Pizza, pizza, pizza! (Vegan cooking tips)(Cover Story).

Everyone loves pizza. Cold pizza for breakfast, sweet pizza for dessert (really!). Don't hassle with a takeout order: "I'd like a pizza, but hold the cheese, meat toppings, and is your sauce made with meat stock?" If you keep your pantry stocked, you can make fast pizzas just the way you want whenever you want.

What is a pizza, anyway? It's some type of flat bread covered with sauce and toppings, and baked. So, keep a variety of these ingredients on hand. For example:

Pick a bread, any bread: Frozen vegan pizza dough, dry vegan pizza dough mix, ready-to-use (already baked) vegan pizza dough, pita bread, English muffins or scones, French baguettes (crusty French bread) or Italian bread, Kaiser (hard) rolls, burger buns, or Lebanese flat bread.

Get saucy: Canned or prepared tomato sauce, condensed tomato soup--(used on its own or blended with a little silken tofu or soy sour cream), condensed mushroom soup (for a "white" pizza), tomato paste combined with tomato puree, orange juice concentrate combined with maple syrup and peanut butter (for a dessert pizza).

Top it off: Use fresh sliced or chopped veggies such as carrots, mushrooms, all kinds of sprouts, fresh peppers or chilies, tomatoes, roasted or grilled eggplant, broccoli and cauliflower florets, zucchini or summer squash, roasted white or sweet potatoes, or shredded greens like kale or spinach. Or try canned veggies, such as mush rooms, tomatoes, corn, peas, carrots, asparagus tips, mixed veggies, cooked or canned beans, such as white beans, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, or black beans. Be sure to have lots of herbs and spices, such as oregano, basil, thyme, garlic, onion, parsley, and rosemary on hand.

For a sweet dessert pizza: Use fresh or thawed frozen berries; fresh, canned, or thawed frozen peaches; canned, drained pineapple; canned cherries or plums; dried apricots, raisins, or dates; chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, or pistachios; shredded coconut; or almond or soy butter.

Make your pizza:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (you can use a toaster oven for individual pizzas). The microwave won't work for this--no one wants a "steamed" pizza.

Whatever type of "dough" you've selected, bake it, if necessary. If using bread, like English muffins or burger buns, slice thin and toast lightly.

Decide on your sauce and toppings--we've given some suggestions below. Smooth a thin layer of sauce on your "dough" and then go to town with the toppings--really pile them on.

Place your masterpiece on a nonstick baking dish and allow to bake until your "dough" is crunchy and your veggies or fruit are cooked to the texture you'd like. Times will vary depending on the thickness of the bread you used and the amount of toppings, but can take as little as 7 minutes or up to 20 minutes. Make enough so you can have cold pizza for breakfast, or pack some for lunch!

vegan quick' meals

Super Pizza Combos

* English muffin topped with mushroom sauce and fresh and canned mushrooms, chopped canned tomatoes, and chopped green peppers

* Pita with mushroom sauce, topped with three different types of cooked beans, mushrooms, and onions

* Sliced French bread topped with tomato puree, rosemary, fresh and canned tomatoes, peppers, and onions

* Baked pizza dough topped with tomato sauce, shredded spinach, basil, oregano, and white beans

* Sliced burger bun topped with tomato sauce, chopped chilies and peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms

* Baked pizza dough with orange juice concentrate and peanut butter sauce (mix the two together for the consistency you want) topped with fresh and frozen strawberries, pineapple, chopped walnuts, and coconut, or topped with canned peaches and plums, shredded dried apricots, raisins, and dates