Gluten-Free Quinoa Seed Crackers (Vegan)

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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Quick Hummus Lunch

Today was house-cleaning day. Lily (6-years old) decided to make a chore chart and put our names next to what needed to get done. She put all of our names (including the babies) on clothespins to attach next to each chore. She decided that Ben (10 months old) would be her helper for the family room and toy clean-up. She soon realized that having him in the room was a bit more work than she had intended. Well, you can only imagine what happened.

Eventually the house did get clean and then it was lunchtime. While the girls were finishing up cleaning their room, I began to prepare lunch. It was 12:15 already and we were all hungry.

Since we were out all day yesterday I didn't have a chance to make the hummus. Remember the large pot of garbanzo beans I cooked on Friday?

Hummus is very fast to make and makes a great lunch. I have been making it for a long time now. I never use a recipe, just put everything into the food processor and every time it turns out just right. Everyone always loves my hummus and frequently asks for the recipe. Eventually I began measuring and created this recipe. You can also find it in print in The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and another Herb & Olive Oil Hummus variation in my Nourishing Meals cookbook. 

You can get pretty creative with hummus. Think Rosemary-Olive Hummus, or Roasted Garlic & Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, or how about adding a little lemon zest and fresh parlsey to the batch. The options are endless.



Hummus

Hummus is a traditional Middle-Eastern dish made from garbanzo beans, also called chickpeas, and tahini. It makes an excellent dip for fresh vegetables or a great spread for sandwiches or wraps.

3 cups cooked garbanzo beans, or 2 cans
½ cup sesame tahini
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder or 2 to 3 cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt or Herbamare, or to taste
¼ cup bean cooking liquid or water to desired consistency

Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. You will want to taste the hummus to see if it needs more lemon, tahini, garlic, or salt. Also, add more water for a thinner consistency and process again. Hummus freezes very well. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com.

Also on the lunch menu was leftover quinoa, honeycrisp apple slices, and sliced persimmons. After our light and energizing lunch it was time to get outside.

Ahh, November, with its crisp fresh air and damp, spongy ground. It was a good day for gardening. The girls and I spent the later part of the afternoon preparing our garden beds for winter. Turning big, dry maple leaves into the beds in the front and pulling out old strawberry plants in the large bed in the back. We found ladybugs that had begun to hibernate in the roots of the plants. Worms and beetles were also among us in the damp soil. There is something soul-satisfying about working outside in the rich, wet earth. We all came in rosy-cheeked and covered in soil. Time for hot soup and rice. While we got cleaned up Tom began making a pot of brown jasmine rice and Red Lentil Dal (from our cookbook). I wanted something else to go along with our dal and rice, so I made a pot of curried vegetables. The warming spices felt just right on this chilly November evening.

After the babies and the girls were asleep, I made a batch of divinely delicious gluten-free brownies. That recipe to come in a later post. Goodnight!

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