# 10 Zucchini Flatbread

I have been enjoying grain free diet for awhile, and now I am back creating new gluten free flat bread recipes. 100 % grain free diet might fit perfectly for someone, but I have noticed that my body just needs a certain amount of gluten free grains and other seeds to function optimally. I try to have at least one grain free day every week, also because then I need to create some grain free recipes.  

When I was doing sulphite/sulfite, low sulfur elimination diet years ago, zucchinis were my stable food item. I ate them almost every day with everything, and there was a time that it was the only vegetable I tolerated without any reactions. Of course my taste buds got quite bored and after I managed to add more foods back to my diet, zucchinis were out for awhile. But since you can use zucchinis in many ways, these low calorie, potassium rich vegetables are back in my diet. 

This following recipe is one of my favourites.

Basic 1 for sulphite/sulfite issues.

Zucchini Flatbreads, makes 16 

3 dl or 1 cup + 4 Tbsp. of Brown rice flour

2 dl or 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp of Quinoa flakes 

1 dl or 1/3 cups of Quinoa flour

1 Tbsp. of Chia seeds

1 Tsp. of Sea salt

3 dl or 1 cup + 4 Tbsp. of grated Zucchini

4 1/2 dl or 1+ 3/4 cups of Water 

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.

And add the grated zucchini.

Mix the grated zucchini well into the flour mix.

Add water and mix until you have a smooth mixture. Cover the baking tray with a good quality baking paper and put heaping tablespoons of the mixture on the paper and spread circles which are about 0,5 cm high. 

Bake in the oven: 180 C or 350 F about 12-15 minutes. 

You probably have found your favourite ways to eat the flat breads, which can be as simple as just with plain good quality grass-fed butter. For the zucchini flat breads I made simple tomato-butter and served them with a delicious cheese from Bali. 

Tomato-butter:

 

50 gr of grass-fed Butter, soft

1/2-1 Tomato, seedless, drained and in small cubes

Sea salt to drain the tomato and more to taste.

Cut the tomato in half and scoop out the seeds. 

Salt the tomato and leave at least for 10-15 minutes. Pat dry with a kitchen towel and slice them for small cubes. Mix the tomato cubes with the soft butter. Serve immediately with the flat breads. 

Enjoy!

# 7 Amaranth Flatbread

Amaranth, an other seed originally from the South America is the star for these gluten free flatbreads. Here I use amaranth flour made of the seeds, but also leaves, stems and roots can be eaten in many ways. Amaranth is a nutrient rich seed, high in protein and fiber and lower in carbohydrates than any other grain. It is a good source of all the essential amino acids, many minerals and vitamins. Interesting fact about the amaranth is that it is the only 'grain' which contains C-vitamin. Amaranth doesn't have a strong taste like quinoa, since it doesn't contain saponins, so if you are not familiar with quinoa yet, I would suggest to try out amaranth first. You have also probably heard of red dye called amaranth. Previously the natural dye was harvested from the red flowers of amaranth plant and unfortunately the synthetic dye, Red No.2 or E123 has nothing to do with the amaranth plant anymore.

Intermediate 1 for sulphite/sulfite issues. Amaranth is high in thiols and organic sulphur/sulfur and might give problems during the elimination diet.


Amaranth Flatbreads, makes 10-12

3 1/2 dl or 1 1/2 cups of Millet flour
2 1/2 dl or 1 cup of Amaranth flour
2 Tbsp. of Golden Flaxseeds, whole
1 tsp. of Himalaya salt
3 1/2 dl or 1 1/2 cup of Water

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl well and add the water until you have a smooth mixture. If the mixture feels too hard with this amount of water add more water by tablespoons until you get the right texture. Cover the baking tray with a good quality baking paper ( if you use a good quality baking paper you have probably noticed that you can use it a couple of times) and put tablespoons of the mixture on the paper and spread circles which are about 0,5 cm high.

Bake in the oven 180 C or 350 F, about 12-15 minutes.

The Amaranth flatbreads will keep well about one week in the fridge and for longer in the freezer.

Smoked salmon with butter and capers are one of my favourite toppings with these flatbreads. I use only capers which are preserved in salt. Wash the excess salt with the running water and let the capers soak about 5-10 minutes in a clean water to get rid off the excess salt. Drain well and pat dry with a kitchen towel. 

Daikon and cucumber taste also really delicious with this combination. I use a special peeler to shred daikon and cucumber in thin strips, just like spaghetti. You can drain the excess water from daikon and cucumber adding a pinch of salt, then wait about 10 minutes and pat dry the excess water or gently squeeze the excess water with your hands. Mix the daikon and cucumber together and serve on the top of the salmon. Add a splash of fresh lemon juice on top of the toppings and you have a perfect light dinner. 

Enjoy!

*Daikon is also high in thiols and organic sulphur/sulfur and can be problematic for those with sulphite/sulfite issues. 

# 5 Cheese Flatbread

This flatbread recipe was born when I was craving some pizza and I still hadn't figured out the perfect pizza crust. I started to make these cheese flatbreads and I ate them with my favourite pizza toppings.

In this recipe you can use any type of cheese you want, I prefer to mix different cheeses and this recipe is also a good way to finish small pieces of cheeses you might have in your fridge. Just grate the hard cheeses finely and the softer ones like Halloumi with a bigger grater blade, or chop them finely with a knife. Check the labels for cheeses and choose only those which don't contain any added preservatives or additives.

Intermediate 1 for sulphite/sulfite issues, aged cheeses might be problematic for some, so use cheeses in baking only after you have tried them by themselves. That way you can identify if some foods are still giving you problems.

Cheese Flatbreads, makes about 10

4 dl or 1 3/4 cups of Millet flour
1 dl or 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp. of grated Parmigiano Reggiano - Parmesan cheese
1 dl or 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp. of grated Halloumi cheese
2 Tbsp. of Chia seeds
1 tsp. of dried Oregano
pinch of Himalaya salt
2 1/2 dl or 1 cup of Water

Mix millet flour with chia seeds, salt and oregano in a mixing bowl. Add grated cheeses and mix well with dry ingredients. Add water and mix well. This mixture needs to be thicker like when making flatbreads with sweet potatoes. Cover the baking tray with a good quality baking paper and put tablespoons of the mixture on the paper and spread circles which are about 0,5 cm high.
Bake in the oven 180 C or 350 F, about 12-15 minutes.

Pork is not normally on my menu, I eat cured ham (prosciutto crudo ) and salami occasionally. I have been lucky and I have found gluten free and additive free cured ham and salami in Italy. I still had some vacuum packed cured ham I got from Italy in my fridge, so this was the perfect time to make this recipe. You can find many different types of cured hams in the supermarket and in my opinion the best ones comes from Italy or Spain from small local farmers. Unfortunately many manufactures add additives to their hams and salami. My butcher in Italy raises his own pigs and the cured hams are made by his friend.  These forest raised pigs eat what they can find on the ground and I often think if these pigs are also able to find the truffles. Anyway this cured ham has a genuine taste and it doesn't give me any problems, even though I know that many people with sulphite/sulfite issues are not able to eat pork.
Here is my suggestion to eat these Cheese Flatbreads. 

Enjoy!

# 1 Millet Flatbread

Welcome to my world of  healthy eating with food allergies and intolerances and enzyme deficiencies.
My diet is free of gluten, corn, soy and other legumes, yeast, mushrooms, seafood (I eat fish), processed and refined sugars and artificial sweeteners. I avoid all additives, colourings, preservatives and most importantly SULFITES which are nr. 1 trigger for me due to the gene mutations. Since I was a baby I have been allergic to banana, and then there are a couple of other vegetables and fruits I don't tolerate, so for instance you won't see any carrots in my recipes.  I make everything from scratch, and in this blog I will share you some flatbread recipes I created out of necessity when I wasn't able to find anything suitable to eat.

Bread is the stable in many cuisines and even though I have been grain free for long periods I didn't notice any huge difference in my health when skipping all cereals. I don't have celiac disease, but I am IgE allergic to barley and corn, and intolerant to wheat.
This first flatbread recipe is one of the many different recipes I have created. It is the one which has less ingredients and one which is probably suitable for most of you specially with those who have sulphite/sulfite issues.
All my flatbreads are free of gluten, corn, soy and other legumes, processed sugars, yeast, sulphites/sulfites, vegetable gums or any other additives.
I am buying mostly organic food, and all my baking ingredients are organic and wholegrain. When you have serious sulphite/sulfite issues eating organic food is often the only way to go.

For the first flatbread the main ingredient will be millet. I have been gluten free since 2000, but I started to eat millet only about two years ago. With my food allergies/intolerances it was an excellent add to my safe food list and I haven't looked back. Even though most of the health freaks are going to the no grain direction I think that you can eat some gluten free grains in moderation. Probably there are some genes which are not discovered yet which will show if you tolerate some grains/cereals or not.
I have tried out all the possible diets you can think of during the last 14 years. From Paleo to GAPS and from Zone to SCD and so on.  None of them suited for me perfectly, so I have just created my way of eating around the foods I tolerate well and which doesn't leave me out of energy. Since sulphites/sulfites are my biggest issue food wise, you will be reading a lot about them here.

For the ingredients I use, I will post later links to iherb site/direct websites, where I order most of the ingredients I use. I have noticed that for instance the millet flour from Italy can be totally different in texture and taste than the millet from US or India. Some flakes will absorb more liquid than others, but if you have even a little experience in the kitchen, you will notice when you need to use less or more liquid in the recipes. So the water amounts are always approx.

Basic 1 for sulphites/sulfites issues, suitable for most and specially when starting the elimination diet.

Millet-Flatbread, makes about 12-14 small flatbreads

3 1/2 dl or 1 1/2 cup of Millet flakes
2 1/2 dl or 1 cup of Millet flour
2 1/2 dl or 1 cup Brown rice flour
1/2 -1 tsp  Himalaya salt or other good quality salt
c. 4 1/2 dl or 2 cups of Water, I use bottled water for my breads *


Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and add slowly the water until you have a smooth mix. The mixture needs to be soft and smooth, not like the traditional bread dough. Cover the baking tray with a good quality baking paper and put heaping spoonfuls (tbsp) of the mixture on the paper (see the picture)  and spread a circle that it is about 0,5 cm high.

Bake in the oven: 180 C=Celsius or 350 F=Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes (depends a lot of your oven, so check that you don't burn the flatbreads)

These flatbreads keep well in the fridge up to one week, and I also freeze them and defrost when needed. This way I have something safe, ready to eat always in handy. These flatbreads are also one of my favourite foods when flying and traveling, since they keep so well, and you can always store them in your hotel's minibar.

First suggestion to eat these flatbreads when still hot from the oven is with good quality unsalted butter, grass-fed at least, and if you can find organic butter that's even better. Unsalted butter, since the salt in the butter often contains many additives, and those additives can be a problem for many. Specially if you have sulphite/sulfite issues.

Everyone knows how important it is to eat vegetables and I like this following combination: lettuce and avocado. Both are also fine for most when you are trying to avoid high sulphur/sulfur/thiol foods and lettuce is fine for most when you are doing the elimination diet.
 Of course make sure to wash your lettuce well, buy organic and skip it if you think it might give you reactions. If you are dairy-free just skip the butter and spread the avocado with the fork on the flatbreads and top up with lettuce.

Enjoy!


*Water can be issue for many with sulphite/sulfite issues. I don't drink tap water so for baking I also use only bottled water. It is up to you to choose the water you prefer and what is safe for you. Sparkling water, in my opinion, gives better taste for some flatbread recipes, but again it is up to you what water you want to use.