Sesame Corn Crisps with Hemp
Recently, I started making my mother’s corn crisps again. This recipe, which appears in our first cookbook now called If Kallimos Had a Chef, is even more fun and delicious with the addition of hemp. Why hemp seeds? Because they are a nutritional powerhouse with easy-to-digest protein and lots of fiber. Hemp is also an excellent source of essential fatty acids, phytosterols, carotenes, vitamin E and vitamin C, and chlorophyll (helps prevent bad breath). But so we don’t fall into the trap of defining food by nutritional attributes instead of taste and pleasure, how does hemp taste? Like sunflower seeds. Nice nutty flavor. Delicious.
If you’ve read Michael Pollans’s book, In Defense of Food, you’ll appreciate that he reinforces what we’ve all known and been saying for years, that food is more than its biochemical and nutrient parts food is pleasure, community, sitting around a table with family and friends. But back to hemp, this hemp we eat is not the hemp (marijuana) some people smoke, This hemp is easy to grow, good for the planet, and it’s interesting that our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were written on hemp paper!
Not to be out-shone, sesame seeds have a rich-tasting crunch, contain fibers called lignans, which are good at lowering cholesterol, and contain calcium that our body can utilize quickly and easily. Another power house little seed. Just make sure to use unhulled brown or black sesame seeds because that’s where the nutrients are.
Store both seeds in the freezer.
Serves 4-6 Bake at 400 degrees
| 1 cup organic cornmeal | 1 tsp Celtic sea salt |
| ½ cup organic shelled hemp seeds | 3 tbsp EVOO or coconut oil |
| ½ cup organic brown sesame seeds | 1 cup boiling water |
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet (I use a mixture of half liquid lecithin and half vegetable oil).
Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir with a large spoon and using the same soup spoon, put dollops of cracker batter onto cookie sheet. Flatten crackers using your spoon or fingers quickly into 2-3” rounds. Don’t worry about making perfect or symmetrical. The rough hewn look is fine and homey.
Put cookie sheet into oven and bake about 20 minutes. Remove tray from oven, let cool and eat with a simple lentil soup or guacamole. You might want yours just plain. Best eaten the day they are made.