gRAWnola

I am always on the lookout for gluten free food that packs easily and I can take with us when we travel. This gRAWnola is perfect.

Why did I spell it like that you ask? Because unlike traditional granola that is baked in the oven, this gRAWnola is dehydrated. For those of you unfamiliar with a dehydrator, it is an appliance that cooks at lower temperatures than a traditional oven. Foods that are cooked at these lower temperatures are considered "raw" and have a lot of nutritional benefits.

There are numerous types of dehydrators. I bought my first one at a thrift store for $10. It is a small one made by Ronco. I've since graduated to an Excalibur which I love, but you can definitely get similar results with the smaller and less expensive brands. If you don't have a dehydrator, I believe you can get similar results using your oven on its' lowest temperature, though doing some quick online research revealed that it doesn't seem to work as well if your oven doesn't go below 200 degrees AND it won't be considered raw unless it's cooked below a certain temperature (in the 105 - 115 degrees range).

I will admit, this recipe might seem like a pain in the butt for two reasons (you might think of more!!!). If you don't have a dehydrator you might not want to bother. And the buckwheat (yes, it is gluten free!) is a bit labor intensive as explained in the recipe. But the gRAWnola came out so good that for me it was worth it. I'd be curious to try this recipe with gluten free rolled oats instead of buckwheat - I bet it would work just as well.

If you want to try your hand at dehydrating but don't want to go for the big bucks, you can choose from a number of less expensive models. Go here, for example. You can start in a simpler way by dehydrating fruits and veggies. And with summer almost here and fresh fruits and vegetables aplenty, you'll have a lot of fun with a dehydrator.

gRAWnola
recipe by Ellen Allard

1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked in water overnight
1/2 cup sunflower seed, soaked in water overnight
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked in water overnight
1/4 cup walnuts, soaked in water overnight
1/4 cup almonds, soaked in water overnight
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 apple, cored
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup pitted dates, soaked for 30 minutes in boiling water
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp shredded coconut, unsweetened

Drain the buckwheat and rinse repeatedly in a strainer. I found it best to run my fingers through the buckwheat as I did this. It took a LONG time to drain it until it wasn't slimey anymore. Offputting indeed, but it's kind of like flax seeds which get slimey when wet. Set aside.

Drain the sunflower and pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and almonds.

Put the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almonds, flax seeds, apple, and sea salt in a food processor and pulse, being very careful not to grind it into a paste. You still want it to have some texture.

Add the drained dates, cinnamon and agave and process until just blended. Remove from food processor and put in large mixing bowl. Add drained buckwheat groats and coconut. Mix until blended.

Spread onto teflex sheets and dehydrate for about 10 hours at 115 degrees.

When the dehydrating is complete, remove the gRAWnola from the teflex sheets and break into small pieces. Store in a container of your choice, though doesn't it look lovely in the glass jar!!!???

This is a great snack right out of the jar. Or have it for breakfast - I poured pieces of gRAWnola into a small bowl, topped it with strawberries and homemade almond milk and had a yummy breakfast!