The 2 Ingredient Flaxseed Wrap - We Tried It!

Our Take on the Flaxseed Wrap by Nutrition Refined at nutritionrefined.com

Buying wraps that are verified as truly vegan at your local grocery store can be tricky. While some wraps may indeed be vegan or 'accidentally vegan' they are often not labeled. Things would be much easier if all vegan wraps and breads were labeled with the certified 'v' that makes it easy to ascertain... but alas, they aren't just yet. It is helpful to note that some breads and wraps, while notably free of egg or dairy may may contain vitamins and enzymes derived from animals ('hidden' behind ambiguous ingredient names) unless otherwise stated.

We expect more and more vegan verified breads and wraps to become available in our local markets in the coming years.  In the meantime, one thing a committed vegan can do is put in just a bit of time to learn the old art of making items like breads, wraps and tortillas at home. This is one way to ensure your lunch-time favorites are vegan... and fortunately, in many cases it's not nearly as hard as we think

There are several wrap recipes (along with bread and tortilla recipes etc.) on the internet that are quick, easy and vegan. This is something a quick Google search for 'vegan wrap recipe' will reveal. ...A big bonus? Many are arguably much healthier than a lot of their store-bought counterparts.

One such recipe is the genius two (okay, three if you count the pinch of salt!) ingredient Flaxseed Wrap recipe that can be found over at Nutrition Refined. This recipe makes approximately 6 healthy Flaxseed wraps that you can make easily and have ready for you for the rest of the week.

When we came across this recipe, it looked and sounded so astonishingly easy that we just had to give it a try. We'll admit we were skeptical but we put it to the test. What we came out with was something we hope to make a staple in our kitchen. These flaxseed wraps are vegan, easy to make, and store well in the refrigerator just as normal store-bought wraps would. While it is our first concern that they are made free of animal products, they are also remarkably healthy and have a great taste when paired with many things... hummus, plant-based cream cheese, raw veggies, salsas or hot sauces etc... pretty much anything can go with these light, almost neutral, but pleasant tasting flaxseed wraps.

Get the Vegan (+ Glutenfree and Raw) Flaxseed Wrap Recipe Here. Ingredients simply include flax seed, water, and salt.

A few of our recommendations and heads-ups for making this recipe:

USING FLAXSEED PRE-MILLED VS. GRINDING YOUR OWN

If you don't want to grind the flaxseed yourself, consider buying flaxseed mill. Flaxseed mill is simply already ground flaxseed that is commonly available in the grocery store baking section. This will make the recipe even quicker to make and save you time finding the perfect blender to make your own mill. If you don't like to clean things like blenders and food processors and the like (we don't if we don't have to), buying the pre-ground milled form of flaxseed can help! If you take this shortcut, just be sure to note that you'll have to used the ready-milled equivalents to the measurements in any recipe that uses plain flaxseed. This is because flaxseed 'expands' when milled. In other words, it becomes more 'fluffed' and so 1 cup of flaxseed does not equal 1 cup of milled flaxseed. Also if you're looking to use the pre-milled shortcut without losing any of the nutritional benefits, many bloggers suggest you look for 'whole milled or 'full flat,' otherwise your meal will be oil-pressed losing some of it's healthy Omega-3 content. The choice is yours but not to worry, in a simple recipe that simply blends ground flaxseed and water, you'll start to simply be able to feel out how much mill to water your need. Basically you want only enough water to make a pliable 'dough ball,' no more no less.

ROLLING OUT THE DOUGH

Step 4 in the Flax Seed Wrap recipe is when you get to roll out each soon-to-be wraps. While you can roll out your flax mill dough ball between two sheets of wax or parchment paper, we found this can get a little sticky. Have a nice metal spatula on hand to gently pry the rolled out wrap from the paper to prevent sticking and paper ripping. We made it work, but things got a little sticky. Be sure to let your dough cool first, that is one factor that can prevent some of the sticking. In the future, we may suggest some more dedicated non-stick rolling mats rather than a paper. These would be a nice treat but are certainly not required as of course parchment paper will do if you're being careful.

​THE COLOR / APPEARANCE OF THE WRAPS

While we used brown flaxseed to make our wraps, the wraps shown in the original Nutrition Refined recipe are made with golden flaxseed. While both work great, golden flaxseed creates a color of wrap more people are used to. Brown will create a darker 'pumpernickel' color wrap.  When buying your flaxseed, just be sure to choose the color you want in your finished wrap. Concerned mostly about the nutritional content? You can read more about flax seed varieties here.