You probably already guessed that this pizza is loaded with garlic, huh? I could have called it “Garlic Chicken Pizza” but that’s not nearly as much fun!

Benefits of Garlic

Garlic is a member of the onion family and has potent medicinal properties.

Garlic is known to help reduce blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels and support the body’s protective mechanisms by preventing oxidative damage.

Traditional cultures have known about garlic’s immune-boosting properties for centuries. It’s a magnificent herb to include in your diet, especially during cold & flu season.

The compound allicin is responsible for these benefits but unless you prepare your garlic properly you lose the benefits!

How Allicin is Formed

Allicin is made of two compounds: a protein fragment called alliin and a heat-sensitive enzyme called alliinase. These compounds are stored in separate compartments within the garlic cloves. These compounds don’t combine and form allicin until the garlic clove is chopped, sliced or crushed.

Most of us just crush or chop our fresh garlic then toss it in the pot. But doing that prevents the formation of allicin.

You see, heat destroys the enzyme alliinase. Without this enzyme, alliin can’t become allicin (I know….all these names are so similar!) so you lose all the beautiful health-boosting benefits of garlic! (source: Eating On The Wild Side by Jo Robinson)

How to Properly Prepare Garlic

So does this mean you can only eat garlic raw? Not at all! You simply need to protect the enzyme alliinase long enough for it to do its work with alliin. This only takes about 10 minutes.

To maximize the benefits of garlic, simply cut, slice or crush it then allow it to rest for about 10 minutes away from heat.

If you really want to get every last bit of goodness out of your garlic, the best thing to do is Press then Rest. Use a garlic press to crush the garlic. This breaks open the most cells in the garlic clove, releasing the alliin and alliinase. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before adding to your recipe. Not only does crushing your garlic release its full healing potential, but it also helps infuse its lovely flavor evenly through your dish. Nice!

Eating Raw Garlic

So do you need to allow garlic to rest when using it in raw dishes? Nope.

Remember, it’s heat that destroys the enzyme in garlic and that’s what prevents the formation of allicin. When you eat garlic raw the enzyme remains intact. So you can prepare and immediately eat your raw garlic dishes.

Immune-Boosting Vampire Slayer Pizza

AIP & Paleo Friendly

This dish is based on a recipe in The Healing Kitchen by Alaena Haber and Sarah Ballantyne. I highly recommend this cookbook! Every recipe I’ve tried has been delicious.

I use simple homemade cassava tortillas as my crust. I make them in huge batches and keep in the freezer. When I want pizza I simply toast a tortilla in my air fryer for a few minutes until its crispy. Then I add my toppings and toast again to heat. But there are lots of other AIP flatbread and pizza crusts on the internet if you’d like something a little more traditional.

Ingredients

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (the kind in a can not a carton)
• 1 – 4 Tablespoons garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon Real Salt

Toppings:

• 2 chicken breasts cut into 1” pieces
• 10 ounce frozen chopped spinach or other green. You can also use fresh if you prefer
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
• Salt and onion powder to taste
• Nutritional yeast to taste (can also use cheese if you eat dairy, but not AIP compliant)

Directions

Prepare your sauce:

Using the full 4 Tbsp of chopped garlic results in a VERY STRONG garlic flavor. Hence the name, Vampire Slayer. I suggest starting with 1 or 2 Tbsp of crushed garlic and see what you think. You can always add more if you like.

If you make it too strong, remember, “The solution to pollution is dilution.” Simply dilute the strong garlic flavor by adding more olive oil and coconut milk.

Place all sauce ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

NOTE: This sauce is also excellent when used on roasted veggies or in a salad dressing.

Prepare your topping:

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.

Add enough olive, avocado or coconut oil to coat the bottom of the pan and allow the fat to get hot. Add the chicken to the pan and sprinkle with a little salt and onion powder.

Stir frequently to brown the chicken on all sides. Be careful to not overcook.

Remove the mostly-cooked chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add the greens and mushrooms to the pan and cook until tender.

Put the veggies in a sieve or kitchen towel and squeeze out excess moisture (this keeps the pizza crust from getting soggy).

Add the veggies to the chicken and stir to combine.

Top your pizza crust with the chicken mixture, drizzle with some of the garlic sauce (that's drizzle not drench!) and sprinkle with nutritional yeast (adds a cheese-like flavor). You could also use cheese if your body approves of dairy.

Toast in the oven or air fryer on about 350 until hot.

Enjoy the immune-boosting benefits!

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Let me know what you think of this recipe after you try it. Leave me a comment below.

Oh, how I miss the ooey-gooey yumminess of flour tortillas. I especially miss breakfast burritos. But my body simply does not approve of grains so tortillas have been off the table for far too long.

Then I discovered CASSAVA!

Have you heard of it? Cassava is the root of the yuca plant (not to be confused with the yucca plant of North America) and is commonly eaten in Latin America and Asia. It’s a starchy root that can be fried up like potatoes or dried and ground into flour. And it’s MAGIC!

I’ve since seen cassava tortillas in the store but they’re expensive! And the ones I’ve found have extra ingredients like chia seeds that, while healthy and an excellent source of fiber and omega-3 fats, are not compliant with the elimination phase of the AIP diet.

So I got to thinking…how hard can tortillas be to make? I mean, they were a staple in homes for thousands of years so they can’t be that hard right? RIGHT!

Tortillas are super simple to make! If you’re Paleo or AIP you can use cassava flour. If your body approves of grains you can use traditional flours like wheat. Either way, there are only 4 ingredients involved and the technique is pretty much foolproof.

Homemade Tortillas

Equipment Needed

• Mixing bowl
• Measuring cups & spoons
• Pastry knife (recommended) or a simple fork will do
• Unbleached Parchment Paper
• Tortilla press (recommended), rolling pin or even a large round can
• Skillet or griddle
• Cooling Rack

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Cassava Flour (alternative flours discussed below)
• 1/2 tsp Real Salt or Himalayan salt
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil or Avocado oil
• 1/2 Cup Filtered Water, hot, plus a little extra

Directions

Make Your Dough

Whisk together your flour of choice along with the salt.

Add the oil and work it into the flour using a pastry knife or a fork. You want the mixture to be uniform, like sand. If you have some larger lumps and some smaller ones, continue mixing until all the lumps are the same size and the mixture appears sandy.

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Add the hot water and mix until a soft dough forms. Turn it out onto the counter and knead a few times to ensure the dough is well mixed. I use a silicone baking sheet or you can use parchment paper to keep your counter clean.

NOTE: If you live in a humid environment you may not need all the water. If you live in a dryer climate you may need to add a little extra water. You’re looking for a dough that is soft and pliable and does not crack as you kneed and stretch it.

If your dough is too dry (cracks instead of stretches), add 1 teaspoon of water and mix well. Continue adding water 1 teaspoon at a time until the proper texture forms.

If your dough is too wet (sticks to your hands and the bowl) add a tablespoon of flour and mix it in well. Continue adding flour just a tablespoon at a time until the right consistency forms.

Form & Cook Your Tortillas

Now for the fun part!

Preheat your skillet or griddle while you form the tortillas. Heat on medium-low heat. You won’t need any oil (using oil results in tostadas. Yummy and crisp if that’s what you want but won’t be a soft tortilla).

Divide your dough into 8 equal balls. I use a food scale similar to this one to weigh my dough then divide that by 8 so I get uniform tortillas. You don’t need to be that OCD but it does make for nicer tortillas.

Roll your dough into balls then form them into tortilla shapes either with the tortilla press or rolling pin.

Place the ball of dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and place in the tortilla press or roll out using a rolling pin. You can even just use your hands to form the dough if you’d like a more rustic tortilla.

Stack the raw tortillas between parchment paper as you form them. This helps keep them from drying out while waiting to cook.

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Check that your skillet or griddle is hot enough. Get a little water on your fingers and flick it onto the skillet. The water should sizzle then evaporate. If it sits there the pan isn’t hot enough. If it evaporates in a flash the pan is too hot. Remove it from the burner and allow it to cool for a few moments.

Keeping the tortilla on a sheet of parchment paper, flip it onto the hot pan. You can leave the parchment paper there for a moment or two so the tortilla doesn’t break as you try to peel the paper away (especially helpful if the dough is a tad wet).

Allow to cook for a minute or so on the first side. You’ll see small bubbles form. When the bubble areas are slightly brown on the first side, flip the tortilla and cook the other side. Cook until the bubble areas are just starting to brown. If you overcook you’ll end up with tostadas not tortillas. It may take a couple of tries for you to learn when to flip the tortillas. Don’t worry! With just a little practice you’ll get the hang of how long to cook them for the perfect, soft tortilla.

Allow your tortillas to cool then store in an airtight container in the fridge. I find that they taste best when warmed slightly.

They also freeze very well! When freezing, I keep a piece of parchment paper between them so they don’t stick together.

Notes & Variations

I use cassava flour for my tortillas but recently I discovered tiger nut flour. It adds a sweet, nutty flavor to the tortillas that I really like. I use half cassava and half tiger nut. I find that the dough is considerably stickier than just plain cassava and the tortillas tend to tear easily when flipping so this might not be the best combination for your first attempt at making tortillas. But once you get the hang of the basic cassava tortilla I highly recommend giving this one a try!

I’ve seen AIP tortillas made with arrowroot starch too, but I don’t care much for the flavor.

Of course, if your body approves of grains you can use wheat flour, sorghum, etc.

You can turn these tortillas into pita bread by adding about 1/2 tsp baking powder to the dry ingredients. This results in a fluffier bread much like a pita. Be sure your baking powder is AIP compliant if you’re in the elimination stage.

I also use these tortillas as PIZZA CRUST! I just bake them for several minutes in my air fryer then top with pizza toppings and heat in the fryer. It results in a thin, crispy crust. Or you can make the pita bread variation and use that as a pizza crust.