A little something seeded for everyone, scented with my Somoma Spice blend from Spice Health Heroes. These crisp wafers are GF/DF/SF/NF/vegan, so simple to make, packed with flavor and just right for snacking. Mix it up with different seeds and spice blends to suit your super seed cravings.
In case you noticed, no that is not a typo. The title “Somoma” was implanted for all time during our 4-week summer camping holiday when I was 7. As our family of 5 leisurely rolled north up Pacific Coast Hwy from LA in our classic VW Van, we turned east at San Francisco to our final destination: the wine country of Napa, Calistoga and Sonoma.
I still remember gazing at the miles of perfectly aligned row-upon-row of grapevines in the Napa Valley, us kids singing silly songs and reenacting those now well-worn “I spy in my little eye…” car games.
However, the most vivid memory (and still gets me to this day) was hearing the gleeful raucous teasing of my younger siblings when they realized that I just could not say Sonoma.
With my newly discovered ballet perfectionist tendencies, it drove me absolutely nuts.
My siblings LOVED it.
All I could come out with was So-MO-Ma, So-MO-Ma!!!!!
It stuck..
So my Napa inspired Somoma Spice Mix it became.
(To this day, I take a microsecond to make sure I’m saying it right…SoNOma….SoNOma…)
Recipe:
115 grams/ ¾ cup sunflower seeds
115 grams/ ¾ cup pumpkin seeds
80 grams/ ½ cup chia seeds
65 grams/ ½ cup white sesame seeds
25 grams/ ¼ cup poppy seed
20 grams/ ¼ cup ground flaxseeds
5 grams/1 heaped teaspoon salt flakes
2 tsp. Somoma Spice Blend
1 tsp. chipotle chili flakes (or Aleppo flakes for a milder heat)
1 tsp. cumin seeds (optional)
350ml/1 ½ cups12 fl oz. water
In a medium large bowl, mix all ingredients together. Add water and stir until well combined. Let sit for an hour, stirring every 20 minutes until water is absorbed.
Heat oven to 300F/150C fan.
Line 2 standard sized baking trays with non-stick parchment (baking paper) or silicone liners. If you don’t have non-stick parchment, spray or brush a thin layer of oil onto parchment.
Using a flat spatula or spreader, smooth half of the seed mix thinly pressing to about 1/8 inch/ 2cm thick covering one lined tray and repeat with the second tray. Spread out until the layer is thin but without any holes. Square up the sides with a spatula to create clean edges.
Place in oven and bake for about an hour, turning occasionally until lightly browned, firm and crisp. Remove from oven and leave on trays to cool to room temperature. You should be able to lift the entire layer without breaking it.
Break into shards or cracker-sized pieces and store tightly sealed in your pantry or in your favourite lidded biscuit jar!
Tasha’s Somoma Spice Mix
2Tbsp dried basil, crumbled
2 Tbsp dried marjoram, crumbled
2 Tbsp dried oregano, crumbled
1 Tbsp dried thyme leaves
1 Tbsp dried bay leaves crumbled*
4 ½ tsp dried rosemary needles, ground
2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
2 tsp dried fennel seeds toasted and ground
1 ½ tsp dried mint, crumbled
1 ½ tsp garlic powder
1 ½ tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried lemon zest
Combine all spices together mixing thoroughly. Store room temperature in a airtight container in a dark cupboard.
*make sure bay leaves are finely crumbled or ground as the edges can be quite sharp. I suggest grinding them in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and well sifted.
Chef Natasha MacAller
June 16, 2019