My 9 year old daughter is a dancer. She’s been dancing since she was 3, and if given any spare 10 minutes anywhere, she’ll choreograph a dance. She often asks me for a theme, and then she’s off, until I hear “Mom, I’m done.” Then it’s my moment to sit down and be wowed by her creativity and dance moves! I’m always inspired by the way she expresses her life through her body!

She’s part of the Cambridge Youth Dance Program and has a big show next week. Right now it feels that she’s living mostly at the dance studio. I feed her and then she’s off again to dance!

Today, I whipped up these Vegan Pizza Bagels to fortify her for an afternoon of movement.

Between the sprouted wheat bagel and tofu, she’s packed with protein for those hard working muscles. The pizza sauce and spinach are packed with the vitamins and minerals that all our bodies need. The Italian seasoning and garlic give it a rich Italian flavor.

It’s also nice that it only took me 5 minutes to make and 10 minutes to cook. Please don’t get turned off by the amount of ingredients or different components…it’s really easy and quick.

Vegan Pizza Bagel

• 1 Sprouted Whole Grain Bagel - I use Alvarados St. Sprouted Wheat Bagels. Sprouted grains are more digestible and nutritious
• 4 tablespoons Pizza Sauce - I use Eden Brand Organic Pizza Sauce because they come in jars versus cans. But Muir Glen has a delicious pizza sauce that comes in BPA free cans.
• 1.5 cups fresh spinach
• 1 garlic clove – minced
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Pitted Black olives – optional, but yummy.

Tofu Cheese:

• 1/4 cup extra firm tofu – I use sprouted tofu because it’s easier to digest.
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Italian Herb Mix
• Sea salt to taste

How to:

1. Cut bagel in half.
2. Spread pizza sauce on bagel
3. Sautee spinach in olive oil and garlic until it’s wilted – approximately 2 minutes
4. Spread wilted spinach on bagel
5. For Tofu Cheese: Smash together olive oil, Italian Herb Mix, Sea Salt and tofu using a fork until blended but crumbly.
6. Spread Cheese on top of spinach
7. top with olives – fresh tomatoes would be lovely too – we just didn’t have any in the house today.
8. Cook at 400 for 10 – 14 minutes

2 Responses

1. Csilla says:

   December 10, 2011 at 9:11 pm

   What great idea, Nina. We have used tortillas and Ezekiel English muffins in the past, but never the bagel.
   I love it. I would probably only change the tofu cheese to feta and goat cheese and keep the rest.

   Reply
   • ninamanolson says:

     December 10, 2011 at 9:15 pm

     These are also good as pita pizzas! The bagel gives it a bit more substance on the bottom. Mmm, goat or sheep cheese would be lovely. But we steer clear of dairy, most especially in the winter. My kids tend to get more severe colds and/or allergies when they are eating dairy, even goat or sheep.

     Reply