Credit: jazzijava

We recently got this recipe in a newsletter from Manitoba Harvest so we thought we’d share it with you. Manitoba Harvest sells all kinds of great hemp products (from hempmilk to hemp protein powder.), so if you can’t find any of the ingredients at your local store, you can always order them online from them. Let us know how it turns out for you!

Ingredients
2 eggs
1-1/2 cup Original or Unsweetened Hempmilk
3/4 cup Liquid Honey or Agave Nectar
2 tsp Vanilla
1-1/2 cup Bran
2 Tbsp Vanilla Hemp Protein Powder
1-3/4 cup Flour
1-1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Salt
1-1/2 cup Raisins

Directions
Combine eggs, milk, honey and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry and combine – mix just until incorporated. Scoop the muffin batter into greased or lined muffin pans. Bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes. Remove from muffin pans, allow a few minutes to cool, then enjoy!

A problem that vegetarians face when it comes to getting enough protein, is getting a complete protein. While meat contains complete protein, many vegetarian alternatives need to be combined with other things to get a complete protein — such as lentils with brown rice.

But hemp seeds offer a great source of complete protein, and in a particularly high concentration, as well. As columnist Rhonda Beckham for the Tahoe Daily Tribune points out:

It turns out that hemp — which has many uses including fuel, building supplies, textiles for clothing and housewares — is a complete protein in itself. And no, you won’t get the giggles or munchies after ingesting the seeds grown for food.
[...]
Here is what Rocky Mountain Grain Products of Alberta, Canada, has to say about “nature’s power food:” “If you eat the contents of this bag (2 ounces) for breakfast with whole fruit or raw vegetables, you can expect abundant energy and no hunger for many hours, sometimes all day. You can save the cost of hemp hearts many times in reduced grocery bills and supplements, more productivity and less health care.”
[...]
Two ounces of hemp hearts contains 314 calories, 25.9 grams of fat (87 percent omega, more than fish), no cholesterol, 6 grams of carbohydrates, 20 grams of protein, and 36 percent of your daily need for iron.

So hemp seeds are not only a great source of protein, but of iron, but omega fatty acids as well. They also contain all 10 essential amino acids.

Hemp seeds have a nutty flavor, are similar to sesame seeds in texture, and great in shakes/smoothies, over salads, or mixed into any other dish or desert.

If you want to give them a try, but are having trouble finding them at your local grocer, you can order them online from Manitoba Harvest. All their hemp products are organic, and their selection is quite vast.

So to get ready for the holidays, Manitoba Harvest is having is offering a discount on their Hemp Food Starter Pack. You can get $10 off of the normal starter pack and $15 off of the gift starter pack. Here’s what you get.

1 x 12 Fl oz (355 ml) Hemp Seed Oil
1 x 10 oz (283 g) Hemp Seed Butter
1 x 8 oz (227 g) Shelled Hemp Seed
1 x 16 oz (455 g) Hemp Protein & Fiber Powder
1 x Hemp Nutrition Booklet and brochure

Regularly: $ 45.00 + $10.00 shipping: $55.00 total

Gift Pack until Dec 31: only $ 40.00 shipping included (save $15.00)

You can order your Hemp Food Starter pack here, but if you’re wondering what to do with all that hemp food, here is a few recipes (also complements of the Manitoba Harvest people).

White Canadian

Makes: 4 cups (serves two)
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Shelled Hemp Seed
4 cups filtered water
4 Tbsp maple syrup
4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:
Combine Shelled Hemp Seed and water in a blender. Blend on high for 2 minutes, until creamy and smooth. This is how you make fresh hemp milk. Fill 2 glasses with ice. Add 2 Tbsp of maple syrup and 2 tsp of nutmeg to each glass. Pour 2 cups of Hemp Milk in each glass and stir well. This is a tasty holiday treat. This recipe also goes well with the addition of 1-2 oz of hazelnut liqueur.

Mean Bean Salad

Makes: 8 Cups
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time:

Ingredients:
1/3 Cup Hemp Seed Oil
1/4 Cup Shelled Hemp Seeds
1/3 Cup balsamic vinegar
3 cloves garlic(minced)
1 tin Garbonzo Beans
1 tin Soya Beans
1 tin Kidney Beans
2 celery stalks(finely chopped)
1 tomato(finely chopped)
1 red pepper(finely chopped)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients into a bowl. Stir until well mixed. Chill before serving.

Hemp & Apple Muffins

Makes: 12
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cook Time: 25 min.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 rounded tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp frozen, thawed apple juice concentrate
2/3 cup buttermilk(or non-dairy milk)
2 Tbsp oat bran
2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/3 cup Shelled Hemp Seed

Directions: Preheat oven to 350C. Grease 12 standard size muffin-pan cups.
Mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Mix together eggs, apple juice and milk. Stir flour mixture and oat bran into egg mixture until dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not overmix. Gently stir in chopped apples and Shelled Hemp Seed. Spoon batter into prepared pan, filling cups 2/3 full. Garnish each muffin with an apple slice,sprinkle with Shelled Hemp Seed. Bake muffins until lightly golden and tops spring back when pressed, 25 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool slightly. Turn muffins out onto rack to cool completely.

Citrus Hemp Butter Spread

Makes: 1/4 cup
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time:

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Hemp Seed Butter
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom to taste

Directions: Mix hemp seed butter with orange juice and add cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom to taste.

Yesterday, Gourmet Retailer featured a great overview of hemp as both a raw material and culinary ingredient, and then followed it up with a recipe.The article goes over some of the health benefits of hemp and then reprints this recipe for Hemp Orzo Pasta Salad from Manitoba Harvest.

Cook one cup Orzo pasta in boiling, salted water. Fold in the following ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons cold-pressed hemp seed oil
• 1 tablespoon hemp seed butter
• 1 tablespoon shelled hemp seed
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons Bragg’s amino acid, or
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper or cayenne
• 1 small cucumber, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans or shelled edamame, as you prefer

What was really interesting about the piece, however, was that it didn’t just focus on the nutritional benefits of hemp, but also on many of industrial and environmental benefits, not to mention many of the socio-political issues surround hemp. For instance, to illustrate some of the paradoxes of hemp production, author James Mellgren writes:

In France and China, they use it to strengthen concrete. Mercedes Benz uses it to make many of their interior door panels, and the original Levi jeans were made from it. Christopher Columbus had ropes made from it as he sailed to the New World, and our own Declaration of Independence is written on it. It was grown by the Puritans, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin used it to make paper in America’s first paper mill. All around the world, it is used to make paper, clothing, rope, textiles, biodegradable plastics, food and fuel. It requires no chemicals to make it grow or keep bugs away, controls the erosion of the topsoil, and produces oxygen. It also can supplant many industrial materials that have been proven to be harmful to the environment and to ourselves such as paper made from trees (not only does this require the cutting down of trees but the use of bleach and other toxic chemicals contribute to water pollution anywhere paper is made), cosmetics and plastics that are petroleum-based and do not break down easily. What is this wonder material? Is it some new high-tech substance, perhaps? The answer is, of course, hemp, a plant (a weed really) that has been cultivated for nearly 10,000 years, and has been used for various purposes since the Stone Age. It could be the answer to untold environmental issues, not to mention world hunger, and yet you can’t grow it because it’s against the law in the United States.

Seeing this kind of socio-politico awareness in a gourmet magazine gives me hope that we’re that much closer to introducing hemp products into the mainstream. That kind of market demand would stimulate not only technological advancements that would facilitate mass-production and drive down the price of hemp-related products, but likely inspire legislative reform in immense but prohibitive markets such as the US.

A blog called Raw Toddler Alex, which is about a 3 year old who has been a “raw vegan” all his life has posted a recipes for a dessert called Hemp Balls. Here it is:

2 cups hemp seeds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 pitted medjool dates
Place hemp seeds into your coffee grinder to make them into a fine powder. Add to a food processor with the medjool dates and blend until well incorporated. Add the dried cranberries and pulse to incorporate. (I like to have them somewhat whole)
Take the batter and roll into bite size pieces. Roll the Hemp Balls into whole hemp seeds and chill until firm.

All in all, Raw Toddler Alex seems like an interesting journey through raw veganism, and I’m sure there are plenty other recipes there, so I encourage you to check it out.

The Global Healing Center has a great piece by Dr. Edward Group on the The Benefits of Organic Hemp Milk. The article starts out dispelling some of the myths behind hemp food products, covers how growing hemp in the US is still illegal, offers an overview of the specific nutritional benefits of hemp milk, and even finishes off with a recipe for how to make hemp milk at home! Here’s an excerpt on the health benefits:

Organic hemp milk is also a great alternative to toxic cow’s milk and those who cannot consume dairy because of dietary issues.

One 8-Ounce glass contains the following healthy nutrients:

• 900mg Omega-3 Fatty Acid
• 2800mg Omega-6 Fatty Acid
• All 10 Essential Amino Acids
• 4 grams of Digestible Protein
• 46% of RDA of Calcium
• 0% Cholesterol
• Potassium
• Phosphorous
• Riboflavin
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin B12
• Folic Acid
• Vitamin D
• Magnesium
• Iron
• Zinc
• And more…

To get the full lowdown and a recipe on how to make your own organic hemp milk at home, check out the original article: The Benefits of Organic Hemp Milk