Monday, April 4, 2011

Seed bread, and learning new things...







Eating raw has changed the way I use the kitchen. The blender, juicer and food processor are getting daily workouts, so their parts are always airing on the counter. Fruit bowls and baskets over flow, as does the fridge, with weekly 5 lb bags of carrots, apples, and oranges, bundles of celery and greens, jars of kefir and tubs of sprouts.
I save and reuse plastic containers as much as possible before sending them to the landfill, and recently found the perforated clear plastic cherry tomato boxes perfect for sprouting larger seeds like beans and peas.
Aside from the juicer and blender parts filling the counter, there are also jars of sprouts, trays of thing drying, and seeds soaking for seed 'bread".
We occasionally sell flax seed bread or crackers at the store. I say occasionally, because they are almost always prohibitively expensive and no one buys them. I was amazed to find out seed bread is incredibly easy to make--and like most things, homemade is 1000 times better than storebought.
The recipe goes like this:
Soak some flax seeds, chia seeds, and sesame seeds over night. The ratio is something like 2:2:1, with sesame being lowest. The first batch, I used about 3/4 cup each chia and flax, and 1/4 cup or so sesame, and it filled one large cookie sheet. The flax and chia will form a goopy jelly that's kind of fun to play with. I see no reason why they should not all be soaked together.
Several people, upon hearing this recipe, have said, well, why do you soak the seeds?
The answer lies in the basic function of seeds. They are tiny unrealized plants, waiting to happen. They often contain some protective biochemicals such as phytates that are bitter and may have some less than beneficial effects on animal physiology. Soaking whole, raw seeds, grains, and nuts starts the sprouting process, inactivating those phytates and activating other enzyme processes that render the seeds more digestible and nutritious.
In the morning, pour the seed gloop into your blender with a delicate amount of celtic salt, and some vegetables of your choice. For my first batch, I used just one rather strong wild green onion; for my next batch, I'm planning to use some tomato,black pepper, garlic, and thyme. Blend until the vegetables are all finely chopped. You'll have a somewhat homogenized batter containing plenty of whole seeds. If you like, at this time you could add some soaked pumpkin seeds for extra loveliness.
Very lightly oil, or otherwise line ( I don't use teflon, so opted for a light coat of grapeseed oil), cookie sheets or dehydrator trays, then pour and spread the batter in a thin layer out to the edges of each sheet. The original recipe above filled one very large cookie sheet and yielded about 25 "crackers" Not having a dehydrator, I set my oven to its lowest temperature and left the door open slightly. Dehydrate the bread 7-10 hours, or until it reaches the consistency you want. If you're using an oven, halfway through, you will need to turn over the bread so both sides can dry. I found it easiest to do this by cutting it into strips when it is dehydrated enough to hold together but still fairly flexible. Slightly shorter dehydration produces a flexible, chewy bread that can be used as a tasty wrap; longer, and you'll get a crispy flat-bread texture.

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