Raw Hemp Milk

Thick and "creamy" raw hemp milk

I have always felt a little uncomfortable about using soya milk in so many recipes; the brand we get is cheap, but it's most likely made with GM beans, and it's a very refined product- maybe not that healthy. Other bought milks such as oat and rice milk are rather expensive for our household budget especially considering they are lower in protein than dairy or soya milk,  so when we got our Magimix and started making seed and nut butters, the possibility of seed and nut milks also opened up to us. You can look out for nut and seed bargains and easily make these milks for yourself. This raw hemp milk is ridiculously quick and easy to make and nutrient-dense. It is not a cheap option, however, and still pricier than soya milk even if you do what we did and buy a large quantity of shelled hemp seeds at wholesale price. My local supermarket sells hemp milk for £1.59 a litre and I think this homemade one works out a bit cheaper than that- plus it's organic. I made just over 1 litre of thick creamy hemp milk. (You could add more water and thin it to make even more.) Here's how:

300g organic shelled hemp seeds
4 semidried dates, pitted and halved
600ml water

• Whizz up the seeds and dates in your food processor for a minute or so- just until the seeds start to break down.
• While it's still running, add the water.  Stop and scrape the seeds down the sides of the bowl towards the blades if you need to.
• Pour into a suitable container and keep in the fridge. It keeps up to 5 days. It may separate when stored, so just shake it up before use of this happens.