Raw Dehydrated Crouton Recipe, Make Your Own Veggie Nut Croutons

This is a crouton recipe that I created to make use of all the vegetable pulp left over when juicing.

It only takes a couple quarts of juice to have plenty of pulp remaining for making croutons the superhealthy way.

While the traditional crouton is made from bread, lots of oil and baked at high temperatures, we make ours using an Excalibur dehydrator.

Our recipe for croutons also uses coconut oil, which gives it a nice, oily crouton texture, without the unhealthy side effects of refined and unstable oils common in most croutons.

This recipe is, of course, ideal for making after a juice fast or juice cleanse when you have LOTS of pulp to use.

You can store it in the fridge for a few days until you are ready to use it. I like to wait until I have at least 4 quarts of pulp, then I can fill the dehydrator full of croutons.

Most of the pulp you get from the juicing process can be used, even fruits. All the ingredients add to the taste of your crouton recipe.

Although you will be getting most of the taste in the liquid portion of your juice, the remaining dry matter still has a slight flavor and can be seasoned with herbs and spices.

In addition, the use of nuts and seeds, like almond or sunflower, make it dense, crunchy and bread-like.

The juicing pulp is basically the FIBER of the celery, apple or whatever you use. This makes it the perfect ingredient for making croutons.

Beware, however, when juicing hot peppers or making our green juice blast recipe. I made the mistake once of using hot pepper pulp that made a VERY spicy crouton, a little too spicy.

So, it is best to avoid using jalapeno or habenero fiber that contains the seeds. This is where the heat is concentrated.

• 1 quart veggie pulp
• 1C soaked pumpkin, almond or sunflower seeds (or a combo)
• 1t celtic sea salt
• 1T italian herbs
• 2T coconut oil (or more for a very oily crouton)
• 2T ground golden flax (or chia seed)
• water if necessary

1. In a food processor, process soaked nuts or seeds until a fine meal.
2. Grind flax or chia seeds into a fine powder)
3. Add salt, herbs, coconut oil and flax.
4. In a bowl, mix 1 quart juicing fiber to other ingredients.
5. Add enough water to create a dough like consistency.
6. Roll your crouton dough into a small narrow log shape and cut your croutons.
7. Place on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate.

The water content in the fiber depends on the juicer you use. The green star juicer has very dry juicing pulp, other brands are more wet.

The dehydration time will depend on the size of your croutons and how moist they are.

It is usually between 16-20 hours. Store your crouton recipe in a sealed glass jar for freshness. They will last for a few weeks.

You can, of course, save many quart jars of pulp, if you are juicing a lot. The pulp can keep up to 4 or more days in the refrigerator in a sealed jar.

Use these croutons on all your salads, raw soups or other raw food meals for an extra added crunch.

Or, use them to make a raw Cesar salad with a creamy seed cheese dressing and Parmesan seed cheese!