By Jodie Shield, RD

One of my favorite ways to entice kids to eat their veggies is to make it fun.  Pairing vegetables with a food kids already like, such as pizza, is one of my go-to tricks.  For younger kids, I like to have them make veggie pizza faces.  Simply provide them with a variety of pre-cut vegetables such as red, green, and yellow bell pepper strips, grated carrot, green onions, zucchini coins, and olives.  Kids love assembling the pizza faces.  Tweens and teens like it too!  But if your older child is too “cool” (like my boys), just let them make their own veggie pizza!

Veggie Pita Pizza

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

2 whole wheat pitas

1/2 cup low-sodium tomato sauce

1/2 cup grated, low-fat cheese (mozzarella or American)

1 cup raw vegetables (such as green or red peppers, onions, mushroom, or olives), sliced or diced

Directions:

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees. Spread tomato sauce on one side of each pita. Sprinkle with low-fat cheese and top with vegetables. Brown in oven for about 8 minutes, until cheese is melted. Serve hot or cold.

Nutrition Information per Serving:

158 calories

3 grams fat

2 grams saturated fat

6 milligrams cholesterol

330 milligrams sodium

26 grams carbohydrate

4 grams dietary fiber