Shirtless Chef – The Tortilla Dilemma

Local fitness enthusiast Jason Murphy remakes favorite meals of his youth into healthy dishes. See the full list of his recipes at www.mysaline.com/shirtless.

One of the hardest nuts to crack (or doughs to roll, I should say) in the healthy carb world is tortillas. I’ve made them out of cauliflower and they tasted fine, but they don’t fold like tortillas. I’ve made them with fat head dough, but they don’t store well, and the texture isn’t the same. Let’s face it, unless you can roll it up without breaking and shove it down your gullet without a fork, it’s not a tortilla. The so-called low carb tortillas sold in stores are anything but low carb, and usually have both questionable ingredients and taste. It’s taken me six years of trial and error to finally solve this riddle, and in doing so, have solved two problems. If you do a thick roll with this recipe, you will get Pita bread results. Hooray! And if you go thin with your roll, you get tortillas. Hooray again! I found this out because my consistency with a roller pin is not great. Happy accidents, as Bob Ross would say. The big kicker is you can make a big batch of these, wrap them in a paper towel and a plastic storage bag, and stick them in the fridge for safe keeping. Slap one down in a hot skillet for a couple of minutes, and they come back to life like you just made them.

Of all the things I missed from time to time in this lifestyle, it was making tortilla based sandwiches and quesadillas. Well, no more. This recipe is super easy and quick, has more healthy fiber than a bathtub of Metamucil, and tastes great. The possibilities are endless. Soft tacos, bbq wraps, club sandwiches, and gyros are all on the menu with these versatile wraps. The secret ingredient that makes this all work is psyllium husks. It’s crucial that you not use the powder found in stores. No, for this you will have to get on the interwebs and order this from Amazon. You can find it in canisters and pouches from several different brands. All that really matters is that you make sure it says whole husks and not powder:

This stuff is great for your heart and pancreas, it’s a prebiotic for gut health, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, and improves lipid levels. Sounds like medicine, but it’s much cheaper than a prescription, and have you ever tried to wrap a pill around bacon and avocado? Damn near impossible. So, give this recipe a try if you want wraps, tacos, gyros, and more with a nutritional powerhouse as a delivery vehicle from the plate to your mouth. You can look up my previous article on gyros, it’s what I used to test drive these bad boys. Enjoy.

Healthy foldable tortillas

Ingredients:

2 cups fine almond flour

6 tbsp whole psyllium husks

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp avocado or olive oil

1 cup warm water

Instructions:

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk. Heat one cup of water in the microwave for 1 minute, then add 1 tbsp of the oil to the water. Slowly pour the water/oil in the dry ingredients, whisking constantly until completely combined. Let the mix rest for 2 minutes for the psyllium to soak up the water. Spray some non-stick on the mix and on your plastic gloves if wearing and knead the dough until it is smooth and mixed, shaping into a large ball:

Cut the ball in half, then cut each half again, and then cut those halfs one more each:

Roll each ball out between two pieces of parchment paper sprayed with non-stick. Roll thick for pita like consistency, roll thin for tortillas. You can use different sized plates or saucers for guides if you like. Place a tbsp or two of oil on a griddle or large skillet and heat to around 300 degrees. Cook each tortilla 2-3 minutes per side, depending on the thickness: