Our client Jonathan, who is in his 60’s, has a very sensitive esophagus.
The esophagus is the tube that connects the mouth to the stomach. Many health conditions and treatments can impact esophageal health. Diseases like Crohn’s and peptic ulcers can damage the esophagus. The lining of the esophagus can be irritated from acid reflux or GERD which affects many people of all ages. Medications can also result in a sensitive esophagus.
People with esophageal challenges can have difficulty swallowing or have trouble eating foods with acidic, spicy or harsh flavors.
In this case, our client suffers from the latter. His symptoms also include a lot of nausea for which he takes very strong medications. He can really only eat basic foods, and can’t tolerate food that is too spicy or too complex. This basically meant that all of the fancy, beautiful and delicious food that I wanted to make for the whole family was not good for him and his food had to be cooked separately following specific guidelines.
The foods Jonathan likes to eat are pasta, potatoes, and some snacks and nosh. But because of his medical issues he often feels nauseous after eating them. A man his age with a challenge such as this, who happens to also work extremely hard needs some nourishing foods in his system .
We did some research on this issue in order to learn more about the do’s and don’ts of his condition. We had to figure out the best food for him that wouldn’t cause him any painful side effects or even make him slightly uncomfortable. We had to help him bring back the joy in eating without paying any physical price.
These beet crackers were one of the best ideas we came up with.
Jonathan happened to not like beets, like many of our clients. Beets are not a common favorite food, it seems ;-).
We took it upon ourselves to prove to him (as we have done with other clients) that these crackers are absolutely delicious even if they contain beets. They are nutritious and an amazing snack, which could also function as a substitute to bread.
After trying them, this client (as did others in the past) asked not only for more in the next menus, but also for the recipe, which we are always happy to share.
What our clients love most about these crackers is their flavor and smooth crisp texture. What we love about these crackers is that it gets our clients to eat beets. On top of being a healthy root vegetable, beets are also rich with antioxidants like all the red and purple colored fruit and vegetables and high in fiber.
What’s better than a noshable cracker that contains a vegetable and a whole grain. And it can even be made gluten free without starches and sugars. Beets give it a little sweetness along with whatever other flavor you desire, salty or even spicy for those who can tolerate it. This is a high fiber and nutritionally balanced cracker. For Jonathan these were a great addition to his diet. They didn’t hurt him, they could help with his nausea and give him some extra nutrition.
Beet crackers
Ingredients:
100 gr/3.5 oz cooked beets
175 gr/ 6 oz buckwheat flour or spelt flour
40 ml/1.5 oz olive oil
60 ml/2 oz water
3 tbsp sesame
3 tbsp silan (date syrup)/maple syrup
1 full tsp salt
Instructions:
1. With an immersion blender, blend the beets until it’s a soft puree.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixer and mix until it’s a nice soft dough. Let the dough rest for at least two hours in the refrigerator.
3. In a sheet pan, flatten the dough as thin as you can and with pizza cutter mark the slices (it does not need to be even).
4. Bake in a preheated oven (180°c /350°f) until the crackers dry up and set.
