Raw Zucchini Wraps

Hope you are enjoying some time with family and friends this holiday season. A time to (hopefully) relax… and even catch up on some television and movies. Maybe.

There is no television in my house.

Thus, I do not watch the food channel or other cooking shows.

It is not that I don’t need help in the kitchen, though. I am mainly a self-taught, learn by experience (and sometimes from my family/friends) kind of cook. I love cookbooks that explain and educate so that I can figure out how and when I can modify the recipe to my own tastes.

Truthfully, I still firmly believe that I don’t make anything too complicated and anyone can make the recipes on my blog. Because if I can do it, so can YOU! 🙂

Rob bought me the Cadillac, I mean Excalibur, of dehydrators for Christmas. While I quickly made some snacks and treats (apple chips, zucchini chips and kale chips, galore!), what I really wanted to make were crackers, flatbreads and wraps. After giving up refined flours, I have only enjoyed these at raw restaurants so I was itching to make them at home.

However, dehydrating is not as simple as it may seem. I made these zucchini wraps after only consulting Gena’s recipe at Choosing Raw, but it took 12 hours for  them to dry and by that time, they were more chip than wrap. Tasty, but very hard to roll. So I consulted the lovely youtube and found this great tutorial. I needed some visual guidance.

It was here that I picked up some great tips. First, I was worried that my wraps were too thick, but thinner wraps would actually be more likely to break. To help dehydrate them better, I could flip the wraps over mid-way (and there is an easy way to do that with an extra tray). Lastly, the best tip I found out in this video, is that if you over-dehydrate something, you can always  rehydrate it with some water!!

I thought I had zucchini flatbread, but with a brush of water, I could roll them into zucchini wraps. Therefore, I made the recipe again, this time flipping the wrap over after 3 hours. I let it dehydrate one more hour and it was finished. A little sprinkle of water is all that it needed to become pliable to roll. However, they are still delicate and there is no fancy tucking of the rolls, though. Just rolling.. At least for now, until someone teaches me otherwise. 😉

My only new tip is that these wraps don’t keep very well once assembled. The fillings will fall out unless you wrap them in plastic/wax paper. Just as they will absorb water, they will absorb the moisture from your filling, too.  Therefore, they are best eaten freshly wrapped.

These wraps have good flavour as-is: nutty from the flax with a hint of zucchini. Season it with your favourite seasonings if you want something more  pronounced. I wanted my filling to shine, so I kept the wrap without extra flavours.

Currently, I am testing recipes for Terry Hope Romano’s new vegan cookbook, Vegan Eats World, and I stuffed my wraps with her filling for Rice Paper Rolls with Kale and Asian Pear with a Peanut Coconut Sauce. I can’t share the recipe, but it is delicious. Truly. One of my favourite recipes from the book so far.

Each aspect makes this wrap shine. I loved the juxtaposition of a lime-coconut-kale salad with Asian pear, packed next to some noodles, next to a spicy and creamy peanut-coconut sauce. Terry uses her peanut sauce as a dipping sauce, but I preferred it to be right inside the wrap, making it a lot less messy with my zucchini wrap. With the rice paper roll, the dipping sauce worked well, though. It really was the perfect merriment of flavours- sweet, sour, spicy, creamy. Feel free to add in some baked tofu for a complete meal.

This is my submission to Ricki’s Wellness Weekend.

Raw Zucchini Wrap

2-3 cups chopped zucchini (1 large or 2 small)
1 cup water
3/4 cup flax seeds
1/3 tsp salt
Dash pepper

1. Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender, starting at a low setting, slowing increasing the speed until the mixture is smooth.

2. Spread the batter at about 1/4″ thickness over two paraflex sheets for the dehydrator. Dehydrate at 110F for 3 hours or until the top is dry, then flip over and dehydrate until the other side is dry. The wrap should still be slightly pliable but if not, that’s ok too (just add water).

3. Remove from paraflex sheet and cut in half with a knife. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Fill with your favourite fix-ins (see below).

Makes 4 wraps.

Filling idea:
Your favourite kale salad with 1/2 lb kale – this one would be good
12 oz kelp noodles, or your favourite clear noodle (cooked)
Baked or fried tofu, optional – this one could work
Your favourite peanut sauce – I will be trying this one next!

(Consider using rice paper wrappers if you don’t want to make the zucchini wraps)

For the wrap, lay your zucchini wrap on a long cutting board (or whatever is long enough). Lightly dust with water until it has softened to be able to be folded.

At one end, place 1/4 cup of your kale salad, top with noodles and sprinkle with the peanut sauce. Put a bit of the sauce at the other end of the roll, so that it will help it all stick together. Now roll your wrap, tucking in any filling that may have escaped. Eat immediately. If you have leftover peanut sauce, consider using it as a dipping sauce.