Gluten Free Lentil Crackers with Chia Seeds, Garlic, & Herbs
Lentil Cracker Dough
Prepped_LentilCracker_Dough
These gluten free lentil crackers are what I call my happy little accident. About two years ago, before I even knew I had issues with gluten or carbs in general, a friend of mine from the gym introduced me to The 4-Hour Body, by Timothy Ferriss. In his book, Tim creates a diet that he coins The Slow Carb Diet. To sum it up very briefly, this diet removes all white food, including dairy, allows only slow digesting carbs, with the caveat that you can have a white carb within about 30 minutes of working out, and it also pushes for a lot of protein. The idea is that by following these rules, along with others he lists in his book that you will be able to lose weight and fat. Completely fascinated by the book, I decided I would give the SCD a try for a few weeks. I admit, I didn't stick with the diet for long. However, I did come up with several yummy SCD-friendly recipes. These gluten free lentil crackers are the first of those recipes that I am posting. This was originally meant to be a quiche crust. I quickly realized, however, that due to the delicate nature of the lentils, they would be much easier to turn into a cracker. (By all means, use it as a quiche crust though. It will still be delicious!)
Let's just say, it is the super food of crackers!
Lentils, a choice high on Ferriss's list is high in fiber, and rich in protein. The fiber helps aid in blood sugar stabilization because of their slow digestive nature. The chia seeds, used to help keep the dough together provides a healthy serving of fiber and omegas. Along with the chia seeds, ghee provides a great dose of healthy fats, and helps aid in inflammation and digestion. Plus, it's dairy free and loaded with antioxidants. And, it is loaded with garlic to give the immune system a boost. Plus, combined with the other ingredients and spices, it makes for a fun little gluten free lentil cracker that is delicate to the touch and bursting with flavor. And, when I brought these crackers to the friend that introduced me to the The 4-Hour Body, he ate them right up. Literally the whole batch gone in an hour. I hope you enjoy them just as much!
Prep Time: 45 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Additional Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 1 hr
Ingredients
1 1/4 C (175g) Dry Red Lentils
1 tsp Salt
1 TBSP Chia Seeds
2 TBSP Ghee Butter (I use Fourth & Heart brand)
1/4 C Tap Water
6-7 (23g) Garlic Cloves
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Dried Thyme
1 Large Egg White
Instructions
Grind Lentils into flour by using a coffee grinder, vitamix, other blending tool you have.
Place lentil flour and all other ingredients into a bowl.
Use a fork to mix all the ingredients until everything is well combined, and all flour has been captured within the dough.
Roll the dough into a large ball.
Place ball on a parchment, freezer, or wax paper, and begin delicately rolling out with a rolling pin, glass, or your hands. Be very delicate with this. Do not press hard.
Once you have rolled as much as you can, without the dough continuing to break and stick to your rolling pin, transfer the dough to a 9in x 13in baking tray, by flipping the paper over and peeling it back..
With your hands, continue to spread dough to the edges of the tray, working from the inside out. Use a pizza slicer or knife to cut the edges that go up on the sides of the tray and place back in pan to cover.
When you are done, dough should be an even thickness covering the entire bottom of the tray.
Place in oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Crackers may shrink slightly and start to brown.
If the 9in x 13in pan was used, the crackers may stay relativily soft due to the slight thickness of cracker. For a crispier cracker spread out into a larger tray to thin out dough, but note that the effort to do this will take considerably more time.
Cut into 5 rows of six. Serve.
