Carrot Pulp & Coconut Flax Crackers

I'm always looking for tasty ways to use carrot pulp leftovers from juicing. I know, I know: juice pulp is great for the compost.... but what about me?! It's tough to just toss away all that bright orange beauty, so often, I save it in the fridge. (I confess, I'm a saver. Some might even venture to say hoarder [how many "bag bags" does one family really need?] but let's not go there.)

Okay, so the fridge is full of carrot pulp. Now what? Well, I have my ways. I feed it to the dog - either mix raw carrot pulp into her food or cook it into the fish scrap and chicken leg stews she loves so well. I feed it to the kids - tucks nicely unnoticed into tuna salad, for instance. I've also tried blending the pulp into raw Cream of Carrot soup and Orange Sunshine salad dressing. (Haven't had great success there yet but am still game for trying. Recipes, anyone?)

By far, my favorite use for the stuff is as a filler for raw flax crackers. Used this way, carrot pulp adds color, texture, flavor and vitamin A nutrition. Plus there's no extra work of grating or chopping, seeing that carrot pulp is pre-pulped, and all. Flax crackers and chia chips were made for carrot pulp. Hence it features prominently in my Spicy Sunflower Chia Chip recipe on this blog, for instance.

Recently, Raw Chef Dan sent out an email with a recipe for "Coconut Toast" which sounded so good, I made a batch straight away. When cracker met tongue, we promptly fell in love at first bite. The richness of the coconut oil paired with the crispy crunch sensation of the tiny flaxseeds creates savory heaven in your mouth, like a macaroon, but not, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, one good recipe deserves another. The following is a mod of RCDs Coconut Toast original using... naturally.... leftover carrot pulp from juicing, as well as sunflower seeds (inexpensive) instead of almonds (expensive). It's really good, really easy and really cheap. With all the fuss about how pricey the raw food diet can be, what could be better? Here's how they look, all scored and ready for drying. Pretty!


CARROT PULP & COCONUT FLAX CRACKERS

1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup golden flax seeds
3 cups water
2 cups carrot pulp, leftover from juicing
2 cups dried coconut flakes
1-2 tsp Himalayan pink salt (I used 1 but will up it next time)
1-2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Food process or grind the sunflower seeds and flax seeds together to make a gritty meal. Soak this in water for one half to one hour. Stir in remaining ingredients. Place equal amounts of dough onto 3 teflex sheets, and use wet hands or a spatula tool to spread dough to edges. (For a thicker, "crispbread" style cracker, divide the dough onto just 2 teflex sheets.) Use a rubber spatula to score into 16 squares per sheet. Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 4 hours; 6 hours for thicker version. Flip crackers onto mesh, peel off teflex and continue to dehydrate 4-6 more hours or until you attain desired dryness. Store in airtight container in fridge.

Note: I plan try this another time using leftover ALMOND pulp (from making almond milk) instead of the sunflower seeds. That cracker will be a waste-not-want-not dream come true!

BONUS: Remember all that prior posting about Properly Combined Sandwiches, and how bread and nuts don't mix? Well, if you use flaxseed crackers, which are already a seed/nut to begin with, for the bread, you can spread on the tahini, pumpkin seed cheese or raw almond butter to your heart's delight! Enjoy!