Vegan day 169: Spicy sunflower seeds
Day one with a brand new dehydrator. What is a dehydrator anyway? Why do people dehydrate food?
Dehydrating food is a method of preserving food that has been around for centuries if not longer. Before refrigeration, canning and freezing, civilizations would dry their food via sunlight. Today, dehydrators are popular with people who chose to eat a raw vegan diet. Dehydrators work generating low heat and circulation with a built in fan.
“Food dehydration can be defined as a process of inactivating enzymes, or removing water (moisture) from a food to a point at which bacterial and other spoilage microorganisms are inhibited from growing.” (Excalibur 2010)
Honestly, I had not really conceptualized this until I started learning about raw vegan food.. live foods! I was a sprouter… but never took that to another level. This week it’s all about dehydrating. I learned how to do these recipes at the Living and Raw Foods Course at the Natural Gourmet Institute. The dehydrator I bought is the Excalibur 3900.
Spicy sunflower seeds
 |
| after soaking before dehydration |
- 2 cups of raw sunflower seeds soaked 4- 6 hours or over night in 4 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of sea salt
- Drain and rinse
- Mix with chili flakes, cayenne pepper, sea salt and pepper
- Other options are chipotle pepper or cajun spice
- Spread onto dehydrator trays at 105-110 degrees for 12- 20 hours
Recipe ingredients (soaking)
 |
| after dehydration |
2 cups sunflower seeds
4 cups of water
1 teaspoon of salt
Recipe ingredients (mixture before dehydrating)
Soaked and drained seeds
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
(1/2 teaspoon cajun spice)
Disclaimer: The information given here is for educational purposes only. You should not use this to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.
[Sunday June 17th 2012 blog]
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