Eliminate Gluten Without Paying a Price
Face it, letting go of gluten is a challenge. Bread is both a comfort food and a cultural icon of sorts. Saying so long to our morning nosh can be painful. Gluten free, it doesn't come easy. Eliminate gluten? Yes. But continue to make healthy choices.
The Dark Side of Gluten Free
Goodbye Gluten, Hello Junk – The bulk of commercial gluten free baked goods, as many other “free” (fat, sugar, …) products, come at a high cost to our health. In an effort to enhance flavor and satisfy our palette, many unhealthy ingredients find there way into our bread and other gluten free substitutes. Gluten free often translates to plentiful trans fats, sugars, artificial coloring, alternate binding agents and chemical additives.
Goodbye Gluten, Hello Oxalic Acid – Many of the gluten free whole grains (quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, teff, oats and more) and even nuts and seeds (almond, cashew, hemp, chia and sesame – to name but a few) are extremely high in toxic oxalic acid.
What To Do?
I found a flaxseed gluten free bread recipe on Dr Mark Hyman’s blog. It was warmly promoted as a great fluffy and tasty gluten free sandwich bread alternative. The credit to this flaxseed bread recipe goes to Jenny Carr from her book amazing book “Peace of Cake”.
First things first: I prepared the recipe as is. With no exception, the heavenly taste of my creation wowed me and everyone else around. In the beginning I was using various commercial nut and seed butters. I tried a multitude of combinations (tigernut, walnut, coconut, sunflower seed, pumpkin seed and others) with continued success.
The next step was to save $$ and prepare my own nut and seed butters. Those commercial ones can be very pricy and I was rounding the amount up, using one full jar per loaf. As I began preparing my own nut and seed butters, I recalled how much “hot” machine (blender/food processor) time this racked up. I cringed as the temperature rose and rose. I swiftly decided that there must be a better way. Why risk oxidation?
I proceeded to finely blend my nuts and seeds and use tigernut and coconut flours. The result? Truthfully, there is not much of a difference. There appears to be nothing more than a slight loss in loaf height. We can live with that, right?
This bread has become a permanent staple in my home. I’ve prepared it with bananas, zucchini and cauliflower (not all at once, of course). Sweet or savory, it’s always a success. And I just love creating new combinations.
Runaway Flax Sea-bread
Why runaway sea-bread you ask? This is a simple, no fail, deliciously healthy gluten free bread recipe, easily made on the run or on the spot. This week I played around some more and added my garlic/lemon seaweed. I was doubly wowed as I took a delicious bite of a slice garnished with an amazing organic olive spread (Naot Smadar, Israel). BTW, expect your Runaway Flaxseed Sea-bread to literally runaway. Everyone is going to want to take A Peace of Cake (it’s as good as cake to many) home. Bon Appétit!
Ingredients
6 organic eggs (it’s a whole lot of eggs, please make them organic)
¼ c ground flaxseeds (best to grind directly before)
½ c coconut flour
½ c additional “flour” (pumpkin/sunflower seeds, walnut, …)
3 T tigernut flour
1 t baking powder
½ t salt (according to taste pinch – 1 teaspoon)
1 t apple cider vinegar
¼ c liquid coconut oil
1 T honey (according to taste 0-2 tablespoons)
1 generous T garlic/lemon/seaweed *
Preparation
Beat eggs.
Add other ingredients.
Transfer batter to greased and lined loaf pan.
Generously sprinkle Mediterranean za'atar spice on top.
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Garlic/lemon seaweed. I use a frozen ulva lactuca or sea lettuce (Israel, U.S.A., Belgium, England). I purchase 100 gram packages, not the blended cubes. I add fresh lemon juice and garlic to the frozen seaweed and pulse the mixture in my food processor. This can be kept refrigerated for some time in a glass jar. It can be generously used as a salad garnish (vegetables, pasta), an energy supplement or flavoring for other dishes.
May 3, 2018 – I just found another source of "seabread"?! Who knew?!!!
