Curry Veggie Flax Cracker Experiment Recipe

I have a container of golden flax seeds on my countertop so the other day I thought I may as well put them to use. (Plus I’ve been craving some hand-to-mouth action lately and thought instead of potato chips, this may be a better option!)

I used:

• 1 cup golden flax seeds
• 4 stalks of celery
• 1 handful of cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup water (may use more or less depending on consistency)
• salt & pepper
• 1 T. of curry powder

1. Grind your flax seeds in a high-powered blender.
2. Add celery, cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup water.  Slowly begin to blend adding in more water as needed.
3. Add in curry and do a final blend.
4. Scrape mixture out onto Teflex dehydrator sheets.  Spread 1/8″-1/4″ thick and sprinkle with salt.  Dehydrate for 2 hours at 105 degrees.  Then score into desired cracker shapes (squares, rectangles, etc).  Keep in dehydrator for another 4 hours (6 hours total for that side).  Finally, flip over and dehydrate at the same temperature for another 6 hours.
5. Serve with hummus, bean dip, tahini, or just eat plain!

Easter Road Trip

Today my sister, Maureen, my Fiance, the LT, and I are on our way to Ohio to visit my family for Easter.  It’s a five-hour trip and I love to eat, so you know I’ve got to get in that car prepared.  Unfortunately, while on road trips, I love to get Subway.  Don’t judge me!  That veggie sub with oil and vinegar on soft, hearty Italian…well, it can taste so good in a car.  However, my sister is a vegetarian and loves to experiment with raw foods, so I’m counting on her to help me stay raw, but the LT…well, he doesn’t mean to but he lures me away from raw foods sometimes.  He is a meat-eater, but is totally game to try out all the raw recipes I throw in front of him.  He’s even eaten at Cousin’s I.V. and Karyn’s Raw with me here in Chicago.  However, late at night on I-70, I am pretty certain Subway is the healthiest compromise we can make.  Therefore, I have armed myself with plenty of raw snackies for the trip!

Earlier this week, I made some flax crackers.  I kind of made this recipe up on the fly out of what I had because I didn’t want to brave Whole Foods for flax seeds.  But rummaging around in my cupboard, I found some golden flax seed meal.  Using the meal, the crackers came out very different from crackers I’ve made using the seeds.  Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s the recipe or the meal, but I prefer the meal crackers to the seed crackers.  Reason being is that the meal creates a firmer cracker that does not break and spread flax seeds everywhere. (on my counter, on my floor, on my clothes–I find flax seeds everywhere when I’m eating flax crackers!)

I also made RAWvolution’s No-Bean Hummus.  Matt Amsden is a genius in the raw food kitchen and I love his recipe.  It’s easy and takes about 15 minutes to make including clean up!  The only ingredient you may have to hunt for is raw tahini, but Whole Foods usually carries this.

Finally, I’ll throw some baby carrots in a baggie for hummus dipping, as well.  I should be fine to stay raw on this journey, but that Subway does smell delicious in a truck stop.  (Just typing that made me realize how yucky and unappealing a foot long sounds!)

Salt n’ Pepper Flax Crackers

3 cups golden flax seed meal

2.5 teaspoons Himalayan salt

2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper

4-5 cups water

Pour the flax seed meal in a glass bowl.  Add salt and pepper and mix well.  Then add enough water to cover the mixture.  Use a fork to stir water into mixture evenly.  Allow to sit at room temp for 5-10 mins.  This allows the flax seed meal to absorb the water.  Next add another 1/2 to 1 cup of water and mix thoroughly.  Mixture will be gelatinous but easy to maneuver.  Finally pour enough mixture onto teflex-lined dehydrator sheet to fill the center.  Spread out to desired thickness.  I like 1/4″.  Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 8 hours then score the sheet of flax meal into 1″ x 1″ squares.  Flip sheet over and continue to dehydrate for 8 more hours.

No-Bean Hummus

2 zucchini, peeled and chopped

3/4 cup raw tahini

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (I used closer to 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled

2.5 teaspoons sea salt

1/2 T ground cumin

In a high-speed blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until thick and smooth.  That’s it!  So easy and so good!