By Assistant Editor Shayna Spiker
When you think of American food, there are a few things that typically come to mind: steak, hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza. Those last two didn’t actually originate in America, but we’ve adopted them as our own, and have nurtured them and watched them grow into delicious, mouth-watering staples of our American diet.
Many classic American dishes aren’t really good-for-you foods, but that’s what makes them so delicious…right? Well, sort of. Recently, I wrote about the Taste of Bethesda food festival, where I tried many types of cuisines prepared many different ways. One of my favorites was the pizza from Naked Pizza, a new carry out and delivery pizza company. I liked it so much, I decided to go back and try more of their food.
The name Naked Pizza really grabs your attention – I don’t know about you, but it makes me picture a pizza crust with arms and legs, a small mouth, googly eyes and a leaf covering his…well, you know. But really, the “naked” just means that it’s natural. No artificial this or monounsaturated that or any ingredients that sound like they belong in a chemistry lab.
Their crust has ten grains: oats, brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, teff, spelt, tapioca, and two different kinds of wheat. It also has prebiotic agave fiber, which is just fiber that comes from the blue agave plant and doesn’t cause a crash like starch and sugar do, and probiotics, like what you find in yogurt (goodbye Activia, hello pizza!).
Yes, Naked Pizza is a healthier option for the high-fat and high calorie food favorite, but please note that it is not a diet food. Sure, there are fewer calories than a typical delivery pizza, but it is still not a diet/low-calorie food. I mean…it is still pizza, after all.
Okay, so this all sounds more like healthy mumbo jumbo and less like delicious cheesy pizza goodness. But it truly is great. You can either build your own pizza or try one of their creations. You can choose what type of crust you want – skinny/thin, original, or gluten-free, and what sauce you’d like to go with it – red, white, or barbeque sauce.
Naked Pizza offers a variety of toppings, with 15 vegetarian toppings alone some of which you don’t often see at carry out and delivery pizza places. Toppings include pineapple, cilantro, black beans, jalapeno, fire-roasted red pepper, spinach, fresh basil, garlic, artichoke, mushroom, bell pepper, red onion, tomato, black olive, sun-dried tomato, hamburger, ham, sausage, pepperoni, and chicken. Additional cheese options include mozzarella, cheddar, and feta.
I opted for the “superbiotic” pizza on the original crust which has artichoke, spinach, bell pepper, mushroom, garlic, onion, and cilantro. The pizza tasted fresh, not too much sauce or too much cheese. Everything was so flavorful. Now THIS is what pizza should taste like! Hallelujah! I also ordered a side of cheesy breadstixx, just to try them. They were also delicious! The crust is a carb and bread-lover’s dream, which must be why I loved it so much.
If you want a healthier side option, they also offer a spinach salad with spinach, bell peppers, black olives, and red onions with your choice of a few organic dressings. I think I am a huge fan of Naked Pizza and I can’t wait to try their other pizzas and come up with my own creations. It is so nice to have a healthier option for classic comfort food that you can order from a restaurant and still feel like you’re indulging.