Confusingly, buckwheat it isn’t any relation of wheat at all: it’s a totally gluten-free fruit seed related to rhubarb and known as a “pseudo-cereal”. A friend suggested adding sesame seeds to this buckwheat crepe batter and it is genius. The crepes take a while to cook and the sesame seeds get nicely toasted in the process, giving off their rich aroma and adding a delicate crunch. You could even ignore the fillings and just eat them as a snack, especially if you cook them long enough to make them crispy. But then you’d be missing out on all the goodness and taste of almond butter, spinach, seeds and sprouts. Mix and match with whatever you have available, but I suggest keeping the avocado for its moisture and richness. The savoury seeds are easy to make, and it’s worth doing a bigger batch so you can keep some in a jar as a handy snack.
Buckwheat crepes
| ½ cup | Buckwheat flour (Main) |
| 1 ¼ cups | Water, cold |
| ¼ tsp | Salt |
| 1 Tbsp | Sesame seeds |
| 1 Tbsp | Sunflower oil |
Savoury seeds
| ¼ cup | Pumpkin seeds |
| ¼ cup | Sunflower seeds |
| 1 tsp | Soy sauce, (check label to ensure it's gluten free) |
To serve
| ½ small | Pumpkin (Main) |
| 1 bunch | Spinach, big |
| 4 Tbsp | Almond butter |
| 1 | Avocado, peeled and sliced |
| 1 handful | Alfalfa sprouts |
Directions
- To make the crepes, mix all ingredients in a bowl, stirring well. Allow to rest 5 minutes, and stir well before using. Get a non-stick pan hot then pour in enough mixture to cover the bottom evenly, jiggling it slightly to fill in the holes made by the air bubbles. This batter behaves quite differently to a normal crepe mix, you can jiggle the pan but if you tilt it too much it will break apart. Cook for 4 minutes until browned on the bottom, then carefully turn and repeat. These take longer to cook than typical crepes, so be patient and let them firm up before you try to turn them over.
- For the savoury seeds, heat pumpkin and sunflower seeds in pan on medium-low heat, shaking them around regularly to avoid burning. After about 5-8 minutes they should be nicely toasted, a good clue is that they'll look fatter. Remove from heat and splash on the soy sauce, stirring quickly until they're evenly coated and all the liquid has been absorbed and dried off.
- To roast the pumpkin, cut into slices (with the skin on), sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt, then bake on an oven tray for about 30 minutes in a 180C oven.
- Wilt the spinach by separating the leaves and washing in cold water, then place the wet leaves in a pot on medium heat for about 1- 2 minutes.
- To assemble, spread a tablespoon of almond butter onto a crepe, then cover with wilted spinach. Add a line of pumpkin, some slices of avocado and a patch of sprouts. Finish with a sprinkle of savoury seeds.