Tortilla wraps - gluten free

These wraps are like savoury pancakes…but thick and robust enough to take a filling and they are gluten free to boot!

Fill them with whatever you fancy, here I have gone for a simple vegan yoghurt and bean salad, but how about this ‘untuna’ filling or my favourite lentil and peanut dip.  You could also fill them with a veggie chilli as long as it is not too liquidy (I am the master of making  mess with finger food...just warning ya!)

The chia seed is the star of the show in terms of binding the ingredients together and ensuring that these wraps do not fall apart. You could probably use ground flax as a substitution but my personal experience with chia and flax is that ground chia has a better ‘gumming’ action and I usually opt for it given the choice.

I left these wraps pretty plain but they would be the great base for some Italian, Mexican or Indian spices depending on your filling flavours.

Recipe: Gluten free tortilla wraps

Serves 2 (approx 6 wraps)

Ingredients

½ cup chickpea flour

½ cup buckwheat flour

3tbs starch (I used arrowroot)

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

Other seasonings as desired to taste (I kept my tortillas ‘plain’)

3tbs ground chia seed mixed with ¼ cup warm water

1 tbs coconut oil

1 cup warm water

Method

Mix dry ingredients together and then add wet ingredients and mix well to form a batter of ‘yoghurt’ consistency.

Lightly oil a frying pan and once hot add a dollop of batter spread thinly (quickly!) and fry the tortillas as you would a pancake. Cook them for 2-3 mins on one side then flip and finish with a minute on reverse.

Serve immediately, or if making in advance simply warm through in the oven or microwave before serving. These are best eaten within 24 hours. I have not tried freezing them but I imagine that would work, making sure they are separated with parchment.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Mini picnic quiche

The sun is shining, summer is here ….and it’s BBQ time!

Sunshine always gives me the feel good factor, but today just didn’t feel quite right. You know sometimes you just get those days when you feel a bit bummed out, sometimes there’s a logical reason and sometimes there’s not.

Sometimes I just feel lonely. There have been a few things playing on my mind recently, and at times like that I am reminded of the downside to ‘doing things differently’ and not simply following the crowd without questioning.  I haven’t got anyone to turn to in the same way as I did before and I have no-one that truly understands me anymore, I mean I’ve barely begun to understand myself yet!

I will never regret going down the paths I have taken, and the ways in which my life has changed, but sometimes I wish, just for a few moments, I didn’t have to think, I could just be and go with the flow and not worry about the consequences or what will become. I sometimes wish someone else could make the decisions and just tell me what to do…working it all out for yourself is mighty hard! But I also know it’s the only way to truly live the life you want.

Well, that’s enough of all that philosophical talk. That’s what happens when it’s silly late at night and I’m tired…but determined to get the post written up before going to sleep!

It’s been a hot sunny day…happy happy happy. And I am happy, really, life is good. I’m just having a silly moment.

So let’s talk BBQ’s, since this evening’s dinner was a cosy little BBQ at my friend’s house. I took along a couple of things to add to the food collection.

Guess which one was mine?

If you read this post you may have guessed!  Yep it was the black bean beet burger towards the back. Looks pretty authentic though, right?

I also made a few mini quiches to share. These mini's are perfect for BBQ's or picnics. The recipe was prety much identical to this quiche recipe, but this time without a crust and served cold as mini snack bites, so they seemed totally different; the perfect light bite. This is such a simple recipe and I have provided it again below. I would strongly recommend silicone mini muffin pans as this will make it easier to pop the quiches out. Also allow the quiches to fully cool before handling them as I also found it a little more difficult to remove from the pan whilst still warm (I was in a rush to get to the BBQ so couldn't wait for as long!)

In typical Bristish style the sun began to set and the breeze got up just as we sat own to eat. It was a little on the chilly side, after having been so hot all day, so as soon as we’d eaten we cosied up inside for an evening of girlie chat.

Recipe: Mini picnic quiche

Ingredients:

½ tsp garlic powder
½ cup chickpea flour
1 tbs potato starch (or other starch)
3 tsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp mustard
½ teaspoon salt
¼ tsp mixed herbs
pinch paprika

Large pinch baking powder
1 tbs olive oil

1 cup water

Veggies- I used ½ grated courgette, 1 small pepper diced, 1/3 cup  each sweetcorn and soy beans. Feel free to use whatever other veggies you have to hand, ensuring you chop the pieces small enough.

Method:

In a medium bowl whisk together the ingredients, other than the water. Once a smooth paste is achieved add the water and whisk again until smooth. It should be about the consistency of pancake batter and have no lumps.

Pour the batter into mini muffin pans filling them  half way. Add the vegies equally between each muffin pan.

Bake for approx. 30 minutes, until the filling appears well set and pulls away from the side of the muffin tray. Let cool in tray before removing.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.