Edamame Hommus with Linseed Crackers

Next month I will be presenting the “Smart Foods to Drop Your Cholesterol & Control Sugar Cravings” Cookshop at the Nutrition and Wellbeing Clinic, so I was practising some of the recipes this weekend (plus a few extras).

I won’t be making hommus on the night, but this hommus can do both of those things – lower your cholesterol and help to control blood sugar levels.  The bonus is that it tastes delicious!  It is made from edamame rather than the usual chickpeas.  Edamame are young green soybeans that you will see on the menu at Japanese restaurants.  You will find them in the freezer of most Asian supermarkets.  They are a delicious little bean that can be eaten hot or cold and can be added to salads, stir fries, vegie burgers, casseroles, risottos and anything else you can think of!  Usually they come in their pods, but I found some already podded and used those (I have included a photo of the packet below).

I will be serving these linseed crackers as part of the cookshop menu…

They are adapted from this recipe.  They are very easy to make and have a very light, crisp and crunchy texture.

I highly recommend you having a go at making these – they taste great and are a much healthier alternative to anything you can buy.

The hommus makes a great dip, healthy snack or interesting spread on sandwiches and wraps.  Feel free to add fresh herbs like coriander or basil if you like.  We love it just as it is!

Edamame Hommus

Makes approx. 1 2/3 cups; 8 serves

• 1 1/2 cups (260g) cooked edamame
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon salt reduced soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup water

directions:

1. Place edamame, tahini, lemon juice, soy sauce and garlic in food processor and puree to a fine paste.
2. Scrape down the sides and add 1/4 cup water and process again until well combined.
3. Add more water if you want a softer consistency.
4. Place in a serving bowl, top with a few extra edamame and drizzle with a little olive oil if you like.
5. Serve with linseed crackers

Per Serve:  1/4 cup (56g) 350kJ or 83 calories; P 5g Fat 5g SFat 0.6g CHO 4g Fibre 2g

Linseed Crackers – light, crisp and crunchy

Adapted from the My New Roots Blog

Makes approx. 36 (8cm x 3cm shapes)

• 1/4 cup linseeds
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup sesame seeds
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 tablespoon salt reduced soy sauce*
• 1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Place linseeds in a bowl and cover with the ¼ cup water. Allow to soak for at least 20 minutes. At this time you can prepare everything else.
2. In a dry frypan over medium heat, toast sesame seeds until fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Blend cooled rice, quinoa, soaked linseed, soy sauce and olive oil in a food processor until a dough is created – it should form a ball in the food processor. Then add the toasted sesame seeds and pulse to incorporate. The dough will be very sticky.
4. Turn oven on to 170°C.
5. Take out half the dough and place it on top of greaseproof paper. Place another piece of greaseproof paper on top of the dough and use a rolling pin to flatten it into a very thin, even slab.
6. Remove the top layer of paper and using a knife, cut the dough into desired shapes.
7. Slide the paper onto a baking tray and place in the oven.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes until crispy and golden (cooking time will depend on thickness of dough).
9. Remove from the oven and break crackers into individual pieces, spread out on the tray (putting more well done ones in the middle and less done ones around the edge of the tray) and bake for a further 5 minutes.
10. When the crackers are done, remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

Per Serve: (each cracker) 127kJ or 30 calories; P 0.8g Fat 2g SFat 0.2g CHO 3g Fibre 0.8g

*If needing to be strictly gluten free use tamari or another GF soy sauce – you may need to use a little less

Here is an alternative recipe for Linseed Crackers – as pictured above called crackers #2!

They have a crumbly cracker texture, which is just deeelicious!

*Quinoa flour is available from health food stores.  I made quinoa flour in my thermomix by grinding 1/3 cup quinoa on speed 9 for 2 minutes.  I am sure you could als0 use regular wholemeal flour in place, I just haven’t tried that yet.

Per Serve:  216kJ or 51 calories; P 2g Fat 4g SFat 0.5g CHO 2g Fibre 1g