Russell James & The Raw Chef’s Vegan Mediterranean Buckwheat Bread
23It is DAY 16 of "Raw Food Recipes with Excalibur" and have I got a treat for you today! Trust me, if you want to learn about raw food or just get PHENOMENAL healthy recipes you absolutely need to know about Russell James AKA The Raw Chef. I first met Russell when I attended an event hosted by Ani Phyo and Matthew Kenney at Matthew Kenney OKC a few years ago. Russell was the guest-instructor-in-residence there, and the raw food that was served by the students under his direction was SUBLIME.
Hailed by The Times as “The UK’s Leading Raw Chef” Russell has travelled all over the world teaching classes, and established himself as one of the foremost authorities on raw food preparation. Sample ANY of his incredible recipes and you will see why. His website, blog, ebooks are FULL of mouth watering foods spectacularly presented and photographed. It really is a feast for the senses and not to be missed.
Some of my favourite recipes include: raw vegan pesto and caramelised onion pizza, raw vegan vegetable samosas with cucumber and mint raita, wilted kale salad with creamy chipotle dressing, Cacao Pistachio Florentine & Mint Ice Cream Sandwich, Pomegranate Cheesecake with Clementine Gelato, and I could go ON and ON! This raw vegan buckwheat bread is so easy and absolutely incredible. This is a LIFESAVER for raw food purists who are craving a sandwich!
Russell's food is inventive, artful, and tastes incredible. He is constantly pushing the boundaries with raw food preparation; with a passionate desire to provide food and recipes that really showcase all of the amazing textures and flavours that can be created with live ingredients. What I love the most about him is his humble nature and generous spirit. Even though he has taught thousands of people all over the world, he still considers himself a "raw foods student" with a never ending thirst for knowledge.
So, where did this incredible guy learn everything he knows?
Russell was introduced to raw foods back in 2004 whilst participating in a fast at a spa in Koh Samui in the hopes of clearing up life-long skin problems. On Day 5 of a 7 Day Fast at a beach-side cafe, Russell hungrily thumbed through a raw food book from the library, and literally became intoxicated with the potential of a raw foods lifestyle. He describes it as a life-defining moment – an epiphany; something that just made absolute sense to him.
Russell was then on a mission! He was going to create mainstream awareness of the vibrancy, creativity, and health benefits of raw foods in a way that was fun and modern. he started taking classes and experimenting in the kitchen. He then started a modest blog, sharing his gorgeous raw creations, and his work quickly gained attention.
After teaching people in his local area, Russell soon found himself teaching people from all over the UK, and not long after, people were travelling from all over the world to learn from him. It was during this time that The Fresh Network (the UK’s raw and living food organization) contacted him to create some raw foods. Russell became part of the hugely successful Fresh Network Raw Dinner Parties.
Russell has now made his knowledge accessible to the masses, through online classes, and amazing home-study courses. He is currently working on several rawmazing projects, including a recipe book to be released 2012. Watch out for that!
Russell and Haylee, thankyou for graciously participating in this event.
I am in LOVE with your recipes...
Learn more about Russell James from The Raw Chef
Follow Russell on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and You Tube
Russell James & The Raw Chef’s Vegan Mediterranean Buckwheat Bread
- 1/2 cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups sun-dried tomatoes
- 3 cups sprouted buckwheat
- 1 cup flax meal
- 3 1/2 cups peeled zucchini roughly chopped
- 2 cups apple, cored and roughly chopped
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 avocados
- 1 large onion
- 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
- Process the olive oil, sun dried toms, sprouted buckwheat, courgette, apple, lemon juice, avocados, onion and herbs until thoroughly mixed.
- Transfer to a large bowl and mix with the flax meal by hand. The reason you do this separately (not in the processor) is that you are likely to have too much mixture for the size if the processor at this point, and when you add the flax meal it will become quite heavy and sticky and overwork your machine.
- When mixed, process the whole batter in the machine again, but in small batches to achieve a light fluffy texture.
- Divide the mixture in half and place on Paraflexx sheets on Excalibur dehydrator trays. Use a spatula to spread the mixture evenly to all 4 sides and corners of the Paraflexx sheet. If mixture is too sticky you can wet the spatula to make things easier.
- With a knife score the whole thing into 9 squares.
- Dehydrate for 2 hours and then remove the Paraflexx sheets by placing another dehydrator tray and mesh on top and invert so that your original sheet of bread is upside down. That will allow you to peel the Paralexx sheet off and continue to dehydrate the underside of the bread.
- Dehydrate for approx 8 hours more (do this overnight so you’re not tempted to eat it before it’s ready) or until bread feels light in your hand. If the pieces don’t fully come apart where you scored, use a knife to cut them.
Learn more about Russell James from The Raw Chef
Follow Russell on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and You Tube
Piggy Cooking Tips
the best way to store lemons
Lemons continue to respire and ripen after they have been harvested. The faster they respire the more carbon dioxide they produce, and the quicker they spoil. Store your lemons in the fridge to slow this down and they should keep for up to about ten days. Make sure you do not store them in plastic bags where they are on top of each other. When there is limited oxygen, the ethylene gas gets trapped, causing them to rot. Always bring them to room temperature to get the most juice out of them.
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Piggy Grunts!
Add Your GruntThis buckwheat is AMAZING!! I just polished off an open faced sandwich with this bread as a base. Topped it with chevre goat cheese, sunflower sprouts, dried olives and slices of organic yellow brandy wine tomato. Divine!! I made one of the bread mixtures into a round shape in the dehydrator for a pizza tomorrow night. It is a lovely texture, very flavorful and holds up well! I love it! Thanks, Russell and Tess!
Oh GREAT! I know! Isn’t this recipe AMAZING. I am on my second batch as we speak! Oink!
SO great to hear that everyone is enjoying the recipe! It’s one of our favorites :)
Angelica - the bread will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. If you’d like it to last a bit longer, go ahead pop it in the freezer!
Kibby - great idea using it for a pizza crust, my mouth is watering!
I have tried several of Russell’s recipes and they are always excellent. I am really looking forward to making this bread. The photo is making me hungry already.
Yes, the photo IS amazing. I am SO glad you are enjoying Russell’s recipes too. I just think he is INCREDIBLE. His recipes are just some of the BEST raw recipes out there!
We are also excited to try this recipe. We found Russell through one of your other posts some time ago and his recipes are very tasty. We have never made raw bread before, so when our dehydrator arrives we will be trying this bread. Russell’s photos are really nice too.
Oh, I LOVE that. I am SO pleased you are connected with Russell and his amazing recipes. SO excited you got a dehydrator too! You are going to LOVE it!
Can’t wait to hear what you think of the recipes these month :)
I had never made raw bread before. My friend and I made this today and it was really good. Our sandwiches didn’t look quite as good as this photo. But they were yummy.
LOL! You are so cute.
So glad you enjoyed this.
Russell and his recipes ROCK!
This may be answer for me to have sandwiches and tortilla with out wheat.
Oh, I promis you this recipe is the answer. This raw vegan buckwheat bread is AMAZING. ALL of Russell’s recipes are fantastic. But this one is a WINNER. Enjoy :)
OMG!!! it looks amazing! I want this now! Hard to believe that raw can look so irresistibly good!
Thank you for sharing this!
Elena, this recipe is SOOOOO amazing. Not to be missed!
Does anyone have any tips for non-dehydrator users? I am still saving for an excalibur but hope to still try these wonderful bread/cracker/crisp type recipes on a low heat in the oven in the meantime. Any tips on modifying the recipes accordingly or heating guidelines would be appreciated… :-)
Liv, I haven’t tried this particular recipe in an oven. However, I have had success modifying other dehydrator recipe for ovens. It is a bit of trial and error, depending on the recipe and the ingredients etc. I have had success with the oven on the lowest setting and checking every half hour. I have also had readers who are not strictly raw tell me they have placed their ovens on 180/350, allowed to heat up, then turned off, placed goods in oven, and allowed the oven to completely cool. If you are wanting the live enzymes etc this method is not preferable. However, it is a suggestion for getting textural results etc. I hope this helps.
Pleasure. If you have a question about modifying any of the dehydrator recipes on this site, just please post them on the recipe page, and I will answer.
I’m making this delightful recipe tomorrow. Have my buckwheat groats soaking right now! I’ve got all the ingredients and can’t wait to make and devour! Sounds so tasty and nutritious - my kind of recipe! Thanks, Tess! I love Russell James and his teaching.
I LOVE Russell and his teaching too! His recipes are SENSATIONAL! Can’t wait to hear what you think :)