Guacamole And Raw Jalapeno Corn Chips—Using A Dehydrator In Raw Food Preparation

Corn mixture scored into 32 crackers on a Teflex sheet.

Flipping the scored corn mixture over onto a mesh sheet and carefully peeling off the Teflex.

Transition Goal For Week Three: Work Up To Eating Two Raw Meals A Day And Raw Snacks
We are spending the month of April increasing our raw food intake so that we can go completely raw for the month of May as we do our “spring cleanse”. This week, we are eating at least one raw meal a day, all raw snacks and by weeks end, we should be consuming two raw meals a day.

If you ever decide to go completely “raw”, you will probably find that you miss eating bread. Raw crackers and chips seem to fill that urge. Also, when eating a salad or a raw soup, these crackers and chips make the meal complete.

In order to make crispy raw chips, crackers, pizza crusts, etc., you will need a dehydrator. Sounds like a big step, but you’ll be surprised how much you’ll use it. Besides making raw chips and crackers, I use it as an alternative to canning and freezing. When apples are in season or we have a big crop from our trees, we use it to dry apple slices. Too many tomatoes? Make sun-dried tomatoes without the sun. Bananas getting too ripe? Make banana chips. Buy too much basil or your basil plant in your garden is starting to bolt? Dry it for use in the winter. You can also dry fruits and vegetables and then throw them in the blender to make fruit and vegetable “powders” which make amazing seasonings. Need raw snacks? Make fruit leathers and trail mixes. Dehydrators are also used to make home-made yogurt. I bought a 5 drawer Excalibur with 5 Teflex sheets and 5 mesh sheets and it’s worked really well for me.

Guacamole and raw jalapeno corn chips is a great appetizer to serve for guests or to take to a potluck. Sometimes we just eat it for lunch!

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Guacamole [serves 4]
2 medium, ripe avocados
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of minced red onion
1 packed tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
Fresh lime juice from 1/2 of a small lime
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (more or less to taste)
Dash or two cayenne pepper

With a fork, mash avocados in a bowl until fairly smooth. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. If not serving immediately, place one of the avocado pits back in the guacamole and cover well with plastic wrap.

Per serving: 116.5 calories, 10.5 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, zero g cholesterol, 1.5 g protein, 6.3 g carbohydrates, and 4.5 g of fiber.

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Raw Jalapeno Corn Chips [makes 64 chips or 8 servings]
5 cups of fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 cup raw walnuts, soaked for at least 6 hours
1/3 cup ground flax seed
1 medium, fresh jalapeno, seeds removed if you don’t want too much “heat”
2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Run the jalapeno through the chute of a food processor and place chopped jalapeno in a large bowl. (Be careful as the jalapeno going through the food processor can give out some strong fumes which can make you cough). Add corn, walnuts, lime juice, sea salt and cumin to the food processor and blend until smooth. Add blended corn mixture to the large bowl. Add flax seeds and mix well. Divide the mixture in half and place each half on a Teflex sheet. Spread it out in a rectangle and score it into quarters, then score each quarter into quarters. Score each square into 2 triangles until you have 32 triangles on each Teflex sheet. Dehydrate at 110 degrees for 8 to 10 hours. Flip over onto a mesh sheet, peel off the Teflex sheet and dry on the mesh sheet for another 8 hours or until dry and crisp. Break each chip apart carefully and serve.

Per 8 chip serving: 202.5 calories, 12.4 g fat, 0.9 g saturated fat, zero g cholesterol, 6.4 g protein, 21.9 g carbohydrates, and 4.5 g of fiber.