by Ogelthorpe Q. Sighvatson

Created on: April 30, 2009

Pizza is one of the great convenience foods. It also has the potential to be among the most healthy foods available in our modern take-out culture. Let us consider the basic components of pizza: Bread, Tomatoes, Cheese, Toppings. Grains. Produce. Protein. At its most fundamental, pizza encapsulates our basic nutritional needs. Now let us consider the indignities visited upon pizza over the years: cheese stuffed and butter coated crusts, increasingly hyperbolic meat toppings (I'm looking at you, MeatLover's (tm)), ranch dipping sauce for the crust, a layer of pepperoni buried in the crust and (of course) the deep fried pizza.

Fear not, friends! There are ways to reclaim and even enhance the fundamental wholesomeness of this beloved culinary institution. I will say from the start, that the best way to make pizza a healthy meal start in the making of the pie itself. There is much to be gained from making your own pizza, or seeking out a local pizzeria with healthy tendencies.

Let us begin with the crust. If it's healthy that you are looking for, we are going to focus on thin crust pizza. Pan pizza, sicilian and Chicago deep dish can all be delicious, but the sheer volume of empty carbohydrates involved can undermine the healthy potential of pizza. Going with a New York style thin crust, the thinner and crispier the better, is going to ensure that there is enough bread to hold the pizza together without shooting the calories through the room. Another approach regardless of crust thickness is to explore the increased availability of Whole Grain options since this will automatically impart a wider range of nutrients to the pizza.

Then there is the sauce. This is an area where making your own or finding a healthier local joint is going to work wonders. Great sauce, whether it's over pasta or on pizza, should be as natural as possible: tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt, oregano, pepper, olive oil. Where jarred and canned sauces (the standard among pizza chains) go so wrong is the addition of massive amounts of high fructose corn syrup and other sugars which add meaningless calories and enduce craving causing spikes (and crashes) in blood sugar level.

When it comes to the "sauce" component of pizza, I often find that finely diced tomatoes, some fresh garlic and drizzle of olive oil are all that is required to provide zing and moisture to a homemade pizza.

Finally, we come to toppings. This is an area that you can use to make your pizza healthier no matter where you are getting

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