Friday, May 13, 2011

The Vegetarian Princess Returns

Princess Bossy is back in our state for the summer and the 2 weddings, one of which is her own.  Prince Helium accompanied her, not only so she wouldn't travel alone, but so that we can meet in person.  He'll only be here for a few days, but a bit of a chance to get to know him a little better before he's back in August to become our son-in-law.                                                                                                                                                                            
For their first night home, our vegetarian princess requested her favorite dinner:  Grilled flat bread with grilled veggies and sauces.  This is usually summer fare, but when the long-absent eldest returns, who can quibble about seasons?  The next 2 younger princesses have been craving Gyros, so it was an opportunity to offer that meatier alternative for the omnivores, while the herbivore got her wish.                                                                                                   
For the flat bread, I used my pizza crust recipe, but with a high ratio of whole wheat to all-purpose flours.  I have previously used whole grain bread dough, too, which worked fine.      

I divide the dough into pieces, form balls as for dinner rolls, and roll them out to about 1/8 inch.                                                                               
I work fairly quickly, placing them on wax paper on a baking sheet, and get a pan of them out to Hubby at the preheated gas barbecue, while I continue to roll out the rest.  If they wait and rise a little too long (over 10 minutes or so), they get too soft and pliable, which makes them difficult to move onto the grill for cooking.                                                         
They go directly onto the hot grill, where they brown and bubble in just a minute or two.  At this point, he flips them to brown the other side.  My long handled, locking tongs or the barbecue tongs come in very handy for this task.   It can be a challenge to keep the environment hot enough (400 - 450 degrees), so he works as quickly as possible and shuts the lid in between loading and flipping.  After removing one batch, Hubby closes the lid again, and allows a few minutes for the temperature gauge to return to the desired range.                                                                   


We keep the cooked flat bread on a platter, tented in foil as the rest cook.  It's OK for them to get a little steamy, as it keeps them soft and easier to wrap around the selected fillings.                                                                                                     
Filling choices this time were grilled onion, bell peppers, and mushrooms, with lettuce and tomato, to have with pesto, guacamole, or Princess Sassy's tzaziki for the vegetarian option.  Garlicky lamb, onions, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream made the Gyro fans happy.   We've also enjoyed these with grilled chicken, and onions, served with variations on a vinaigrette that we use for both marinade and sauce...That is Hubby's favorite.
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