I use these for certain recipes including my rosemary and pine-nut cake, pesto, to throw into my modern spanakopita (Greek spinach pie) or in salads. They have the highest amount of protein of all nuts.
Activated buckwheat:
These are whole hulled buckwheat groats which I activate (soak and dehydrate). I make 2 different varieties: a sweet buckwheat which is dusted with cinnamon powder before going into the dehydrator ovens, and a savoury version which is dusted with various Ovvio Organic herbs and spices (oregano, paprika, sage, thyme, pepper, garlic granules, all spice, sea salt) before being dehydrated. I grind the activated groats up just prior to use (to prevent oxidative damage) in a nut/spice/coffee grinder (or Thermomix if you have one) to yield a very fine flour as opposed to an ordinary food processor. What do I use these for? Basically as my gluten-free breadcrumb and flour substitutes.
In particular, I use the savoury version for:
- bread-crumbing veal schnitzel, lambs brains etc (yes it’s STILL possible to eat schnitzel and crumbed food on a traditional wholefoods diet!!)
- various semi-sweet/savoury cakes I have created (eg my rosemary and pine-nut cake and my Cypriot Easter slice ‘flaounes’).
I use the cinnamon buckwheat:
- for cakes, muffins, biscuits and pancakes. I still want to enjoy all of my old favourite sweet treats but have crafted recipes without all the gluten, refined sugar and other processed crap. Just nutrient-dense ingredients with no empty fillers. Click here for the recipe for my activated buckwheat pancakes.
- as a base for my gluten-free muesli
- to throw into yogurt (my kids love this for morning tea or dessert)
- in one of my sokolata (see below) recipes to create a Toblerone-like texture (aka maple crunch sokolata). Very yummy.
These activated buckwheats are very versatile and good ones to have stashed in the pantry as shelf life is about 1 year (or more).
Sokolata (Greek for chocolate):
This is my raw dark chocolate sweetened with maple syrup. Why? Because I couldn’t find a brand of chocolate on the market that didn’t contain refined sugar or agave syrup (too high fructose despite being natural) or other nasty ingredients. There are a couple new producers of clean chocolate out very recently but I still struggle with their texture hence why I’ve stuck with my own. Plus I love the whole process of making chocolate and creating different flavours……of which i have 11 including one that is totally unsweetened (mellowed with a hint of vanilla essence) for the hard-core espresso-drinking sweetener-free crowd. Hats off to them. Other flavours (sweetened with maple syrup) include: plain, fruit & activated nut, lemon zest & ginger, orange & chilli, maple crunch (which contains my activated buckwheat to give a Toblerone-like texture), peppermint, espresso, coconut, activated almond and rock salt. 4 new flavours are in the pipeline too (rosewater, rosemary, spicy chai and raspberry ripe). Yep, I’m a tab obsessed with chocolate. Raw cacao powder is high in antioxidants and the brand i use has been fermented for 3 days. Raw cacao butter is a source of quality saturated fats and all-important cholesterol (that’s NOT a typo. Confused? Come and see me for a personal nutritional consultation and have every notion of what constitutes a ‘healthy’ diet turned upside down and inside out).
Kombucha and beet kvass: