Little Bundles of Sunshine

... why, they're sunflower seeds of course! And don't just put them in your bird feeders, they're great for you too! Sunflower seeds a packed with proteins, fiber, healthy fats, minerals, loads of vitamin E and magnesium! Vitamin E is anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant, and thus protects you from asthma, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular issues, cancers. It also helps maintain the proper functioning of your noggin', especially with memory and cognitive functions. Magnesium helps maintain bone health and energy, and its needed to process calcium.

I've been loving sunflowers recently, especially when soaked. I find them the most easily digestible seed/nut (pumpkin seeds are a close second). I've been eating them in Meredith's sunflower rye crackers, in mock tuna, and most recently in Matt Amsden's Veggie Cakes, from Rawvolution. They're excellent! Who knew beets, sunflower, and just a few more ingredients would make such a wonderful patty! This is the first recipe I've tried from this book, and so far I'm loving it. Matt also just looks like a really cool guy to hang out with.

This recipe was one of those ones that are really not what they seem until they're done. I've found that the most important thing when trying recipes that need to go through the dehydrator is that the 'mixture' you make pre-dehydration does not taste like its final product. Dehydration gives food a much stronger (and sometimes more nuanced) flavor. What might seem like a little bit of onion pre-dehydration will taste a lot like onion when it's done.

Case in point, in one of my most recent recipe failures, I invented what I like to call "trash crackers"... in other words, I waited too long to use veggie pulp from juicing. Pre-dehydration, yeah, I noticed they were a little off, but it wasn't that bad. But post-dehydration, well my crackers came out tasting like, well... old veggie compost. Not so good.

But these veggie cakes and sunflowers, now those are yummy! Have a great weekend!