there was little cheese on it. To lower the fat content, I decided to make a pizza that was mostly vegetables, change the cheese, and top it with fresh basil.

Canadian bacon would be the meat because it has virtually no fat and lots of flavor. I drizzled the rim of the pie with olive oil to prevent it from burning.
I had mixed cheese, Mozzarella, Romano and Asiago, on hand so I used it. The cheese came from Trader Joe's. If your town doesn't have a branch of this store, you can combine the various cheeses yourself.

Thin crust pizza cooks very quickly, so keep your eyes on it. As soon as you start to smell the pizza it is almost done. Though the directions say to top the warm pizza with fresh basil leaves, this isn't necessary.
 It's a nice touch, however. My husband and I really enjoyed this pizza. It was so good I decided to share the recipe with you. Since there are only two of us, we ate half, and had half a pizza left, which I refrigerated for lunch.
Call the kids, for they are going to love this pizza.
Ingredients
1 thin crust frozen pizza with cheese
1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (about five)
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/2 cup cup diced red pepper
3-4 slices thick Canadian bacon, chopped
1 cup mixed Mozzarella, Romano, and Asiago cheese
Italian oregano to taste
2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
Fresh basil
Method
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Coat the edges of pizza pan with non-stick spray. 
 Set the crust on the pan and start layering vegetables, with the mushrooms first, then the red and green peppers, and Canadian bacon. 
 Sprinkle mixed cheese over top of the pizza. 
Sprinkle top with oregano.
 Drizzle olive oil around the rim of the pizza and a little on top. 
Bake until the edges start to brown, about 15-20 minutes. 
Scatter fresh basil leaves on top of warm pizza. Makes four servings.

Author : Harriet Hogdon