Beet Crackers

Today I’m writing from my kitchen, sitting at the bar top snacking on these crackers. I’m excited lately, mostly about the upcoming months and what they have in store. It’s cold and lifeless outside, but this year, for some reason beyond myself, I don’t mind it. It’s kind of beautiful in a monotonous way. Grey sky, grey branches, grey earth, naked, hibernating. And here I am, removing myself from this grey moment, this blank canvas waiting patiently for life to paint it with colour and activity, thinking about sunnier, vibrant days. I’m here, now, happy yet restless. Nothing new.

Beet Crackers

3 medium-sized red beets, peeled

1 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp white wine vinegar or rice vinegar

1/4 cup ground flax

2 tbsp whole flax seeds

1/4 cup AP flour

3/4 tsp salt

Roughly chop the peeled beets, then blend them with the sugar, vinegar and 1 cup of water to form a fine pulp. Strain the beet mixture through a fine sieve over a bowl to remove excess liquid (you can save this liquid for smoothies etc) then transfer the pulp to another mixing bowl.

Add ground flax, flax seeds, flour and salt to the beet pulp and stir to form a uniform paste. Let this mixture sit for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 300°F, if you have a convection oven use that setting.

After 20 minutes, place cracker mixture in the centre of a piece of parchment large enough to cover a large baking tray. Place a second sheet of the same size on top of the cracker mixture. Using a rolling pin, roll out the mixture between the 2 sheets of parchment until it is an even thickness of 1.5-2 cm.

Transfer the rolled out crackers to a baking tray and carefully remove the top sheet of parchment. Place in the oven for 50-60 minutes, then turn the oven off and open the door slightly but leave the crackers in for another 15-20 minutes - this will allow them to dehydrate even more. When you allow them to cool you should be able to snap them into pieces. If they still bend (instead of snap) leave them in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve with dip such as hummus, cheese, preserves etc.