Pita Wrapped Gyro with Dill Cucumber Sauce

This Pita Wrapped Gyro with Dill Cucumber Sauce recipe is taken from Mimi Kirk’s new cookbook, Live Raw Around the World: International Raw Food Recipes for Good Health and Timeless Beauty (July 2013). The flavorful mushroom filling in these raw pita gyros satisfies like you wouldn’t expect, whele this dill cucumber sauce adds that authenticity we all crave in this classic Greek dish.

Pita

1 ¾ cups oat groats
1 teaspoon Himalayan salt
1 cup water

Directions:
Grind the groats to flour in a high-speed blender or spice grinder (see p. 44). Add 1 cup water, and blend to combine. Place the dough in a bowl, and knead a few times. Flatten out on a nonstick dehydrator tray, pressing with fingers to make approximately 4-5 five-inch rounds. The dough will be a little sticky, but just keep working to flatten it out. Dehydrate for 15-20 minutes at 115 degrees F. After 15 minutes, flip the nonstick sheet over onto a mesh sheet. Handle gently, using a large chopping knife to help peel the pita off the sheet and loosen the soft sticky spots. Dehydrate for another 15-20 minutes on the mesh screen. Press on the thickest part of the pita to test doneness. The pita should be slightly soft in the center. Do not overdehydrate, but make sure it is done. Pitas are best warm but store well in a refrigerator. To store, wrap the pita in a paper towel, and place it in a Ziploc bag. The pita will soften as it sits, and it can be put back in the dehydrator to warm up.

Mushroom Filling

2 large Portobello mushrooms
1/8 teaspoon each cumin, curry, savory, paprika, oregano, and thyme
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
Himalayan salt to taste
Freshly milled pepper to taste
3 tablespoons gluten-free tamari
3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
Wipe the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Remove the stems and gills from the underside by using a teaspoon or melon baler. Cut off the thinner rim that curves in, leaving a solid piece of mushroom. Slice the mushrooms thinly with a sharp knife. Marinate the pieces in spices, tamari, and olive oil for 10 minutes. Place on a dehydrator sheet, and dehydrate at 110 degrees F for 1 hour.

Pita Filling

Lettuce or spinach
2 tomatoes, seeded, sliced in small wedges
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
Dill cucumber sauce

To assemble:
Spread the yogurt sauce on the pita, place lettuce or spinach on top, then layer with mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions. Roll at an angle with the larger opening at one end, or fold over in half.

Yield: 4-5 servings

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For Mimi Kirk, age ain’t nothing but a number. Named PETA’s 2009 Sexiest Vegetarian Over Fifty—at the age of seventy—readers need look no further than Mimi to be sure that the raw food diet really works! In Live Raw Around the World: International Raw Food Recipes for Good Health and Timeless Beauty (July 2013), the follow-up to her enormously popular Live Raw, Mimi actually trekked around the world to bring raw foodies these flavorful, authentic new recipes.

Category: Body