Quinoa-Nut Granola

Here's my latest master granola recipe. It changes every so often, and this new incarnation features quinoa. I'm not sure if I've ever posted a granola recipe before. I always felt that there were too many in the world. It's such a simple thing! Why do we need so many recipes? Well, just like many simple things the slightest adjustment does change things. And we all like to have things just so, don't we?

They say adding applesauce adds a clump factor to granola, but I'm not sure if I entirely buy that. I do like adding it for sweetness and texture though. I think the best thing to do to induce clumping is to let the granola sit after baking until it cools. I usually add a mixture of honey and maple syrup to my granola; honey for sweetness and maple syrup for a deeper flavor. Keep in mind that if you use just honey it will be a tad sweeter than maple. And of course, you can use sugar if you want, which will put the sweetness power somewhere in between the two. I've taken to adding a bit of almond extract to almost everything these days because I love it so much. FYI to quinoa lovers: I have tried to up the quinoa in this recipe and it gets too birdseed-y. You might like that, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Speaking of things being just so, I don't put any fruit in my granola anymore; I like straight-up nuts. This seems silly to admit, but it had never crossed my mind until I tried this guest-post recipe at Eating Rules from Winnie at Healthy Green Kitchen. The post contains not only good advice on saving money on unprocessed food but a very reliable granola recipe to boot that has only nuts. Aha! I do like fruit with my granola, however: my favorite breakfast these days is a bit of yogurt sprinkled with this granola, with a spoonful of concord grape jam. It's amazing how happy it makes me!

Quinoa-Nut Granola

3 cups rolled oats

1 cups uncooked quinoa (I used equal parts red and white)

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2+ cups of nuts (I like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and slivered almonds)

½ cup applesauce

½ c. oil (olive, coconut or vegetable)

1 teaspoon vanilla (and/or 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract)

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey or sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Spread in a cookie tray lined with parchment paper and bake in a 300 degree oven for 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes until golden brown, and fragrant. I like to grind a little sea salt on top before it cools. Remember: let it cool fully!

Plum Conserve

I have been wanting to write a post for about a month now, but this amazing late summer/early fall we've been having in the Hudson Valley has me busy with other things. I'm not complaining! But today, as I soak in the hot sun--it's hitting 80 today--I realize we are very close to the end. I am almost done with closing the garden up, the fig trees have been replanted in their winter pots, and stink bugs are crawling everywhere. It's inevitable that every time we have a last burst of heat, some bug frenzy happens. Last year it was lady bugs, this year, stink bugs. I can feel it everywhere as I walk around my yard. The maples are turning yellow, the purple asters are lining the hill, the goldenrod surrounds the pond, and the bees are busily making haste. I have heard from various places that this year is going to be a snowy and cold winter. Have you noticed all the woolly bear caterpillars out this year? I am seeing them everywhere: fat black ones, little fuzzy black and brown ones, and one huge white one. I haven't seen so many in years.

There is a small cool breeze that underlies the heat of the sun today. It riffles the leaves, and they slowly fall, lazily coating the ground. The neighbor's rooster crows, and the buzz of the bugs seems muffled. Birds call, and dogs whine, chainsaws buzz and trucks lumber by. It's lazy but focused, it seems. The word portentous comes to mind. Everything seems to remind me that quite soon I won't be sitting on the porch sipping a beet-carrot-apple-ginger juice in a t-shirt and shorts.

Even the preserving has slowed down a bit, although this batch of plum conserve is on the stove top as I write. Made with some gleaned tiny blue prune plums, I was looking to make something that was rich and cozy for the coming winter. I asked folks on my Facebook page what I should make, and there were a few good ideas! I have saved some plums to make the kuchen that Rosemary posted.

I adapted this from a recipe for Nutty Plum Conserve from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I removed a bit of sugar (and must admit, it still seems a bit sweet), used currants instead of raisins, and added Pisa liqueur, which is a nutty liqueur similar to Amaretto.

Plum Conserve
yields 5 half-pints, with a little extra for the fridge

2.5 pounds of blue prune plums, halved and pitted
2 cups sugar
1 cup dried currants
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 cup candied citrus peel
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup coarsely chopped mixed nuts
1/2 cup Pisa liqueur

If your plums are large, quarter them. If they are small, keep them halved. Put plums, sugar, currants, juices and peel in your jam pot and bring them to a boil. While this is cooking, soak the nuts in the liqueur. Let the plum mixture boil for about twenty minutes; they should foam up a bit, and then get glossy and thick. Add the nuts and liqueur, bring back to a boil, and cook for another ten minutes making sure not to scorch the bottom. Process for ten minutes.

Squash Nut Muffins (No sugar added)

I don't know what else to call these muffins. They are a riff on morning glory muffins, and I made them because I wanted a satisfying muffin with no added sugar. They have everything in them: squash, nuts, raisins, coconut, bananas and applesauce. And a bunch of other stuff. When I have one, I don't need to eat another thing for a while. They satisfy my sweet tooth even though they are not sweet. I've been noticing: the best thing about changing your sugar habit is that things don't need to be too sweet to calm your sweet tooth anymore.

I used two recipes to guide me in making these muffins. One is from Rebecca at Cakewalk, who made these carrot banana muffins which are very good, and the other was from Paleo Comfort Foods for morning glory muffins, which are also good but I would add the cider vinegar to make them a bit lighter. Do not leave out the vinegar! It activates the baking soda, and you won't taste it. Not only do these muffins have no added sugar, but they are also gluten free. By the by, I've been noticing an uptick in the paleo craze. Is it just me? Maybe I'm noticing it because it creates some interesting ideas in making desserts.

Squash Nut Muffins
(makes 12 muffins)

2 cups of nut meal (I used a blend of almonds, pecans and walnuts blended in my food processor)
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup raisins or dried currants

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

3 eggs
1 teaspoon of cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup of olive oil or coconut oil
1 cup of squash puree
1 small ripe banana
1/2 cup of applesauce, unsweetened
1-2 tablespoons of honey or brown rice syrup

Preheat oven to 325. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. (I usually don't do this, but for these muffins, I think it's worthwhile.)

Mix together dry ingredients (first five ingredients). Whisk up the eggs with the rest of the ingredients. Add the wet to dry quickly. Fill the muffin liners up to the top--they won't rise too much so they can be quite full. Bake them for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops have formed a golden shell.

Savoy Cabbage and Beet Salad

I've been eating my vegetables, really! But sometimes it gets hard to be inspired. After about a week of a bare cupboard (due to a bit of interstate traveling) I finally went shopping and felt re-invigorated. I was thinking some kind of winter salad. I bought this huge beet, which was a challenge to grate. My food processor wouldn't really budge on it. So, I did what I knew I should have done in the first place: use my old school Mouli grater. I love this thing.

Then, after lightly toasting them, I went old school on the walnuts.

While doing so, I imbibed: kitchen gin with grapefruit syrup and seltzer.

And then I sat down to this:

After slicing the cabbage, I blanched it and put it aside. After grating the beet, I tossed it with olive oil and pomegranate balsamic, salt and pepper. Put the beets on the cabbage (I kept them separate because you know how beets are) and topped with feta and walnuts. There were other things I was envisioning, but I just didn't have the time. Between teething and a looming bedtime, having a cocktail while making this was all I could do. But you know what? That's pretty good, all in all.