I sprinkled my leftover-lunch-portion of the spicy rutabaga soup with these seeds, and that was the most satisfying meal I’ve had for a long while. This recipe is eminently customizable – for starters: basic soy sauce can be used instead of tamari, any other sweetener instead of agave, and wheat flour and olive oil instead of spelt and canola. The seasoning possibilities are endless, but these are pretty great even when made with just soy sauce and no extras!

Here’s what I used:

• 2 dl sunflower seeds (hulled)
• 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon agave syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon hot chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
• pinch of smoked paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon spelt flour

First, I toasted the sunflower seeds in a non-stick frying pan on medium high heat until slightly browned. It took me about 10 minutes, and I kept stirring them every now and then all through the toasting process. I’ve found that seeds often start to “smoke” a little when they’re done toasting – maybe it’s the water that evaporates when they’ve reached a certain temperature.

While I was toasting the seeds, I mixed the seasonings together (tamari through canola oil). When the seeds were done, I added the seasoning in the pan, and stirred with a wooden fork until all the liquid had evaporated. Then I sprinkled the spelt flour over the seeds, and fried them for a few more minutes.

When the seeds were all done and nicely covered with the seasoning mixture, I spread them on a piece of baking parchment to cool down.

We were out of olive oil when I first engineered this recipe, so it ended up lower in fat than the hummus we normally make. Also, the red bell pepper we used came from a glass jar, and while home-roasted peppers are more delicious, it was an easy and economical option – bell peppers are ridiculously expensive this time of year, although they are getting a little cheaper as the spring progresses. I am not a huge fan of tahini and add only a little bit, since the sunflower seeds contibute a nice nutty flavor without the bitter edge of the sesame paste.

Here’s what we used this time:

• 4 dl cooked chick peas
• 1 roasted red bell pepper (from a jar)
• 1 dl lightly toasted sunflower seeds
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 dl water
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons tahini
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (or jeera, juustokumina in Finnish)
• 1 teaspoon sugar

I just mixed everything up with our immersion blender. It takes a while until the sunflower seeds get all crushed, probably about 5 minutes.

I always adjust the taste of my hummus by adding a little lemon juice, salt, more chick peas, or even water if the taste isn’t quite balanced in the end. Jarred roasted bell peppers are more acidic than home-roasted, since they’re usually preserved in vinegar, and this affects the flavor balance as well.

We served the croquettes with steamed cauliflower, a mix of brown rice and quinoa, and a tomato sauce seasoned with sage. Simple flavors of the accompaniments combined really well with the more complex black bean croquettes.

Black Bean Croquettes:

• 4 dl cooked black beans
• 1 dl sunflower seeds, lightly toasted
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 big cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon pink peppercorns
• 4 tablespoons spelt flour
• 1 dl sesame seeds
• canola oil for frying

To make the dough, I placed all the ingredients except for spelt flour and sesame seeds in a bowl, and mixed them with our immersion blender until smooth. Then I mixed in the spelt flour with a fork. Now, I formed the dough into 17 small croquettes with the help of our measuring tablespoon, dipping it in cold water in between each croquette, and then rolled them in sesame seeds to cover.

Heikki heated the canola oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat, and then fried the croquettes in two batches, for a few minutes on each side, until they had browned. Then we drained them on a piece of paper towel to get rid of excess oil.

Tomato Sage Sauce:

• 2 dl tomato sauce (passata type)
• 1 dl oat cream
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heikki fried the onion in the oil until translucent, then added the rest of the ingredients except for black pepper, and let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes. Then I puréed it with our immersion blender, adjusted the saltiness, and seasoned it with freshly ground black pepper.

This salad is especially loved by dancing Christmas elves, the little guys that moved to live with us in the beginning of December. The salad has a nice crunchy texture from cabbage and toasted sunflower seeds, and tofu “cheese” binds everything together wonderfully. This recipe was veganized from a little Swedish cookbook I borrowed from the library, Vegetarisk julmat by Lena Brorsson Alminger.

Here’s what I used:

• 1 dl grated or finely sliced red cabbage
• 1 dl our (or other) tofu “cheese”
• 50 g sunflower seeds, toasted
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• salt and frechly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

After toasting the seeds on a dry frying pan over high heat, I mixed everything together while the seeds were still hot. This salad is really tasty at room temperature, and other ingredients will cool the toasted seeds just enough.

If the cabbage is a little bit on the dry side, it could be either grated very finely, or placed in a bowl and beaten with the bottom of a drinking glass, or an empty bottle, until it softens up.

I’m posting the recipe of a variation we made today, and had for dinner on some organic bread, topped with lettuce, avocado, and cucumber. I can’t even remember the last time we skipped dinner to eat sandwiches, but this rich spread makes us do unordinary things. We spiced it up with oil roasted garlic, which could be subbed with a clove of fresh garlic for a sharper taste.

Credit for this recipe goes completely to Mihl, but our version does have a little less oil than hers, and includes toasted sunflower seeds instead of raw ones. This is pure speculation, but I think that toasting possibly gives this spread a nuttier taste, and using raw seeds might result in a more neutral tasting spread.

Our version of Mihl’s spread:

• 1 dl (7 tablespoons) toasted sunflower seeds
• 3-4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
• 4 and 1/2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

First, the sunflower seeds need to be toasted, which is the easiest thing in the world; we just heated them in a dry frying pan, and toasted them, stirring with a ladle every once in a while, until they had browned lightly. When the sunflower seeds were toasted, we placed them on a plate to cool down a bit, and used the same pan to roast the garlic.

Heikki sautéed the sliced garlic on low heat, in 1 tablespoon of the canola oil, until it was softened and mushy, about 10 minutes. Then we mixed everything up in our electric grinder, until the spread got lighter in color and was very smooth, which took maybe about 3 to 4 minutes or so. We adjusted the amount of water while mixing, adding it half a tablespoon at a time, until the spread had a creamy and easily spreadable consistency.

Here’s what I used:

• 4 dl oat milk
• 11 g dry yeast
• 7-8 dl wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dark syrup
• 1 dl toasted cashew nuts, chopped
• 1 dl sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
• 1/2 dl olives, chopped
• handful of fresh basil, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• a few tablespoons sunflower seeds
• coarse sea salt

First, I warmed the oat milk to 42 degrees Celsius, a little warmer than my hand. I mixed the syrup and salt with the oat milk. Then, I mixed the dry yeast with 4 dl flour in a big bowl, and then poured the milk mixture in the bowl too. Now, I stirred this with a spoon for a few minutes, until the dough was very gooey.

Now, I added 2 dl more flour, and kneaded the dough with my hands for a few minutes. Then, I added cashews, tomatoes, olives, and basil to the dough, and kneaded until they were thoroughly mixed in. Now, the dough seemed a bit too sticky, so I added 1-2 dl more flour, and kneaded until the dough didn’t stick to the sides of the bowl anymore.

Then I wrapped the bowl in plastic wrap, and placed it in the kitchen sink I had filled with warm water. I went for a walk, and when I came back after 35 minutes, the dough had tripled in size:

Now, I poured some flour on the table and took the dough out of the bowl. Then I patted it with my hands to get rid of most of the air inside. I folded the dough a few times and then patted it again, and then molded it in a rectangular shape to fit my 28 cm long and 14 cm wide bread pan. I greased the pan with a little olive oil, and placed the dough in it. I then repeated the rising process (put the pan in warm water covered with plastic wrap), and in about 15 minutes it had doubled in size:

Now, I brushed the bread with some olive oil, sprinkled the sunflower seeds and some sea salt over it, and baked it in 200 degrees Celsius for 27 minutes. Then I removed the bread from the pan, and let it cool for a while. Most of the sunflower seeds fell off when I took the bread out of the pan – I should have been more careful.

This bread keeps well, we stored it in a paper bag and two days after baking it was still delicious. It didn’t get crumbly like some home-baked (as well as store-bought) breads do, and could be very thinly sliced.

Here’s how it happens:

• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce

• 150 g sunflower seed kernels

I poured sunflower seeds in a dry frying pan and heated it up, on high heat. I then tossed the seeds around in the pan with a wooden fork until they started to brown, and a few times, when they started to steam or smell burnt, I just lifted the pan off heat for a while. When every seed had a little bit of color but before anything got dark and burnt, I threw in the soy sauce and tossed around until it had evaporated and was stuck on the seeds. Now, I removed the pan from heat, poured the seeds on a plate, and let the seeds cool down.

After toasting the seeds were a bit sticky, but once cooled down, they are easy to separate. These are nice sprinkled on a salad as well.