So, pizza night. Love it. Who doesn’t? But for the longest time, it felt like a one-way ticket to feeling bloated and kinda blah afterwards. I kept thinking there had to be a way to make it, you know, less of a guilty pleasure and more of a balanced meal. Not about ditching the pizza, ’cause that’s just crazy talk. It was always about what to put next to the pizza.
For years, my “side dish” was, well, more pizza. Or maybe some greasy garlic bread. If I was really trying, I’d half-heartedly throw together a salad. You know the kind – a few sad lettuce leaves, a lonely tomato wedge. It was depressing. Those pre-packaged salad kits? Don’t even get me started. Cardboard with a fancy dressing sachet. Just wasn’t cutting it.
Then it hit me. Why was I treating the side dish like an afterthought? Like some chore I had to do? I figured, if I’m gonna eat something with my pizza, it might as well be something I actually enjoy and that makes me feel good. Sounds obvious, right? Took me a while to get there, though. Always does.
So I started actually putting a bit of effort in. Experimenting. And you know what? It wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought. Here’s what I started doing, my little kitchen trials and errors:
First up, roasted vegetables. This was a game changer, seriously. I’d just chop up whatever I had lying around. Broccoli, bell peppers – any color, really – zucchini, sometimes even carrots or cauliflower. Toss ’em in a bowl with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle some salt, pepper, maybe some garlic powder if I was feeling fancy. Spread them on a baking sheet and into the oven they went. Sometimes I’d roast them at the same time as the pizza, just on a different rack. The best part? When they get a little charred and crispy. Pure gold. And so easy, it’s almost embarrassing I didn’t do it sooner.
Then I tackled salads. But proper salads. Not the sad, limp kind. I mean, substantial ones. I started bulking them up. Threw in things like chickpeas, or cannellini beans, for protein. Some nuts or seeds for crunch – walnuts, sunflower seeds, whatever. A bit of feta or goat cheese if I had it. The dressing was key. I used to buy bottled stuff, full of who-knows-what. Then I realized making a vinaigrette is ridiculously simple: olive oil, some kind of vinegar (apple cider or red wine are my go-tos), a squeeze of lemon, a dab of mustard, salt, pepper. Whisk it up. Done. So much better.
And here’s a weird one: fruit. Yeah, fruit with pizza. Sounds a bit off, I know. But trust me on this. A simple bowl of melon slices – cantaloupe, watermelon – or a mix of berries. It’s so refreshing, especially if you’ve got a spicy pizza. It kinda cleans your palate, makes the next bite of pizza taste even better. Or at least, that’s what I tell myself. Honestly, it just tastes good and light after all that cheese and bread.
Now, pizza night feels different. I still demolish my share of pizza, no doubt about that. But I also load up on these sides. I actually feel satisfied, not just stuffed. And that heavy, sluggish feeling afterwards? Mostly gone. It’s not like I turned into some health guru overnight. Far from it.
It’s just about making these small tweaks, finding things that work. Things that taste good and happen to be good for you. Took me a while to figure out that side dishes don’t have to be a punishment. They can actually be, dare I say, enjoyable. Who knew?
