Loafing around

Steve and I are trying to eat healthier. Approaching middle age (well, I'm a little further along than he), we figure that a life of carefree grazing has to end sooner or later if we're going to be healthy enough to sail around the world.
So we have been adding more fruits and veggies to the rotation, which is easier for me as a vegetarian. He's been eating fewer meat-based dishes. And we've banned most ready-made treats from the menu.
Though I have made my own bread for the most part, I have been making mostly the white variety - Italian bread, baguettes and similar loaves. A doctor friend suggested that multi-grain breads were the easiest way to add fiber to our diets.
So off I went to the kitchen to experiment. I tried various nuts and seeds. I tried a couple of different flours.
Some were good. Some, not so much.
This morning's effort was really good...a little nutty, soft on the inside with a crispy crust on the outside. And lots of multi-grain goodness throughout.
Give this a try. It's perfectly good alone, but you can slather on some butter or goat cheese for a special treat.

Multi-Grain Bread

3 cups of flour, wholemeal, white or a mixture (I added rye for the added nutty flavor)
1 (or less) extra cup of flour for kneading
1 ½ teaspoons of yeast
1 tablespoon of honey
1 cup of mixed whole grains, nuts and seeds (barley, flaxseed, even lentils are good)
1 cup of water (more or less)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of olive oil

•A few hours before or the night before, put your cup of grains, seeds and nuts into a sieve and rinse well. Dump them into a bowl and cover them with water, remembering grains swell when they're soaked — aim for about a cup of water, but a little less or more can be compensated for in the kneading process. Leave the grains to soak.

•The next morning, mix the flour and the yeast together in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Dump in the undrained grains and add the oil, the apple cider vinegar and the honey.

•Mix it all into a dough. If it’s very sloppy, add more flour into the mix before turning the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes.

•Let the dough rest for five minutes, then add the salt and knead for five to ten more minutes. By this stage it should no longer be sticky.

•Grease a large bowl, plop the dough in, turn it over to cover all the dough in oil, cover with a towel and leave it to rise until doubled.

•Punch down the dough and shape as desired.

•When dough has doubled in size, sprinkle the surface with water and then with Kosher salt. Put it in a cold oven, and then turn oven to 350º and bake for 40-50 minutes. 

Vegetarian