Veggie Breadsticks

For years, my children would whine, negotiate, and stall whenever their dinner consisted of non-processed plant matter not on their “favorites” list. You would think I was raising a family of carnivores and not vegetarians. I finally came up with a way to disguise, I mean incorporate, vegetables into a snack food. This is my recipe for veggie breadsticks. When paired with a good tomato marinara dipping sauce, these sticks provide a wide variety of vitamins and phytonutrients.

Ingredients:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• ½ cup warm water
• 2 ½ cups unbleached white flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 small carrot
• ½ cup packed volume of frozen spinach (thawed and water squeezed out)
• ¼ teaspoon oregano
• ¼ teaspoon basil
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• garlic salt

Grind the spinach, carrot, and spices in a food processor until they form a thick paste. In a large bowl, combine the veggies, yeast, warm water, and 1 ½ cups of the flour. Mix well to blend. Add oil, salt, and remaining flour and stir until the dough sticks together.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about five minutes. If the dough gets sticky, sprinkle it with a little flour. If the dough gets too dry, sprinkle water 1 teaspoon at a time and knead in.

Roll the dough in a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a dishtowel and set in a warm but not hot place to rise until doubled in volume, 30 minutes to an hour. Preheat the oven to 450oF.

Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal. When the dough has risen, punch it down, knead it a couple more times, and roll it out with a rolling pin onto a baking sheet until it forms a large rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.

Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

Using a knife or other sharp edge, cut the dough into strips 1 inch wide by pressing straight down on the dough with the edge. Spray the breadsticks lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle them with garlic salt. Bake in the center of the oven for about 10 minutes.

Makes 8-10 breadsticks.