How long and how to soak dried fruit, nuts, buckwheat

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Permalink Reply by Lisa on February 8, 2010 at 9:41am

When soaking nuts, you can simply leave them in fresh water overnight (so they end up soaking 8-12 hours). I do this with almonds all the time to make almond milk (or chai almond milk, yum!!). There is no certain amount of water necessary, just cover the nuts or seeds (e.g., put 1 cup of almonds in a soup bowl and fill water to almost the top). With fruit, you need less soaking time. For example, sundried tomatoes only need about 30 mins, dates about 2 hours (depending on softness), etc. Enjoy!

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Permalink Reply by Vega Kelly on February 8, 2010 at 9:49am

The easiest way to do this is probably to soak overnight. You just need to add enough water to cover. For details on the process, I've included an article with a thorough explanation. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Nikki Sabella on February 8, 2010 at 4:04pm

Thanks Lisa and Vega Kelly. Lisa--would to mind sharing your chai almond milk "recipe"? I've never made almond milk, but sort of have an idea of how to make it. But for the chai part, do you just add a chai tea bag with soaking the almonds?

Lisa said:

When soaking nuts, you can simply leave them in fresh water overnight (so they end up soaking 8-12 hours). I do this with almonds all the time to make almond milk (or chai almond milk, yum!!). There is no certain amount of water necessary, just cover the nuts or seeds (e.g., put 1 cup of almonds in a soup bowl and fill water to almost the top). With fruit, you need less soaking time. For example, sundried tomatoes only need about 30 mins, dates about 2 hours (depending on softness), etc. Enjoy!

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Permalink Reply by Lisa on February 8, 2010 at 5:56pm

I am more than happy to share the recipe (from Caroline Dupont's amazing book called "Enlightened Eating").
Soak 1 cup of almonds overnight (approx. 8 hours, but less is fine).
In a high powered blender (such as VitaMix), blend the following:
Soaked almonds (rinse well after soaking!)
4 cups cold water
1.5 tbsp. minced ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. black pepper (or 4 black pepper balls)
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup soft dates (soak if needed)
2 tbsp. raw honey
After blending, pour through a nut milk bag. If you don't have a nut milk bag, a really fine strainer works too (press the pulp with a spoon to remove all of the milk).
Enjoy!
PS. Use the leftover pulp to make truffles or cookies. Nothing wasted...and sooo yummy!

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Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Currier on February 8, 2010 at 6:34pm

WOW - always such great recipes out of these threads. I liked Vega Kelly's article, however brief. I will say, in my limited (5 weeks Thriving) experience, soaking is a trial and error thing, and for me, emphasis on error. For example, I soaked some figs overnight to make the fig cinnamon energy bars, and after processing the stuff was like mush, not able to be formed into anything like a "brick." I added some buckwheat flour, and that brought it to a semi-workable glob. I did form "bars," let them air dry a bit, and then froze them. They are delicious and I assume just as nutritious, but next time I will not be soaking the figs so long.

SPROUTING is scary the first time. I was just clueless but I Googled around and then did this: I put a cup of buckwheat grouts (which took me forever to find for some reason, now I see them everywhere) into a small mixing bowl, filled it with water and soaked them overnight. Next morning, I rinsed them hard, with my sprayer, in a mesh strainer. Then I just emptied them out onto a big plate (I had no jar or cheesecloth or anything like that). I spread them out as best I could, and then when I came home from work that day I put them back in the strainer, rinsed and dumped them back on the plate and spread them out. Next morning, I saw wee little tails on them! So I rinsed them one last time, spread them out on the plate again, and when I came home from work day 2, they had fully sprouted, like 1/4" tails of sprout. I called it good, and they tasted sweet (which is a sign the sugars have converted, or some such thing). I put them in a glass container, no lid, in the fridge. I was so glad to have this basic ingredient, and it lasts all week for making recovery smoothies, assorted energy bars and such, and I also put some into my morning granola (the granola recipes in Thrive are really easy and DELISH. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Vega Kelly on February 8, 2010 at 9:01pm

This sounds great! I've been making my own almond milk with just almonds, water, agave and vanilla but this sounds gourmet! Must try on the next batch. Thanks for sharing.

Lisa said:

I am more than happy to share the recipe (from Caroline Dupont's amazing book called "Enlightened Eating").
Soak 1 cup of almonds overnight (approx. 8 hours, but less is fine).
In a high powered blender (such as VitaMix), blend the following:
Soaked almonds (rinse well after soaking!)
4 cups cold water
1.5 tbsp. minced ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. black pepper (or 4 black pepper balls)
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup soft dates (soak if needed)
2 tbsp. raw honey
After blending, pour through a nut milk bag. If you don't have a nut milk bag, a really fine strainer works too (press the pulp with a spoon to remove all of the milk).
Enjoy!
PS. Use the leftover pulp to make truffles or cookies. Nothing wasted...and sooo yummy!

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