Ba-Bye BLT

There's a New Kid on the Sandwich Board!

Say Hello to O.S.T.A.

(Onion Bread, Sprouts, Tomato, Avocado)

Yep that's right, O.S.T.A. as in Asta la Vista Baby! Bye- bye B.L.T. 

There is a new go-to favorite in town!

No unhealthy bacon or questionable bread ingredients and with the avocado, no mayo required. With the onions, the bread has lots of flavor and in this case since we are using Heirloom tomatoes, the tomatoes do too!

I hear you saying, sure it's colorful and healthy but how does it taste? 

Well, as an example, if I have the ingredients in the house, R, the former high protein (aka meat) eater will actually make this for himself and eat it on a daily basis and even sometimes for a snack! 

I know! Total Shocker! 

So while you can make this tasty temptation with a bread (preferably sprouted bread) from the market, this post is all about the bread, The Onion Bread!

It is a dehydrator bread and while I know many people do not have dehydrators, for those that do this is a beginner recipe or better yet, an easy staple! This is Getting Raw remember? Not Gone Raw.

New to Dehydrators?

When I was new to raw, I ran out and got every new gadget to start my new "way of life," including one of these. It was an investment but by the time I got around to getting a dehydrator I had already been through the hassle of replacing several of my cheaper appliances to upgrade. I didn't want to do that here. So I bit the bullet and bought the 9 tray Excalibur. (the why's of this are another post entirely.)

So I was even more upset when the dehydrator recipes I tried turned into expensive garbage. Oh yeah! That went over well!

Dehydrators are tricky!!

It is not like baking, which I can do. I had no idea what things were supposed to look like, wet or dry, how long to leave it, how crispy or crunchy- no frame of reference at all. Plus I think I was overwhelmed by recipes that included dehydrator food that you had to start days before. Who can do that? Not Simple Raw recipes for sure. So I kind of gave up, a little, okay a lot!! Every time I look at that machine I feel badly. The expense!! Ugh!

So now with fall here and wanting a little heartier food, I decided to dust off the machine and get back at it. Before I gave up, I did have some successes and even favorites that came out well repeatedly. So that is what I'm sharing with you here today- a tried and true recipe that aside from drying time is easy and quick to make and can become a staple for sandwiches.

Onion Bread

Finished Onion Bread

This bread is really tasty and can be made both as a cracker, a little thinner and crispier, or as a bread as shown here. Also you can make it with larger onion slices that stay visible. The choice is yours.

Sunflower Seeds, Flax Seeds, Onions, Olive Oi, Nama Shoyu

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs sweet onions, peeled and quartered

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup flax seeds

1/2 cup olive oil

3 oz Nama Shoyu or Tamari

Grind seeds in a dry ingredient  type blender or grinder, a little at a time until you get 1 cup of ground seeds each. You want it coarsely ground, not flour but nut butter either.

Coarsely Ground Seeds

Place the seeds in a large bowl. Process onions as desired in food processor. Mine works best with half at a time. You want the onion pieces small, although mine border on mush.

Processed Onions

Mix with the seeds and the other ingredients until well combined. The flax will absorb the liquid.

Mixed Batter

Smooth onto non-stick Teflex sheets. An off-handed spatula works best for this. Spread about 1/4 inch thick. Mine covered about 1 and 3/4 sheets and next time I may make even thicker.

Onion Bread on Teflex Sheet

Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 3 hrs or until slightly tacky to touch. Remove trays from dehydrator and score into bread slices with a butter knife and return to dehydrator.

Here's the part that I can't tell you. Each area will have different drying times by weather, temperature, altitude, individual onions, etc. All things make a difference. 

What you are looking for with first drying time is to be able to peel the Teflex from the bread without it sticking too much. 

Once you get to this point, go ahead and place a new screen tray upside down on the bread and flip over. Remove the other tray and peel off the Teflex, placing the bread directly on the screen sheet. This will make drying time much faster now.

(Sorry no picture as I did this outside in the dark.)

Watch it for another 3-4 hrs. At this point you can carefully fold the slices until they break apart and if still not dry enough, replace them on the sheet and back in the dehydrator. You don't want the bread wet but how crisp you want it is up to you. I stopped when the bread would still bend a little on it's own and when it passed the taste test.

This is what leads to the "vanishing syndrome" with dehydrators. It encourages nibbling out of the machine. If you have others in the house, don't be surprised if there is not much left by the time it's done.

Finished Bread- notice the slight bend still at overhang

Once finished, store in the fridge for moister bread or an air tight canister for crackers.

Notes:

I turn the dehydrator off at night and resume when I wake up, so I can keep and eye on the doneness during the day. 

If it gets too dry you can always spritz with water to rehydrate, just not too much.

Printer Friendly Recipe 

Another look at O.S.T.A.

THE Raw Sandwich

Sliced Avocado, an Heirloom Tomato (this is actually almost yellow-orange) and Micro Greens

Hope you give it a try!

What kind of sandwiches do you make now??