English Muffin Pizzas


A fairly light thing I like to have for lunch every once in a while:

Ingredients:
-1 English Muffin
-2 Servings (2 oz) of Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese. Use fattier cheese to suit your tastebuds and diet.
-1 Small Red Vine Ripe Tomato, or whatever kind you prefer that would make up like a 1/2 cup diced.

That's it for the ingredients.

Steps:
1. From the thickest part of the tomato top to bottom, cut two super thin slices and put them off to the side for the end.
2. Dice up the rest of the tomato as you please.
3. Do the above while quickly very lightly toasting the muffins so they're not overly doughy.
4. Now lay the sides of the muffin down and throw on the diced tomatoes and diced cheese, already mixed together.
5. Cook on 350 for around 30 minutes. Keep an eye on them until they're all melty and the tomatoes inside are hot. I used a toaster oven so your results may vary.
6. Remove the pizzas and put the two super thin tomato slices on top.
7. Eat.


I'm thinking about putting in some lean ground meat next time with the diced tomatoes, but here's the nutritional info for how I made it this time:


Calories: 221.29
Carbs: 32.91
Fiber: 2.64
Fat: 1.49
Protein: 19.27

Is there a reason you don't put pizza sauce instead of the diced tomatoes?
Lycopene is the red pigment in tomatoes, guava, watermelon, and red grapefruit. It is also a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants are a group of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that help protect the body from the formation of free radicals. Free radicals are substances that cause damage to cells. This damage impairs the immune system, leading to infections, cancer, or degenerative diseases such as heart disease. A German study found that the absorption of lycopene is affected by what form the tomato is in and what is cooked with the tomato. Fresh tomato and tomato juice do not raise the blood lycopene level as high as does tomato sauce with oil cooked in the sauce--such as spaghetti or pizza sauce. Scientists believe that more lycopene is released when the tomato is crushed and cooked to be a sauce or paste. It was thought that fat is needed for lycopene to be absorbed efficiently.
(From Virtual Hospital (http://www.vh.org/adult/patient/cancercenter/cancertips/lycopene.html)

No reason, I just like the taste and filling qualities of freshly diced tomatoes over those of tomato sauce.

If you want to eliminate the english muffin, take a large portobello mushroom, remove the stem and hollow out the black gills. The mushroom cap is the "crust" and is a great reservoir for the toppings. Spritz with a little olive oil, add some salt and pepper or other seasonings and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400F for about 10-12 min, then remove from the oven and add sauce and toppings. I like to add veggie pepperoni and a bit of cheese. Put it back in the oven until the ingredients are heated through and the cheese melts.

Fantastic idea with the mushroom, I'll definitely be trying that.