I had been noticing for quite awhile that when I ate bread, my joints would ache, and it kept getting progressively worse. It didn’t matter if it was organic, sprouted wheat bread or crappy French rolls from Sysco. First my left wrist would swell, then my knuckles, and finally my right elbow. Then my whole body would begin to HURT, I’d stiffen up, and it would be hard to move. Such negative reinforcement made me switch to a gluten-free diet pretty quickly, and I started to read “Wheat Belly” to get some answers.

While most of my meals are whole foods — lots of vegetables, some meat, some rice — sometimes, I crave comfort food. I’ve been investigating alternatives to some of my favorites. Keep in mind, I find these processed alternatives to be treats, so they’re not a regular feature of my meals. But sometimes, you just gotta have a piece of pizza.

For my first venture into the gluten-free world of pizza crust, I decided to go store bought. I’ll probably make a crust the next time, but it was a pretty tasty option. The texture, being rice, was interesting, both crispy and chewy, but it made for a good dinner.

Here’s my process:

Ingredients:

Chevre, pepper jack (shredded), and small mozzarella balls
extra virgin olive oil
pesto
nitrite-free salami
orange bell pepper (sliced)
portobello mushroom cap (sliced)
basil leaves
roasted red pepper flakes
garlic powder
Roma tomato
pizza crust

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. (You’ll be turning it down a tad once you put the pizza in the oven.)

Brush top of crust with olive oil. Spread a nice layer of pesto to almost the very edge of the crust. Follow with the pepper jack, crumble on the Chevre, layer the salami, mushroom, and bell pepper on top of the cheese. Next, cover the pizza with basil leaves and sprinkle with the mozzarella balls. Shake with a generous amount of the pepper flakes and garlic powder, and then follow the instructions on the box for cooking temperature and time.

While pizza cooks, slice tomato thinly. Once pizza is finished, layer the tomato slices on top of the cheesy goodness, and chomp away.