Cracked Pepper Dried Cherry Flax Crackers with Pine Nut Pepper Cream and Nectarine Salad!
Oh my gosh…I must admit, it is good to be back. I haven’t posted to Rawmazing for over a month. It’s the longest I have gone since starting the site over 6 years ago! And what a month it has been. We moved, I finished my Professional Plant Based Certification through Rouxbe (more about that later), and we are living in a house that is over 90% under construction.
I don’t know which is /was the biggest challenge.
Our move turned out to be exhausting. I ridiculously thought that we could pack and move ourselves (except for the big stuff). Our new house, which we are doing a complete renovation on has been under construction since May. Since I kept hearing things like, “Your office will be done this weekend”, long before our move out date, I thought the move could be done in stages. That didn’t happen.
Turns out that nothing was done until the very last minute. The builders put up a gallant charge so we would actually have at least 2 small rooms mostly done. We went into panic mode and made U Haul very happy with our purchase of hundreds of boxes, which we will free cycle when all is said and done. Working until midnight, and with the help of friends, somehow we got packed up and moved out in time. Note: 3 weeks later, almost all of those boxes are still packed as we have no where to put anything!
Our house is a beautiful place even with the walls torn open and construction debris everywhere. The views are insane, the yard has over an acre and a half for the dogs to run and it is private. Even though we only have 2 rooms mostly finished, a downstairs office that is being used as our bedroom and the upstairs office that is being used for everything else, I am falling asleep to the sound of crickets and lovely darkness. It is heaven. I do, however wake to the sound of compressors firing up almost every morning at 7:30am.
I was hoping to keep posting to the blog through the move but it became impossible. Something had to give and unfortunately it was the blog. I had a huge class deadline looming, and that wasn’t going to go away. I have been working on my Professional Plant Based Certification since February and I still had the final exam and the final project left! Somehow I managed to move and complete the course.
The Rouxbe class was fantastic. It completely changed my approach to plant based cooking. I will be sharing a lot more about that in the coming weeks including a wonderful give-away. If you are interested in checking it out, use the link on the right sidebar or click here: Rouxbe
Our final project was to prepare a plant-based “shindig”. That word still cracks me up. So much so I had to look it up. All I could think was, “What the heck is a shindig” anyway? Turns out it comes from the word “shindy” which could refer to a brawl (my favorite), a dance (shins up) or as used today, a noisy party, dance or gathering.
These are my final “bites” that I created for the “Shindig”.
Starting top left: Watermelon “Sushi” on a Seaweed Cracker with Chive “Creme Fraiche” and Marinated Seaweed, Cracked Pepper Dried Cherry Crackers with a Peach Salad and Pistachio Dust (recipe at the end of the post), Cucumber Mango Onion Dice with Mint and a Red Pepper Jam, Cold Roasted Heritage Tomato and Fennel Soup with a Corn Salsa and finally, my Molecular Strawberry Ginger Spheres with Sugar Coated Fried Balsamic Garnish. As you can see, these are a combination of raw food and cooked food, but all plant based.
Today I am sharing the recipe for one of the favorites at the shindig, the Dried Cherry Pepper Flax Crackers with Pine Nut Pepper “Cheese”, Dressed Arugula, Fresh White Nectarines, Fresh Cherries and a Pistachio Dust.
Dried Cherry Pepper Crackers with Pine Nut Pepper Cheese, Dressed Arugula, Fresh White Nectarines, Fresh Cherries and a Pistachio Dust
Crackers
- 1 cup dried cherries, chopped
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups almonds, soaked rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup ground flax seed
- 2 tablespoons pepper corns, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon himalayan salt
- Place dried cherries and water in blender. Pulse until cherries are chopped.
- Place almonds in food processor and process until finely chopped.
- Add remaining ingredients (including cherries and water) and pulse until combined.
- Roll out mixture on a non-stick dehydrator sheet 1/8 – inch thick. You can cut rounds if you like.
- Dehydrate at 115 for 4 hours, flip sheets, peel off dehydrator sheet, place dried side up on dehydrator screens and continue to dehydrate for 4 more hours or until dry.
Pine Nut Pepper “Cheese”
- 1 cup pine nuts, soaked until soft, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked until soft, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 lemon, juice from
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1-2 tablespoons coarse ground pepper
- Process pine nuts, cashews, water, garlic, nutritional yeast and lemon juice in blender until smooth.
- Pulse in ground pepper until just blended.
Salad and Assembly
- 2 cups arugula
- 1/2 lemon, juice from
- 1 tablespoon cold pressed olive oil
- pinch of himalayan salt and fresh ground pepper
- 2 white nectarines, sliced
- 1 cup cherries, pitted and quartered
- 1/2 cup raw pistachios, ground fine
- Place arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Massage and set aside. You want to break down the leaves a bit so the pieces are a manageable size.
- Spread cracker with pepper cheese. Top with arugula, nectarines and cherries. Dust with pistachio crumbs.
Wendy Spijker wrote on August 17, 2017
Hi Susan,
I was wondering how many crackers I can make with this recipe including the “cheese” and salad?
Kind regards from Holland 🙂
Susan wrote on August 17, 2017
I think there are at least 2 dozen, more if you cut them square. I apologize, this recipe is from a while back and I didn’t record that. Cheers!
Wendy Spijker wrote on August 17, 2017
And also was I wondering if I can use an oven for the crackers?
Susan wrote on August 17, 2017
As far as the oven, the recipe is designed for dehydration which is very different than baking. You can try but I can’t tell you what the results will be. I would suggest using a very low temperature. Cheers!
Elizabeth Ferber Sims wrote on July 10, 2016
Hi Susan,
I made these yesterday and they’re still chewy – even after an additional 4 hours on 115 in the dehyrdator. Could I be doing something wrong?? Or are these supposed to be chewy?
Many thanks,
Elizabeth
Susan wrote on July 11, 2016
Hi, Elizabeth, They shouldn’t be chewy. All dehydrators operate differently and also if your crackers were thicker than mine, that could really extend the dehydration time. Cheers!
Elisa Rae Carter wrote on September 16, 2015
How long do you soak the cashews and almonds?
Get website!!
maryann l wrote on April 30, 2015
Is it possible to substitute roasted nuts (I realize they are not raw) instead of raw soaked nuts in your ctacker recipes?
If so, must they be soaked to soften first and is extra liquid required?
Your website is great!! thanks!
Susan wrote on April 30, 2015
You can but they will have a different texture. If the recipe calls for soaked nuts then yes, the liquid is required. Thanks so much for asking! 🙂
Jenn wrote on January 17, 2015
Hi! I’m new to dehydrating. I got a dehydrator for Christmas and it’s a basic model without an adjustable thermostat; just has one setting. I notice most raw cracker recipes call for starting out at a high temperature and then turning it down after an hour or two, or dehydrating at a specific temperature. Will these recipes work with a dehydrator that has just one temperature? Thanks for your help!
Susan wrote on January 17, 2015
HI, Jenn, The problem with dehydrators that don’t have temperature controls is that they tend to run very hot. So if you are interested in preparing raw food, the temps are often too high. You can certainly try these crackers but I would keep an eye on them as the drying time will probably be greatly reduced. Also, you can always temp your dehydrator. Get a food thermometer and place it in the dehydrator. It will tell you what temp it is drying at. Cheers!
Sara wrote on January 3, 2015
Anne, I just made this recipe with dried mission black figs instead of cherries and it tastes delicious!
Sara wrote on January 3, 2015
I am looking at different raw culinary schools and I am curious to know why you choose Rouxbe. There are several out there, what makes Rouxbe a good raw school in your opinion? I am considering taking their courses in the fall, although they are a little pricey. Any suggestion is appreciated. Thank you Susan!