Great Grains

Although my parents deny ever being hippies, I distinctly remember spending the 70’s going to the health food store, making our own yogurt, eating carob (YUCK!), and stirring up big batches of granola…lots of granola.

Unlike the disdain I had for its cereal cousin, oatmeal, I have always loved granola.  It’s portable, nutritious, and delicious.

 

Sometimes the brands seen in grocery stores pop up on “worst cereal lists” for their unnaturally high calories, sugars, and fat grams.  These can also be pretty pricy, and I don’t always like the combos they offer (I’m not a fan of raisins and have a slight nut allergy).  While Trader Joes carries a couple brands that are to die for – the ginger, almond and cashew is amazing and the mango, passion was so different from the norm that I had to try it and loved it – I enjoy making my own.  It’s easy and its fun, the kids can help, and I make any flavor I decide and choose organic ingredients too.  Plus, when I double the batch and need to use two cookie sheets, I am able to customize each according to personal tastes (one kid likes almonds and the other doesn’t, my husband loves raisins and no one else does).

 

I think I found the original recipe in the 1994 Cook’s Illustrated annual, but I’ve added and subtracted enough that I now feel free to call it my own.

I buy my oats in the bulk section of the grocery store – nice thick rolled oats, not the thin, flaky quick or instant types that would not hold their own against the add-ins.  As for those, I try to match their amount with the quantity of oats.  For example: 3 cups of oats = 3 cups of extras.

The tasty bits I mix with the oats vary by my mood, what’s in my pantry, or what looks good in the other bulk food containers.  The last bunch I made had dried cranberries, slivered almonds, raw shelled sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds.  Other favorites around here include coconut, walnuts or pecans, banana chips smashed into bits, diced dried apricots, and dates.  The fun thing about making our own granola is that the flavors are limited only by our imagination – and what won’t scorch in the oven (so far, so good on that one though). 

The following recipe makes about twelve half-cup servings, but I usually double it and end up with enough for a few weeks.  I store it in a sealed container (my Lock & Lock containers work well) in the cupboard next to the Cheerios, and it seems to last for at least that long without tasting stale.

      

Great Granola

Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats

3 cups add-ins of your choice (choose raw unsalted nuts when possible, chop dried fruits into small, uniform sized bits)

1/4c honey

1/4c maple syrup (real stuff!)

4T canola oil

½ t cinnamon or powdered ginger (optional)

1t vanilla (optional)

Instructions:

-Heat oven to 325 degrees

-Combine oats and add-ins in large bowl

-Combine honey, maple syrup, and oil in small sauce pan.  Heat over medium heat (but do not boil) until combined.  Remove from heat.  Add spices and vanilla if desired.

-Pour liquid on top of oat mixture.  Immediately stir with wooden spoon or silicone spatula (works best) to combine.

-Scrape contents onto parchment lined cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.

-Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes stirring every 5 minutes for even toasting and to check for doneness.

-Remove pan when granola is lightly toasted and immediately spread out evenly on parchment or a cool cookie sheet.

-When completely cooled, eat and enjoy.  Store unused portion in airtight container for up to one month.

I think when the current blend is gone, I’ll have to make my own ginger cashew granola.  I’d also like to hear what creative combinations you’ve tried!  

Change of heart

Oatmeal, goatmeal, double-boatmeal.  I hate OATMEAL!  I grew up eating pasty, plain glops of oatmeal. every. single. morning.  Yuck.

I buy it in bulk now because my children love it, my husband loves it, and even the dogs love it (sometimes I let them “prewash” the pans before loading them in the dishwasher).  So, why couldn’t I learn to love it too?

 

Oats are nutritious (check out what the World's Healthiest Food page has to say about them).  The bran (the outer casing that protects the germ – the part that grows) is high in fiber and including oats in ones diet is thought to prevent heart disease and lower cholesterol, so this reformed breakfast skipper vowed to try.  But, first I had to do some research.

 

The oats used in oatmeal are Avena sativa – a member of the grass family grown for its nourishing seed.  Oats are sold for human consumption in several forms:

-Groats are hulled and cleaned whole grains.  In this case, oats.  They may be eaten as such but are more commonly found in their cut or rolled forms (oatmeal) or ground into oat flour (another story for another time). 

-Steel cut oats are whole grains cut into a few pieces that produce a hearty, chewy cereal but take the longest to prepare (upwards of 30 minutes).  

-Rolled oats (aka old-fashioned or regular) are the most common form used as breakfast cereal (five minute cooking time) as well as in baking (like my beloved oatmeal scotchie cookies!) 

-Quick oats are rolled extra thin to reduce cooking time to one minute and are best used to make pasty globs of mush (ok, ok, sometimes I use them in meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf.)

-Instant oats are akin to parboiled rice (and are just about as flavorful, or un-flavorful, I should say).  They are rolled thin and precooked and often found individually prepackaged and loaded with sugar.  I guess that’s better than nothing, but I still won’t eat them…or the aforementioned quick oats.

While I will choke down rolled oats on occasion, I've found steel cut oats to be delicious.  A popular (but expensive) brand is McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal.  I’ve tried them and I know people who swear by them, but I find the ones in the bulk section of the grocery store to be just as good (and usually less than $1 a pound).  I will say the McCann’s webpage is packed full of great information including this cool graphic  showing how steel-cut oats are produced and seven, yes seven, different cooking methods as seen here (who knew I could use my rice cooker?  I might have to try that sometime).  

Although I’ve prepared my steel-cut oats several ways (toasted in a bit of butter and cooked on the stove top is pretty good), I'll stick with my favorite method.  It seems to be the easiest and produces the best final texture.  And, I can start it before I go to bed at night and have breakfast ready when I wake!  

Overnight Oatmeal   

Ingredients:

-1 cup steel-cut oats

-3 cups water

-1 cup milk

-4T unsalted butter

-Optional – I let people dress up their own oatmeal after it’s cooked but any of these may be added prior to cooking: raisins, dried cranberries, figs, dried fruit, nuts, cinnamon, brown sugar, maple syrup.

Instructions:

Put all ingredients in a crockpot, stir to combine, set on low, and cook for 9 hours.  Easy-peasy!

(Makes 4-5 servings)

I've changed my mind about oatmeal and have included it in my breakfast repertoire. As a matter of fact, this morning I had a bowl topped with homemade granola - another totally acceptable rolled oat preparation - which I'll talk about later in the week.  (Stay tuned!)