This Clean Cuisine Very Veggie Flat Bread recipe is our family’s favorite pizza bar none. It’s also a huge hit when we entertain! Even our not-so health conscious friends can’t get enough of it.

Healthy Flat Bread Recipe Made with Chickpeas and Chia Seeds

As far as pizza and flat bread recipes go, this one is tops in nutrition, thanks to both the toppings and the crust. And by the way, kids love to eat and make it. Note:  if you are making it for the kids you might want to consider just putting the shredded carrot “confetti” and hemp seeds on top and skip the shredded kale and parsley.

The Clean Cuisine Very Veggie Flat Bread Recipe not only packs a mighty veggie phytonutrient punch but also dishes a hefty serving of super slimming, antioxidant and fiber-rich chickpeas and omega-3 rich chia seeds. And yet I promise the addition of chickpeas and chia seeds, strange as they sound, absolutely do not compromise the taste…in fact, our son (in the photo above) actually thinks this flat bread recipe tastes better than “normal” pizza crust. Seriously.

The flour is whole grain and made with white whole wheat flour. If you aren’t familiar with [intlink id=”3703″ type=”post”]white whole wheat flour you can read more about it HERE.[/intlink]

Is Flour Healthy?

All flours, even whole grain flours, will be absorbed into the bloodstream quicker than “whole” grains such as quinoa, steel cut oats, barley, etc. So, if you are worried about your blood sugar or trying to lose weight it is best to eat flour in moderation, even the “whole” grain ones.

For the Clean Cuisine Flat Bread Recipe I have been able to drastically reduce the amount of flour found in regular flat bread recipes by adding the chickpeas and chia seeds. The addition of chickpeas and chia seeds substantially boosts nutrition and also slows the absorption of the flour, thus helping stabilize your blood sugar.

Very Veggie Confetti

Shredding the veggies into “confetti” is the key though to making them taste good on flat bread pizza and making the recipe not taste overly “vegetablly”—so whatever you do, do not skip the shredding.

Also, to make this pizza “super clean” try to use as little cheese as possible, about 3 tablespoons or so per individual pizza is plenty. For the record, I always buy grassfed organic cheese (if you don’t have a store that stocks grassfed organic cheese you can order it from Beyond Organic online and have it shipped directly to your house.)

If you don’t have time to make the crust try putting the toppings on a whole grain pita (our favorite pita is Food for Life brand Ezekiel 4:9 made with a variety of whole grains, beans and legumes.)  P.S. Oh, and if you don’t use all of the veggies for the pizza topping you can eat them the next day for leftovers.

Be Sure To Look for a High Quality Store-bought Marinara!!

One last thing…if you aren’t making your own homespun marinara (I admit, I don’t make my own when I make pizza) you’ll want to be sure to look for a high-quality store-bought one made with extra virgin olive oil. Be sure to avoid brands including refined vegetable oils (such as soybean oil) and high fructose corn syrup. My absolute favorite is Rao’s. Yes, it’s a bit pricey. But it’s worth it. A poor quality marinara can just ruin a pizza recipe, especially a flat bread recipe.

Ok, ok…on with the flat bread recipe!

Clean Cuisine Very Veggie Flat Bread Recipe (with Chia-Chickpea Crust)

Serves: 6

Before making the crust you’ll want to shred your veggies and get your toppings set out and ready to go….

Very Veggie Toppings:

• 4 or 5 large carrots
• 3 cups coarsely chopped kale
• 2 cups coarsely chopped parsley
• 4 or 5 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
• Unrefined sea salt (such as Real Salt), to taste
• ½ cup hemp seeds
• ¾ to 1 cup organic, grass-fed cheese, shredded
• 1 ½ cups prepared marinara made with extra virgin olive oil (such as Rao’s or Amy’s Organic Family Marinara)
• 4 or 5 very thinly sliced radishes, optional

Place carrots in a food processor and process until very fine. Set aside.

Place kale, parsley garlic, and olive oil in a food processor and process until very fine. Season with salt to taste and process again. Set aside.

Flatbread Pizza Crust:

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon raw honey
• 1 cup canned organic garbanzo beans (such as BPA-free Eden Organic brand)
• 2 teaspoons cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour (such as King Arthur Flour), plus more as needed or 1-for-1 gluten free flour 
• 1/2 cup ground chia seeds
• ¾ teaspoon unrefined sea salt (such as Real Salt)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Place lukewarm water in a measuring cup and add the yeast and honey; stir to dissolve. Transfer the liquid mixture to blender and add the beans and oil. Process until smooth and creamy. Set mixture aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, chia seeds and salt. Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the liquid mixture. Whisk ingredients together with a fork, working toward the outside of the well. Using your clean hands, gather the dough into a ball and knead for 5 to 8 minutes on a lightly flour work board. The dough should still feel moist and slightly tacky. If it’s sticking to your hands and counter-top like bubble gum, work in more flour one tablespoon at a time. Note: since the crust is on the thinner side you don’t need to let it rise.

Cut the dough into six equal parts to make six personal-sized pizzas. Roll the dough segments into a ball. Lightly flour a work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll each dough ball into a round, very thin pizza crust.

Flatbread Pizza Assembly:

Lightly oil 3 large baking sheets (don’t skip the oil or the crust will stick!) and place the pizza crusts on top. Spread the marinara sauce on top of each pizza. Scatter the shredded carrots and kale on top. Sprinkle the cheese and hemp seeds on top of the vegetables. Top with thinly sliced radishes (optional.)

Place pizza in oven and bake for about 7-9 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned. Remove pizza from oven and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to pry pizza from the baking sheet. Serve at once.