I’ve now about worked my way through the entire list of cracker and flatbread recipes in Matthew Kenney’s book, Everyday Raw. (Raw ice cream – you are next! As soon as I can source young coconut which, no surprise, is not stocked at my local Walmart.) I’m obsessed with the technique and love the idea of making my own healthy, raw “chips” at home rather than buying tortilla chips and (my favorite guilty snack) Stacy’s Pita Chips. If you haven’t tried these: DO NOT buy a bag. You will be forever hooked. Fear not, I am going to tackle recreating those babies in my dehydrator, but for today, I’m sharing an on-the-sweet-side cracker that I created using the principles I picked up from Kenney’s book. These very crispy crackers include some standard granola bar ingredients. By the way, I’ve shared this recipe over at Gluten-Free Cat as part of Raw Foods Thursdays!
Eat them straight up or make a sandwich using homemade coconut milk ice cream. Thanks to Amanda (via Somer) for that very easy and tasty recipe – you’ll have to ask them for it yourselves…
One year ago today: White Bean, Asparagus & Artichoke Heart Salad
One year and one day ago today: Bluebirds to Be
Raw “Granola Bar” Crackers
Makes one dehydrator sheet
1 cup raw walnuts, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
1 large apple, cored and chopped into small chunks
1″ nubbin fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, soaked in warm water for an hour or so and drained
1 cup flaxseed meal
1/4 cup unsweetened cacao nibs
generous pinch salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
dash cardamom
1/2 tsp. orange zest
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
1 cup water
1/4 cup agave nectar (taste dough and add more if preferred)
Put the flaxseed meal, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, cacao nibs and orange zest in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a food processor, process the walnuts, ginger and apple until you get a nice mash. Add this mixture to the flaxseed meal mixture and add the remaining (wet) ingredients. Using a big spoon or your hands, mix until thoroughly combined. This is a fairly wet mess.
Line a dehydrator tray with a non-stick sheet and plop the dough into the center, top with another non-stick sheet and slowly roll out the dough. I had to move dough from time to time from one spot to another to get something that resembled a square. The dough should be about 1/4″ thick. Remove that top non-stick sheet, gently score the dough into whatever size and shape strike your fancy and slide the tray with the dough into the dehydrator. Dehydrate at 145F for 30 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 115F. After a few hours of drying, I carefully transfer the dough to a screen for more efficient drying. Dehydrate for about 24 hours or until crispy and crunchy. Break into pieces and store in an air-tight container.
This week I’m making recipes solely from blogs I’ve discovered since creating An Unrefined Vegan and I thought I’d share a few here.
Look at how beautiful these are! This is another recipe from FatFreeVegan. I made very minor changes to the recipe: using white whole wheat flour and zero all-purpose flour; subbing powdered ginger instead of nutmeg and adding a 1/4 cup of unsweetened soy milk because the batter was quite thick. I also mixed the batter up and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. These cook up to a beautiful golden-orange color and have a lovely light citrus flavor with just a hint of spice. Here’s where you can find the recipe: Golden Spice Pancakes.
I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to try the scrambled tofu recipe from Bacon is not an Herb – and I did – to great success. It changed this skeptic’s mind about the tofu-as-egg concept. It’s quick and delicious and you can change up the flavors and add whatever veggies you have on hand. We had some for dinner alongside roasted sweet potatoes and with the leftovers had really yummy sandwiches with a schmear of Vegenaise, thin slices of red onion and fresh bib lettuce on homemade 
I made this super simple pasta last night using a recipe for Mushroom Ragu from VeganChef. As suggested in a note on the recipe, I used a little bit of dry red wine when simmering the sauce and I paired it with whole wheat orecchiette, a sprinkling of nutritional yeast and extra fresh basil on top – delicious. A healthy dose of chopped kalamata olives would be really nice, too…
Galettes are perfect for when you’re in the mood for pie, but don’t feel like wrestling with two crusts. They have a rustic elegance. If you’ve tucked away some pie dough in the freezer, you can put one together in nearly no time. I also like the ratio of crust to fruit filling – - being a fan of more crust to fruit in nearly every case.
Pear & Cranberry Galette
(This recipe comes from Vegan Pie in the Sky, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. I used a whole wheat crust, used agave nectar and stevia instead of sugar and added orange juice to the filling. Walnuts would also make a nice addition to the filling.)