A good food dehydrator will allow you to mimic many cooked foods and yet still keep your intake raw. Set the temperature to 115 degrees or lower to preserve the living enzymes. Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the page for family friendly ideas.
recipes for your food dehydrator
Zucchini Chips
Slice zucchini into 1/4 inch thick rounds.
Dry the chips in a food dehydrator set to 105 degrees.
The chips are good as is; used as a dipper for guacamole, salsa or hummus; or used in place of a cracker in a Living Foods menu or a Protein Power menu; salad or soup garnish.
If you like, before placing in the dehydrator you can season the zucchini with your choice of seasonings such as:
- sea salt
- black pepper
- cayenne pepper
- taco seasoning
- fajita seasoning
- chili powder
- garlic powder or garlic salt
Stuffed Mushrooms
Pulse in a food processor several times:
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 C fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/3 C fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Stop to scrape down the sides and repeat. Add 1 cup tomato, chopped or 1/2 cup dried tomato*, rehydrated and chopped. Continue to pulse until the ingredients hold together but are not pureed. Remove stems from mushrooms and spoon the filling into the cap of each mushroom. Place filled mushrooms on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 105 degrees for 2-4 hours.
If you don’t want to subject your family to your raw food adventure you can cook half of your stuffed mushrooms to serve along with your raw version. Place them on a lightly oiled baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.
* I prefer using dried tomato as the flavor is much richer. If you use dried tomato you may need to add broth to the filling to get it to hold together.
Flax Crackers
Soak 4 cups whole flax seed for 4 to 6 hours in just enough water to cover seeds. Check after 2 hours and add water if the mixture is looking dry. Stir in 1/3 to 1/2 cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos and juice from 2-3 lemons.
Spread this mixture as thin as possible on dehydrator trays with a Teflex sheet on top. Keep your hands wet as this will help to keep the mixture from sticking to your hands. Alternately, you may find that a spatula works better.
Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 5-6 hours. Flip the mixture and remove the Teflex sheet. Continue dehydrating for 5-6 hours until the mixture is dry.
You can make flavored crackers by adding any of the following to the mixture before spreading on dehydrator tray:
- carrot, tomato or apple juice
- finely grated veggies such as: carrot, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper,
- Anaheim chili, onion, or garlic
- finely grated apple
- taco, fajita or Italian seasoning
- chili powder
- ground cumin
- cayenne pepper
serve a family friendly raw menu
Whenever you serve any of these “strange” foods serve them up with foods your family is more familiar with. For instance you can serve up a “deli dinner” with a food bar they can pick and choose from. Try:
- crackers
- cheese
- pickles
- hard-boiled eggs
- sliced fruit
- selection of raw veggies
- chicken, turkey, crab, egg or ham salad
- marinated veggies
- whatever else you have in your fridge that would work as finger food