Petit déj' des marmottes : Granola

R.G. 2011

 No one can debate how rewarding it is to enjoy something you've worked hard on. What's even more rewarding, however, is enjoying something you've worked hard on a day or two ago but which required almost no prep work the morning of (because rewarding or not, your breakfast shouldn't cost the price of your morning to sleep in). 

Seeds and flattened super-foods

Granola is heavenly -- but it gets a bad rap because it can so quickly go from something well-meaning on the health front, to metabolic poison in homemade (and, more frequently, commercial) recipes that load up on sugar and fat. It's hard for a granola-muncher to live up to their name these days -- but this has yet to shake me from the cause. This recipe goes light on the sugar, allowing most of the flavor to come from other ingredients, and it uses coconut oil, which is infinitely better for you than vegetable oil or canola oil. The rolled adzuki beans also add a punch of low-on-the-glycemic-index sweet and ups the protein and other nutrients. If you can't find rolled adzuki beans, try to get your hands on some other flattened super food, like millet, quinoa, spelt or chickpeas. (If you live in France try La Vie Claire -- they typically have all of these.)



Amaranth and blue cheese "risotto"

Amaranth "risotto"

I wanted the first recipe I posted to be a show-stopper.

But true to life and Murphy's law the recipe I had been dreaming about for almost a week never quite came to fruition. I mean, it was still good (really good ...) and definitely got points for being interesting, but we're aiming for incredible and this one didn't 100% make that mark. But there's so much potential ! Which is why this flawed recette is still totally post-worthy.* And who knows ? Any personal touch could be the one that changes a mediocre to recipe into a phenomenal one -- I'm including a list of notes and ideas for improvements. This is when thoughts are most appreciated by anyone compelled to try this premature recipe out !



Amaranth

Pan-glazed tempeh

Amaranth is super hearty, happy little seed that your body enjoys as much as your taste buds do and that jumps out all over the stove when you go to pour it into pot (fun, fun). When it cooks down it creates a super-velvety texture between the seeds, which is why it seemed perfect for a risotto-style dish.** We had it for lunch the other day with sauteed onions and mushrooms, a poached egg and heavy hand of Valentina.

Trying to figure out how I could up-grade a one-grain wonder to a hearty and sophisticated dish, I imagined finding something to enhance the creamy texture surrounding each seed and complementing the richness of the mushrooms and onions. Blue cheese came to mind -- well, because in the hamburger school of
thought, carmalized onions and mushrooms needs blue cheese ...