So I have no idea if any of you are avid label readers like I am, but since I assume most of you are vegan, I am going to assume that yes, you check out the ingredients on most packaged foods. Isn’t it amazing how many 16 syllable ingredients they can shove into even the simplest of foods? I am always shocked at how there seems to be an endless list of additives, “natural” flavors and preservatives and ridiculous sounding chemicals in items that only need two or three ingredients.
Take for example, whole wheat pita bread from Whole Foods. Number one, it’s from Whole Foods, so one would assume it’s semi-healthy. Number two, it’s whole wheat so it’s got to have limited junk in it. Number three, it’s a simple basic bread, so it should only have a couple of ingredients (salt, flour, water, yeast) in it-right?
WRONG.
That Whole Foods seal of approval and seemingly simple product can be quite deceiving. I wish I had taken a picture of the ingredients label, but I do recall that there were at LEAST two dozen ingredients in the package! So insane!
I was pretty disappointed. Then I dug a little deeper and browsed all the labels on almost every bread product they had in that display and found the same disheartening results. Mile long ingredient lists stretched across every product and it really bothered me. I’m sure many less informed consumers feel great about purchasing whole wheat pitas just because they say they’re from Whole Foods and have the “whole wheat” connection. When in reality, they’re not a far stretch from any junk food from your typical supermarket.
And so, I decided to take a shot at homemade pita pockets-and it was a beautiful mess.
They didn’t puff up to perfection and thus made slicing them in half near impossible. But they’re subtly delicious flavor and moist, chewy consistency made them irresistible. So instead of calling them a pita fail, I have instead decided that I’ll just say that they’re naan. The only real difference between the two is the poofing factor and I am happy to report that they only include a few ingredients and taste a million times better than any store bought version I have ever had.
2 cups all-purpose organic flour
1 cup organic whole wheat flour
1 cup warm water
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tbsp raw sugar
1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for covering
1 tsp sea salt
- Stir all ingredients together except the flour and let sit for 10 minutes
- Add whole wheat flour and stir until incorporated
- Add all-purpose flour and knead into dough until well combined and a sticky dough is formed
- Spread a little oil over the dough, cover, and let sit in a warm place for an hour
- After an hour, cut dough into 8 pieces and stretch out into thin rounds (ours were 5-6 inches in diameter)
- Lay out on a cutting board and cover again for 30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees
- Using a wire or cooling rack, lay 2 or 3 dough circles on rack and let puff up in the oven at 500 degrees for about 4 minutes
- Repeat until all the dough is cooked
- Maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll puff into pitas, or you’ll end up with a flat, bubbly naan
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[…] sit well with me and so I decided I would take a stab at making mine from scratch, since my homemade pitas/naan worked out so well. They turned out a little thicker than I intended (hint: roll these out as thin […]