Green Eggs & Ham Pizza

While everyone is posting chocolate goodies for Valentine’s Day, I’m going all eggy on you! Haven’t you had enough chocolate, already? Ok, maybe not…. 😉

While the Valentine’s Day media blitz has overtaken the airwaves and blogosphere and we’re inundated with red and pink hearts,  glittering baubles, and restaurants offering romantic prefix menus; February also happens to be National Heart Health Month and I decided to share this luscious molten egg, green pizza with you. Why?  Because I happen to love eggs: I grew up eating farm fresh eggs, prefer eating eggs over carb breakfast foods, devour egg salad sandwiches, souffles, quiche, pasta carbonara, deviled eggs, not to mention scrumptious eggy desserts like crème brûlée and flan! Plus, I feel like the poor egg has gotten a bad rap in the past decade because of confusion over cholesterol.

A lot of people aren’t aware of recent research that has vindicated the Incredible Edible egg of any wrong doing as it relates to heart disease. A solid body of research shows that for most people, cholesterol in food has a much smaller effect on blood levels of total cholesterol and harmful LDL cholesterol than does the mix of fats in the diet. While it’s true that egg yolks have a lot of cholesterol—and so may weakly affect blood cholesterol levels—eggs also contain nutrients that may help lower the risk for heart disease, including protein, vitamins B12 and D, riboflavin, and folate. Recent research has shown that moderate egg consumption—up to one a day—does not increase heart disease risk in healthy individuals and can be part of a healthy diet. {Source: Harvard School of Public Health}

People who have difficulty controlling their total and LDL cholesterol may want to be cautious about eating egg yolks and instead choose foods made with egg whites. The same is true for people with diabetes. I urge you read more about diet and heart disease on these websites:  American Heart Association, Go Red for Women, Harvard School of Public Health, and Hoag Hospital Heart &Vascular Institute.

And, to give Valentine’s Day its due, I also want to share other research that says being IN LOVE  is also good for your heart. Being in love is good for us because our emotional health is strongly tied to our physical health. According to an article published by CBN News, “a loving marriage is, without a doubt, great for your overall health. Research shows married people live an average of five years longer than those who aren’t. They also have lower rates of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and other chronic ailments than their single counterparts”. And,  even if you’re not married, the act of loving another — whether it be your mom, your life partner, your pup, your BFF — lowers stress levels because of the emotional support and physical intimacy that comes from being in love. Lower stress levels can help lower blood pressure and also strengthen your immune system. So hug and kiss your loved one and enjoy an egg, too 🙂

A tribute to Dr. Seuss, yes, but also a nod to my pizza obsession. You’ve probably seen, or even eaten, versions of this pizza before. But I think mine is better because: #1 – it’s slathered with fresh homemade kale pesto – all the nutrients of kale and no added sodium from cheese or salt; #2 – most Green Egg & Ham pizzas are done with prosciutto, which I love, but it’s too high in sodium for a heart healthy diet – I used Black Forest ham (the Trader Joe’s brand has about 1/3 less sodium than prosciutto), and #3 – I like my eggs runny and when I make them at home using Safest Choice™ pasteurized eggs, I can be confident that there is no risk of salmonella poisoning. This is important to me and should be to all of us considering food poisoning cases caused by salmonella have increased by 10 percent in recent years, despite widespread campaigns to educate consumers and foodmakers about food preparation and handling. {Source: Washington Post}

Disclosure:  I was compensated for the development of this recipe by Safest Choice™ Eggs, all opinions expressed are my own.