Did you know that improving your health can be as easy as cutting out meat and processed cold cuts one day a week? Doing so can reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

Enter Meatless Monday. This week's recipe is roasted vegetable and ricotta pizza.

Serves 6

—1 pound refrigerated fresh pizza dough

—2 cups sliced mushrooms

—1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) slices zucchini

—1/4 teaspoon black pepper

—1 medium yellow bell pepper, sliced

—1 medium red onion, cut into thick slices

—5 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, divided

—1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal

—1/3 cup tomato sauce

—1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

—1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

—1/3 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

—2 tablespoons small fresh basil leaves (optional)


Position an oven rack in the lowest setting; place a pizza stone on rack. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Let stand, covered, for 30 minutes.

Combine mushrooms and next 4 ingredients (through onion) in a large bowl; drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Toss.

Arrange vegetables on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 500 degrees for 15 minutes.

Punch dough down. Sprinkle a lightly floured baking sheet with cornmeal; roll dough out to 15-inch circle on prepared baking sheet. Brush dough with 1 teaspoon oil. Spread sauce over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella over sauce; top with vegetables. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella and red pepper over zucchini mixture. Dollop with ricotta. Slide pizza onto preheated pizza stone. Bake at 500° for 11 minutes or until crust is golden. Sprinkle with basil.

Nutrition info per 2 slices of pizza: 347 calories, 11 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 655 mg sodium, 49 g total carbs, 3 g dietary fiber and 15 g protein.

This recipe was provided by Cooking Light.

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(Photo: Courtesy meatlessmonday.com)