Black Sesame Sunflower Bread

Sometimes the ingredients speak for themselves! And sometimes the most basic of ingredients together bring a harmonious blend of flavor in one natural bite that I think to myself, "Geez, why do we make things so complicated?". Well, that is an easy answer...cause they taste good. Having said that, even I get so caught up in ingredient heavy recipes that I forget that something as simple as avocado and red onion on an all natural bread can taste so good and requires nothing else.

As we all round the bend into 2013 no doubt some of us are still enjoying cakes, cookies, yummy candies, and the cheese laden hors d'oeuvres that holiday festivities bring. It's my favorite time of year but I know I will be itching to get back to veggies and healthy living on a full time basis. In the meantime, I am okay with fattening up a bit (more).

However, when you are ready to decongest your body of refined sugar and flour and do a little cleansing, this is a good recipe to introduce into your diet. This recipe for Black Sesame Sunflower Bread comes from 'Ani's raw food kitchen' and was a simple straightforward recipe that yielded bread enough for 4-6 sandwiches (maybe more) depending on the size of bread you like.

This was the first time I used my Excalibur dehydrator that I have had sitting around for over a year. Previously the thought had daunted me on using this new equipment in conjunction with the raw food process and making recipes...but like most things I need to just dive in and figure it out! In the end- not very complicated. You can use an oven cooled to below 140F to dry foods but as this is a 5 hour drying period, you really would need to invest in a dehydrator. Keep in mind that dehydrators have many uses for dried fruits (including fruit rolls),veggies, nuts, chicken, herbs- you name it. It is a very useful tool when it comes to healthy living. And it is more affordable when making healthy snacks for kids and using natural foods in some manner before they have to be tossed out.

The recipe is as simple as mixing the ingredients and spreading the mixture onto a dehydrator sheet/tray. I was surprised that the wet bread mixture had a sort of meaty texture to it. I was intrigued to see how this would turn out. 

Let dry for 4 hours, flip and score the bread, let dry for another hour before serving warm.

Of course you don't have to serve it warm. As Ani states in her book, she will often make this bread and take on the road with her since it makes for a quick sandwich and she can throw some fresh cut veggies on it. Simple, fast, and healthy!

Originally I made this bread to go with another one of her recipes for 'Sun Burgers on Black Sesame Bread with Sun-Dried Tomato Catsup and Hot Mustard'

 I really enjoyed this bread for the taste, the texture, and that I felt like I was doing something good for my body at the same time. Admittedly, I liked it more with just a couple simple ingredients like avocado and red onion with a little bit of the hot mustard and sundried tomato catsup. I can imagine using it for other sandwiches that may have sprouts, cucumber, tomatoes, and a little mayo. A lot of possibilities exist for this bread and they don't need to be raw food related.

Ingredients

1 cup ground flax seeds

1/3 cup whole flax seeds

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons yellow onion, chopped

1 1/3 cups water

2/3 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup black sesame seeds

Instructions

Mix ground and whole flax seeds, salt, garlic, onion, and water. Add sunflower and sesame seeds and mix well.

Use the back of a spoon to spread the batter evenly on one dehydrator tray. Dry at 104F for 4 hours. Flip and score the bread into nine slices to make it easy to break into straight lines. Dehydrate another hour before serving. Serve Warm

Yields: 4 to 5 servings

Crystal's Notes

• Score your bread according to the size YOU prefer.
• This bread keeps stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator.
• You can double or triple your recipe, dry and store. When fully dried, the bread will keep at least a month or two.
• Drying period may require longer than 4 - 5 hours depending...just check on it touching the top and bottom of the bread and get a feel for what you like and if you want it more dry.
• Ani recommends using this bread for morning toast, a base for pizza's, or as a bun.
• If black sesame seeds are not available, tan seeds wills work well too.
• If 4- 5 hours of drying time seems long to you, it could be because working with a dehydrator is new. Dehydrators are energy efficient and a great way to dry foods while preserving the nutritional qualities that would otherwise be baked or fried out with other cooking methods.

Enjoy!