Friday, July 16

Cheater's homemade pita chips

Tara and I have been trying to find a healthy alternative to potato chips and crackers for salty treats. Recently, we've gotten into pita chips. We really like the Stacy's Pita Chips brand, especially the "Simply Naked" flavor. The ingredient list is relatively short and there's nothing unpronounceable in them. So, this should mean that they're a go for Tara, right? WRONG! As I was chowing down the other day, I read the ingredient list again and realized that they were made with canola oil. This was a major bummer for us as canola oil is on the Restricted Foods list. We're finding out that even the so-called "healthy" foods can be difficult for Tara because many of them contain items that are restricted, most notably soybean or canola oil.


Since then, I've been racking my brain for ideas on what to do for a salty snack for Tara. I mean, just because Lay's Classic potato chips contain all allowed ingredients doesn't mean that she should eat them, right? I've toyed with the idea of making homemade pita chips out of homemade pitas, but that just seemed like a lot of work for a snack to me, especially with my budding bread making skills. In the interim of finding a solution, we've continued to eat the Stacy's brand and tried out other brands. (We did find these Sensible Portions Pita Bites, which are quite tasty, but they're more cracker-like than pita chip-like.)



Well, a couple of days ago, I was rooting around the fridge and I found a bag of Toufayan Pita Breads buried in the back. I peeped the ingredients and, lo and behold, there was nothing on the restricted list!


They weren't fresh enough to make a pita sandwich with, but they were perfect for making cheater's pita chips! I was super excited when I thought of this because now I don't have to go through the effort of making pita bread just for the chips.

They're ridiculously quick and easy to make. All I did was cut up the pita into relatively even triangles, split them (optional), brush with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle some salt and pepper (and garlic powder for me), and toast in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes (depending on how crispy you want them). Oh, and as an added bonus, you can make as much or as little as you want; one pita works for us.

(I was so hungry for these that I forgot to split the pita before toasting.)

Cheater's Homemade Pita Chips

These are great plain, but they are also nice with some hummus.

Ingredients:
  • Pita bread
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • Optional: Pepper or any sort of powdered seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven (if using) to broil. Slice the pitas into 6 triangles. Split the triangles; this should be relatively easy, but don't fight it if they won't separate. Brush the slices lightly with oil and then dust them with the seasoning(s). (I don't see why you couldn't prep the pitas with oil and seasoning before you slice the pita into sections, but then it might get a bit messy when you try to split the pieces.)

Arrange the slices on a baking tray and place in oven. If you're using your toaster oven (which I highly recommend), use the toast setting. Flip the pieces midway through. I like my chips only lightly toasted, about 5 minutes in the oven. Keep an eye on the oven after you've flipped them because you don't want them to get burned.

Wait for them to cool slightly and then enjoy.

Sweet version: I haven't tried it, but I imagine you could do a sweet version of these by subbing a cinnamon sugar mixture for the seasonings and swapping the olive oil with either butter or a neutral oil like grapeseed.
UPDATE: I finally made a cinnamon sugar version. They were delicious! For 2 pitas you'll need about a tablespoon of slightly cooled melted butter (or neutral oil), ~1/4 cup of sugar, and ~1 tsp of cinnamon (I'm guesstimating on the amounts for the cinnamon and sugar because I totally forgot to measure). Slice the pita into triangles, but don't split it; Tara and I both agreed that they were definitely better thicker. Mix the cinnamon and sugar. Arrange the pieces on a pan. Brush one side of the pita with the butter, then sprinkle liberally with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Stick the pan in the toaster/regular oven on about 350 until slightly toasted (but not too much). Then, take out the pan, flip the pieces over, brush with the butter, and sprinkle with the mixture again. Put it back in the oven to toast the other side. Be careful when removing the pieces from the pan as the sugar will have likely caramelized and it is not pleasant; I speak from experience, folks.
Note: If you're interested in trying the chip brands that I mentioned in the post, check the deli section of your local grocer. I only linked to Amazon and any other web pages for reference.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...