“No Mo Fried Corn Chips for Me” …
Non-Fried, No-Bake, and NON GMO Corn Chips
About a year ago, though I was eating basically all raw, I still enjoyed having chips every so often. Who doesn’t, right! Lets be honest, chips and salsa is a meal in itself.
Of course I was particular about the chips I purchased. I bought the healthy ones – you know, the ones that are red, green, yellow or blue, and that have sea salt versus table salt. Healthier maybe than others, but health promoting, NOT!
One day while enjoying a few chips, I stopped and held a chip out in front of me … and I said to it, you are not real food … you are fried, create free radicals, and do not promote health or youthfulness. So I quit.
Fried food is not health food. We know that specific oils are not good for consumption and that heating oils (deep frying) at high temperatures is a recipe for disastrous health issues … they oxidize and can become carcinogenic.
Before I knew it, 6 months had passed, and my body was healthier for it … but in the meantime, I began trying a few chip and cracker raw food recipes. I did this not only for myself, but to give my clients.
I now enjoy chips and salsa again, without them being fried or baked.
2 Version … one with flax seed, the other with chia seed.
Personally, I prefer the chia seed recipe. Flax seeds are wonderful IF they are fresh. Fresh flax seeds or freshly ground flax powder is healthy, but flax ground goes rancid rather quickly and flax seeds the same. How do you know if the flax seeds you are purchasing are fresh? You usually don.t know.
On the other hand, chia seeds have a much longer shelf life, and are super healthy for you as well. Great sources of omega 3.
Amazing Corn Chip Recipe – Chia Seed Version:
Equipment Needed: Food processor, high speed blender, and dehydrator
Yield: 5 dozen
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups almonds, soaked over night, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup chia seeds, soaked in 2 cups of water for 2 hours, and 1/4 cup ground chia seeds (or 1/3 cup chia seeds soaked in 2/3 cup water, and 1/3 chia seeds ground and 1/3 cup hemp seeds added as an additional ingredients)
- 3/4 cup non-GMO, organic corn (you can use frozen or fresh – if you have a Trader Joes in your area, they carry organic corn in the cold food section, as do a few other markets)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow peppers and 1/2 cup chopped red peppers, seeds removed (or 2 cups of either)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder (add more if you desire)
Note: I have found that you may need to add 1/2 cup of water or so, in order to get it to blend well enough in the Vitamix.
Chia Seed Chips
Flax Seed Version:
Equipment Needed: Food processor, high speed blender, and dehydrator
Yield: 5 dozen
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups almonds, soaked over night, rinsed and drained
- 1 1/4 cups flax seeds, soaked in 2 cups of water for 2 hours (or 3/4 cups flax seeds soaked in 1 cup water and 1/2 cup hemp seeds added as an additional ingredient)
- 3/4 cup non-GMO, organic corn (you can use frozen or fresh – if you have a Trader Joes in your area, they carry organic corn in the cold food section, as do a few other markets)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow peppers, seeds removed
- 1/2 cup chopped red peppers, seeds removed
- 2 1/2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder (add more if you desire)
Preparation Steps for Either Recipe:
1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix together by hand
2. Using a food processor, equipped with an ‘S’ blade, add ingredients a little at a time, process, then add more and repeat, until well combined. Spoon mixture in large mixing bowl.
3. Take 1/2 to 3/4 of the mixture and place in a Vitamix, or high speed blender, and blend until smooth. Add water if necessary to create a vortex – due to thickness of mixture, stop and start Vitamix. You don’t want to put to much strain on machine. Just get it blended enough to get vortex and then spoon back into bowl with the other half and mix well.
4. Spread 2 1/2 cups, evenly, per teflex sheet (size 14×14 inches) – covering the entire sheet, then score into 32 even-sized chips. OR, spread 2 1/4 cups, evenly, per teflex sheet (size 14×12 inch).
Scored into triangle shape prior to dehydrating (14×14 inch teflex sheet)
5. Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 2 hours, then reduce down to 115 degrees and dehydrate overnight for approximately 12 hours. Because chips are so moist, beginning at a higher temperature does not cook them, but speeds up the process and helps protect from mold forming. Flip chips over and carefully peel off teflex sheet, and continue dehydrating until crisp.
Then make your salsa or guacamole, and you are good to go – ole!
History of the Corn or Tortilla Chip
Although first mass-produced in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, tortilla chips have always been considered to be a Mexican food.
The triangle shaped tortilla chip was popularized by Rebecca Webb Carranza as a way to make use of misshapen tortillas rejected from the automated tortilla-manufacturing machine that she and her husband used at their Mexican delicatessen and tortilla factory in southwest Los Angeles. She found that the discarded tortillas, cut into triangles and fried, were a popular snack, and she sold them for a dime a bag at the El Zarape Tortilla Factory. And now you know the rest of the story …
PS – In 1994, Carranza received the Golden Tortilla award for her contribution to the Mexican food industry.
If you’ve enjoyed this post, No Bake, No Fried, Amazing Corn Chips, leave a comment below:
Same chip recipe, one scored as triangles, the other as strips. Note: prior to dehydrating, I sprinkled nutritional yeast and cayenne mixture over strips.
David Cooley
Certified Health Consultant
David spent over 27 years in the mortgage/real estate business. But 33 years ago, God re-directed his life and placed in him a passion for natural health and prevention of disease. Today, David is a certified health consultant, and for the last 33 years has lived a natural food lifestyle and discovered simple, key components for living a lifestyle of health and vitality. One of the early things David realized is that disease was NOT the result of a drug deficiency. And that everything we think, say, and consume or are exposed to in some manner or another either supports our cellular structures or causes them to age faster and breakdown.
David believes there is nothing more important than to live within God’s blueprint for one’s life. Each of us has been given specific gifts, talents, and purpose that are to be lived out on a foundation of faith in Him and His Word.
“It saddens me to see people suffering, frustrated, or discouraged with life … and fall into the rut of living, unable to reach their full potential: spiritually, emotionally, physically, and financially. I think it’s also a travesty in this country people that are not educated in personal health care, nor in how to protect their privacy, assets, and often liberties. God has designed us to live amazing lives, and sometimes it just helps to find someone who will come alongside and provide the hope and direction needed at that moment. It’s about bringing together your personal and business aspirations into a balanced vision for your life, aligned with His Word.“
“Bottom line, what balance do you need to bring to your life, what type of life do you desire to create that enables you to be all you can be and live a life with no regret – a life that produces a faithful servant?”
To learn more about David, go to Image What Could Be.