Nut-free and Raw?

My daughter and nephew both have strong nut allergies. However, my nephew’s food allergies are more extensive, ruling out melons, squash, legumes, and anything with gluten, soy or yeast. So many of the great recipes on this site call for nuts.

Are sunflower and pumpkin seeds acceptable substitutes in most cases?

I’m looking for some ways to help the kids enjoy eating raw veggies more—like dips and bread substitues and creamy treats. If your kids couldn’t eat nuts and still wanted to eat raw, what would you serve them? Thanks!

Comments

  • humanimalhumanimal Raw Newbie

    Asolutely! You dont really need to use nuts. Seeds are always a great substitute. You have so many flavors to choose from : sesame, pumpkin, flax, sunflower, chia, hemp… You can make some mean bread substitutes from flax mixed with some of the seeds I mentioned above. They wont miss that gluten filled bread!:) If there is anything else I can help you with please let me know.

  • When substituting seeds for nuts, would you say the ratio would remain the same—as in cup for cup? I’d like to create a recipe for a dried fruit-seed snack to help my nephew put some weight back on. Now that they’ve eliminated casein, and gluten, the kid’s turning to skin and bones. If there’s a way to make raw French Toast, or something approximating macaroni and cheese (yeast-free) I’m sure he’d love it. I appreciate your guidance!

  • Hi writescopy. You could try tahini for a cheese type substitute, add some dry mustard, red pepper, and or tumeric to get it an orange color. I’ve had good luck making noodles out of parsnips, eggplant, and even cucumber. You could salt them and let them stand for an hour and then dry them off to make the cheese stick to them for mac and cheese. You can heat it at 145 for an hour and the nutrients woun’t be lost based on some books I have. I have added the cheesey mixture to broccoli and cauliflower with good results.You could use a tahini sauce and add a little cinnamon, raisins, cut up apple, celery and put inside hollowed out apples or celery sticks. Did you say you have a dehydrator? You can make bread with pumpkin seeds, carrot etc and make a good bread too.

  • Yep—I’ve got a dehydrator, juicer and Blendtec, so I’m all set to experiment further into the nut-free recipe world. These suggestions are fantastic, by the way! I’d really like to know about the pumpkin bread and carrot bread—or any type of substitute for traditional bread and baked goods.

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Re-pumpkin seed bread, I saw a gorgeous photo and a recipe on “We like it raw” today, scroll down till you see it: ( recipe has almond pulp in it, but you could substitute the almonds for seeds, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, or a combination would be lovely.)

    www.welikeitraw.com

  • Hi writescopy again! I’ve had good luck taking equal parts seeds and vegies like 1 cup pumpkin, 1 cup carrot, and around half a cup of ground flax and then mix with water or juice to get the consistency you want. Add some dates, raisins, cinnamon to make it sweet.

    Parsnip soup would also have a nice white color and could be seasoned with cilantro if you like that flavor, and a few chopped avocados a little onion- etc. Sprouted quinoa or amaranth would be good in a soup like this too! I hope he likes and can tolerate some of these suggestions!

    Shredded coconut is a good flour substitute, milk, etc. Make a halva\flax type crust with blended coconut for an easy coconut cream pie too!

  • alpdesignsalpdesigns Raw Newbie

    Jicama and peas are legumes.

  • Didn’t know jicama was a legume. Bummer. Any new and sneaky ideas with avocado? I’m going to attempt a chocolate pudding with some avo this weekend…

  • Hi, I’ve had some really good luck with sprouted buckwheat and wheatberries instead of nuts in breads,crackers and cookies. I think buckwheat is glutenfree. I made some wheatberry based pizza crust for a potluck and a friend of mine who is allergic to gluten was able to digest the pizza just fine. Maybe there’s something in the processing of the grains into flour and then into bread. Perhaps keeping the grain in its whole form doesn’t create as much gluten. Just an educated guess:)

  • Buckwheat is from the rhubarb family so safe for gluten allergies. I’m not entirely sure about wheatberries; I know wheatgrass is controversial because if it is sprouted too long then the gluten has formed but if it is young then it is gluten-free. Maybe it’s similar with wheatberries? I have wheat and gluten allergy so I stay away anyhow, just in case.

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