Do not be deceived by the beauty of this plate. The tortillas may as well have been scrambled up with the tofu for all the good they did as a vehicle for the stuffing. Needless to say, this was a fork and knife meal.
This was one of my first forays in the world of no wheat. I’m not too impressed.
Quality ingredients and nutritional stats aside, they were similar to (a thinner) cardboard in texture. The slightest bend and they cracked like a stale wafer. Interestingly enough, they were packaged between individual pieces of wax paper. I’m not sure why?
For all the care that went into preserving them, they didn’t exactly have a texture worth keeping.
Anyway. Here’s a nice FODMAPS-friendly meal for the elimination phase. If you’re not following my fodmaps posts, just disregard that last sentence, use a regular (wheat) tortilla, and enjoy the vegan recipe to follow.
I rarely crave savory things in the AM – I’m more of a sweet breakfast kind of girl. But I do enjoy veggie scrambles, any time of day. So for lunch I tossed spinach and bell peppers in a pan to sauté in a mix of Bragg’s and olive oil.
After they cooked a bit, I added in half a package of silken tofu. The info about whether or not tofu is ok during the elimination phase of FODMAPS is unclear. Going by the book, soy beans are in the galactans group. However, tofu has been approved by a few sources. If you are following the elimination phase very strictly, then you may want to omit tofu just in case. When I ate this meal, I hadn’t had tofu (or any other sources of soy) for the previous 5 days and I, personally, had no issues afterwards. But I also had no other sources of FODMAPS in my diet, so maybe low amounts of soy beans are tolerable for me if the rest of my day is FODMAPS free. I can’t wait to sort it all out during the galactans challenge phase.
So take that info and do what you want with it.
Since Bragg’s liquid aminos and tahini are a combo sent down from the heavens (and the tortilla needed some nut-butter-y support), I knew the addition of Artisana’s cashini butter would really amp up the recipe.
The tofu cooked up deliciously well with the Bragg’s/oil blend. Then I scooped it all on top of the tortilla.
Unfortunately, this is when the cracking started.
Wah wah.
Sure, the meal tasted good, but there’s no way Food For Life’s brown rice tortillas are at all useable as tortillas. I ended up adding a TON more nut butter to help the scramble stick to the tortilla more. Not a terrible solution. 😉
If anyone has found good gluten/wheat free tortillas (or a recipe to make your own?) please share!
Tahini & Aminos – I have not heard of that yet, but it’s on my list now! This really does look like a yummy, easy recipe – tons of colorful veggies means this must be very nutritious too. Sorry the rice tortillas didn’t work out, wish I had another recommendation to share!
Ugh. I had the same experience with those! I was so excited to try them too…major disappointment. 🙁
I love tahini! I have never had it in a tortilla, but sounds good 🙂 And even though that tortilla cracked up a bit, it still looks delicious 🙂
My husband eats a breakfast burrito every morning with those tortillas. The trick is, you have to warm it in th microwave for about 1 minute. Then you can wrap them like a burrito. Also, storing them in a ziploc after opening the bag helps to keep then preserved. They dry out quickly and become brittle and break.
I use those tortillas and folding them always results in huge failure….however, i’ve had success with wraps and quesadillas with FYH cheese!!
“Interestingly enough, they were packaged between individual pieces of wax paper. I’m not sure why?”
i think it’s for people who like to freeze their tortillas (like me) and have experienced the tortillas getting stuck together. 🙂 funny thing is i actually put the wax paper between my tortillas but have never seen a package with them
Echoing Kathleen, I eat these all the time, and it’s all in how you heat them up. I heat mine gently in a pan on the stove until they’re soft and pliable. Every once in a while they do crack on me, but most of the time they work well! Plus I like the slightly chewy texture as the wrapping to whatever burrito concoction I’m making. Don’t give up yet! It might just take some experimenting to get them to cook correctly.
The brown rice tortillas work a little bit better if you spread water on them and then stick them in the oven for 5-10 minutes. They’re not the same as wheat tortillas, but they do become less likely to crack. Honestly, I don’t love wheat/gluten free bread products. I have found a great cereal–Smaps by Dixie Diner–that is gluten free, delicious, and has good nutritional stats.
have you tried the trader joe’s brand of brown rice tortillas? those work pretty well, and are tasty!
Aww, I love those tortillas! I like to cut them into chips and broil them until they are brown and crispy. Or just slather them in nut butter. I agree, they could “wrap” better, but I think ww wraps taste like cardboard and these taste fantastic!
The Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas are the only gluten-free ones I’ve been able to find….and I love them! I’ve had a few “bad” experiences with them….only a little bit of cracking. The wax paper is for people like me who freeze the tortillas. This prevents them from sticking to each other. The best “crack-proof” method for me is to take a tortilla out of the freezer, and let it thaw for 5-10 minutes on a plate. If I need to warm it up, I simply put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Hope this helps! 🙂
I eat those torts on the regular, but rarely as a tortilla… I like to cut thme in half or quarters and toast them, add nut buttah and banana, or cut into triangles, add olive oil and spices andbroil for chips (watch carefully, they toast super fast and burn even faster). or I have a sandwhich press that they work ok in. they are always better warmed or toasted in some way, and never try folding more than once:)
HaHa…..Yes, we had the same tortillas. But apparently there is a “secret” of barely cooking them or maybe misting them, but someone posted something about making these things better!
We ended up cooking until crisp and using as almost a chip. The flavor grew on us, although, at first try we both kind of rolled our eyes and thought, wow those are pricey tortillas!!
ohhhhh my gosh those tortillas suck!!
i had wanted to try their tortillas once and those were the only ones in the store, so i got them. i honestly haven’t even bothered to try any of their regular ones because those were just so awful!! i thought it was because i bought them frozen but seriously no good!
I find that they wrap nicely if you warm them up for a bit. I just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds 🙂
Ahhh….that would be hard. My life motto is that EVERYTHING tastes better on a tortilla..I LOVE them.
I’ve had HORRIBLE luck with brown rice tortillas! I found that corn tortillas stay together pretty well if you dry toast them in a skillet until they’re slightly crispy. I definitely don’t mind added nut butter though!
i had the same experience as you. i have heard the teff wraps by la tortilla factory are a great wheat-free option. apparently they are available in stores, but i can’t find them where i live. they are available some places online–i haven’t ordered them yet, but i’ve heard good things. i love injera, the ethiopian bread made from teff, so i have high hopes.
I love this tortillas, once I figured out how to prepare them. Steam them first with any other food you might be making, just for 20 or 30 seconds until the tortilla is soft and pliable, but not too long that they get kinda soggy, then you can wrap it up like a gluten tortilla. When I make quesodillas with them I run them under warm water first real quick and pat dry. Excellent!
I’ve tried the teff wraps and they’re stiff too and I think the flavor isn’t as good as the rice.
Oh yeah and then cook up like any old regular quesadilla using daiya, yum!
Just adding on to what a few other readers have already said: I broil mine for a bit before using it… otherwise they definitely DO taste like cardboard!
Girl you got to grill those bad boys up!! There is no way to roll them, they always break.. BUT if you grill them on both sides they hold up much better and you can at least make them in to a more wonderful wrap 🙂
I am SO addicted to those brown rice tortilla’s, it’s funny how everyone’s tastes are different 🙂 As others have mentioned, I always warm them up first – and while their texture is definintely not fluffy like a wheat tortilla for some reason I really really like the texture (I think I’m weird hehe).
LA tortilla factory makes a gluten free teff flour tortilla – delicious great texture with no cracking.
I tried the Ezekial bread awhile ago and thought it was dry and just awful – I couldn’t even make it through 1 piece before I threw it out. I applaud them for being sprouted but nasty is just nasty. I decided that I’m not going to cut out wheat on the fodmap diet. Wheat has never bothered me and its so nutritious that I just don’t see the point. I don’t eat a whole lot of it anyways so I think it’s fine.
That looks like one mighty fine scramble! I love me some scrambled tofu, particularly if lots of veggies are involved.
I run into the same problem with healthy tortillas–they have a bit of a cardboard-like texture. Did you try nuking the tortilla to make it a little more pliable?
Gah, nothing is more frustrating (to me) than spending money on ingredients or a product and having it fail you. I’ll keep my eye out for some good wheat free tortillas for you.
We make a buckwheat wheat free crepe to replace tortila’s. They are a little thicker in texture but they work perfectly. I have the recipe on my site if you want to give it a try.
Boo on the crappy tortillas! But helllllll-o that scramble looks great! Love the pic of the skillet with the peppers and spinach…so colorful!
Good save with the nut butter…always a good “food glue” 😉
I can’t give you a brand-name but there should be corn-tortillas that are gluten-free available somewhere out there! I’m not sure if corn is okay on your diet but corn-based gluten free food tends to taste a lot heartier and stick together better than rice-based products. Corn-tortillas are really popular in Mexico, I’m not sure why they’re not more popular elsewhere!
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I always buy those tortillas – zap ’em in the micro for about 20 seconds. I keep them in the freezer, that’s why they keep them separated with wax paper, so they don’t stick together when frozen. 🙂
I’m sure a lot of people suggested microwaving or toasting the tortilla, but in my experience, that only solves the problem for a few seconds (30ish) at most. On top of that, I don’t think these tortillas taste great though I really wanted to like them, in fact, I spent weeks trying to make myself get used to the taste and the fact that they don’t hold up, but it didn’t work out. If i’m going GF, I just stick to regular corn tortillas. I know they’re very small and they don’t stay together super well either, but when they are warmed and you double layer them, they hold up better than the brown rice version and they taste better too. Plus, in traditional mexican food, corn tortillas would be used anyways. I ended up making chips out of the tortillas, then not eating most of them. I have found brown rice tortillas and crackers kind of irritate my stomach anyways. It’s too bad there aren’t quinoa tortillas!
similarly, I make chickpea flatbread for a gf option. You can toss in spices, etc to give it flavor!
That sounds good. Is the recipe posted on your site?
The flatbread recipe is super basic and versatile, use any spices. http://melomeals.blogspot.com/2010/11/healthy-pizza-and-wraps-gluten-free.html?m=1 here is the link 🙂
http://melomeals.blogspot.com/2010/11/healthy-pizza-and-wraps-gluten-free.html?m=1
I just tried these and will be making them into chips. Big taco fail – of course, I didn’t find this post in time.
food for life are not gluten free.. tested above 20 ppm, more info here
http://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/blog.php?id=7
making corn tortillas from scratch is very easy. I learned to make them from youtube.
its on my to-do list! thanks 🙂
The only gluten free brand I have found that tastes great and is springy enough to roll without cracking apart is Kinnikinnick Foods in Canada. I use either the regular pancake mix or their crepes mix and make a hybrid tortilla type. I was raised in Mexican region with the thicker type of real homemade corn tortillas, so lean towards a thicker type, but not as thick as pancake. The beauty of the slightly thicker batter (than crepe) is sprinkling pre-cooked meats/veggies immediately after pouring/spreading batter. Then using longer spatula to loosen and flip. Maintains best of both, grilled add-ons melded into the delicious batter. Gives it a new taste/texture. Can be cooled and with parchment paper between can be saved in freezer bags for take out meals or fast meal/snack at home.
The Kinnikinnick pancake/crepes mix has pea starch, pea protein and guar gum. Does that make it a no-no?
peas are definitely fodmaps – so im going to say that the starch and protein derived from it are as well. not sure about guar gum.
I don’t think this is right for the elimination for phase, as it’s my understanding that sesame seeds (tahini), while relatively low in galactans are actually high in fructans. So the serving of those should be managed to < 1TB. But they really shouldn't be consumed at all during elimination.
After buying a package of those rice tortillas, I was dismayed to find that they wouldn’t roll without breaking. Based on Carey’s comment, I tried steaming them. I held a tortilla under running water for a moment to get both sides wet, shook the extra water off, then microwaved it on a plate under a glass lid for a minute. After that, it was soft enough to roll it up and make a burrito with it.
I experienced the same problems when i first tried these but I realized you have to heat them up and make the rice tortillas a little moist and voila, it ended up rolling up and folding without breaking like a wheat tortilla. Keep in mind, its rice, and like reheating rice/rice based products it just needs a little moisture to make it fluffy/soft again.
Read the suggestions for preparing tortillas and placed them in the microwave for 1 minute between two moist paper-towels and I was happy to find the tortillas folded without cracking and falling apart. Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I’ve recently had to go gluten free and the suggestions for using the product was most helpful.
I use these with green enchilada sauce, they don’t fall apart, put the sauce on the inside and outside of tortilla and then heat in microwave. I use egg whites with some garlic, and cheese, for a breakfast burrito.