Chocolate Maple Granola with Quinoa and Cranberries
This week I took a stand against the breakfast industrial complex. Sunday for breakfast, I thought I’d go carnivorous, and ate a plate heaped high with Amish summer sausage. In honor of meatless Monday, I thought I’d swing vegetarian, and polished off a bowl of leftover garlicky lentil salad with goat cheese. Tuesday at 6am, I started to worry that I might not be getting my daily serving of fruits and vegetables, and munched away on snow peas, carrots, and bell peppers while I was getting ready for work. Don’t worry, I also ate string cheese for protein! This morning I was out of time and thinking that I might want to dip towards the sweet side, unfortunately things got a bit sticky when I tried to juggle spoonful’s of Nutella while driving. Paul, no stranger to my breakfast rebellions, calmly continued eating his grape nuts. Now that I’ve gotten that all out of system, I am ready for a spiffed-up breakfast classic. So when I got home from work today, I made a big batch of Chocolate Maple Granola with Quinoa and Cranberries. This chocolaty, crunchy granola is somewhere between breakfast and dessert, a good place to be in my mind, and with the combination of nuts, oats, and quinoa, provides a complete protein rich meal that keeps me energized through the whole day.
Yield: Approximately 7 cups
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups oats, old fashioned rolled
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
- 3/4 cup coconut, shredded & unsweetened preferably
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 250.
- In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients (oats, quinoa, walnuts, coconut, brown sugar, and salt) until fully incorporated.
- In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup, oil, cocoa powder and vanilla. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and no lumps remain.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until the chocolate mixture is well distributed.
- Pour the granola onto 2 sheet pans (clean-up is much easier if you put down silicone baking sheets or parchment paper).
- Press the mixture down firmly so that it forms a fairly solid even mass, this will help it to clump later.
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, rotate baking sheets half way through the bake time to ensure even browning. I do not stir mine while it is baking in order to maximize the clumping.
- Cool 15 minutes. Once cooled, add the dried cranberries and chocolate chips (if you are using them). Eat the granola straight-up or served with yogurt, milk, ice cream, cottage cheese, anything goes!
Note: This granola keeps well in the freezer for up to one month.
Chewy Coconut Honey Granola
Madeline's grandparents from Indiana arrived for a visit this week. It was lovely support to have in the midst of our coordination and response to Hurricane Mathew. With grandparents here to watch Madeline in the early morning hours, we made a big batch of Chewy Coconut Honey Granola to feed the early risers. This Chewy Coconut Honey Granola is our favorite here in Haiti. It is dead simple to make, and a fantastic balance between sweet and salty with a satisfying chew.
Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal
Mornings around our house typically involve a lot of bleary-eyed animal wrangling with infrequent interludes of serene calm involving both breakfast and the news. Last week, Paul upped the ante when he started classes for his second Masters degree, this one in Public Health. Between full time work, a 2 hour commute each day and now evening classes, we needed a new weekday breakfast strategy. Enter Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal in jars. In this smartly conceived dish, Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal is cleverly baked up in small canning jars, which, when cooled, can be lidded and refrigerated for up to a week for later reheating. This is a winner breakfast that we warm-up in the morning with a dash of milk, perfect for eating on the go. For those of you who are unfamiliar with baked oatmeal, it is somewhere between a less sweet fruit crisp and porridge (oatmeal) and thanks to being chock full of whole grains and nuts, it makes for a substantial breakfast. We found the addition of strawberry and rhubarb at the bottom of the jar to be a good incentive to keep digging into our baked oatmeal. Warmly spiced with cinnamon and orange, Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal is a filling, healthy, and make-ahead way to tackle morning meals for busy week-days.
Dark Chocolate Pretzel Granola Bars
I have a family brimming with athletes; there are triathaloning uncles, cyclist aunts, a few who even go to iron man extremes, there are high jumping cousins, long distance winning boys and record setting girls. This weekend is the Pittsburgh Marathon, where over 30, 000 people will race through our beautiful city, up hills, over bridges and across the three rivers. Paul and I, along with our hounds, will be there to cheer on my sister as she continues the family tradition of athleticism and runs the half-marathon! In the spirit of pre-race carb loading, (and middle of the race snacking for the loyal fans), we offer you these delicious dark chocolate-pretzel granola bars. These granola bars are infinitely more delicious and healthy then their store-bought peers. I like to make a big batch of granola bars and freeze them individually wrapped. So while others race, jump, bike and swim, we will be happily cheering and snacking on these tasty bars!
Hearty Quinoa & Chickpea Salad
Paul and I work at the same hospital, and often get to eat our lunches together. This also means that we both share equally in the misery that is a bad lunch day. A few weeks ago, one memorably mediocre lunch involved a leftover potato soup, which turned a nasty viscous texture when reheated. Disgusted, we foraged in our desks and put together a 'desk picnic' of stale pretzels and pastel mints, that tasted faintly of the ‘spring grass’ candle they were sitting beside in my desk drawer. Shuddering at the thought of that big batch of potato soup waiting at home as future lunches, I went on a lunch-making-blitz. My goal was a flavorful and colorful mix of filling grains, beans, vegetables, herbs, nuts and cheese that would energize us throughout the day. I started experimenting and prepping big bunches of grains, beans, veggies and vinaigrettes on the weekends for ready-made lunches for the week. This recipe for Hearty Quinoa and Chickpea Salad is a delicious variation that we have been happily eating all week.
Maple Granola
When getting ready for guests, we often whip up a batch of our favorite granola. Its a crowd favorite, easy to make in large batches, and it smells great baking (while you rush around cleaning up the house)! As side benefits, it stores well in the freezer for several months, makes an excellent last minute host gift, and serves as a handy snack.
