Balancing Act & Hearty Whole Wheat Tortillas

Loving baking can be bad for the figure.  Especially when you're someone who likes to bake with real butter and eggs.  Full of flavor AND fat.  I've been experimenting with many bread recipes recently but my body does not do well with scores of carbohydrates across the day.

So in order to create a bit more balance with my love of carbohydrates and my desire not to gain 10 pounds, I often eat whole wheat tortillas.  Tortillas are a great base for hundreds of meals, especially on the go meals.  I do breakfast wraps, make lunch wraps to bring to work, burritos for dinner, and I've eaten many a peanut butter and banana wrap.

You may not have thought about it, but food in the VI is really freakin' expensive.  Anything that is not made here (i.e. most packaged things you buy at the grocery store) has to be shipped in which ups the costs.  I once asked J to pick up a jar of almond butter at the store, maybe a few months after we moved here.  He brought it home but had never looked at the price.  Unpacking the grocery bags I saw on the lid the sticker - $21.98.  Seriously!!  You always have to price compare here - it is not worth $22 for a jar of almond butter.

So we try to shop local for what we can (fortunately you can grow fruits and veggies year round here and there are some amazing local farms) and cook some things from scratch.  So we make our whole wheat tortillas at home - super easy, fun, and tasty!

I tweaked the recipe recently and changed the all purpose to bread flour and this resulted in a heartier tortilla, able to hold more robust contents.  Yum!  In these pictures I doubled the usual size to make a larger deli sized wrap, but usually we make the smaller ones and they are perfect for small burritos, wraps, or enchiladas.  For my typical breakfast wrap to go, I keep it simple - fried egg on top of sliced Parmesan with fresh greens (usually arugula - my fave) on top.

 

Hearty Whole Wheat Tortillas
Recipe modified from Troy Hakala's recipe at Food.com
 - makes 4 large tortillas or 8 small tortilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour (can use all purpose here)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp canola oil
2/3 cup + 1/2 Tbsp room temperature water (if using all purpose flour just use 2/3 cup water)

1)  Whisk together dry ingredients (flours, salt, baking powder).

2)  Make a well in dry ingredients, pour in canola oil and water, and mix well.

3)  As the ingredients begin to come together, put hands in to finish combining ingredients.

4)  Form into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface to roll out tortillas.  Split ball into 4 or 8 small balls depending on how large a tortilla you desire.

5)  Flatten ball into a disk and then roll out into thin "round" tortilla.  These may not be perfectly formed but that's the beauty of homemade.  It has more character.  While I'm rolling it out, I'm picking it up and turning it a quarter turn every few rolls to get it more evenly shaped.  I also turn the tortilla over about halfway through.  I usually roll out one at a time, while the one before is cooking.

6)  While you are rolling out the first tortilla, preheat a frying pan (no oil needed!) over medium heat.  Place rolled out tortilla on pan and cook about 30-45 seconds per side.  When a side is done it will have golden brown specs.  Can use immediately or save in the fridge for later, wrapped in plastic wrap.

7)  Top with your favorite ingredients, roll it up and enjoy!