I was recently given the challenge of making dinner for a friend who follows a vegan diet. Cooking gluten-free can be tricky enough, so adding another dietary restriction on top was a tall order. I found eliminating both cheese and eggs from a meal to be tough. If you have any dietary restrictions then you know how stressful dining out (or at a new friend’s house) can be. I wanted to make sure I was able to accommodate my friend’s preferences and share a dish that everyone would love.

Fortunately, I only needed to put together a light menu. To stay on the safe side I made a cucumber and tomato salad with an easy lemon vinaigrette. To my surprise the star of the show ended up being the veggie flatbreads. The night I had my friends over I made two flatbreads; one with caramelized onion and zucchini the other with caramelized onion and eggplant. I made all of the veggies the night before and store them in Pyrex over night. When my friends arrived the next night I just had to assemble the flatbreads and pop them in the oven. They turned out awesome, so I knew I would definitely make them again {this could be my go-to app}. This week I re-created these delicious flatbreads with caramelized onions, sauteed spinach and acorn squash.

HELLO FALL!

Ingredients

Frozen Gluten-Free Pizza Crust from Trader Joe’s

1 acorn squash

1 small onion

1/2 cup frozen spinach

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Cinnamon

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Cut acorn squash length wise, drizzle with olive oil and seasonings then place flesh side down on a baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minute or until squash is tender.

While squash is baking, caramelize onions in a sautee pan then set aside. Using the same pan sautee spinach {I used a gourmet garlic olive oil from HomeGoods}

Remove squash from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. It should be cool enough to handle, but warm enough that can easily mash.

Following directions on packaging bake pizza crust for 10 minutes then remove from oven.

Scoop the squash from the skin into a bowl adding more salt and pepper if needed. The squash should be soft enough to mash with a fork.

Spread the mashed squash on the pizza crust then top with spinach and onions. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until edges are crisp.