Credit Crunch Munch
For my most recent appearance on Market Kitchen (UKTV Food), I was asked to come up with some ideas for “Credit Crunch Lunch”. I am already getting really tired of this phrase - aren’t you? Anyway, fair play…So, amongst some other recipes, I quickly devised this home-made solution to one of my favourite shop-bought snacks “Munchy Seeds”, which I haven’t actually ever bought myself but have devoured in others’ households!
-Don’t buy the raw seeds from a supermarket. Independent health food shops are cheaper, and in London, Arabic grocers (Lebanese, Turkish) have this stuff even cheaper.
-These are a good high-protein snack which will keep hunger at bay longer than a carb-based snack. Linseeds (also called flaxseeds) are a superfood which are especially high in essential fatty acids normally found in oily fish.
-Use a kitchen timer and set it every 3 minutes ir so to stir the seeds. Otherwise your phone will ring or the doorbell goes and…voila, charcoal. If I had a penny for every nut or seed I’ve burned I’d be a millionaire!
Savoury Toasted Seeds
Prep: 2 min
Cook: 10 min
Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsp dark Soy sauce, or tamari soy sauce
1 tbsp Olive oil
50g sesame seeds
100g pumpkin seeds
100g sunflower seeds
25g linseeds / flaxseeds
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F/gas 6.
2. Put all the seeds in a mixing bowl and stir in the soy sauce and olive oil.
3. Spread the seeds on a baking tray and toast in the oven for about 7-10 minutes, until the pumpkin seeds are puffed and golden. Stir once or twice while they are cooking to ensure even toasting.
4. Cool completely, then store in a sealed jar. These seeds are good as a snack and also work well sprinkled over salads, stir-fries or jacket potatoes.