My Whole Deal

Whoah, October! What the heck are you doing here already? And what have you brought with you? Vegan MoFo 2012, the Victoria Marathon (8k) and Disneyland? Aaaaaiiiiiiiahhhh! Due to the sheer craziness of this month, I will be keeping my MoFo posts very short and sweet (and sometimes savoury) this year. Since transitioning to a clean-eating, gluten-free diet in March, I have never felt better, so I will use Vegan MoFo to highlight some of the amazing gluten-free vegan food out there and chronicle my experience eating in Disneyland. Some days it might just be a photo up here, but by golly, I will be MoFoing my heart out for the 4th year in row! So, without further ado, let’s MoFo.

South of the Border Spoilage for my Birthday!

Going gluten-free has made such a huge impact on my health and happiness and, after you get over that initial hump of tearing up every time you walk past a bakery, it’s actually pretty darn simple. And simple is exactly the name of the gluten-free game in our house. I don’t go for elaborate blends of flours and starches to cobble together a bun for my beans. The fewer and more whole the ingredients, the better. And you can’t get much simpler than making your own, homemade corn tortillas.

My husband has a sick sense of humour, which is why he is my husband.

Spicy food is big in our house, and, as you can see from the above photos, my husband decked me out with some new tools for my birthday this summer. Although not a necessity, a tortilla press makes making your own tortillas an absolute delight. I have an aluminum one, but there are a number of varieties out there and they are quite inexpensive. Or, you could try to build your own!

Masa Harina is simply corn ground into flour. It and water is really all you need for THE best and yummiest tortillas in the universe (seriously, store bought are like eating the corn equivalent of malaria after you try these bad-boys), but I like to flavour mine up a little.

INGREDIENTS

–2 cups masa harina (corn flour)
–1.5 tsp ground coriander
–1/2 tsp cumin
–1 tsp sea salt
–1.5 cups water
–1 medium freezer bag OR parchment paper or wax paper cut into rounds the size of your press

My favourite tortilla enhancer. Ever.

METHOD

1. Easy peasy. Just mix everything together (using your hands works best!) until a smooth dough forms, adding extra flour if the dough is too moist and more water if the inverse be true.
2. Cover dough in a damp tea towel. Form dough into balls just slightly larger than those golfers use for golfing with. You should get roughly a dozen, give or take a golf ball, keeping the dough/balls covered as you work to prevent dry balls.

Nice Balls. I get that a lot.

3. I like using the freezer/ziploc bag method. Cut off the zipper part and slice the sides, leaving the bottom intact. You can use it time and time again. Place the open bag in the press and put a ball in the center. Close bag. Close press. Yay!

Just pressed!

Alternately, put ball between two sheets of parchment or wax paper cut to fit press. Et voila! Alternately to that alternate, put dough balls in between any of those slippery surfaces and roll out to desired thickness with a rolling pan or wine bottle.

3. Assembly line time! Preheat griddle or cast iron pan to medium-high heat. Heat each tortilla for 30 seconds per side (flattening additional balls as your tortillas cook). Remove from heat and store between sheets of paper towel or wrapped in a clean, dry tea towel. Reheat briefly before serving.

Grill’em.

Wrap uneaten (???!!!) tortillas in plastic and foil and refrigerate for 5-7 days. Or just do this and be happy! Like a Vegan MoFo!

Party.