Perspective: Pizza without cheese?! No Way?!

I don't know how you view food, and how
you make your choices, but lately I have
been seeing what I can do to make better
ones for me.

I have heard things that say we shouldn't
be eating dairy, that it's not healthy.
I also heard that cheese has some additive
that is addicting.

That last part I can believe, if for no
other reason, my experience with cheese.
It never lasts very long with me. I also
find that I don't feel the greatest after
I have eaten it.

I also heard recently about how MSG
reportedly kills off brain cells. I
don't know if that is true, or not, but
I also know how I seem to be affected
when I use ingredients (like bouillon)
that have MSG*.

So why am I mentioning these two things?

Recently, there was a coming together of
these two pieces when I sought out a
recipe for homemade bouillon. There was
one recipe that I found (that I have yet
to try) that called for Nutritional
Yeast Flakes (that is what is in the
upper left of the picture above).

I had no idea what they were, and went
I went looking, I found out that they
were used in vegetarian dishes, often as
a cheese substitute, since they have a
cheesy flavor.

I was a little hesitant to try them, as
odd as they seemed, but decided it was
worth it. My first use was some mashed
potatoes with spinach. I put a little,
because I didn't want to ruin what I had,
and was pleased with the outcome.

Next was a big test. Pizza. I decided
that if I was going to make such a big
change, then why not go even further?

I decided to make Broccoli Pizza.

I steamed the broccoli, and mixed it
with a little bit of butter, Parmesan
Cheese, and the Yeast Flakes, and then
topped the pizza crust, which had meat
flavored sauce.

The results were amazing. You get the
cheese flavor without the cheese, fat,
or calories.

Any die hard pizza fan may have serious
reservations about these choices, but
someone with an open mind, and a willing-
ness to try it, might be pleasantly
surprised.

The crust I made was the NYC Style
Pizza Crust from my previous blog.

I LOVE cheese...and I don't know that
I will never eat again...but what I do
know is that I will be eating it less.

If you try it, let me know what you
think!

*After seeing this post @LunaJune
forwarded me this article about MSG,
and other things. It's from the
Health Ranger's site (as referenced
in a previous entry).