Crunchy Dehydrated Lentils

BY DRSAILA · JULY 1, 2015

I try to incorporate sprouts in many ways. On a busy day, dehydrated sprouts will come in very handy as salad topping. Among all the crunchy toppings, I like sprouted lentil topping the best. You can make this with any kind of lentil. Mung beans, whole red masoor(Red lentils), or horse gram go very well with salads.

Procedure:

• Take 1 cup of mung beans. Rinse in water until water runs clear.
• Soak them in 3 cups of water for about 6 hours.
• Drain water, and cover it with piece of cloth and place a rubber band around it, rinse these twice a day.
• You will see sprouts in 2 days.
• Dry them in dehydrator for about ten hours at 130.
• Store them in airtight container. Lasts for 1-2 years.

Tips:

If you add any spices of your choice before dehydrating, this could be crunchy snack.

Consuming turmeric in "raw" form is the best way to get health benefits. Turmeric powder sold in Indian stores is cooked at high temperatures and powdered and I heard it is mixed with other coloring agents nowadays. To make raw turmeric powder, I used this technique; this powder has more intense flavor than store-bought cooked powder.

Ingredients:

• Turmeric roots or rhizomes

Procedure:

• Wash and cut turmeric roots into 1 inch pieces.
• Place it on dehydrator mesh sheet
• Dehydrate for 2 days at 130 degrees.
• Once they are dry, blend them in Vitamix dry jar.

You can even sun-dry in summer. If you dry it in sun

• Bring it inside in the night time to avoid early am dew
• Dry it for 4-6 days depending on temperature.

Homemade raw turmeric powder is much healthier than cooked powder. I buy turmeric roots in Indian store.

Procedure:

1. First soak chia seeds (I used Tulasi seeds) in 2 cups of water for 1-2 hours. Food process crabapple and green chillies until you get coarse paste.

2. Add chia seeds and blend until you get a cookie dough consistency.

3. Apply small amount of oil to teflex sheet, spread the mixture on the sheet. You might want to wet your hand in between to spread, otherwise it will stick to your hands. I cover the dough with wax paper and roll with roller, just to make smooth surface. You do not have to roll it.

4. Score into shapes you like and dehydrate at 130 degrees for 10 hours and change this on to mesh sheet. Leave it for another 10 hours to a day depending on how thick you spread.

5. Store them in airtight container once they cool down.

You can keep these crackers for many months(if they last).

1 cup of almond pulp

1-2 cups of beetroot and celery pulp

½ of
flax powder

1 cup of peanuts

salt and chilly powder to your taste

Blend the peanuts in the food processor, then add all the other ingredients.

Spread it on teflex sheets. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters if you want to be creative.

Dehydrate at 120 for 5 hours, change to mesh sheets and dehydrate for another 10 hours.

I never made cooked version. I was told to keep in oven at 300°F for one hour. Please let me know if this timing is wrong.

These are very simple to make and store for few months at room temperature. Store in airtight container.

I saved beet and celery pulp from Beeten
celery juice

I saved almond pulp from almond milk and almond yogurt, almond shakes

Uses:

Can have it as instant low calorie snack

They go very well with Cashew spread, Green and Bean spread

Procedure : 

• Make thin long slices of raw mango, do not peel. Mix with celtic salt, turmeric, chilly powder(optional) and little cumin powder. Approximate amount to your liking.
• Dehydrate at 140 for about 12 hours. Traditionally these are made outside in the sun on a hot day.
• You can have them as snack or add it to many recipes to give sour taste to the dish.

1 bunch(about 6 ozs) organic curly kale(can substitute with chad, spinach,beet greens etc, I like curly kale chips much better than other greens)

2 tbsp of organic Tamari or lemon juice or Nama Shoyu or coconut aminos or Bragg liquid aminos

2 tbsp hot oil or olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

½tsp of paprika(optional)

pinch of salt(optional)

First wash and air dry kale for about an hour and then destem and tear it up into bite size pieces, Massage oil into the kale leaves. I did this in batches for even distribution, and then massage with Tamari and minced garlic after the leaves are coated with oil. Dehydrate at about 120 degrees for 6-7 hours on mesh sheets. You will be amazed to see the beautiful green and crispy kale after dehydration. These chips taste so delicious and crunchy that even my teenage son didn’t have problem substituting them for potato chips. This is an excellent healthy finger food. This is a great low calorie snack for diabetics or anyone to get rid of potato chips cravings. If you don’t have dehydrator, you can put them in oven on a baking sheet, in a single layer at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes or until crisp, but you have to compromise taste, color and nutrition when you bake them in oven. If you dehydrate them it does not take as much care or worry as baking. You can try different marinades like red wine vinegar, braggs, apple cider vinegar (or even anchovy paste if you are not a vegan). When I first tried I could not believe how good these chips tasted, I am obsessed with these chips.

Tips:

You can grind these chips and use them for any seasoning. If you make popcorn at home, you can dust them on popcorn to make Kale-dusted popcorn.

This will look very beautiful when you mix green and black kale(cavalo nero)

If you add chipotle powder it will give smoky flavor.

It is very easy to over-salt these chips, so go easy on salt, I never needed to use salt on my chips,tamari itself gives you salty taste.

Ingredients:

• Okra
• Salt
• Chilly powder
• Curry powder

Procedure:

• No need to add even one drop of oil.
• Cut okra into thin wheels
• Marinate with salt(I use very little)
• Add chilly powder, curry powder for one day
• Dehydrate at 100 degrees for 7-9 hours.

Think how much oil we use to fry okra on the skillet. I was very happy when I learnt this dish. This dish is my own creation. Enjoy, and do let me know how it felt lie, to munch on crispy okras.

So it is now clear that consuming at least a part of these peels is beneficial to your health. Rikako Suzuki of Kanazawa Medical University in Japan found that nobiletin, a chemopreventive compound found in oranges and other citrus fruit, also helped prevent colon cancer in animal studies.

Human studies showed weight loss when fed with grapefruit peel. These new studies are encouraging us to add citrus peel or zest to out diet. According to BBC news, lead researcher Dr Elzbieta Kurowska, of the Canadian company KGK Synergize, said citrus juice contains only a small amount of the relevant PMFs as the compounds are not soluble in water. Peel, on the other hand, contains 20 times the level. In addition, the peel-derived compounds are more concentrated and easily absorbed and metabolized by the body.

Antioxidants: Citrus peel has high levels of antioxidants, when consumed fresh as whole fruit, high vitamin C in the fruit enhances antioxidant effect.

As Medicine:
The medicinal actions of citrus peels come from primary essential oil, d-limonene which has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Citrus peels are not very appetizing. I have few tips for you to consume these peels in a delicious way.

Dehydrated citrus peel:
Buy organic oranges, grape fruits, lemon and lime. Wash them thoroughly in vinegar water(3tbsp of vinegar in one cup of water), after leaving them in this water for at least 30 minutes(to wash off pesticides), cut fruits into thin slices.

Place them on dehydrator mesh sheet at 130 for 12 hours or longer depending on how thick you slice.
Remove once they are dry and store them in airtight container. No need to refrigerate. They last for 1-2 years at room temperature. Surprisingly, these dehydrated peels are not at all bitter. You will have to taste them yourself to see how delicious they turn out. When I give this peel to my guests, they hesitate to try first time, once they try it, they love the taste.

Other tips to include these peel in the diet:

• Powder the peel, once dehydrated and add them to soups and salads.
• Add fresh zest to soups, salads and dressings.
• Add dried peel powder to any curries or as pizza toppings.
• I add citrus zest to Kombucha and other fermented drinks as flavoring.
• Fermented pieces of citrus fruit with peel(called lemon pickle), is a delicious sour and spicy condiment in south India, goes with yogurt rice and other grains.

Other uses of Citrus:

• Never throw away your citrus peel. It is a great deodorizer.
• Deodorize kitchen counters, trash cans and cleans greasy surfaces.
• Polishes tarnished metals like chrome and copper.
• Attract fruit flies. Ant and insect repellent
• Air humidifier: just boil lemon peel on low flame to get rid of the strong odors from kitchen and other places.
• Cosmetic uses:
• Can add citrus zest to hair rinse, shampoo and to skin moisturizers before applying.

Disclaimer: As these additional benefits are not confirmed, always check with your doctor.

References:

• Citrus peel extract shown to reduce insulin resistance
• CITRUS PEEL BENEFITS
• Citrus & Its Peel Linked to Weight Loss
• Citrus peel can cut cholesterol

10 mushrooms

Marinade:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tbsp umeboshi plum vinegar (optional) or apple cider vinegar

Ingredients for filling:

4-5 small pieces of sun dried tomatoes, soaked in water for an hour and drained.(do not use fresh tomatoes, perfect flavor for this dish comes only from sun dried tomatoes)

¼ cup walnuts

Cajun seasoning 2 tbsp

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pull the stems out of button mushrooms by slowly bending the stem and holding the mushroom cap tight with other hand. Save the stems.

Crush and mince garlic. Mix all the marinade ingredients, and marinate the mushrooms in a bowl for 2 hours. I marinated stems in a different bowl for filling.

Filling:

make a stuffing from soaked sun dried tomatoes (chopped), marinated chopped mushroom stems and other filling ingredients.

Spoon the filling into mushroom cavities and arrange on teflex sheets.

Sprinkle little Cajun seasoning over each mushroom and dehydrate at 120 for about 3-4 hours until mushrooms get little tender.

Tips:

• Reheat in dehydrator or oven at low temp before serving.
• Can substitute pine nuts for walnuts.
• If you don’t have dehydrator, you can just leave them on sunny window for an hour or two or you can keep them in oven at 200º F for one hour.
• If your friends like them cooked, these mushrooms taste good grilled also.
• You can use the leftover filling as a spread for any crackers or as veggie dip.

Spoon the filling into mushroom cavities and arrange on teflex sheets.

Sprinkle little Cajun seasoning over each mushroom and dehydrate at 120 for about 3-4 hours until mushrooms get little tender.

Tips:

• Reheat in dehydrator or oven at low temp before serving.
• Can substitute pine nuts for walnuts.
• If you don’t have dehydrator, you can just leave them on sunny window for an hour or two or you can keep them in oven at 200º F for one hour.
• If your friends like them cooked, these mushrooms taste good grilled also.
• You can use the leftover filling as a spread for any crackers or as veggie dip.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of winter melon or Ashgourd shredded and squeezed
• 2 cups of urad dal, soaked
• 20 small green chillies
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 small piece of ginger
• 1tsp rock salt
• Cumin
• Green Chillies
• Ginger
• Dehydrator (optional)

Procedure:

• Peel, deseed and shred ash gourd.
• Add a 1 tsp of rock salt and keep it aside for an hour or two, then squeeze the water out.
• Fry cumin, green chillies, mix them with ginger and blend
• Once they are blended add soaked urad dal and blend, do not add water.
• Take it out of blender and hand mix shredded ashgourd.
• Put cloth out and drop spoonful of batter and let it dry in hot sun for 3 days or dehydrate at temperature of 130-140F for 1-2 days until dry, depends on thickness of vadium.
• Make sure they are completely dry before you store.