This Quinoa and Chia bread recipe is another favourite that I have used for many years, but only now have posted it here on my website - I certainly don't claim to be the author of this recipe but have tweaked it slightly - I used to direct my clients to the 'The Healthy Chef' website where this is from but so many people have asked me to post it here for ease of access. Originally, I was looking for egg free and nutrient rich bread recipes for a client and stumbled across this amazing one. It does require a little bit of extra preparation in terms of soaking the seeds overnight, which really does not take any effort at all, but just requires you to remember to do this step!
This bread is more dense in nature compared to supermarket loaves and is great toasted to bring the warmth and crispiness.
The Healthy Chef also talks about using this batter base as a base for pizza or making flat breads from it - I have not experimented with this but I always love when there are plenty of different ways to enjoy a recipe.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup or 300 g whole uncooked quinoa seeds
1/4 cup or 60 g whole chia seed
1 cup or 250 mls water (use half to soak chia seeds and the other half to combine in the food processor or blender)
1/4 cup or 60 ml extra virgin Olive oil
1 1/2 tsps gluten free baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt (optional)
1-2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (squeezed from a lemon)
Method:
Part 1
Soak the quinoa seeds in plenty of cold water overnight in the fridge.
Soak the chia seed in 1/2 cup of cold water until gel like – this takes about 30 minutes but you can also let it soak overnight. It helps to stir this at the start so that the seeds soak up evenly and don't clump up.
Part 2
Preheat the oven on fan forced to 160°C
Drain the quinoa and rinse through a fine sieve. Make sure all the water is fully drained and then place the quinoa into a food processor.
Add the chia gel, another 1/2 cup of water, the olive oil, the baking powder, the lemon juice and if using, the sea salt.
Mix in a food processor for 2-3 minutes. This should form a type of batter with some whole quinoa still left in the mix.
Spoon the batter into a loaf tin lined with baking paper.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes until firm to touch and bounces back when pressed with your fingers. Then remove it from the oven and allow to cool before serving.
When slicing into it, the bread should be slightly moist in the middle and crisp on the outside.
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