Upon waking, my son and I are invariably ravenous. With most breakfasts, by 10 am the same is true for us both once more. With this breakfast bowl, satiety is assured all the way through until lunch: even following a strenuous morning workout (think Insanity for me and tearing across the kitchen floor with tractor in hand for him).
From a health perspective, this home-made cereal blend is bursting with Omega-3s and also regroups a number of concentrated nuts and fruits to boost flavour without added sugar. Buckwheat rounds it out, bringing the crunch and nutritional profile of whole grain, even though it technically isn’t one…
Yield: 1 generous serving
What you need :
- 1/3 cup sprouted buckwheat groats
- 1/3 cup nut crumbles (recipe follows)
- 3/4 cup hemp seed milk (recipe follows)
What you do :
- Artfully combine all the ingredients in a bowl and serve.
Nut Crumbles
While they can be used as part of the buckwheat breakfast bowl, that’s hardly the only use they have. These little chunks of joy for the taste-buds are a great snack on their own, and can also be used as a component of any trail mix or granola. Feel free to switch up the dried fruits, nuts and seeds you use to vary the taste from one batch to the next – as long as the proportions remain the same, the result should be fine.
Note – you do need a dehydrator and a food processor to make these, so just keep it in mind prior to beginning.
Yield: 8+ cups
What you need :
- 1 packed cup chopped dates
- 2/3 cup dried goldenberries
- 1/3 cup dried mulberries
- Filtered water
- 6 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnut pieces
- 1 cup coarsely chopped raw cashew pieces
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
What you do :
- Combine the dates, goldenberries and mulberries in a large measuring cup. Add just enough filtered water to cover and let sit several hours until fruit is rehydrated and soft.
- Pour the dried fruit and soaking water into the work bowl of a food processor with chopping blade. Process several minutes until a smooth pulp results. Add the hemp seeds and process again until thick.
- Remove the chopping blade and add the nuts and seeds to the fruit pulp in the work bowl. Mix well until stiff and all the nuts and seeds are well coated in the fruit.
- Line the trays of a dehydrator with parchment paper or teflex sheets. Spoon the nut and fruit mixture on top and spread out in an even layer between 1/2″ and 3/4″ thick.
- Dehydrate at 140F (60C) for 24-36 hours, or 115F (45C) way longer for a raw food treat. Once cooled, the mixture should be brittle. If not, continue to dehydrate until it is.
- Break into bite-sized chunks and store in an air-tight container.
Hemp Seed Milk
There are loads of recipes for hemp-seed milk rolling around, so why bother posting yet another one? A couple of reasons.
First reason: although most recipes say you don’t need to soak hemp heart before making them into milk, I’ve found that for those of us with regular old blenders rather than a Vitamix, it’s worth soaking them overnight in order to get a frothier, creamier and generally more decadent non-dairy milk.
Second reason: to encourage the use of fresh hemp milk as a vehicle to convey an extra bit of flax oil to the diet of those looking for it’s health benefits.
Yield: 3/4 cup
What you need :
- 3 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 3/4 cup filtered water
- 1 teaspoon flaxseed oil
What you do :
- Combine the hemp hearts and filtered water in a glass or bowl and soak overnight.
- Transfer the soaked seeds and water to a blender or magic-bullet type mixer and add the flaxseed oil.
- Process a couple of minutes on high speed until smooth and frothy. Serve immediately.
Crunchy Cooking 