Recipes

A New Take on Pita Bread and Hummus: You Can Enjoy Grilled Veggies on Top

By Elizabeth Herman | Posted: March 25, 2020

This wonderful dish takes hummus and pita bread to a whole new level, and it makes vegetarian cooking at home feel flexible, easy, and fun, especially when I have all the ingredients on hand. I discovered hummus kalaya when I lived in Southern Illinois, and haven’t stopped cooking it since. By baking my own pita bread to scoop up the grilled vegetables along with the hummus, I get a fresh food feeling that is unmatched by store bought or restaurant food.

Some of the ingredients can be varied, depending on what’s seasonal and available. For instance, in the winter, when summer squashes may be out of season, you can use sliced turnips along with the carrots and green beans. You can also add broccoli or cauliflower florets, and a green leafy vegetable such as turnip greens, mustard greens, spinach, chard, or kale. There are so many ways to top hummus with any beautiful vegetable and bean combination you prefer. You can even vary the type of bean in the base, by using pinto, navy or great northern beans instead of garbanzos.

Ingredients

Hummus:

1 cup dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

¼ cup lemon juice (fresh or from a jar)

Lemon zest to taste (if you have a fresh lemon)

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste

2 Tbsp. of chopped parsley or cilantro (optional)

1 Tbsp. of tahini (optional)

Vegetable and Nut Garnishes:

1 carrot, sliced diagonally

½ cup green beans, chopped diagonally in 1 inch pieces

½ of a zucchini or yellow squash, sliced diagonally

1 or 2 Tbs. blanched, slivered almonds, or pumpkin seeds or other nuts or seeds (optional)

Dash of olive oil 

Dash of paprika

Pita Bread:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp. Honey (or brown sugar, agave, brown rice syrup if you’re vegan)

2 tsp. Baking yeast

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. Salt

Extra unbleached flour for dusting 

Instructions

  1. For the hummus, soak the garbanzo beans overnight. Wash them and bring them to a boil in a saucepan, and then reduce the heat to let them simmer for at least 1 hour until tender and easily mashed.

  2. Place the beans in a blender or food processor or blend them with a hand blender and the rest of the hummus ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.

  3. For the pita bread, start the yeast in the warm water with the honey. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy. 

  4. Add the whole wheat flour, unbleached all-purpose flour, olive oil, and salt and mix well with a spoon until a ball of dough forms. Knead for 5 minutes on a floured board. 

  5. Place kneaded dough in an oiled mixing bowl, and turn it over so the oil coats both sides. Cover with a clean cloth and place in a warm part of your kitchen to rise for an hour.

  6. Turn out the dough on a floured board and cut into 9 or 10 roughly equal pieces. Roll into flat rounds with a rolling pin.

  7. Preheat the oven to 450 fahrenheit, and heat 2 baking sheets in the oven. Place the flat rounds of dough onto the hot baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Remove the pitas from the oven and cool on a rack until easy to handle.

  8. For the garnishes, slice or chop your vegetables somewhat uniformly to bite size. Grill them in a skillet with a small amount of oil, starting with the carrots (or turnips), and then adding the squash, green beans, and any other vegetables of choice. Any greens you may be using should be added last so as to avoid overcooking them.

  9. Toast any nuts or seeds you’re using as a garnish in a dry pan over medium heat. Keep them moving for a few minutes until they brown and/or pop. Be sure not to leave them alone and still for too long or they’ll burn.

  10. Remove garnishes from heat. 

  11. For plating, while they cool, take a large plate and spread a large spoonful (or two or three) of hummus on the plate with the back of the spoon, forming an even layer in a circular shape. 

  12. Place pieces of the pita bread around the edges of the circle of hummus. Add a dash of paprika and a dash of olive oil to the top of the circle of hummus, and then sprinkle the nuts or seeds and grilled vegetables evenly over them. 

  13. Use the pita bread to scoop up the hummus together with all of the garnishes, and enjoy!

This makes for a nutritious lunch or dinner. To make it vegan and even healthier, use another sweet syrup (maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave) or brown sugar instead of honey when you start the yeast in the first step of assembling the pita bread ingredients. 


Elizabeth Herman writes, offers writing support to clients, teaches, and volunteers for a better world. She has a PhD in Rhetoric, Composition and Literature. Find her on Facebook or Twitter.

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