8.24.2013

Flax Wraps

I am crazy about these flax wraps.  They are raw, vegan, low in calories, high in fiber and make a
delicious textured wrapper for all sorts of stuff. Use these to wrap up dehydrator sauteed vegetables, raw shredded vegetables, rice and beans, cheese or anything else you desire.  I love how easy it is to make a lunch or snack with these.  You can even use flax wraps in place of tortillas (regular or sprouted grain) for tacos.

Tools: you'll need a dehydrator and teflex sheets (whenever I've tried this kind of recipe in the oven it's a disaster).

Storage: the finished wraps last for probably a couple weeks in the fridge. I cut them into fourths and place in a ziplock bag.

Ingredient Note: use golden or regular flax meal. Remember that flax meal (ground/milled flax seeds) can go rancid so use it quickly and/or store it in the fridge.  Find it in bulk sections or at costco to avoid overpaying (I've seen a wide range of prices on flaxmeal).
The recipe can be scaled up or down. I sometimes make a double recipe to use up zucchini and to use all the trays in my dehydrator.

Zucchini Basil Wraps: 
Puree 2 cups zucchini, 1 cup water, 1 cup flaxmeal, large handful basil leaves and optional salt and garlic until homogenized.  The ratio is fairly flexible-- you want something spreadable but not too watery that it rolls off the tray (flax quickly thickens up so that's usually not a problem!)

Spread between several dehydrator trays. Pour then spread with a large spatula. You want it to be 1/8" thick so that it dries out.  I try to keep the edges a tiny bit thicker than the middle as the edges dry faster than the center (at least in my Excalibur dehydrator).

Place in the dehydrator. Dehydrate at 110- 115 F for 5-7 hours. Check a couple times to avoid overcooking (unlike dehydrated veggie chips, you want these to be pliable so don't let them dry all the way out). They are done when they are still flexible but don't have any wet mushy spots. If you have just one or two mushy spots, you can cut these out if the rest of the batch is done and you're impatient :)

When done, peel off the teflex sheets. Cut into whatever shape you desire and eat immediately or store in plastic ziplock bag in the fridge.


Variations:
  • Use any vegetable you wish: I bet tomatoes, carrot, or yellow summer squash would all work well instead of the zucchini.
  • Omit the basil. Add spices like salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, cumin etc
  • Press small nuts into the wraps such as sesame seeds or poppy seeds before dehydrating

Sweet crepe variation: sub out the zucchini for banana and make sweet flax crepes. The texture is between a crepe and fruit leather and it makes a good breakfast or dessert depending on what you put in it. I bet peanut butter would be great to spread in a banana flax crepe for a snack.

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