Gluten-Free Pan Pizza

You've missed a lot of action since I last posted. I went on two vacations. I experienced anaphylaxis after getting gel injections in my knees (I'm fine!). I hosted some wonderful friends from long ago and far away. I was in a car collision with a driver who ran a red light (again, I'm fine, thank goodness).

Vacation

With such stories to tell, why have I left you hanging since July? It's because this blog is to review vegetarian recipes, as an ongoing resource for me and you, too. I don't blog as often as I used to because these days, I'm usually making something I've already tried and liked. 

Since becoming largely vegetarian in 2019 for environmental reasons, I've tried a boatload of new recipes. I record both the successes and failures here, but when I make a dish that works for my family, I note it on my calendar to repeat annually (or more often, if we really love it), with a link to the recipe. Even if I decide not to make a dish when it shows up again on my calendar, it's a shortcut to options when I am planning and shopping for meals. 

Sample week from my calendar

Something I've been making a lot lately is the gluten-free version of the King Arthur pan pizza that my backup dancers and I have been obsessed with since the early, dark days of the pandemic. The first time I made the gluten-free version, I accidentally used 1:1 GF flour rather than all-purpose GF flour, and it wasn't good. But with all-purpose GF flour, it satisfies the craving. You would not be crazy to speculate that when I'm not blogging, I'm making and eating GF pan pizza.

But when making and scarfing down the same delicious pan pizza over and over, and therefore not blogging, I'm still always considering what we can and must do to fight climate change, especially with our food choices. 

Reducing humanity's meat and dairy intake can have a significant impact on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change, but a recent poll found that most Americans underestimate the impact of that action. Diet matters, and you can make a difference with conscious choices of plant-based foods.

If you're overwhelmed, let your focus linger there for now. Try Meatless Monday, or Vegan Vednesday. When your menu offers you a choice of beef, chicken, pork, or tofu in a curry, choose the tofu. When you're making pan pizza, top it with mushrooms, not pepperoni.

But when you're ready, don't stop there, as environmental champion and former US vice president Al Gore encouraged us last month. Gore was asked what actions individuals can take against the climate crisis. "It's important to change the light bulbs," he said, referring to the small household changes we can all make easily, like energy-efficient light bulbs, "but it's way more important to change the policies and the laws. Now is the time for people who want to make a difference in helping the world solve this crisis to get active in the political process. There's strength in numbers. Join one of these groups that is organizing. Join one of these marches the next time it comes around. Speak up. Think of what your attitude toward the climate crisis was five years ago. Your attitude five years from now is going to be, 'Why didn't I do more in the year 2023?' Get busy: early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and organize. Make our democracy alive again. Do not give up hope. Remember that political will is itself a renewable resource. Renew it! Let's get busy with it."