Naan Pizza with Peppers and Onions (vegetarian, 10 Ingredients)

Today was a pretty eventful day.  Where do I even begin?  For starters, I woke up this morning with excruciating pain in my lower back.  Frankly speaking, I haven't felt this kind of pain, ever!  What happened?  It's all my brother's fault! If he reads this he's gonna be like, 'WHAT?'  So a few days ago I was hanging at my brother's home with my nieces.  He has a pull-up bar hanging from a door and I jumped up to grab the bar in an attempt to show everyone that I can do a pull-up.  As a result, the bar ended up falling and so did I.  I landed on my feet and I knew at that very moment my back was strained.  On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain was about a 6, painful, yet bearable.  Days followed and the pain subsided, however this morning I woke up with unbearable pain... I'm not sure why it took 3 days for me to feel this amount of pain.  My body was stiff and sore.  I desperately asked my roommate to work from home, and she instantly agreed.

I slowly, but surely, rolled out of bed as tears of pain streamed down my eyes.  I turned on my laptop so I could send my manager an email, basically stating that I will be taking a sick day.  I soon realized something as simple as sitting on a chair to type was painful for me.  It got me thinking how much I take for granted.  Every morning, I wake up, brush my teeth, hit the shower, make my tea, go to work, walk around lunch time, drive home, go to the gym, SLOUCH wherever I sit, I do all these things, but something as simple as sitting and typing an email was difficult for me.  Just to give you an idea, I was unable to take a deep breath without feeling pain.  I believe I learned two things today... one, that I can't take the little things for granted, and two, my back is my lifeline... Denise Austin once said that.  Seriously, I wasn't able to do much today so thank GOD my roommate worked from home.

So far, my roomie made me breakfast... tea and toast with peanut butter & banana, she gave me Advil... which took over 2 hours to kick in, she bought me heating pads (they felt good, but didn't really alleviate my pain), she cut up the veggies for this Naan Pizza... I assembled, she called up like 15 doctors in our area to get a last-minute appointment for me, she took me to the doctor and filled out the form for me, and last but not least, she bought me a RED VELVET CUPCAKE from one of my favorite organic bakeries!  WOOHOO!  Whatever man, I so deserved a cupcake after all that I went thru today!

The funniest, most hilarious, part of my day was when we were both at the doctor's office and she was filling out my form. She then asked me, "What is your occupation?"  At this point, I was in pain, but I started laughing uncontrollably which exacerbated my pain even further, and I blurted out, "Blogger" and I continued to laugh for another minute. She just smiled and rolled his eyes at me which made the whole incident even funnier.  Man, ONLY IF I could write down 'Blogger'. Someday! So anyway, I saw the doctor and she prescribed me not 1, not 2, but 3, types of medication.  For now, I just filled the Ibuprofen since I'm not too keen on loading my body with nauseating meds.  I feel much better as I am able to sit and type with very little pain. 

And now food... for this Naan Pizza with Peppers and Onions, I had naan sitting in the freezer and thought of turning it into pizza since I had all the ingredients on hand.  This was super easy to make.  Each piece of naan contains 250 calories, 3 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, and 5 grams of protein... not bad at all.  You can find naan at your local grocery store in the ethnic food aisle, or try at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Wegmans, or an Indian grocery store.  In the event you cannot find naan, use a whole wheat flatbread.  In addition, next time I make Naan Pizza, I'm going to use Garlic Naan... damn, that would be good!  Lastly, in case you are wondering, I was on Advil a few hours before making lunch which helped ease my pain.

 

INGREDIENTS (servings 2 to 3 people):

• Deep Clay Oven Tandoori Naan - 4 pieces
• Barilla Marinara Sauce - enough to coat naan (or just use your favorite Marinara sauce)
• Red Pepper - 1 (chopped)
• Green Pepper - 1 (chopped)
• Onion - 1 medium (chopped)
• Crushed Red Pepper - to taste
• Italian Seasoning - to taste
• Garlic Powder - to taste
• Mozarella Cheese - 1 cup 
  

DIRECTIONS:
1. Chop the bell peppers and onion.  Set aside.

2. Get your naan.

3. I used Barilla's... which is All Natural and doesn't contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. 

4. Get your seasonings.

5. Grate mozarella cheese... I use reduced fat, about 1 cup.

 

7. Add sauce... enough to coat the naan.

8. Add veggies.

9. Add seasonings... crushed red pepper, italian seasoning, and garlic powder. 

10. Top with cheese.

11. Place in a regular oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, OR toaster oven.  I placed mine in a toaster oven, ON TOAST, for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.  My toaster oven has a timer and I'm pretty sure it is accurate, but there is a chance the amount of time may be off... so check after 5 minutes.

REPEAT STEPS 6 thru 11 with the other pieces of naan!

12. Result... hot, golden, and crispy!  YUM!

13. I added some more garlic powder and Italian seasoning.  Please leave your feedback!