I made tortillas today. That’s pronounced with an “-l” sound, not an “-e” sound, in case you were wondering. Every since Napoleon Dynamite (God, I hate that movie) I’ve always said quesedilla, tortilla, etc. with an “ill-uh” not “eey-uh.”
Anyways – you should be proud of me. Because these are, pardon my French, damn good tortillas. Or wraps, I don’t really know what they’re called, but I think tortillas, even though I always call flexible breads such as this wraps. I mean…they wrap.
I had a sudden epiphany last night, as I was thinking about how I needed to make another loaf of bread today, that maybe I was sick of bread. Maybe I wanted to make something else. I don’t necessarily think I’m sick of bread, but after seeing some delicious wraps in the blogosphere (I’m looking at you and you) I decided wraps it was.
We won’t get into the fact that at the last minute I thought maybe I’d prefer making pitas. Once I realized that was more of a process involving a couple hours, I stuck to wraps.
I found this lovely recipe, and adapted it like so:
Whole-Grain Pesto Wraps
for 8-10 wraps
- 1/4 c. oats (I used rolled – doesn’t matter what you use, though)
- 1/4 c. bulgur (dry)
- 1/4 c. sunflower seeds (or pumpkin or something similar)
- 1 1/2 + 2 T. WW flour
- 3 T. milled flax
- 2 T. wheat bran (optional – this is what I kneaded in when I realized I needed more dry ingredient…you could use flour, or might not even need any)
- 1 t. garlic salt
- pinch of cracked black pepper
- 3 T. Bella Sun Luci Sundried Tomato Pesto (see note)
- 1 c. warm water
- 1/4 t. baking powder
Note: Okay, okay – I went there. I specified a name brand for an otherwise generic ingredient. As a kid, I never could comprehend why it had to be “Kraft Mayonnaise” and not Hellmann’s. I hate mayonnaise and I don’t know why I used that for an example, but I digress. This Bella Sun Luci pesto is reaaaallly, really good. If you don’t have it, you should get it, but if you can’t find it, any pesto that is not healthified will work. You want one with lots of oil. I don’t even want to suggest you sub with just oil because then all the flavor will be gone. These rely on the pesto!
1. In a food processor or blender, grind your first two ingredients – the oats and sunflower seeds. You’ll want a pretty fine grind – this took me a couple minutes. Once it resembles a consistency sort of like a medium grind cornmeal, add in the bulghur and then pulse a couple more times. This should measure almost a full cup. Dump into a large mixing bowl.
Add in the rest of your dry ingredients.
2. Add in the pesto and water. Stir until clumpy, and then knead until combined. Form into a ball.
I love the random pine nut from the pesto front and center.
It shouldn’t be too sticky, and not too dry. You should easily be able to form it into a ball. If it’s too sticky, add some more flour. Too dry, add some more water.
Wrap the dough ball in cling wrap, and let sit for ten minutes.
3. After it’s sat, divide the dough ball into 8-10 pieces. (I got 9, I think?) Roll into balls, and place back in the bowl. Cover with the cling wrap again, and let sit another ten minutes.
4. Clear off your workspace, and get out your rolling pin and large drying pan/griddle/skillet. I used a nonstick large frying pan. Turn on the burner for the pan to medium-low. Dust your work surface with flour, as well as your rolling pin. Grab a dough ball, and flatten it a bit before rolling out from the center in all directions.
Apologies for th epop-up flash photography!
You’ll want to get it reaaaalllly thin! Thinner than you may think is possible. It will almost be a little see-through. Mine were sort of haphahazardly divided so I had some much larger than a paper plate and some smaller than one – but I’ll say about the size of a paper plate is the target here.
Spread it out on the pan, and start rolling out your next dough ball, though keep an eye on your wrap in the burner. They don’t cook super fast – about the time it takes to roll one out, actually! But when it feels a little stiffer in the pan, flip it.
If you’re using them as wraps, you won’t want them really brown or golden because they’ll probably break rather than wrap. So go for lightly golden!
When they are done, remove to a paper plate. let cool fully before transferring to an airtight container or bag. I’m storing mine in the fridge. They’ll probably need to be microwaved for a couple seconds before use, though so far they’re staying surprisingly supple. I say surprisingly because I’m remembering once when I attempted making Roti and I did something wrong, and I yielded a bunch of really flat rocks that weren’t good for much of anything.
As you can imagine, I’m still a little bitter about the Roti experience. These, however, I am not bitter about.
These are good. They even got a “good” from the mama-kins. It was a “these would be really good if you hadn’t used whole wheat everything,” sort of good, but as I’ve mentioned before – she’s a work in progress in that area.
I can’t wait to get my hands on some basil pesto to make them with, and I bet pureeing some spinach would be pretty fun, too 🙂
Aaaand, not to keep tooting my own horn (that’s a lie – I’m definitely tooting my own horn right now and I don’t even have any shame. I just made wraps, for Pete’s sake!) but the rest of today was pretty stellar too.
Waffles with pear, raisins, and peanut butter sauce
Which is sort of ironic because I woke up to rain. It bummed me out. I was so bummed out I almost didn’t want to go to the barn again, which put me in a “that’s that. He’s got to come here. blah blah blah. The rain is falling and the apocalypse is coming. blah blah blah.” mood. I knew I had to, though. He’s my Teddie monster. I love that little guy. It’d been too long since I gave him a cookie. A really good belly rub. A kiss on his pretty little cheek.
By too long I mean a day and a half, but it feels like a lot longer when you miss a riding day! I didn’t even really plan to ride him – but by the time I did some errands in town the sun was shining and I’ll be darned if it wasn’t getting hot outside again. So I took him for a [really fun] ride to the outdoor, around the meadows, and a short [because his little legs get tuckered out pretty quick] gallop up the hills. Short as in about ten strides before he’s out of breath and has to stop.
But he’s all cute and excited before he realizes it’s a lot of work, so we have fun anyways 😉
Since I wasn’t really planning on riding, and if I did for not much more than fifteen minutes or so [I rode at least for half an hour] I didn’t think to bring a snack. By the time I got home, I was starved. With no bread and wraps made after this lunch, I wasn’t complaining that a green monster was what needed to happen.
I think this is my most-epic of all green monsters. Freya, is it epic enough to call it an epic greenie?! I’ll tell you one thing – I didn’t want it to end.
Blended:
- frozen banana
- peach
- three (?) handfuls baby spinach
- splash of almond milk
- vanilla chobani
- acai powder
- flax oil
- cashews
Adorned with:
- wheat germ
- raspberries
- puffed rice
- chopped medjool date
- puffins (original)
- peanut butter sauce
- a drizzle of honey
…and I think that’s everything? I’m telling you – what took this above and beyond the usual was definitely the frozen banana, peanut butter sauce, and cereals on top. Holy wow.
The afternoon was filling with wrap making, horse cleaning and other general nonsense. I started “classes” today, too. In quotations because sadly, they’re all online. I really only wanted two or three online, and two or so in the classroom. I mean, it’d be sort of nice to meet new people.
There’s always next semester. Or I can go lurk in the library.
…nah .
Oh yeah, and I made some Chunks of Energy-esque bars. I just sort of threw everything that sounded good in the processor, though…not really following anything.
And dinner was another concoction all its’ own, based on this bean and plantain burger recipe.
Mash: 1/2 c. black beans, 1/2 of a baked sweet potato, 1/2 of a diced plantain.
Add in: 1/4 of a diced red pepper, 1 1/2 t. curry powder, salt, 1 T. quick oats, 1 T. VWG. Bake: 450 for 25 minutes, flipping once.
Serveed on a bed of baby spinach with millet (!!!), fresh garden tomato, mozzarella, corn, and BBQ sauce. Sorry, no clever dressing today.
Yes, there is millet under there somewhere…
Since I had time (re: patience) I knew I had to give it another go. And yes, I did make sure to keep it right next to the quinoa so I knew I was grabbing the millet and not the quinoa 😉 Since I had the time/patience it actually cooked as it was supposed to. Nice and fluffy! I would like to make a “fun” dish with it next. Or breakfast. Daniel’s got a great recipe for me to give a shot though!
Wraps or Bread? Favorite kind of wrap?
Ever had a plantain? What did you think of it? They’re pretty neat little guys, aren’t they? Offering just as much nutritional bennies as a banana (and we already know there ae oodles!) but with less sugar and sodium. And you can’t eat them raw. Which sort of makes me want to try eating one raw…
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Healthy Exposures 