Ezekiel Bread - Julie's Long Overdue Promise

So awhile back one of our Facebook Fans asked if someone would try this bread for her because she didn’t have a wheat grinder. I promised I would – And I’m not going to admit how long it took me to get around to it… (although you could find the thread on our facebook discussions and I would be busted!)

So I really had no idea why so many people fussed about this bread, I was just excited to try something new… I looked it up and found this:

Ezekiel bread in it’s earliest form can be found in the Holy Bible in the book of Ezekiel chapter 4, verse 9 which says: “Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them into one vessel and make bread of them.” (Amplified Bible) In this verse the prophet Ezekiel is told by God to make bread in a certain way and then he lives on water and this bread for 390 days while he resides in the desert.

Ezekiel bread is a bread made from four grains and four beans. Typically it contains wheat, spelt or rye, barley, millet, lentils, great northern beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans ground in a grain mill. The specific mixture of grains and beans has been tested by food scientists and found to be complete nutritionally.

Combined the wet ingredients and got all my grains out. I bought the ones I didn’t already have at the bulk section of a store called Winco here in Utah. I think most health food stores, or stores that sell grains in bulk should have all the ingredients.

Layered the grains in legumes in this clear measuring cup (for no reason other then to take a cute picture…) Isn’t it decorative and beautiful?

Threw all the grains and legumes into my WonderMill wheat grinder that I LOVE and ….

Out came a beautiful flour. I mixed the flour with the wet stuff and kept mixing. The consistency is more like a batter then a doughy bread-

Let the loaves rise, then I baked them and tested it by taking a glob of bread out of the middle…

Ingredients
• 2 1/2 cups wheat berries
• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1/2 cup millet
• 1/4 cup dry green lentils
• 2 tablespoons dry great Northern beans
• 2 tablespoons dry kidney beans
• 2 tablespoons dried pinto beans
• 4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions
1. Measure the water, honey, olive oil, and yeast into a large bowl. Let sit for 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Stir all of the grains and beans together until well mixed. Grind in a grain mill. Add fresh milled flour and salt to the yeast mixture; stir until well mixed, about 10 minutes. The dough will be like that of a batter bread. Pour dough into three greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
3. Let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until dough has reached top of the pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until loaves are golden brown.

What FASCINATED me so much about this bread was how good for you it is- AND IT STILL TASTES GOOD!
I’m slowly learning more and more about nutrition and this I do know from one of my favorite books by Rita Bingham – if you combine a legume with a whole grain it makes a complete protein. For people who don’t want to consume a lot of meat, this is a great way to get protein… (there are other combination of foods you can do to get complete proteins also but if I start talking like this too much Jodi will stop me!). Most reviews of this bread said it was crumbly… and it was…. but I sliced up the pieces threw them in the freezer and I’m toasting them for breakfast. You could put honey, peanut butter, butter, or jam on this.