My Best Granola

If there is a better combination than yogurt, fruit and granola, I haven't found it. In my breakfast fantasies come true, thick, creamy, tangy Greek yogurt provides a base for tart and sweet fresh berries, while crunchy, sweet and salty granola offers a delightful contrast in flavor and texture.

Granola is PRICEY! There are a few brands I really like, but I can't justify buying a small bag for $4, when I can make pounds of granola for much less.

Once you know the basics of granola making, your imagination and pantry are your only limits. I started making my own a couple of years back, and honestly, I don't use a recipe anymore. I have two versions: a molasses one and a maple-almond butter one, but I never measure or use the recipes.

It isn't a science. You need oil, sweetener, some dried fruit, nuts, seeds and maybe some spices.

I prefer molasses or maple syrup for my sweetener, coconut oil to crisp it up, and plenty of ground flax and chia seeds for nutrition and flair.

Most often, I make the almond butter-maple granola. It's really easy.

Maple-Almond Butter Granola

Ingredients:
1/2 c maple syrup

1/4 c coconut oil

1/4 c almond butter

1 T cinnamon (or more if you prefer your granola to have a stronger cinnamon flavor)

2 1/2 c. rolled oats

1/4 c ground flax

1/4 c chia seeds

1/2 c chopped nuts/seeds (almonds, walnuts, pepitas)

1/4 c unsweetened coconut

1/2 c mixed dried fruit (cranberries, blueberries, raisins)

liberal sprinkle coarse salt

Directions:

Mix maple syrup, coconut oil and almond butter together. If your coconut oil is at room temperature, you might need to melt it first.

Mix oats, coconut, and cinnamon together, then add to wet ingredients.

Pour onto a baking sheet in an even layer. (I use a silicone baking sheet liner, but you can coat the pan with nonstick cooking spray if you prefer.) Bake at 300 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. I like my granola to be somewhat "raw."

Immediately upon removing the granola from the oven, add the chia, flax, seeds/nuts and dried fruit. (The fruit swells and gets sticky in the oven, and raw nuts/seeds retain more of their nutrition.)

Add a sprinkle of kosher salt and toss well. The salt really brings out the sweetness and other flavors. Makes 15 1/4-cup servings!

Calories: 197.5
Total Fat: 11.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.3 g
Protein: 4.0 g

I gave away this granola to friends and family this year. It was a big hit!

veggie meatballs

My latest obsession is veggie meatballs. My first inspiration was Valerie Williams of Five Star Foodies, which is the subject of my column on Wednesday. She's coming out with a veggie burger made from artichokes and cashew flour. Unfortunately, I have a cashew allergy. A few days later, I had one of the best falafels I've had in a long time, at Jordan Valley around the corner from work. And then this morning, I caught an episode of Bobby Flay's "Throwdown." The challenge? Spaghetti and meatballs.
I set to work. I got a new grinder for Christmas, so now one is strictly for coffee and the other is for grains, seeds and spices. I tend to push the limits of my appliances and have burned the motors out on a couple of gadgets already. I was surprised that my little grinder could tackle chickpeas, and soon I had a batch of chickpea flour. (Later, I realized that lentils are far easier to grind and substituted lentil flour for chickpea flour.)
Veggie-ball No. 1
2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
1/2 c chickpea flour*
1/4 bell pepper
1/4 onion
1 teaspoon harissa (a North African spice blend)
In a food processor, place chickpeas, pepper and onion. pulse until a coarse paste forms. Add the chickpea flour and spices, then pulse again until well mixed.

Shape balls and refrigerate for a few hours to allow them to set.
Veggie-balls No. 2
2 cups chickpeas, soaked overnight
1/2 c lentil flour
1/4 bell pepper
1/2 onion
1/2 jalapeno pepper
1 t ginger
3 cubes frozen cilantro (or handful of fresh)
3 cloves garlic
1 carrot, roughly chopped
Combine all ingredients except flour in food processor; pulse until a coarse paste forms. Add flour and pulse again until well-incorporated. Shape into balls and refrigerate so balls can set.
Veggie loaf
6 slices dark rye bread
1 egg
3 small carrots, chopped
1/2 onion
1/4 bell pepper
1 t dried oregano
8 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3 cloves garlic
Pulse veggies and garlic in food processor until well chopped. Add bread and spices, pulse again. Add egg and pulse until mixed. Place in greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes, then top with pureed tomatoes or ketchup and bake another 10 minutes.
This tastes deceptively like meatloaf!

*Place dried beans or legumes in a clean coffee grinder and pulse until a powder forms.

Back from extinction

OK, so I exaggerate. I'm fine. I've just been busy. I'm now a business reporter, which seems to be more mentally taxing on me than copy editing was. I think it's because reporting is something new, and it's something that doesn't come naturally to me. In the mean time, I've been cooking. A few recipes:

Easiest fat-free pasta sauce ever:

Handfuls of basil

few sprigs fresh oregano or two pinches dried

2 green zebra tomatoes (or any tomato, really)

1 clove garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Stick it in the blender or use an immersion blender (my favorite kitchen tool)

30 seconds later, and TA-DA!!! Pasta sauce. Pour over whole wheat pasta. (Regular pasta -- I'm SO over it!)

Chickpeas rock!

Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas, then shake them well to dry. Sprinkle with 1T cumin, a pinch of salt and a few cranks of the pepper mill. Either cook over medium-high heat or roast at 400 degrees until crispy. Drizzle with olive oil if you want. Or not. These are a favorite snack of mine!

Monday night: tempeh tacos

I tend to hoard groceries. For a single woman, I eat and buy WAY too much. I might eat a somewhat limited diet, according to some people, but I eat A LOT! Way too much, I think. I get so excited about cooking when I go to the grocery that I purchase a surplus. I'm pretty good about eating the fresh veggies that I buy, but I stock up on surplus items. (Don't even ask me how many boxes of Silk Unsweetened Soymilk, bags of assorted grains or cans of chickpeas I have in my pantry!)
Tempeh is not a protein that I have much experience with yet; I'm still experimenting. As a result, a block will tend to sit in my fridge for weeks until I use it. I admit; I'm still a bit cautious when using it.
I was feeling experimental Monday night, so I decided to try tempeh tacos. They were a success! Ok, so tempeh "tacos" is a misnomer; Mexican-style tempeh would be more accurate.

Mexican-style tempeh
1/2 package tempeh (I used three-grain), minced/crumbled
1/4 c onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, any color, chopped
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/2 c Trader Joe's mole sauce (or to taste... a shortcut, I know! sorry!)
drizzle olive oil
3 tablespoons water
The tempeh cooking:
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and add the tempeh. Stir frequently and allow it to brown and crisp a bit, maybe two minutes. Then add the peppers, pepper flakes and onions and cook until vegetables are a bit brown. Add the mole sauce and stir well. Add 3 tablespoons water and cook until bubbly.
I served this with 1/2 cup of a whole-grain blend that I cooked with handful of cilantro (add at the end), garlic (1 clove minced during cooking) and 2 tablespoons lemon juice (at the end).
I added a slice of cheddar soy "cheese," which is a bit processed in its flavor for my liking. I served a salad on the side and added Trader Joe's cilantro-lime salsa and fat-free Greek yogurt to all.
Yum! I ran out of fresh tomatoes or I would have added some. Oh, and this would have been fabulous with some avocado or guacamole.

pasta with a history and a reunion

PJ just returned from a three-week trip to Europe. We hadn't seen each other since the wine tasting in February and hadn't talked, except for a text message from him when he was in Paris. (He'd eaten at Un Zebre a Montmartre, where we had a perfect meal the year before.) We have a long history that involved many delicious meals on three continents. There was a sushi debacle in Korea: A couple of weeks after I arrived, PJ invited me to go to Incheon, a city on the West (Yellow) Sea, with him and his friends. We decided we'd go for a nice sushi dinner. Instead of letting the woman who could read and understand Korean read the menu and select -- and I had a guidebook with a menu reader in it! -- they decided to pick and choose.
And that's the story of how we ate skate sushi, along with other exotic sea creatures, such as sea cucumber. It was the only time I'd ever wished for plain old California rolls.
We reunited over buckwheat crepes in Bourgogne, then ate a mediocre, cliche French meal my last night in Paris.
I slaved over three kinds of cookies when I met his family, then served pistachio-crusted salmon and haricots-verts for his birthday.
I'm rambling...
For a year after college, I dated a guy named Andrew. He was a bit of a food snob, which helped me hone my cooking skills. With my erratic schedule, we often ate at home, and I created multi-course feasts for special occasions. That was before I cared so much about nutrition, back when I ate meat.
The one time he made me dinner, he served me this pasta. I was a bit skeptical at first. Canned tuna? (Martha Stewart ran a story this week on canned tuna, which reminded me of this recipe.) He was so proud of his creation, and for good reason. It was delicious!

Mediterranean pasta

1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1T olive oil
1 anchovy filet
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 28-ounce can tomatoes, preferably plum tomatoes with no salt added
1 can Tonno tuna packed in olive oil
1 handful kalamata olives
1 t capers, drained
salt and pepper
handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
Parmesan cheese
fettucini, 1/2 package
Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil, using a large pan over medium-low heat. Add the anchovy filet (optional) and stir, breaking it up. Add the red pepper flakes, then the tomatoes. Carefully break up the tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the olives. Cook 10 minutes more. Just before serving, add the tuna and the capers. Toss the al dente pasta, mix well and sprinkle with parsley and cheese.
I served it with a salad and a Dijon vinaigrette:
2 t Dijon mustard
2T red wine vinegar
6T olive oil
pinch dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Whisk together vinegar, mustard and thyme. While still whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mustard acts as an emulsifier and helps keep the dressing from breaking.

p.s. this makes me happy

This makes me happy. Saturday, I reached the checkout at Trader Joe's only to realize that I'd left my canvas and mesh shopping bags in the car. So I apologized to the cashier -- and btw, there was no line and I would have waited in line again without complaint -- and I walked out to my car at the far end of the parking lot and grabbed my reusable bags. I felt like a good person.
Things that anger me at the grocery store:
*double bagging
*cashiers that a.) look at you strangely if you ask for paper bags; b.) look at you even more strangely when you say you brought your own bag
*people who are too lazy to walk their carts back to the
cart corral
I'm happy tonight, because I've worked out and eaten well this week, so no more complaints.
Easy recipe:
Korean-style spinach
1 c frozen spinach or 2 c fresh spinach
a few drops sesame oil
1 capful tamari or reduce-sodium soy sauce
a few shakes red pepper flakes
a hearty shake of sesame seeds
Nuke until hot. Stir eat. Spinach=calcium, vitamin K, iron; sesame seeds=(The seeds are rich in manganese, copper, and calcium (90 mg per tablespoon for unhulled seeds, 10 mg for hulled), and contain Vitamin B1 (thiamine) and Vitamin E (tocopherol). They contain powerful antioxidants called lignans, which are also anti-carcinogenic. They also contain phytosterols, which block cholesterol production. Sesame contains one lignan unique to it called sesamin. The nutrients of sesame seeds are better absorbed if they are ground or pulverised before consumption)

No-bake cookies

Monday night I was craving chocolate, and I started to make macaroons. Unfortunately, I was out of eggs, so I had to improvise. Now that I have soynut butter, I am trying to explore more recipes that require peanut butter.
(Ooh, note to self: Soynut curry sauce!)
No-bake cookies
1/2 c oat bran or whole oats
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 c coconut, unsweetened
2 T soynut butter
2 T flax seeds

Melt the chocolate chips and soynut butter together over low heat or in a microwaveable bowl. Mix in the oats and coconut, then spread onto a silicon baking sheet. Sprinkle with flax seeds.
Allow to cool, then slice.

Skinny lasagna

The word tofu is a turnoff for many people, so I try to avoid using it when discussing dishes.

Two weekends ago, my fridge and cupboards were pretty bare but I wanted something warm and filling. I've been trying to make a dent in the random food in my freezer, so I pulled out a few things. Cooking need not be exact; this is a prime example of that. Mix, match, learn what flavors and ingredients work well together.

The finished project:

It was surprisingly good. Some of my experiments are a bit scary!
from pantry:
no-bake lasagna noodles
1 small can diced tomatoes
spices (1 t oregano, 1/2 t red pepper flakes, dried garlic, parsley, etc. This was a mix I bought it Italy last year.)
olive oil
from the black hole that is my freezer, so duh, thaw them:
roasted red peppers (1/2 cup, chopped)
basil pesto (a few tablespoons)
frozen spinach (thawed and drained well)
from the fridge:
Pecorino Romano
1 package firm tofu
some Greek-style plain yogurt

Directions:

Mix some of the spices into the drained spinach. Drain the tofu and slice horizotally (ideally in 1/4 inch slices). Place between dish towels, sprinkle with spices and press well to dry it. Drain some of the juice from the tomatoes. Mix the pesto and the tomatoes together.
Grease a loaf pan with olive oil. Place a spoonful of tomatoes in the bottom, top with a lasagna noodle, then alternate tofu slices, spinach, tomatoes and yogurt. Top with a sprinkling of Pecorino Romano cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Allow to rest 10 minutes, then slice. The tofu has the same texture as ricotta cheese, and the yogurt provides the mouth feel of cheese. The Pecorino on top offers saltiness. I like lasagna, and when I'm in the mood for it, there's no substitute. But this dish is a nice take on that rich dish. it's low-fat and very healthful. As the picture shows, itt was a bit soupy, so I might press the tofu better next time. But it was delicious!

what a week

I'm home on a Friday night, loving every moment of my sloth. I've had a long but good week, and I deserve some time to veg.
Tonight's dinner was less than nutritious: baked potato wedges and a Boca cheeseburger.
Food 911 featured Israeli food a few weeks ago, and a woman learned how to make falafel. I decided to alter the falafel recipe a bit and then bake it instead of frying it. I served it with a spicy curry sauce and some yummy steamed veggies.
The recipe:
2 cups chickpeas, dried
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/4 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
water to cover
Place chickpeas and spices in a bowl, cover with water and allow to soak in the fridge at least overnight. Drain and reserve water before proceeding.
In a food processor, add:
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 c onion or 1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped
1 egg
Pulse until roughly chopped, then add the chickpeas and pulse until a mealy looking paste forms. Add a little cooking water and the egg, pulse again.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with olive oil, pack in the chickpea mixture and bake 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Slice and serve.
I've also served it with a simple tzatziki sauce or just plain yogurt and sliced tomatoes.
Chickpeas are my new favorite legume/carb.

Tangy, hot, sour and oh so good

I hate cardio some days. Tonight, as I was sweating away on the Precor machine, I started fantasizing about dinner. Lunch was three-grain rice with edamame, tamari and sesame seeds, so was starving by the time I finished working out. My mind drifted from Korean food to Indian to Thai... or something like it. Mmm, hot and sour soup!
A quick stop at the grocery store for carrots and ginger, and I was ready to cook. The skanky store near my house only had silken tofu, not firm tofu, so I used mushrooms instead. I added a few odds and ends from the pantry. A success, with plenty of leftovers. This recipe could easily serve four.
An explosion of flavor in my mouth! Mmm!!!
Doesn't it look delicious?
Here's the recipe:
Hot and sour soup
1 box chicken or vegetable broth
1 can light coconut milk
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t red pepper flakes*
2 t rice vinegar*
2 t soy sauce*
1 t tamari*
1 t fish sauce*
1 lime or lemon
1 red pepper, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 package fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 t vegetable oil
1 small can bamboo shoots
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 handful cilantro, chopped
* Start with half the amount of these seasonings, then add to taste. Adjust as you like.
In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat, then add the mushrooms, carrots and peppers. Add the hot pepper flakes, garlic and half the scallions and cook for two more minutes over medium heat. Don't allow to develop color. Add the ginger, soy sauce/tamari, fish sauce and lemon/lime juice. Cook one minute, then add the bamboo shoots.
Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add the coconut milk and cilantro, stirring well.
Serve with rice and sprinkle with remaining scallions.

butternut squash

OK, so resolving to update this blog more often/commit to posting recipes and pics... In the spirit of that, here is gnocchi with sage-infused butternut squash sauce. Garnished with toasted squash seeds and fried sage.
1 package gnocchi
1 butternut squash, peeled, cubed, seeds cleaned and set aside (about 2 cups)
1 bunch sage
1 shallot, minced or grated using a Microplane zester
1 glass white wine
salt, pepper
1T butter
2T olive oil, plus extra for frying sage
Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Place a large pot of water to boil. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the shallot until golden, about 2 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add another tablespoon of oil and the butternut squash, cooking until tender and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile chop sage to make 2 tablespoons. Add the sage to the squash, cook one minute, then return the shallots to the pan, turn the heat up a bit and add the wine. Deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits from the bottom. Allow to simmer for a couple of minutes. When wine has mostly evaporated, add the butter.
Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to create a smooth sauce. (By now the water will have reached a boil. Add gnocchi and some salt, and boil until gnocchi float, 3-4 minutes. Drain, but reserve a bit of cooking liquid to thin sauce if needed.)
For fried sage: In a small saute pan, fry large sage leaves in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. The leaves will turn forest green in color. Cook for about 30 seconds on each side. If they break, that's OK.
For toasted seeds: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread clean, dry seeds on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast about 5-10 minutes, depending on how many seeds you have. Careful not to burn them!
To serve, mix gnocchi into sauce and stir to coat. If the sauce seems thick, add a bit of cooking liquid or even vegetable stock. (*This could become a soup if you thinned it with chicken or vegetable stock!) Garnish with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, the toasted seeds and a few fried sage leaves.