Sunflower Seed Meal

This is probably my greatest discovery. I started looking at Paleo recipes because they were, by definition, grain and dairy free. One problem: I found I was running in to recipes containing almond meal everywhere. There was no getting away from it. Most bloggers, reviewers and recipe posters suggested not substituting coconut flour because they were just too different. Avoiding recipes containing almond meal was the ultimate suggestion if you had an allergy to almonds.

This was unacceptable to me. There were too many delicious looking recipes that called for almond meal.

Then I found one blogger who suggested using sunflower seeds in place of almonds. I so desperately wish I could remember who it was, because this person deserves kudos and karma and all kinds of praise. Making sunflower seed meal is a bit of a project, but it's totally worth it. I recommend making up a big batch of it at a time and storing it in the cupboard in an air-tight container.

Here's what you do. Buy a big bag of raw, unsalted, unroasted, shelled sunflower seeds from the bulk section of your store. Take it home. Work in batches, about a cup to cup and a half at a time. Put the sunflower seeds in a blender. Let it whir for ten to fifteen seconds on low. Scrape out the bottom and sides with a fork. Whir again. Scrape. Whir. Scrape. You get the idea.

When you have something resembling a flour, put a wire mesh strainer over a large bowl. Scrape the sunflower seeds out of the blender into the strainer. Tap the sides to shake out some of the meal. Then use a whisk or your hands to break up the clumps. Tap strainer. Mix. Shake. You're trying to get the flour stuff into the bowl through the holes in the strainer, leaving the bigger pieces. Put bigger pieces back in the blender and start the whir-scrape cycle again.

Now you have sunflower seed meal and can use it in all sorts of yummy recipes.