Lightened Up Life

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Gluten Free Spinach & Broccoli Pizza Bites

Hey Sunshine ☼

Green is the color of Spring! Everything is starting to bloom and grow and the color green abounds. It is also the time when I find myself starting to crave more green veggies again. I can’t seem to get enough of them in the Spring. They are so energizing and full of the best nutrients for our health.

My local italian pizzeria has a side dish of sauteed spinach, broccoli, garlic and oil that I just love. It inspired me to create a recipe using the same flavors but lighter in fat and calories. Keeping in the spirit of the pizzeria I used pepperoni, but opted for turkey pepperoni. The pepperoni is used as a crust in this recipe thereby keeping it gluten free! I kept it simple with very few ingredients but don’t let that fool you! It has tons of flavor.

These little “bites” are so versatile, they make a great snack, appetizer, side dish, or main meal!

Nutritional Information Per “Bite”:

*Gluten Free

Protein: 3.2g

Fat: 2g

Carbs: 1g

Calories: 35

WW Points: 1 sp

Ingredients:

16 oz frozen chopped spinach (If you use fresh, steam first)

10 oz. frozen broccoli florets (If you use fresh, steam until soft first)

2 eggs

¾ cup parmesan cheese

1 tbsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

24 slices turkey pepperoni

½ cup shredded mozzarella (24 tsps)

Olive oil spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a 24 compartment mini-muffin pan with olive oil and set aside.

Squeeze all of the excess moisture out of the spinach and broccoli.  Making the veggies as dry as possible is essential for this recipe. No one likes a wet pizza bite! When all the excess water has been removed, place spinach and broccoli in a medium size mixing bowl.  Add eggs, parmesan cheese, and spices. Mix well with clean hands. At this point, I use an immersion blender (also known as a stick blender) for this recipe but you could use a regular blender. I blend until about ⅔ of the recipe is smooth.  It makes the mix much easier to pack into the muffin pan this way.

Place 1 slice of turkey pepperoni on the bottom of each muffin pan compartment forming the “crust” of the Pizza Bite. Then divide the spinach and broccoli mixture evenly among all of the compartments.  Each compartment holds about 2 tbsps of mix. You should have enough veggie mixture to fill the whole tray perfectly.

Top each “bite” with 1 tsp of shredded mozzarella cheese and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Eat as is, or dip in your favorite pizza sauce for an extra kick of flavor!

Eat & Enjoy

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