Ani's Raw Food Essentials (8 page)

The Excalibur Dehydrator has a fan in the back of the unit, so I like to rotate the trays from back to front as well as from top to bottom. This is not completely necessary, since the Excalibur is designed to dry evenly; it's just a habit I've acquired over the years that's especially useful when not fully drying out my food.

I recommend doubling and tripling these recipes, and you'll see that making larger volumes doesn't take much more time than a single batch does. Preparation is simple and fast, and cleanup is the same whether you make one batch or five. The only extra ingredient you need is patience, since you have to wait anywhere from 3 to 12 hours for your food to dry before eating.

In my world, live foods are not heated above 104°F; a dehydrator with a temperature control will allow you to maintain the proper heat, to preserve the enzymes in your food. However, I know that not everyone is going to immediately go out and get an Excalibur! While a raw foods lifestyle means not using your oven, if you're new to raw foods and are curious about dehydrating, you can use your big kitchen appliance to experiment with the following simple steps:

Preheat the oven to 140°F or set at the lowest setting. The temperature controls aren't as fine especially at lower heat ranges, but just do the best you can for now.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Spread your batter on the lined cookie sheets and place them in your oven. Prop the oven door open with a butter knife or a chopstick. This method will take a long while to dry. But is a good way to test out the recipes before investing in a dehydrator. Although letting the heat escape is generally not a great idea in terms of conservation, you can use this method sparingly, and hopefully you'll be inspired to invest in a dehydrator.

Unlike traditional bread that has wheat and gluten, these dehydrated breads are gluten and wheat free and are made with flaxseeds, a great source of omegas and fiber. Crisp crackers, flatbreads, and moist biscuits have flax meal as their common binding ingredient; this is mixed with seasonings, vegetables, and buckwheat to make different textures and flavors.

Two to three cups of “dough” are blended or processed and then spread evenly across a 14-inch-square Paraflexx-lined Excalibur Dehydrator tray, to make nine slices of “bread.”

These recipes serve to introduce you to dehydrating; you'll see recipes for other dehydrated foods throughout the book, as well as recipes that use these breads. Feel free to experiment to get just the consistency you want; for sandwiches, you may want a bread that has a bit more firmness; for pizza, one that has a bit more give. It's all up to your preference and cravings.

MAKES 9 SERVINGS

 

The olive oil and fiber from celery make for a soft, flexible bread. And the cacao really makes it taste like and look the same color as a dark rye bread.

The caraway plant resembles a carrot plant, with feathery leaves. Caraway fruits, which we call seeds, have an aniselike favor, and I use them to make my rye bread. You can substitute fennel seed for the caraway.

1¾ cups chopped celery
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cacao or carob powder
1½ cups flax meal
1½ cups filtered water
1 tablespoon caraway seeds

Place the celery, olive oil, cacao, flax meal, and water in a high-speed blender, and blend until smooth.

 

Spread the dough on one 14-inch-square Paraflexx-lined Excalibur Dehydrator tray. Sprinkle with caraway seeds and press them lightly into the dough.

 

Dehydrate at 104°F for 4 to 6 hours. Flip directly onto mesh tray. Peel away Paraflexx sheet. Score it into nine slices. Dehydrate for another 4 to 6 hours, or until desired consistency.

MAKES 9 SERVINGS

 

This is a soft bread that combines zucchini and almond meal with the flax meal. The olive oil and squash's cellulose fiber make this a lighter bread that stays moist and pliable.

2 cups chopped zucchini
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup almond meal
1 cup flax meal

Place the zucchini, oil, and salt in a food processor, and process into a puree. Add the almond meal and flax meal, and process into batter.

Spread the batter evenly on one 14-inch-square lined Excalibur Dehydrator tray. Dehydrate at 104°F for 6 to 8 hours. Flip directly onto mesh tray, peeling away the Paraflexx, and dehydrate for another 4 to 6 hours. Note that the bread will remain moist and flexible.

MAKES 9 SERVINGS

 

This hearty yet soft bread is made with sunflower seeds, flax meal, and celery.

1½ cups chopped celery
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1½ cups flax meal
1 to 1¼ cups water, as needed

Place the celery in a food processor and process into small pieces. Add the sunflower seeds and process into small pieces. Add the flax meal and water, and mix well, using only enough water to make a spreadable batter.

 

Spread the batter evenly on one 14-inch-square lined Excalibur Dehydrator tray. Dehydrate for 4 hours at 104°F degrees. Flip and peel off the Paraflexx, then place back on the liner and score into nine slices with a butter knife. Be careful not to cut through the mesh. Dehydrate for another 2 to 4 hours, or to desired consistency.

The easiest way I soak is to simply place nuts and seeds into at least double the amount of filtered water overnight. In the morning, I rinse the nuts and seeds well and discard the soaking water. If you really want to get into it, there are specific soaking times for different seeds and nuts, but I like taking the easiest route possible.

I find it easiest to drain soaked nuts and seeds through a fine-mesh sieve after rinsing. To sprout them, I'll keep them in the sieve, balanced over a bowl or container, until I see a small tail starting to sprout. Depending on the nut or seed, this can take from hours to days. I run water over the sieve to rinse the nuts or seeds a few times throughout the day.