Alyssa's Favorite Raw Snacks

A post completely dedicated to my dehydrator

I've started playing around with raw foods lately. I don't know what sparked my interest, but as I was reading all the gluten-free blogs that I follow, raw foods just kept popping up. Not often, but enough that I was interested, so I started doing some research and eventually this lead me to purchase a dehydrator.

I found two amazing sites that I have continued to go back to when I'm feeling inspired to make something raw.

1. Choosing Raw
This blog is amazing. Although Gena is not dedicated to gluten-free eats, the majority of her recipes are, and she's vegan, so everything is dairy free as well. Perfect for me! She has a mixture of raw and cooked recipes, and each one looks just as amazing as the next. Also, Gena is a full-time student, so her recipes tend to include lower budget ingredients and are usually pretty easy to put together. What could be better? If you haven't checked our her blog, I highly recommend it!


2. Rawamzing
I don't know how I stumbled upon this amazing site, but boy am I glad I did. The recipes, the photographs, the ingredients, all stunning. Susan's raw foods are absolutely mouth watering. Many of her recipes are a bit more involved than those on Choosing Raw, but the end result seems totally worth it. (I have to admit, I haven't made any of her recipes yet - they're my goal, not my reality at the moment).

These women have inspired me - along with the delicious meal that I had at Crudessence on our trip to Montreal - to try experimenting with more raw foods. I've started with the basics: dried chips, fruits, cereal and desserts (my Carrot Cake Bites & Chocolate Coconut Balls are both awesome!). So far, everything has turned out great - especially my Zucchini Chips - and I'm excited to continue to experiment and learn more about this new world of food.

The following THREE RECIPES (I know a bit over zealous, but I'm leaving for the weekend and want to leave you all with some yummy recipes to try) are a few of my trials!



Recipe Numero Uno...

Raw Buckwheaties & Cereal

Raw Buckwheaties

I decided to make these when I saw Gena's recipe for Grawnola (raw granola). I love, love, love granola, so I was intrigued by the idea of eating it raw. Although I haven't gotten around to actually making the granola, these buckwheaties are perfect on top of cereal. They're healthy and add just a little crunch. Yum!

ingredients:

• 2 cups buckwheat groats
• Filtered water

Place the buckwheat groats into a medium sized mixing bowl and add enough filtered water to completely submerge them. Cover the bowl and set it on the counter or another flat surface in your house. Let the buckwheats soak overnight. 

In the morning, pour out the old water and gently rinse the groats. Place them back in the bowl and cover them again with filtered water. Let them soak for another 8 - 12 hours.

Rinse the buckwheat groats and lay them out flat on a dehydrator sheet. If you don't have a plastic liner, you can line your sheets with parchment paper. 

Dehydrate the groats at 115 degrees F for 6 - 10 hours or until they are completely dry and crispy!

Recipe Numero Dos...

Raw Chili Sweet Potato Chips

Raw Chili Sweet Potato Chips

When you're looking for a nice, carby snack, but you don't want all the fat and calories of potato or corn chips, turning to raw snacks is a great idea. These chips are really healthy because they're not fried, they're made from sweet potatoes and are raw so they retain all the amazing nutrients that this super food has. They're just delightful!

ingredients:

• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
• 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Fine sea salt
• 1 - 2 tablespoons chili powder

Using a mandolin slicer or a very sharp knife, slice the sweet potatoes to about 1/8" thick. Place them in a large bowl and toss with olive oil until fully coated. Add in the salt and chili powder and gently toss to combine.

Dehydrate your potatoes at 115 degrees F for 8 - 12 hours or until your desired crispiness. I didn't dry mine enough to be like potato chips, but the longer they dehydrate, the crispier they will get!

... y Recipe Numero Tres!

Raw Cinnamon Apple Chips

Raw Cinnamon Apple Chips

Sweet, cinnamony and totally delicious, these apple chips are another super healthy raw snack that are perfect for a quick on-the-go bite. I carry them in my purse in case I get hungry and they're just perfect. 

ingredients:

• 4 organic apples (I used Gala)
• Cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Core your apples and then slices them to about 1/8" thick using a mandolin slicer or a very sharp knife. Toss them in the lemon juice and cinnamon. Dehydrate the rings at 115 degrees F for 6 - 8 hours. I left mine a little soft because I like chewy dried fruit, bur you could dehydrate them until they're fully crispy if you would like!

These recipes are just the start to my raw food experiments. Stay tuned for more raw recipes!

Each and all of these recipes are:

Interested in eating more raw foods? Here are a few other recipes you might enjoy:

• Vegan Carrot Cake Bites
• Vegan Chocolate Coconut Balls
• Healthy Zucchini Chips