I used to love it when my mom made BLT’s for dinner. My mom was quite the cook and dinner was usually a fully cooked, pretty elaborate meal. Having a sandwich for dinner was not the norm and signified a more relaxed dinner.
I have been wanting to make a raw BLT for quite some time. Having tried many different recipes for a raw bread, I finally came up with one that reminds me of the wheat bread I miss. No, it is not gluten free, as I am using wheat berries and I don’t have a substitution yet. But I will work on it. Eggplant bacon, tomato and a avocado “butter” round out this sandwich. You can certainly substitute plain avocados for the avocado butter if you choose.
Raw “BLT’s”
Honey Wheat Bread:
- 2 cups wheat berries, sprouted and ground into flour
- 1 cup zucchini puree
- 1 apple
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup ground flax
1. To make flour: Soak wheat berries for 24 hours, then rinse 2 x a day until small tails sprout. Dehydrate at 116 degrees until dry. Grind into flour.
2. In food processor, place apple, zucchini puree and honey. Process until a puree is achieved.
3. Mix together flour and ground flax.
4. Stir puree mixture into flour mixture.
5. Spread 1/4 inch thick on non-stick dehydrator sheets. Score mixture into bread sized squares. Dehydrate at 140 degrees for 1 hour, turn down heat and dehydrate at 116 degrees until tops are dry.
6. Flip over, remove non-stick sheet and continue to dry. You want to make sure the bread dries but stays soft so, check and don’t over dehydrate.
Avocado Butter
- 2 avocados
- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked until soft
- pinch Himalayan salt
- pinch black pepper
- pinch ground chipotle
1. Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until well blended.
Eggplant Bacon See Recipe: Eggplant Bacon
Assembly
- Raw Honey Wheat Bread
- Cashew Butter
- Tomato
- Lettuce
- Eggplant Bacon
Layer ingredients on bread to create sandwich!
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I think I am having a problem with Gluten. Can you suggest any other grain to be used in this? I know you have probably answered this before, sorry.
As I mentioned above…I have not had a chance to work this out with a different grain yet. I don’t have much luck sprouting the oats that I have available. They seem to sour as they sprout. But I am working on it.
Can I just confirm that it 2 cups wheat berries before sprouting etc? I always am unsure of this and 2 cups not sprouted seems like a lot. How many dehydrator sheets does this make. Thanks, I am hoping this may be the first raw bread I will like. Haven’t loved all the others I’ve tried so far.
Sprout 2 cups and use all of them. Once they sprout and you dehydrate and then grind them into flour, it isn’t as much as you would think.
When grinding the wheat berries, do you use a coffee grinder or something else.
Great recipe! Just as an aside I am under the impression that the gluten problem is resolved by sprouting. I know I have come across that concept several times before, and most recently a video from Raw Food World Episode # 482. Check it out!
Can I use the almond flour that I freeze after making almond milk?
I imagine I would take the ground almond “stuff” out of the freezer, place it in the dehydrator until it is dry and then replace it for the wheat berries. What is the amount of wheatberry flour you end up with after grinding so I can substitute an equivalent amount of almond flour? Thanks!
Holly: I use the vitamix but you can use anything that gives you the consistency of flour. It is a hearty, grainy flour.
Melissa, Thanks for the information! I think everyone has different levels of intolerance so I would encourage people to do their own research.
I have never come across an eggplant bacon recipe that worked for me. do you have one I might try?
Sereinty: There is a link for the eggplant bacon recipe right in the recipe. http://www.rawmazing.com/recipes/red-pepper-poppers/
This looks awesome!!
Another super easy (but different textured) option is to simply process the freshly sprouted wheatberries into a dough, shape into “bread” pieces, and dehydrate to desired moistness.
Lucky for me I made some raw zucchini bread this weekend! Flax instead of wheatberries but it will do! Thanks for the recipe(s).
I now believe that you can do anything! Eggplant bacon. Amazing. Making this right now. Oh, after I buy some eggplant.
Looks like it taste’s refreshing! lite! perfect for summer!
when can I stop by for a bite?
Here’s a little information for y’all. I picked up a book a few weeks back titled, Kitchen Garden Cookbook by Steve Meyerowitz (The Sproutman). In it he explains what sprouts are, are to make sprouts grow and to make bread from various types of sprouts. It is very simple to make and you can do it in your oven at a low temp if you don’t have a dehydrator. It wouldn’t be considered 100% Raw, but certainly Vegetarian and healthy for you. It is also considered gluten free, even if you use wheat berries!! http://www.Sproutman.com. The book costs $14.95.
Looks amazing! I was thinking about a BLT the other day and trying to come up with something raw vegan.
That sounds and looks great. A lot of effort to go through to get something like a BLT though. Then again, it could be a lot of fun. I’ve been working on different fruit puddings, raw brownies, raw fruit balls, raw cake, etc. Trying to come up with treats to make the insane amount of salads I’ve been eating more exciting. Then again, I’ve found all sorts of ways to make salads more fun. I think everyone ought to try going raw for a couple weeks with some supportive friends after attending some raw potlucks just to see how fun food creations can really be. Thanks for this great post!
Wow, that really looks amazing. I have an eggplant in the fridge… =)
This looks spectacular. I am SO trying out that eggplant bacon the first chance I get!
I’ve been wanting raw ‘bread’ lately. Maybe I’ll do this! Gotta get that dehydrator out some time!
I can’t wait to try these!!
I am going to get my wheat berries soaking right now so tomorrow I can get them a sproutin!
What a beautiful photograph. How do you take such amazing photos??
Peace & Health,
Elizabeth
You mentioned looking for a gluten-free substitution – I’ve been looking at some of the prepared GF stuff in the health food stores and seeing “sorghum flour” in a lot of them, which surprised me because I actually thought that was another word for wheat, but maybe not. I see a lot of chick pea and tapioca flour, too, in the lists of ingredients. I don’t know if there’s a sproutable, sorghum grain? I personally can’t digest chick pea/garbanzo anything.
How do you make zucchini puree?
You puree it. I normally do this in the food processor. Cut the zucchini into pieces and place in food processor. Process until you have a puree.
This looks amazing!! Definitely going to have to try and make this one, especially since my dehydrator is back out of storage!
This recipe looks delicious, I do so want to try it.You are so creative!
Should I use the hard or soft wheat to sprout for the bread?
I used hard wheat for this as I believe it sprouts better.
Oh….I was so hoping someone came up with an alternative to the wheat berries = (
Susan, I bought ground raw wheat berry flour at the healthfood store. How many cups of ground flour should I use? The recipe calls for 2 cups of whole berries but what does that equate to one it is ground? Is it still equal
2 cups of flour or does the dehydrating/grinding process make it less?
Unfortunately, I have only done this recipe as written so, I don’t know how that substitution would go.
For those who are wheat intollerant try Kamut or Spelt! Good luck!
Kamut is actually wheat. Just in a different type. It contains gluten. Also, spelt contains gluten.
I totally understand that. The suggestion was for those who don’t have good luck with wheat. My son was allergic to wheat but could eat items made with spelt or kamut.
This is the first recipe of yours that I tried that Bombed! I’m sure it was something I did, but the bread was totally inedible. I sprouted the wheat berries then dehydrated them and ground them. Maybe I didn’t grind them enough, or maybe I dehydrated them too long, but the bread tasted like I was eating chunks of raw wheat berries (I used hard red). It also tasted kind of sour. Any ideas?
That being said, the eggplant bacon was great!
If it tasted sour that means that your wheat berries were bad. They may have started fermenting. This bread recipe is a great bread recipe that I have made many times. You also need to watch your dehydration time. Did you grind them fine enough? They should have been like a flour.
I just took a sprouting workshop and showed them a picture of what the wheat berries looked like when I finished sprouting them…definitely left them too long…it should only take 12 – 36 hours to sprout and I let mine go between two and three days. I now know better…only sprout until tails start to show. I will try this recipe again for sure and let you know how I make out next time!
Approximately how long do you dehydrate the wheat berries before grinding them? I may have overdone this part as well. Thanks.
Until they are dry. You are making a sprouted flour.
I guess since I’m new to all this, I was looking for an average time. One thing I’ve found is that I think things are dry enough and then, once they out of the dehydrator for a little bit, I realize they probably could have been left in a little longer…next time I’ll just process a few and if I get mush, they need to be in longer and if I get flour, they are perfect.
There are many things that affect dehydration time. Humidity, the type of dehydrator you have, etc. It can make hours of difference. It will take at least 4 hours to do this but you can just pull one of the berries out to check if they are dry enough. Just crush it and see if it is dry.
No salt??
I meant no salt for the eggplant bacon? Isn’t bacon salty?
The nama shoyu is plenty salty. You should try the recipe. It is delicious.
The eggplant bacon recipe does not have any nama shouyu. I did make the recipe, and added salt. It was too sweet for me, and didn’t taste like bacon at all. I ate it for desert and enjoyed it, but I think the amount of paprika and chipotle pepper bothered my stomach….
Alina, you are correct. I was thinking of another recipe. I find that the spices are enough to flavor this. It doesn’t need salt. Please remember, this is an eggplant, it looks like bacon but of course, it isn’t going to taste like it. But in many recipes, like the BLT, it is a wonderfully flavorful replacement.
I tried to make the eggplant bacon but even after a couple of days in the dehydrator my “bacon” was more like edible chewy leather . help!!!
I am guessing that you may have cut the eggplant too thick. Cheers!
I have gluten allergy, so what can I use instead of wheat berries?
Please see About Substitutions in the FAQ page. Cheers!
Hi, I just made the bread portion of this recipe and the wheat berries stink like they are fermenting after the were soaking for 2 days. Even after washing/rinsing and dehydrating they still stink. Any ideas? Are they suppose to smell like they’re fermenting? The bread now has a faint taste of the smell too, if that makes sense. Did I do something wrong? I soaked the berries and drained/rinsed them each day for 3 days. Am I missing something? Thanks!
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