Sunday, February 14, 2010

Daring Cooks Challenge – Handmade Pita and Hummus


The 2010 February Daring COOKs challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

I finally made pita bread, something I had wanted to try for a long time. I mixed the dough by hand and also kneaded for 10 minutes by hand. After the dough had risen, I rolled out eight flatbreads. I think I should have baked them a minute or two longer, but since this was my first attempt I stuck to the recipe instructions of three minutes.

I cut one in half to see if I had a pocket, and I did!


As I am so pressed for time these days, I made this recipe in two parts, making only the required elements of pita bread and hummus. I made the pita bread before I started another diet. (I have my eye on a tiny little dress for Chase and Cat’s wedding!) Since I’ve made hummus at least 20 times already, I decided to make a diet friendly, almost raw zucchini hummus. I followed the given recipe, but subbed in three zucchinis for the can of chickpeas and reduced the tahini to one tablespoon.


It’s not creamy like traditional hummus, but the flavor is good and it makes a fantastic salad topper.

Thanks for all of your congratulations on my son’s wedding. It’s such a fun and busy and happy time. And Happy Valentine’s Day!

17 comments:

Mihl said...

I could make pita bread every day! Your zucchini hunnus sounds like a great addition to the traditional version.

Gina said...

Oooh, I like the idea of the zucchini "hummus". Sounds yummy and healthy!

Audax said...

WOWOWOW zucchini "hummus" sounds and looks delicious and the pita looks perfect love the pocket. It seems like you enjoyed it so much. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

miss v said...

yum to zucchini hummus - something i haven't tried!

Ricki said...

Happy V-Day to you, too! So does the zucchini hummus have NO chickpeas? Radical!

Carrie said...

I love homemade pita bread!

Interesting concept on the zucchini hummus - I never would have thought of that!

Andrea said...

Homemade pita is a revelation - I can never believe the pockets will form, but they do! The zucchini hummus looks good - is the zucchini raw or lightly cooked? I remember you said you were going to eat raw until the wedding. :)

Bianca said...

My mom tried making pita bread once years ago and I remember she was surprised by much easier it was than she'd expected. I still haven't tried...but I'm not sure what I'm waiting for!

Julie Lynn said...

I've never tried to make pitas, they scare me. ;-) You did a great job! The dip looks great too.

Way to go!

Oraphan said...

Your pita bread looks fantastic! Way to go, Diann! I really love the idea of zucchini hummus, I know for sure I would enjoy it as a dip or salad dressing, YUM!
Can't wait to give it a try:)

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

What a good job you made with those pitas. That must have been very satisfying!

Jes said...

I love the pizzaz the zucchini adds to the hummus, and super congrats on the awesome pockety pita!

VEGAN TICKLES said...

Kudos to you for making homemade pita. Love it!

Levinson-Axelrod said...

Homemade pita! I've always wanted to learn to make homemade bread, pita, tortillas... I just haven't because they're usually pretty awesome at the market. But now I'm rethinking things because that pita looks great! Cheers.

Anonymous said...

That looks nice--but I can get packs of excellent wholemeal pita breads for 49p each and little pots of silky smooth hummus for 99p at my local supermarket! So I can't see myself bothering. It's funny, courgettes (zucchini) are sooo expensive in the market here. Chickpeas are much cheaper! :)

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

mmm, congrats on the pita pocket!

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