The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Mar

2006

Saved in:- Raw Food Recipes,Sandwiches & Wraps

If you were at the last Fresh Network open day you may have seen me demonstrating how to make herb bread and how to use the bread to make a sandwich. Well, I’ve come up with a new bread recipe and I have to say, it’s even better! You are the first to know about this recipe as I only took the first batch out of the dehydrator this morning and I’m feeling particularly satisfied now as I’ve just polished off a sandwich fit for Scooby Doo!!!

I love making this bread as it’s so satisfying to create and eat. You can make a batch of this on Sunday and be set up for some fantastic lunchtime sarnies for the week, instead of just taking the salad option! I like to make a sandwich with avocado, lambs lettuce, tomato and cashew mayonnaise. If you like mushrooms then some chunky slices of portabello mushrooms marinated in Nama Shoyu or Tamari make an excellent addition too. So here’s the recipe… Mediterranean Almond Bread Makes 18 ‘slices’ 1/2 cup olive oil 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, loosely packed< 3 cups almond flour* 1 cup flax meal 3 medium courgettes (zucchini), peeled & roughly chopped 2 apples, cored and roughly chopped 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons Herbs De Provence or herbs of your choice 2 tablespoons marjoram or herbs of your choice *You can make almond flour a number of ways. My favourite is to save the pulp from any almond milk I make and dehydrate it so I can keep it in a glass jar until needed. You could also use the almond pulp wet. Another way would be just to grind some almonds into flour in a high powered blender or coffee mill. - Process the olive oil, sun dried toms, courgette, apple, lemon juice, salt and dried herbs until thoroughly mixed. - Add the almond flour and process again until a batter is formed. - In a bowl mix the batter with the flax meal by hand. The reason you do this separately (not in the processor) is that you are likely to have too much mixture for the size if the processor at this point, and when you add the flax meal it will become quite heavy and sticky and overwork your machine. - When mixed, process the whole batter in the machine again in small batches to achieve a light fluffy texture. - Divide the mixture in 2 and place on non-stick dehydrator sheets, on dehydrator trays. - Use an offset spatula (aka offset palette knife or cranked palette knife) to spread the mixture evenly to all 4 sides and corners of the non-stick sheet. If mixture is too sticky you can wet the spatula to make things easier. With a knife score the whole thing into 9 squares. - Dehydrate for 2 hours and then remove the non-stick sheets by placing another dehydrator tray and mesh on top and invert so that your original sheet of bread is upside down. That will allow you to peel the non-stick sheet off and continue to dehydrate the underside of the bread. - Dehydrate for approx 8 hours more at 105 degrees F (do this overnight so you're not tempted to eat it before it's ready) or until bread feels light in your hand. If the pieces don't fully come apart where you scored, use a knife to cut them. So there you have it...Once you have this bread, the only limit you have is your imagination. I have made bread before and used lasagna leftovers to create 'cheese and tomato' sarnies, one of my all-time childhood faves! Let me know your favorite fillings!!! :-)

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Carmella Soleil

Hi there,

We just had open-faced sandwiches with your suggested combination of cashew cheese, avo, tomato,Portobello mushrooms, and lettuce and oh my… Don was actually moaning when he took his first bite! (I’m not kidding!LOL)

Wow! It’s fabulous! We love it when the bread has enough personality/flavor so that you can still taste it in spite of all the goodies on top. Your bread fits the bill perfectly! A new favorite in our house!

Thanks for sharing

Carmella

BTW, I had a bit ot a tough time figuring how much courgette and apple to put in as we don’t have a scale. How much would those amounts convert to in terms of cups? The bread turned out great in spite of my winging it but I’d be curious to know…
http://therawchef.blogs.com Russell James

Hi Carmella,

Glad you loved the recipe! It really fills a gap and easy easy to make enough for the week.

The recipe turns out be about 4 medium courgettes and 2 -3 apples. I’ll measure it out next time I do the recipe!
Becky

Just made your Mediterranean Almond Bread — it’s fabulous! I used half the batch as the “base” for a raw pizza. The other half I’m enjoying on it’s own. The flavor is wonderful.

Thanks
http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/index.html Carmella Soleil

Hi Russell,

I tried sending you an email but without success so here I am.

I don’t know whether you’re aware of it, but your bread has become quite famous on Raw Food Talk forum since I’ve started a thread saying how wonderful it is. he he You’ve been nicknamed ‘The Bread Man’. LOL

Anyway, I’m still making your bread regularly, although with less herbs, and sometimes without any at all for a more versatile version. It’s just amazing either way.

In fact, I love it so much that I made it during an informal raw food prep class last week. Again,it was a hit.

Anyway, the reason I’m writing is to ask you how you’d feel about me posting the recipe on my blog, with due credits and a link to your blog, of course. I’d just like to make it as easy as possible for my readers, but if you prefer, I can just put a link to the recipe here.

Just let me know what feels right to you.

You can visit The Sunny Raw Kitchen here:

http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/index.html

Oh, and I just LOVE your recipes! Everything always looks so delicious and I’ve really enjoyed all those I’ve tried. Thanks for sharing your gift!

Have a wonderful, vibrant day!

Carmella
http://therawchef.blogs.com Russell James

Hi Carmella,

The bread man eh? Do you know the muffin man?

Anyway, thanks for your comments and taking the trouble to bring my blog to other people’s attention.

I would love you to post my recipe on your blog with links to mine. I’ve got a new simpler nut-free bread that I’m pretty excited about too. I came up with the recipe in Lanzarote whilst I was working at a retreat there. Of course I will be posting that as soon as I get time!

Thanks again.
http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/index.html Carmella Soleil

Hey Russell,

Yay! Thanks a bunch! I was thinking that it would be a good idea to mention your suggested sandwich which is sooooo yum! OK if I use your pic as well? I’ll have a couple photos of my own of the bread ‘before and after’ dehydration. If all goes well, I should be able to post the thing up tomorrow.

Can’t wait to try your new bread recipe. See, you’re already living up to your new rep! LOL
Ana

Hi Russell,

As yet I do not have a dehaydrator how do I make your bread without one? It sounds delicious and I am eager to try it out.

Thanks

Ana
http://therawchef.blogs.com Russell James

Hi Ana,

You could try using a fan assisted oven on a low heat with the door slightly open.

I would suggest buying one Paraflexx sheet and a dehydrator tray, which is relatively cheap, and using that in the oven.

I haven’t tried this and don’t know how successful it would be, but I have heard of people using their oven in this way to dehydrate other things.

Depending on what climate you live in, you could also use the heat from the sun to ‘bake’ your bread. But it really has to be hot outside all the time for this.

Hope that helps.
kacey

cant wait to try this bread!! just getting into crafting raw meals. what is the dehydrator you recommend? are you familiar with the ronco 5 tray model?
thanks for the inspiration!
http://therawchef.com Russell James

Hi Kacey,

I use the Excalibur dehydrator. I’m not familiar with the Ronco model but have just looked at one online. It’s looks circular but it may be able to attempt a different shape bread!
Judy

Hi Russell, I’m curious if you have a bread book out? If not, it would be great to have an uncook book solely for bread/crackers.
http://www.sageg.blogspot.com Sarah

Hmmmm….how thick do we make the bread? I dried it overnight and it is still moist in the middle.
Queen

I love you, Russell James. I just made a sandwich with this bread and I fell in love with you instantly. Bless you!
Danielle

Hi Russell,
I just got my dehyradtor and would love to try this recipe, but can you tell me what temp do I put the bread on? Thanks for your help.

From Russell: Hi Danielle, I’m assuking you have an Excalibur, so set it on 105 degrees F.
http://raw.tanishamarshall.com Tanisha Marshall

I can’t wait to try this… and your nut free bread. I will definitly be purchasing your e-books, can’t wait for them to come out.

Thanks,
Tanisha
Samantha Cook

Hi Russell,

I just discovered your blog from reading The Purely Delicious magazine and I am excited to try this bread receipe. My husband is still eating the Ezeakil bread which is supposed to be heated at very low temperatures but is not 100 percent raw. I have a guestion………….what is the receipe for your cashew Mayo??? I want to make the bread and then put together a sandwich for him to try all at once.

Thanks for any help and info on this you could provide.

Respectfully,
Sam Cook

From Russell: Hi Sam, thanks for that…the recipe you’re looking for is at the bottom of this post: http://therawchefblog.com/nut-free-bread/
Felicity

Hi Russell,

Your recipe sounds really yummy and I can’t wait to try it!

But I meant to ask you about the almond flour. I enjoy making almond milk and I always end up with almond pulp that I don’t know what to do with until I use it for something else. Could you tell me how long you dehydrate it for, and at what temperature ? (I have an Excalibur)

Thanks,
Felicity

From Russell: Hi Felicty, dehydrate the almond pulp at 105 degrees F until it’s completely dry. This shouldn’t take long, but I usually do mine overnight. Once it’s dehydrated stick it in the Vita-Mix and store in a air-tight container.
desri

Hi Russel,
My mouth is watering having looked at your site! Do you have all these recipes in a book? What is your recipe for cashew mayo please?

Thanks,
Desri xxx

From Russell:

My first eBook is here.

The cashew recipe can be found here.
Kat

Hi Russel,

I am going through all your recipes! I everyone had someone like you at home, everyone would be hooked on raw foods! Thanks sooo much for sharing all your recipes for free. Thanks and have a wonderful evening!
Ann

Hi Russell,

I’m wondering how long can you keep the bread once its made, and how do you store it for future use?
Ann

From Russell: It’ll keep for 7 days in a sealed container in the fridge.
Laura

I have made this bread a few times and I love it.

This may sound crazy but I also use the batter as a pate! The first time I made it I tasted the batter and it was so good I decided to retain some to use as a sandwich spread on the finished bread.

Now, whenever I make the bread, I increase the ingredients slightly so I have extra batter to use as a pate. What I usually do is stir in something extra, like crushed garlic, to give the pate more flavour.
http://julielovesdogs.blogspot.com Julie

Russell,

I’m relatively new to the raw lifestyle. I undertook a 30-day juice fast in January and then just completed a 19-day fast this month, following it now with two weeks of raw. I haven’t committed myself to a being 100% raw for life yet (are you, by the way?) but I’m seeing how easy it could be–especially with recipes like this! I’ve been eating a few slices of this bread every day for a week now with raw “mayo” (made from macadamias, cashews, spices, apple cider vinegar and water) tomatoes and lamb’s lettuce. I’ve tried it with spinach and romaine, but I’ve got to say, its the lamb’s lettuce that really makes it! Also, I’ve crumbled up pieces over large salads to act as a sort-of stand-in crouton. Delicious.

Thank you for this beautiful recipe!

By the way, I think I determined (accurately?) that there are about 170 calories per slice! Its a lot, but I suppose when its accompanied by all the veggie goodness, it actually doesn’t add up to that much by the end of the day.

Thanks again!
Julie

PS: I’m planning to be at least 80-95% raw (raw most days)–its just that 100% mark I haven’t hit yet.
cathrine lobel

Hi , I just want to Thank You for making our cold swedish winter soooo much easy to survive.
In front of the fireplace with a mediterranian sandwish, canÃ‚Â´t be better.
Lots of snowy hugs,
Cathrine
thecatnextdoor

Can you freeze extras you make of this?

From Russell: Yes, this will freeze perfectly well. i would suggest putting baking paper between each slice so they can be pulled apart when frozen.
http://vegandietguy.com TokyoVegan

Hi, Russell.
Looks fantastic! Do I need to soak the dried sun-dried tomatoes before processing them with other ingredients?
William
http://vegandietguy.com TokyoVegan

I can't wait to make this bread, but don't want to blow it….Does anyone who's made it already know whether I should soak the sun dried toms first?
Thanks,
William
http://www.therawchef.com Russell James Raw Food

Hi William,

If your sun-dried tomatoes are very dry then soaking them will help the food processor deal with them.

if they are slightly moist already or your food processor can handle them anyway then there's no need to soak in this recipe.
rebecca

About how many cups does “3 medium courgettes” come out to? We only have baby marrows and I have no sense of what a medium-sized regular one in the UK would be.
http://www.therawchef.com Russell James Raw Food

If you dice it to approx 1cm squares it would come to about 1 cup worth per courgette, so 3 to 4 cups in total.