Hemp za'atar sorghum crackers with parsley hummus (vegan, gluten free)
This past weekend I went to West Virginia. We tried to go cross country skiing but it was too warm and slushy, so we went into Thomas to hang out on their main drag -- a small street with a handful of businesses running along it. Mostly antique shops for whatever reason. Then there's the art galleries, the best coffee shop in WV, and the Purple Fiddle, a small music venue that draws folks from all over the state.
One of the best reasons to visit is that almost every person you run into in Thomas is an artist, a musician, an entrepreneur, a fiddle maker, an herbalist. I swear in two hours we met two people who felt like old friends. We also drank so much coffee and got our minds blown by The White Room Gallery.
While we were there we ran into my friend Seth (his art is RAD go buy every last thing he ever makes ever). We were chatting about his girlfriend, my friend Nellie (also an absolutely stunning artist also go buy all of HER stuff). He was like, "at first when I met Nellie I thought oh she's one of those wood nymph girls. But then I got to know her and realized that she's NOT a wood nymph. She's a wizard."
Which is undoubtedly true.
That got me to thinking. As lovely as it is to be a nymph, how much more incredible is it to be a wizard? And why wouldn't you prefer wizardy over nymph-hood? Nymphs are, in both Latin and Greek mythology, considered to be minor female nature deities. They animate nature, these sexy, young, beautiful creatures who love frolicking and singing and having a damn good time. Nymphs are great, by all means -- they impart life to springs and grottoes and mountains. But they're mostly powerless and sweet. I see women compared to and perceived as nymphs often. It's a not-terrible stereotype. I see it played out a lot amongst the hippie-artist-festival-babes. I like to dress up in that garb too.
Wizards, however. Wizards live in the guise of humans but are, in fact, great and powerful beings -- if you go by the J.R.R. Tolkein's definition. Which, I mean, we all should. Or, if you go by the Rowling story-line, wizards are born wielding magnificent potential and power. Either way, wizards are makers and protectors and BADASSES. A lady wizard is something to be in awe of. She defies stereotype.
I love to think that we, as women, can dress up in the clothing of something simple and beautiful; but underneath of it all, we're summoning grace and lightning, bottling infinity, moving the chess pieces on the board game of life.
Let's be powerful makers of beauty, protectors of the weak, makers of the script. Let's create worlds.
And crackers.
So when life gives you sumac, make za'atar. And when you happen to have some hemp hearts on hand, use 'em in place of sesame seeds! I really like the nuttiness of hemp hearts. It's not too dissimilar from sesame. Even hemp butter is similar to tahini, in a lot of ways. It works best married with bright flavors, which bring out its sunnier side. Hemp hearts themselves are mild and creamy and nutty, and so pair wonderfully with tangy sumac and lemony thyme. Add a really good flakey sea salt to the mix and dang if that ain't something special.
- Hemp Za'atar
- 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 1 tablespoon sumac
- 2 tablespoons dried thyme (or 1 tbsp fresh thyme)
- 1 teaspoon flakey coarse sea salt or coarse pink salt
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Done!
- Sorghum Crackers
- 2 cups sorghum flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- *optional 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing crackers
- 1/4 cup warm water + up to 4 tablespoons more
- hemp za'atar
- Add 2 cups sorghum flour and the baking powder and sea salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. If you'd like to add nutritional yeast (for a cheesier, savory flavor) add that now and pulse to combine.
- While the food processor is running, drizzle in the olive oil.
- Drizzle in 1/4 cup warm water. Add one tablespoon at a time more of warm water until your dough begins to come together into a ball in the bowl of the processor as it's running.
- Line a work surface with parchment paper. Remove your dough from the food processor, placing it on your work surface, and knead for a couple of minutes. Separate into two dough balls, placing them both on the parchment paper. Drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil on each dough ball, patting the oil all over the surface of the dough. Let rest 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a two large baking sheets with parchment paper, or grease lightly with olive oil.
- Roll each dough ball out one at a time: place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough ball and press the ball down into a round. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness.
- Using cookie cutters in whatever shapes you please, cut out crackers and place them on your parchment lined baking sheets spaced about 1/2 inch apart. You can re-roll extra dough into balls, flatten, roll out, cut out crackers, place, etc. Continue with this method until you've rolled out and cut out all of your crackers.
- Brush each of your crackers with olive oil gently (I drizzled it over the crackers then used a spoon to brush it over).
- Sprinkle the hemp za'atar over top of your crackers. Using the back of a spoon, press down on the za'atar gently.
- Bake 15 minutes, or until crackers are lightly golden. Let the crackers cool completely (the crackers firm up more once they've cooled).
- Parsley Hummus
- 1 can organic chickpeas, drained (or 1.5 cups freshly cooked chickpeas)
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup packed fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon sumac
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, to taste
- 1 clove garlic minced (optional: sauté garlic in olive oil until just browned for a deeper flavor)
- Combine all ingredients in a food processor or high powered blender. Blend on high until everything is well mixed. Enjoy with homemade crackers or, heck, whatever type of chip or veg you like!