Hungry Stomach, Hungry Heart

Jessica and I went to see Springsteen - her first time, my third - on Tuesday night at the Spectrum. He totally ruled, but you already knew that. Before the show started someone walked past us with a slice of pizza that smelled so good, I've been craving it ever since. Tonight, in honor of The Boss, I had an Amy's Roasted Vegetable No Cheese Pizza ($7.69, Whole Foods) for dinner while listening to a mix of my favorites, old and new - playlists at the end of this review. A few weeks ago ("What's Better ...", April 11) I referred to this pizza as "the best frozen vegan pizza" and today I'll share the reasons why. Without further ado ...


Top Five Reasons Why Amy's is the Best Frozen Pizza
1. Take a look at that picture. Once you get past being hell of jealous of my amazing Burger King Empire Strikes Back drinking glass, you might notice that the pizza on the plate doesn't exactly resemble the pizza on the box. That's because the pizza on the plate has more toppings on it than the picture leads you to expect. In this case, bigger really is better.

2. The toppings are delicious individually and go ridiculously perfectly together. The caramelized onions, which coat the crust and take the place of a traditional tomato paste, are sweet and tangy. You definitely notice the sweetness more in bites that don't contain the roasted red peppers, but even then, it's not overpowering. The shiitake mushrooms add a meaty texture along with the artichokes (which are, by far, the most abundant topping). Whoever came up with this recipe should get some sort of public recognition above and beyond this blog. President Obama, if you're reading - and, of course, you are - might I suggest you nominate this person for a Presidential Medal of Freedom? I mean, good lord, if Reagan can give one to Bear Bryant ...

3. No matter how fresh and delicious the toppings are, if they're set on a bad foundation, there's no way that it's going to end well. This crust more than lives up to the toppings it supports: doughy and moist, but thin enough to have just a little bit of crunch to it. As a fan of thin crust pizza, this is exactly what I look for, although it does mean that you have to be extra careful not to leave it in the oven too long and char the bottom. That said, the crust was probably my favorite part of this pie.

4. This pizza fills you up, but doesn't leave you feeling bloated or heavy. I guess that would be especially true if you don't eat the entire thing in one sitting, like I did. Try that with Domino's and let me know how it works out for you - not as well, I suspect.

5. In general, I'm pro-Amy's. I've eaten most of their vegan items and have yet to be disappointed or even ambivalent; this is one brand that I know I can count on for a high-quality meal/snack. True, I did have a bit of an issue with one of their frozen burritos a while back (see "Dinner is a Time ...", April 16, for details), but that was probably as much user error as anything else. I'll be reviewing more of their products in the weeks to come, but overall, I'd say that you really can't go wrong with Amy's.

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Top Ten Classic Springsteen
Night
Growin' Up
My Hometown
Jungleland
Atlantic City
Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
One Step Up
Rosalita
Born to Run
I'm A Rocker
Tunnel of Love (#11, but it's way too great to exclude. Sue me.)
Incident on 57th Street (#12, but ...)

Top Ten 21st Century Springsteen
Radio Nowhere
The Rising
Livin' in the Future
My Lucky Day
Surprise, Surprise
The Wrestler
Girls In Their Summer Clothes
Devils & Dust
Your Own Worst Enemy
Lonesome Day

The highways were indeed jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive that night, friends. So, so awesome. [[justin]]