Tastier Homemade Pizza Is Back With Meatless Monday's New Pizza Collection

NEW YORK, May 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Now real pizza lovers can download the free e-cookbook, "The Meatless Monday Pizza Collection: 10 Recipes from Top Cookbook Authors," just launched by The Monday Campaigns, the nonprofit organization behind the global Meatless Monday movement.

Their goal is to bring back the joy of homemade pizza by compiling exciting recipes from 10 of the country's most respected cookbook authors, including Mark Bittman's Marinara Pizza, Ellie Krieger's Pizza Strudel, Kim O'Donnel's Marinara, Mozzarella, Arugula & Lemon Pizza, and Joe Yonan's Fig, Taleggio & Radicchio Pizza. Meatless Monday wants to inspire everyone to reclaim pizza's simple roots.

Pizza used to be a simple food, brought to America by the first wave of Italian immigrants around 1900. Its popularity soared after World War II as soldiers returning from Italy brought their love for the simple tomato pie to their hometowns. Since then, American pizza diverged from the original Neapolitan concept of lightness to thick pies layered with salty, greasy cheese and processed meats. Most pizza has become junk food, often cited as a contributor to the country's pressing health crisis.

About one in eight Americans consume pizza on any given day, according to research by The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the U.S. Most pizza consumed are from the frozen type and come from independent and chain restaurants.

The e-cookbook's 10 enticing recipes are designed to improve this situation. Sid Lerner, chairman and founder of the Meatless Monday campaign said, "We're delighted the authors shared their recipes with us. They're so finger-lickin' good, even meat lovers will be asking for another slice."

Home cooks, parents who like to cook with their kids, and pizza fans everywhere can download their free copy of the e-cookbook at http://bit.ly/mmpizza.

Meatless Monday is a public health campaign that encourages individuals to start the week off right by cutting out meat for their health and the health of our planet. Founded in 2003 at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the campaign has become an international movement with support from celebrities, chefs, schools and communities.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140506/85095 

SOURCE The Monday Campaigns