Rice/Grains

Easy Granola

April 23, 2012
Shannon
2 comments
almonds, coconut, dried fruit, food, oatmeal

Spur of the moment trips are always the best. I was at work on Thursday when I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and take Friday off. When I talked to my friend who lives close by, she said she was headed to Chicago over the weekend for a meeting. “Take me with you!” I exclaimed. Next thing I know, I booked a flight and jetted off to my favorite city for an impromptu weekend trip. After I’d packed and was killing time before heading to the airport, I decided to make a quick snack that would not only be great for the flight but could easily be tossed in our bags as we roamed the Second City.

Easy Granola is nutty, slightly sweet, slightly salty and well, easy! Oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, and coconut are mixed together with syrup and a little canola oil and baked until golden brown. Dried fruit added at the end provides a sweet, tart, and chewy delicious touch. I used a combination of almonds and pecans since I had them on hand so feel free to use any combination of nuts like walnuts, macadamia, cashews, etc. I also used less coconut since I only had sweetened coconut on hand and didn’t want this too sweet. I used dried cherries but any dried fruit – cranberries, blueberries, apricots – would be delicious. And lastly, I substituted blue agave syrup for the maple syrup since I had that on hand also. This is such a versatile recipe that any combination of nuts, fruit and syrup with make this a delicious snack. Keep this stored in an airtight container to eat as a snack or toss in with yogurt or over ice cream. This kept us going all weekend!

The ingredients:

Combine all of the ingredients, except dried fruit, in a pan or bowl and toss until well combined. (I didn’t read the directions correctly and added the dried fruit here. It worked out okay but try to add the fruit at the end.)

Spread mixture onto a large baking sheet and bake in a 350° F oven for 25 minutes.

Toss the mixture once during baking so the edges don’t burn.

Add in the dried fruit and allow mixture to cool before storing in an airtight container.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

Pecans and almonds
Blue agave syrup
Sunflower seeds

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Real Simple Magazine

Vegetable Korma

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Did anyone else eat just a little too much Easter candy over the weekend? I certainly did. Despite having enough willpower to bypass all of the pastel-colored chocolates adorning the grocery store shelves over the last several weeks, I eventually succumbed at the last minute and scooped up two (yes, two!) Reese’s peanut butter eggs and a bag of Whoppers malted-milk eggs – all of which were eaten over the weekend. Not only that but I spent Saturday night with some friends eating way too much pizza, chips and dip, and cheese and crackers while we watched the last Flyers game of the season and then the second Phillies game of the season. This was definitely the worst hit my diet has taken over the last 2 months so I’m getting back on track – pronto!

I wanted to make a vegetable dish that would last me most of the week so I pulled out this recipe for Vegetable Korma which I’ve been eager to make. Potatoes, cauliflower, and edamame are cooked in a creamy but spicy coconut milk sauce and served over rice. Cumin, cayenne pepper, turmeric and cinnamon make this is a flavorful dish that is satisfying enough without making you miss any meat (use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to easily make this a vegetarian meal). To make this even more healthy, I chose to eat this with cooked quinoa instead of rice but in all honesty, this dish would good eaten as-is without either. It’s dishes like this which pack a flavor punch that help make it pretty easy to watch what you are eating. Now all I have to do is steer myself to the produce section at the market and away from the clearance Easter candy!

The ingredients:

Sauté onion in butter over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add in ginger and garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, cayenne, turmeric and cinnamon and sauté for 1 minute.

Stir in potato (and edamame if it is frozen; if it’s not frozen, wait to add in with the cauliflower). Combine chicken broth, flour, and coconut milk and add to the pan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmering for 8 minutes.

Stir in 3 cups cauliflower, and simmer for 9 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Serve over rice or quinoa if you like.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

Quinoa

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Sausage-Spinach Quinoa Bowl

I admit that I’m late to the quinoa party. Quinoa recipes are everywhere now and I’d been so curious about this superfood for a while but had never tried it. My grocery store doesn’t carry it so I finally went to another grocery store slightly farther away that always seems to carry whatever it is that my grocery store doesn’t. When the check-out girl saw my bag of quinoa, she asked me if it was good, saying her mom wanted to try it for weight loss. I came home and made a batch just to keep on hand to eat as a side in place of my usual brown rice. Even though brown rice is good for your diet, quinoa is better because it’s a complete protein (meaning it has all of the essential amino acids we need). People say it has a nutty taste but I think it tastes more like corn which isn’t at all what I expected.

I wanted to try a recipe using quinoa in place of rice and since the spinach in my produce drawer was close to going bad and I needed to cook the leftover turkey sausage from the gratin I made earlier this week, the perfect dish to make was Sausage-Spinach Quinoa Bowl. With hot turkey sausage, spinach, and quinoa, this dish came together very quickly since I’d already cooked the quinoa. (Rinse the quinoa thoroughly. Bring one part quinoa, two parts water to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.) The spiciness of the turkey sausage pairs terrifically with the bitter spinach and the red pepper flake gives it the slightest hint of kick. The quinoa made for a great substitute for the rice which is exactly what I was hoping it would do. I look forward to making this superfood more in the future!