I wanted to take a moment away from the Elimination Diet frenzy and post a gluten-free cracker recipe. I have been very excited to share this awesome recipe and now is my chance. Before I move on to phase 2 recipes I thought I would offer this to those of you not following the
Elimination Diet.
This is a crispy cracker made from cooked quinoa, sorghum flour, extra virgin olive oil, seeds, and NO xanthan gum! It is very easy to make if you own a food processor. Plus, there are so many ways to tweak it.
Say, Cracked Black Pepper and Coarse Sea Salt?
Or, Olive-Rosemary Quinoa Crackers?
I imagine that the variations are endless, so please dig in and get creative!
These gluten-free crackers are
super kid-friendly! I mean, hey, what's not to love in a slightly salty, crunchy snack served with
Hummus and apple slices? My children are smitten for sure!
This recipe has a little story behind it. Over Christmas we were visiting Tom's family. My sister-in-law made a variation of these using brown rice flour and cooked brown rice, no seeds, for a birthday party to celebrate all of the January birthdays. (Hint hint: Both Tom and I have birthdays in January, in fact, today is Tom's birthday!) She got the recipe from a friend who had adapted a recipe from
vegweb.com. I tweaked the brown rice version into a quinoa-sorghum version because I am a curious cook. I like to see what happens with different ingredients. Kitchen alchemy never gets boring!
Quinoa-Seed Crackers
The trick to making crispy crackers is to roll the dough extra thin, as thin as you can get it. If need be, divide the dough into two balls to work with. Use two cookie sheets instead of one large one. To make the whole process easy, roll out the dough in between two pieces of parchment paper and then slide the one holding the crackers onto a cookie sheet. Once cooled, store crackers in an airtight container at room temp. I don't yet know how long these keep as they don't last more than a day here!
Crackers:
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup cooked quinoa
6 to 7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
Topping:
1 to 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 to 2 tablespoons flax seeds
1 to 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
sea salt and cracked black pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the sorghum flour, sweet rice flour, arrowroot, baking soda, and salt in a food processor. Give it a whirl or two then add the quinoa and olive oil. Process until combined. Slowly add the water, while processing, just until the dough forms a ball. Stop at this point and don't add anymore water.
Place the dough ball on a sheet of parchment paper. Place another piece on top, flatten the dough with your hands and then begin rolling into a large, thin circle. To make it easier, divide the dough into two and roll separately. Just be sure to keep rolling to get the dough ultra-thin.
Remove the top layer of parchment and sprinkle with seeds. Gently roll them into the dough (gently).
Slide the rolled-out dough onto a large cookie sheet. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into small squares.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Watch baking time carefully as it will totally depend on the thickness of your crackers! Crackers will crisp up as they cool. Store in an airtight jar. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com
I am reading a book right now called
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Anyone heard of it? It is a new book that I came across on amazon.com while buying some reading workbooks for my daughter. Getting through all the day to day stuff with four young children can sometimes feel like drudgery. But I don't want it too.
Don't get me wrong we have many, many joyous moments each day, but I would like to broaden my view of life and enjoy the unpleasant things more...like the poo diapers that need changing just when you are ready walk out the door. This book is witty and fun. It offers perspective on the little things in life and reminds us to live in the present. I quickly became absorbed in this book and think it may bring joy to those who read it. It is written by a mom with two young daughters which is probably why I resonate so much with her writing and stories. Currently it is one of Amazon's bestsellers!
Happy Cooking! Ali :)
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The words creamy and soup usually elicit thoughts of a rich pureed vegetable base with heavy cream stirred in. This simple soup gets its creaminess by pureeing part of the soup after it has cooked. I grew up eating my mom's creamy (and dairy-free) potato soup which very much resembles this recipe. She used the simple combination of potatoes, celery, onions, salt, and pepper. I've added a few more ingredients, such as leeks, carrots, and dill, to make it more exciting.
