The family recently ordered takeout pizza, and I'd already had the oven on, so I decided to try the Kinnikinnick crust I had in the freezer. I picked this crust from the very good selection at Martindales, our local excellent health food store, based primarily on price. Many of the frozen crusts cost way more than an entire large gluteny pizza, delivered, but I decided I could pony up the $4.50 or so for two personal crusts. One crust, about 6" X 8", has 220 calories, so I decided to cut one in half, dress it in jarred sauce, cheese, green peppers and spinach, and round out the rest of my meal with salad to keep from going too crazy and blowing my calorie goal for the day. I baked it on aluminum foil on a pizza pan in our hinky oven, which had a really long time to pre-heat, since the family's pizza took forever to arrive. I wanted to put mine in the oven at about the same time as everyone else was plating up their food so that I could both a) eat hot food, and b) eat when everyone else was eating.
It was a little hard cutting the frozen crust in half neatly, and a chunk on the half I was going to use broke off. I decided it didn't matter, abutted the two pieces on the pie pan, dressed it, and put it in the oven. It cooked faster than anticipated (note the brown corners), but I didn't burn the bottom. The crust tasted pretty good -- I was both happy and sad that I hadn't made more for myself. It was pretty brittle, and thus failed my bendy crust test. Still, it was better than the Bisquik crust by a long shot. I still have 1 1/2 crusts in the future, but for my next trip to Martindale's, I'll look for an alternate brand for comparison. Here's the GF menu that was right on the table. 5 things I can eat. Count 'em, 5! While in Delaware recently to take advantage of tax-free shopping for the holidays, Jenn found Seasons Pizza, and I was surprised that I hadn't heard of it before, since it's a (small) chain and there's one closer to me that the one we visited on Concord Pike in Wilmington. I asked for the GF menu when we were being seated and was delighted to learn that the menu was right on the table. Just like it's normal or something. GF items were also noted on the regular menu too. Pretty enlightened!
The menu does offer a number of things I can eat, which is terrific, and it gives me plenty of reasons to return to try new things. But, because I'm on the quest for the best local GF pizza, I had to start there. The first thing you'll note from the photos below is my lovely partner Jenn who has a regular veggie pizza. She found this place for us, and a girl could not ask for a better partner in making GF living fun and adventurous rather than a pain in the neck. Next you probably noticed that the GF cheese pizza is served on a disposable aluminum pan, demonstrating Seasons' care in avoiding cross-contamination. The pizza was very good. The sauce was not too sweet, which I like. The crust could have been a little saltier. Or something. But in general the flavor was good and it had enough bendiness to keep me amused. The crust, like every GF crust I've encountered, was thin (and frankly, I always preferred a thin crust pre-celiac, since they tend to be less heavy and oily. Of course, now I'm pining to have the OPTION of having a thicker crust, but that's a different blog post). And some GF crusts are brittle and snap instead of act like a regular pizza in your hand. So bendiness is a quality I seek. This one passed the test with flying colors. I had Jenn try it too, for comparison to the gluteny cousin. She said it wasn't thrilling, but she wouldn't have known it was gluten-free fare. I have to say that I love this place, and I will vote for it for future family dinners for a couple of reasons: a) A variety of GF vegetarian choices that put the merely adequate offerings at Olive Garden to shame, b) warm, family-style atmosphere and plenty of menu items I think the kids will enjoy, and c) GF menus right on the table and GF listings on the regular menu, like they want me to be there and not just that they can accommodate me if they must. Yay Seasons! As a follow-up to my Nutritional Yeast Exposé, I want to report that I've been enjoying it on Beans and Greens. And scrambled eggs. And scrambled eggs with Beans and Greens. Very adventurous, I know. But it's good like this. Go easy on the salt though, the nutritional yeast adds its own sort of salty quality.
And as an aside, take 17 minutes to watch this TedX presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc&sns=fb A physician with MS has made great strides in her recovery from eating very nutrient-dense foods. B-vitamins feature heavily as a desired dietary component. Nutritional yeast has loads of B vitamins. Nuff said. I've previously blogged about Pei Wei and my ability to get a GF meal there. However, on more than one occasion I've found that when the words "gluten-free" come out of my mouth, the counter person's ears hear nothing else. There is nothing on the Pei Wei gluten-free menu other than edamame that is vegetarian. From talking with managers, I know I can get vegetables prepared in water rather than broth and plain rice and have a safe meal. It's important to tell the counter person that I require a gluten free dining experience so that they take my nitpicky order seriously. What has happened on a couple of occasions is the person taking my order hears gluten free, then tries to modify a selection on their GF menu, rather than just putting in my order for water-steamed/sauteed broccoli and peppers with plain brown rice and telling the kitchen to keep it GF. I get overcharged, and on our most recent experience, my partner made it all the way home on a dark and stormy evening (no lie) only to discover that I had a chicken dish with broccoli and red peppers. Fortunately I had red lentil stew leftovers I could eat instead, but still, it was a disappointment. Jenn called and talked to a manager, got a credit on our credit card for the chicken dish, and some sort of in-store credit for the next visit. Jenn said that the manager concurred with our conclusion that the counter person stopped listening at "gluten-free." Hopefully they'll discuss it at their next staff meeting.
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