Simple Nut and Seed Milks
Servings: 4 cups
Nut and seed milks make a great alternative to dairy milk and can be used as a beverage, over the hot-cereal recipes in this book, in smoothies, in desserts, or to thicken soups. We don’t include nut milks in many recipes, but we do include almond milk as an ingredient in the Sweet Blueberry Banana Green Protein Smoothie, so we wanted to give you a budget-friendly, healthy alternative to store-bought nut and seed milks.
With all of the questionable fillers–like carrageenan, gums, and unidentified “natural flavors”—buying premade nut milks can be challenging. The good news is that they are very
easy to make! It’s almost as simple as soaking nuts. (If you want to make your own coconut milk, check the instructions in the Vanilla Spice Ice Cream recipe later in the chapter.)
Note that you may want to start soaking the nuts or seeds the night before you want to make this dish (soak for 8–12 hours and see instructions at the beginning of this chapter). The recipe itself takes about 5 minutes to prepare once the nuts or seeds are soaked.
INGREDIENTS:
3–4 cups filtered water (you could start with 3 cups and add more if you want to dilute the milk a bit)
1 cup soaked nuts or seeds–choose your favorite, such as hemp seeds, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, or hazelnuts
Optional:
sweeten with 1 tsp. honey, 1–2 dates, or a little stevia, if you want it sweet
Optional:
add 1 tsp. vanilla extract if you want a vanilla nut or seed milk
INSTRUCTIONS
:
Add the soaked and drained nuts or seeds to 3 cups water in a high-speed blender and blend completely. Taste and decide if you want to dilute it with more water or add any sweetener or vanilla.
Get a stainless-steel or glass bowl or container to capture the milk, and pour the blender contents through a fine mesh strainer into the container.
Press the nut or seed pulp down into the strainer to squeeze all remaining liquid into the container. You can save the pulp for cracker recipes (see recipes in this section) or cookie recipes. Or you can add some herbs, spices, and sea salt to the pulp and dehydrate or bake it into a crunchy snack.
Store the milk for up to 4 days in your refrigerator in an airtight container. Freeze it if you don’t think you’ll use it all in that time.