Hemp in the Kitchen
Beyond stereotypes—hemp is a nutritious superfood.
George Washington said it best, “Oh, the mighty hemp seed; sow it everywhere.” Our forefathers reaped the financial and industrial harvest of this versatile crop used for fuel, food, clothing, building materials, skin care products, biodegradable plastics, paper, and more.
It wasn’t until 1937 when the petroleum and lumber lobbying powers prevailed, and hemp was deemed illegal to grow in the USA.
Decades later, people are seeing a variety of economic and environmental solutions in the humble hemp plant.
We can ask: Why on Earth would our culture be using a non-renewable resource like petroleum for single use purposes like bottled ice tea? We buy items packaged in non-biodegradable petroleum-based plastic, to consume in a moment and then throw away. (It’s important for us to remember that there really is no such place as away.)
This is cause for me to pause and think. For more than eighty years, we’ve possessed the technology to transform industrial hemp (a plant far different from THC-rich marijuana) into a biodegradable plastic that is much less toxic than petroleum-based plastic in all parts of its lifespan, from processing to manufacturing and including its afterlife.
Consider the hemp plant: it grows to full-size in merely fourteen weeks; it delivers oxygen to the atmosphere; it is naturally pest-resistant and can be grown without pesticides (making it a far superior choice for textiles than cotton, the cultivation of which dumps over 300 million gallons of pesticides into the soil annually); it can be used to make paper; and it provides a source for fuel that is based on current sunlight. It takes millions of years for petroleum to be formed; it lives deep within the earth, needing enormous amounts of effort and strife to extract. Not to mention petroleum is horribly messy, and creates pollution at every level of production. I can’t help but wonder if all that oil deep within the Earth is meant to stay there.
In addition to its other uses, hemp is a wonderful superfood, and it’s even gained a bit of mainstream notoriety with a recent appearance on television in Dr. Oz’s superfood smoothies. Hemp seeds are rich in protein and in the essential fatty acids known as the Omega 3, 6, and 9. Our bodies require ample quantities and ratios of these oils for optimum regeneration, skin and cell membrane integrity, hormone and neurotransmitter production, and immune system function. These quick and delicious recipes below will help you incorporate hemp seeds into your every day diet.
A Healing Dessert
Hemp Seed Crusted RAW Chili Fudge
Making living fudge is a great pleasure, for you and for whomever will be eating the fudge. It’s quick, easy, super delicious, and incredibly good for you! These superfood ingredients have high levels of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes.
Ingredients
1 cup raw organic cacao powder
1 cup + 1 tbsp raw coconut oil
¾ cup raw honey or maple syrup
¾ raw organic hemp seeds
8 dates or 1 ½ cups raisins
1 or 2 chili peppers (For different flavors, substitute the chili with 1-inch fresh ginger root, or 4 drops lavender 100% essential oil, or orange zest, or any spice you like.)
Supplies
8×8 inch glass dish
Food processor
Instructions
Soak dates for 20 minutes (if you’re using raisins there is no need to soak.
Liquefy coconut oil by placing the glass jar in hot water (the oil liquefies in just a few minutes).
In a food processor, using the chop tool, puree the dates or raisins.
Remove the chop blade and stir in hemp seeds with wooden spoon, leaving about one tablespoon of hemp seeds to sprinkle on top of fudge.
Scoop the entire mixture into 8×8 glass dish and spread evenly on the bottom of the dish. Place this in the refrigerator as you make the fudge.
To make the fudge:
Pour the liquefied coconut oil and chili pepper into the food processor or blender and mix thoroughly.
(Remember that instead of chili, for a different flavor, you can use 1-inch fresh ginger root, or 4 drops lavender 100% essential oil, or orange zest, or any spice you like.)
Add the raw honey or maple syrup and blend or mix.
Slowly add the cacao powder and mix until thoroughly blended.
Pour the fudge mixture into glass dish on top of the dates and hemp.
Sprinkle with the hemp seeds that you’ve set aside and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Remove the fudge from the fridge and let it sit out and come to room temperature for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Living Hemp and Cilantro Salad Dressing
Ingredients
¼ cup raw hemp seeds
4 sprigs of cilantro
1 ½ cups cold pressed sesame oil
1 tsp sea salt
Dash of black pepper
Instructions for Dressing
Soak the hemp seeds overnight so they germinate; this activates the seed, making it a living seed instead of a dormant seed. Strain and rinse. (I like to pour the soaking and rising water onto a plant or in the garden.)
Place the rinsed hemp seeds in a blender.
Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
Toss on any salad greens to make an instant fabulous salad. Pour the remaining hemp dressing into a covered glass jar and keep it in the refrigerator.
Kale Salad with Dressing
For a delicious a kale salad, take bunch of organic kale (kale is one of the dirty dozen of crops that are best to buy organic).
Tear the kale into pieces and de-stem.
Pour ¼ cup dressing on one bunch of kale and massage into the greens for about one minute; this action is similar to kneading bread. The kneading action breaks down the kale (or any other fibrous green such as collards), giving them the texture of lightly steamed greens, making dark leafy greens more enjoyable to eat.
Why Make your Own Dressing?
Bottled store bought dressings contain cooked oils and pasteurized ingredients. Oils that have been heated change, molecularly speaking, causing them to read in your system more like a plastic that can’t be digested and assimilated, rather than a healthy cold pressed oil, which digests and assimilates with ease. Cooked oils are injurious to our liver for this reason. They are a toxin that is hard to process and release, so cooked oils remain in the system becoming rancid, causing an acidic environment within. Making your own salad dressings with cold pressed raw oils is simple and provides fresh living options to enjoy over greens.
Hemp Milk is Easy
Ingredients
1 cup raw hemp seeds
1 quart water
2 dates or 1 tbsp maple syrup (optional sweetener)
Supplies
Nutmilk bag
Glass pitcher
Directions
Soak the hemp seeds overnight to germinate.
Drain and rinse seeds and combine them in the blender with fresh water. Add dates or maple syrup if you want a sweeter hemp milk.
Blend at least a minute.
Pour the mixture from the blender through a nutmilk bag into a glass pitcher. (The nutmilk bag strains out the seed shells, leaving you with a beautiful hemp milk in your glass pitcher.)
What to do with the leftover hemp shells?
You can spread those hemp seed shells on your dehydrator tray (if you have one). Sprinkle them with sea salt, and dehydrate for a crumbly hemp topping for salads.
If you have at least a cup of shells, you can mix them with one cup of dates or raisins in the food processor, then press into pie dish and refrigerate. Fill with my favorite pie filling: blended coconut meat (from 4 – 7 coconuts plus 1/4 cup coconut water) and 1 Tbsp vanilla powder or extract. Usually it takes the meat of 4-7 coconuts and about ¼ cup coconut water to make the pill filling.
Compost the shells, or use a shovel to bury them in the yard to add more organic matter to your soil and increase its living potential.
Vote Hemp:
When we as a culture live on current sunlight by cultivating this crop for our everyday needs, the health, happiness, wealth, and creativity of our culture will expand greatly. Use your voice and visit www.votehemp.com to sign a petition to legalize industrial hemp for food, clothing, paper, and fuel.
For weekly live food recipes, natural beauty treatments and the best in eco fashion, watch Blythe RAW Fridays at noon on wwwBlytheRAW.com. To purchase a nutmilk bag, visit the store at: www.BlytheRAW.com/store.
Resources {sidebar}
Blythe’s Favorite Hemp Products:
Clothing
Rawganique’s fine hemp linens
The Hempest 100% hemp dress and vintage pant
Crocs Santa Cruz hemp shoe
Think Substance, Hemp Can Save The Planet T-shirt
Body Care
The Merry Hempsters organic lip balm
Food
Nutiva hemp oil
French Meadows hemp seed bread
Living Harvest Tempt Ice cream (coconut lime is my favorite)
Miscellaneous
The Hemptress Mercedes Satchel
Hemp Sisters store http://www.hemp-sisters.com/
