Lucky Comestible 5 (4): Grain Free Hazelnut-Cilantro* Crackers

* Or use another favorite herb.

[I thought it would be fun to run a little series over here at DDD: I’ll profile one one of my favorite foods, or a food that I’ve recently discovered and enjoyed, over several days.  For this fifth edition, I’m focusing on cilantro. The series is presented on an occasional (and entirely arbitrary) basis, before I move on to the next lucky comestible. This is the fourth entry on cilantro.]

My mom was many things:  a sweet person, a sentimental person, a docile person, a loyal person; but one thing she most definitely was not, was a morning person.  Because of my dad’s unique hours (he didn’t drive a car for the first 38 years of his life, so he would take the bus to his butcher shop** each day, a ride of about an hour–necessitating a 5:30 AM wakeup six days a week), this meant my Mom, too, was required to arise at the same ungodly hour each day.  Her responsibility was to grill Dad’s breakfast toast, pour his tea, and pack his lunch.

The second he was out the door, my mother would retreat to the bedroom and fall back on the bed, unconscious within seconds, only to emerge about three hours later looking–well, as if she needed some sleep.  My sisters and I learned at a tender age that we were on our own when it came to breakfast. 

Like most of my friends at the time, I fancied cold cereal and milk above all else in the morning.  Cap’n Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, _______ [insert your own sugar-filled, wheat-based choice here], but on Saturdays, the CFO and I allowed ourselves a supreme treat:  saltine crackers slathered with peanut butter, and a tall glass of chocolate milk, which we made ourselves while my mother slept.  We’d tiptoe down to the basement (where my parents had installed a second TV) and sit on the olive green vinyl hide-a-bed watching Saturday morning cartoons for hours (well, about three hours, that is, until Mom woke up) while we munched happily, leaving a trail of crumbs in our wake like the famous Grimm siblings.

When I got older and eventually had my own kitchen to run, I lost interest in saltines, and any other crackers.  Crackers were one of those foods I never really thought about in the “SAD [ie, Standard American Diet] old days,” when I still consumed wheat, meat, sugar and aspartame. I can recall serving appetizers of smoked oysters, cream cheese and a wedge of lemon on Triscuits when I threw dinner parties in my 20s, or setting out a tray of Ritz, Stoned Wheat Thins and Water Crackers next to a hunk of cheese.  But otherwise,  crackers were off my radar. I mean, why would you choose dry, flavorless crackers when you could be scarfing muffins, scones or biscuits? You see my point.

[Slathered here with some raw Almond-Veggie Pâté]

So I surprised even myself by how much I enjoyed these thin, crispy wafers.  Perhaps it’s the fact that I haven’t had a “true” baked good (ie, something made with flour, sweetener and, ideally, some form of chocolate) in 5 months, since I started the ACD.  Or maybe my tastes are just evolving.

Naw.

 In any case, these were even a hit with the HH , who pronounced them “really tasty” (not a man of many words, that HH).  The texture, while crispy and slightly crumbly, is nevertheless rich, like a butter cracker or shortbread; yet they stand up well to toppings and spreads. 

I enjoyed them with a slather of raw almond-veggie pâté, but because the cilantro isn’t very pronounced (great for you cilantro-phobes out there), they’d even work with nut butter for breakfast.  You could easily eat some while watching cartoons–but I wouldn’t recommend pairing them with chocolate milk.   

** Yes, the irony is palpable.  I talk about his occupation vis-à-vis my dietary choices here.

[For those of you who prefer sweets to crackers, here’s the latest review of Sweet Freedom–check out the “Muffin Wars” between SF and JOVB versions!]

• Lucky Comestible 5(1): Spicy Cilantro Sauce
• Lucky Comestible 5(2): Lemony Baked Tofu
• Lucky Comestible 5(3): Confetti Quinoa and Wild Rice Salad
• Lucky Comestible 5(5): “Ground” Tempeh in a Cilantro-Curry Sauce

Other Lucky Comestibles:

• Lucky Comestible 1: Sweet Potato
• Lucky Comestible 2: Quinoa
• Lucky Comestible 3: Avocado
• Lucky Comestible 4: Coconut

Last Year at this Time:  Zucchini and Pineapple Mini Loaves (featuring a now-cringe-inducing Michael Jackson reference!)

© 2009 Ricki Heller

Never miss a recipe–or a comment from The Girls! Click here to subscribe to RickiHeller.com via email. You’ll get recipes as soon as they’re posted, plus cookbook updates and news about upcoming events! (“We love subscribers, Mum. . . almost as much as we love treats!”