vegan flour power tortillas

these tortillas remind me of the gyro and falafel flatbread wraps you get from vendors at summer festivals. they’re nothing like the dry, starchy, pale, preservative-laden splats you find in plastic bags at the grocery store. these are moist, slightly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, and astoundingly ingredient-simple. flour, salt, olive oil and water. that’s it.

ingredients:

-1 cup flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-2 tablespoons warm olive oil
-1/3 cup water

mix the flour and salt in a bowl, then add the oil and stir. add the water and mix it up some more. you’re going for a dough that’s very elastic and just slightly less than sticky, so add more water or flour if the consistency isn’t right.

knead the dough for a couple minutes, clump it into a ball and cover with a damp kitchen towel, then let it nap for about half an hour.

pull back its covers and roust the dough with a forceful knead or two, then divide into four or five little balls. on the stove, start preheating a cast iron pan on medium-high. no oil necessary.

roll out the dough on a smooth surface using a rolling pin and tons of flour. it wants to stick to anything it can get its hands on. it also wants to shrink down every time you roll it out, so do it fast, and get it as thin as you can.

take a dinner plate about the size of your tortillas and place it in a plastic bag that can be sealed. you’ll be tossing the tortillas straight from the stove into the bag to steam.

once the pan is really hot, lay down your first tortilla. it should take less than a minute for brown spots to start forming underneath. flip it over and cook on the other side. place the cooked tortilla on the plate and seal the bag.

repeat for the rest of the dough balls, then seal up the bag and let them steam for at least ten minutes. i like to eat them warm, filled with hummus and salad greens.