Vegetarian Snacker – Pita Bread and Hummus

Posted by ahappykindofchaos in Recipe and tagged with , ,

I have decided to replace the “vegetarian slacker” bit with vegetarian snacker ideas on Fridays.  Let’s face it, most snack foods (other than pork rinds and slim jims) are meat-free anyway, so this is more about delicious snack foods that aren’t full of frightening, unidentifiable things. 

This week’s delicious snack?  Homemade pita bread and hummus.  Yum, yum, yum!  This got gobbled up in my house within 24 hours!  The true beauty of it?  These recipes have no frightening ingredients and are easy to make.  Win!

Served here with the mustardy tofu from earlier in the week.

Pita Bread:

What you need:

  • 1 cup wheat flour
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 packet yeast (if the “rapid rise” variety)
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil plus a bit more
  • a baking sheet or baking pan (something you can turn upside down in the oven that will give you a flat, baking surface)
  • 2 large(ish) bowl
  • rolling pin (or something that will serve as one)
  • 2 to 2 1/2 hours to goof about your house

What to do:

  1. In a bowl, mix flour, salt, sugar, and yeast.
  2. Add olive oil and water to bowl.
  3. Stir (with a spoon) the ingredients until they form a ball.  (This doesn’t really take very long.)
  4. Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes (or until you just can’t stand it anymore).
  5. Lightly coat a clean bowl with oil and place your ball of dough in it.  Cover with a towel.
  6. Let the dough rise for 1 1/2 hours.  It should be about double in size.
  7. Return dough to lightly floured surface.  Punch dough down (that’s always fun!) and cut into 8 (approximately equal) pieces.
  8. Roll each piece into a ball and let it rest on the lightly floured surface.
  9. After all pieces are rolled into balls, cover them with a damp towel.  Let them rest for 20 to 25 minutes.
  10. Meanwhile, place your baking sheet upside down in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  11. Roll each ball out into a circle (aim for 1/4 inch thick).
  12. Place the circles on your baking surface (I was using a smallish baking pan and had to do this in stages.)  Bake for 3 minutes.  (Sounds like a really short time to bake, right?  If you go too much longer than that, your pita bread will be on the firmer, crunchier side.)
  13. Remove from oven and marvel at your success!  (Now go make some hummus!)

Hummus:

What you need:

  • 1 can (16 oz.) of chickpeas
  • 1/4 cup chickpea juice (the liquid from the can)
  • 4 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini (I’ve read that you can actually leave the tahini out, so if you can’t find, maybe just try making your hummus without it?)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • garlic (to taste) (I used two cloves, but could have probably gone with a bit more….we’re garlic lovers.)
  • salt (to taste)
  • a food processor or blender

What to do:

  1. Put everything in the blender or food processor.  (Only use 1/4 cup of the chickpea juice…..if you use all of the liquid from the chickpea can, it could have catastrophic consequences….runny hummus!)
  2. Blend or food process until smooth.  (This may take 3 minutes or more.)
  3. Eat it up, yum!

If you’re a dork like me, you’ll be very excited to eat pita and hummus that you created your very own self. 😉

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