Spiced Granola Breakfast Bowl

Here is my go-to recipe for delicious homemade granola. I like to make breakfast bowls with it. It takes a bit of time to bake the granola, but you can make a big batch and munch on it over the week.

Ingredients

Granola

• 2.5 cups of rolled oats
• 2.5 cups of rice krispies cereal
• 1 cup of sliced almonds
• 1 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts, pecans or cashews
• 1/2 cup of maple syrup
• 1/2 cup of canola oil
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of raisins, dried cherries or dried blueberries
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Breakfast Bowl (2 Servings)

• 1 sliced banana
• 1 diced apple
• 8 oz greek yogurt
• ground cinnamon
• honey
• granola

Directions

Granola

1. Preheat the oven to 250 F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, spices and salt.
4. Combine both mixtures and pour onto parchment paper lined sheet pans. Spread the granola out evenly in a single layer.
5. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 30 minutes to achieve an even color.

Breakfast Bowl

1. Mix the fruit together and split the fruit between two bowls.
2. Spoon the yogurt over each bowl (about 4 oz per serving).
3. Pour some granola over the top.
4. Sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with honey.

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Fruit Tart Experiment

I tried to make a fruit tart. Unfortunately the custard did not set properly and it turned into fruit tart soup. It still tasted nice, and it certainly looks nice. Back to the drawing board.

Lime Rice

Fluffy, fragrant basmati rice tossed with roasted, buttery cashews and finished with bright citrus notes from the limes – what’s not to love? This rice ticks a lot of boxes for me; you get a number of flavor profiles expertly combined:

• sour: limes
• buttery: cashews
• floral: turmeric, cilantro, ginger
• roasted: mustard seeds, urad dal
• earthy: curry leaves

The order you cook the ingredients matters for this one – certain items take no time to cook, and others take a bit of coaxing.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups of cooked basmati rice
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
• 1 in piece of ginger, minced
• 20 curry leaves
• a bunch of cilantro, chopped
• juice from 1/2 a lime (and more to taste)
• 1/2 cup halved cashews (can sub peanuts)
• salt to taste
• oil or butter to help the spices blossom

Directions

1. Pop the mustard seeds in a bit of oil or butter.
2. Add the ginger and nuts, turning frequently. Cook until the nuts are browned.
3. Add the turmeric, hing, dal, and curry leaves. Cook until the dal is lightly browned.
4. Fold in the rice; careful not to turn too frequently or the grains will break.
5. Fold in the lime juice and cilantro. Add salt to taste. Adjust the lime juice as necessary.

Daikon Miso Ramen

This was inspired by a miso ramen recipe with a sundubu jjigae base, and the garlicky trumpet mushrooms come from my recent paella attempt. It’s a winner. Get your bib out, this is a slurper.

There’s so much going on in this dish, and all the flavors are married pretty well. My favorite parts:

• the garlicky trumpet mushrooms stand out despite being immersed in a soupy broth because they were browned in a separate skillet
• the daikon adds tremendous depth to the broth
• there’s something about well cooked green onions that really gets my goat (maybe because it reminds me of eating Vietnamese scallions in oil)
• the chili oil at the end is a serendipitous spicy spoof

Servings: 2

Ingredients

Base

• 500 ml water
• 1 cup of diced daikon
• 1 tbsp capers
• 3-4 tbsp miso paste
• 1/2 a sheet of kombu, cut into strips
• 4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• salt to taste

Vegetables

• 6 trumpet mushrooms, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 green onions, sliced

Toppings, etc.

• fried tofu
• chopped coriander
• 2 portions of cooked ramen noodles
• chili oil (good god, I love this stuff)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients for the base in a stock pot. Simmer this on medium heat, covered. This should cook for about 30 minutes.
2. In a skillet, heat the sesame oil on medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sautee until the water evaporates.
3. Add the garlic to the skillet. Turn the mushrooms a few times to get an even browning on all sides.
4. Add the green onions to the skillet and cook until they wilt and a nice fond develops on the pan.
5. Add the vegetables to the stock pot. Ladle a bit of broth into the skillet to loosen the fond and pour that brilliant flavor back into the stock pot.
6. Simmer all ingredients for another 10 minutes.
7. Ladle the vegetables and broth over a portion of cooked noodles.
8. Top with whatever toppings you fancy.

Color-me-a-postcard

What’s wrong with the colored pencils, you might ask… Yes, a dog was chewing on them. Of course.

I was recently in Stockholm and picked up a pack of coloring post cards. I think this is my new favorite past-time.