Easier-than-you-think Granola

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For some reason for years I’ve always bought granola from the store. Thinking it’s not worth my time to figure out how to make this myself while hating the amount of sugar is in these commercial products.

Then I came across this easy recipe and you can tailor it to your liking

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Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Rolled Oats

• 2 Cups of Nuts (I do Pistachios, Almond Slices, Pecan and Cashew)

• 1/3 Cup Coconut Flakes

• 1/3 Cup Cranberries unsweetened

• 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

• 1/2 Tbsp Honey (Can scale this up if you like it sweeter)

*Don’t sweat it if you don’t have all the nuts mentioned above. Variety will give you different texture and flavors, but as long as you don’t mind, any type of nuts will do!

**This will make a loose granola ; if you like granola with larger crunch that stick together, I think adding more honey will be what you need to bind them together

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil or silicon baking mat

2. Melt the coconut oil in a small heatproof bowl gently in the microwave, 7-10 seconds at a time. Then add the honey into the coconut oil, mix well. They might look a little separated, but it’s fine

3. Sprinkle the oats, nuts, coconut flakes and cranberries onto the baking sheet. Drizzle the coconut oil honey mixture onto the oats and nuts. Mix them gently to coat them as much as possible. If your oats look dull, then add a bit more coconut oil ; if it looks too shiny then add a bit more nuts or oats to avoid the granola tasting greasy. The nuts will release more oil during baking.

4. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, depending on the mixture of your nuts, this time will vary (i.e. Pecan tend to burn a lot easier). I find coconut flakes to be a good indicator, when the edges of the coconut flakes are brown, it’s ready!

Roast Carrots with Mozzarella and Toasted Pistachios

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You’ll be surprised how simple this recipe is and how complex the flavor and texture turn out!

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Ingredients:

• 6-7 Carrots, chopped to 2 inch length pieces, cut the thicker pieces in half lengthwise

• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil

• 1 1/2 Cup Mozzarella

• 2 Tsp Lemon Juice

• Pinch of Sea Salt Flakes (if not, regular fine salt will be fine)

• 1/4 Cup Pistachios, unsalted and raw

What’s Next:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

2. Lay all the carrot pieces in a deep baking dish or baking sheet with foil. Drizzle olive oil on the carrots and toss lightly to coat evenly

3. Roast pistachios until they are lightly golden brown, probably 5-10 minutes. This temperature is slightly higher than what it typically takes to roast pistachios, but since you’re already roasting carrots, why not be efficient. So make sure to keep an eye out

4. While pistachios are roasting, start roasting carrots for 25-30 minutes or until you can pierce through the carrots with a fork. Let cool for 2-3 minutes.

5. Drizzle lemon juice over the carrots and sprinkle some salt. Depending on the type of mozzarella you have, cut or rip them into ~1/2 inch bite size and toss over the carrots. Top up the dish with the roasted pistachios

Goma-e Spinach

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What to do when you have spinach and don’t want to be boring?

Here’s your answer

This recipe uses tahini to expedite process, instead of 4 more tbsps of sesame seeds

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Ingredients:

• 4 cups of Spinach

• 1 1/2 tbsp of Tahini

• 1/2 tbsp of Sesame seeds

• 1 tbsp of Soy Sauce

• 1 tbsp of Sugar

Optional:

• 1/2 tsp of Sake

• 1/2 tsp of Mirin

• Sesame seeds

• Scallions

What’s Next:

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a small pan on low heat until lightly brown, careful not to burn!

2. Boil water in a medium size pot, add in all the spinach until lightly cooked, about 30 seconds

3. Strain the pot through a mesh to collect all the spinach. Run the spinach under cold water to chill. Squeeze the spinach dry and move to a medium size bowl

4. Mix sesame seeds, tahini, soy sauce, sugar, and sake and mirin if using. Pour the mixture over the spinach and mix well

5. Top with sesame seeds and scallions if you like

Avocado Pesto "Pasta"

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Another wonderful way to eat avocado!

Do you have avocado that’s ripe, but not sure what to do with it?

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Required Equipment:

• Blender / Food Processor

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado,

• 1/4 cup of Basil leaves

• 3 Garlic cloves

• 2 tbsp of Lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp of Salt

Pasta

• 9 ounces of uncooked Pasta / 1-2 medium size Zucchini, spiralized / 1 medium Spaghetti Squash

Optional:

• Cilantro

• Pine nuts, garnish

What’s Next:

1. If you’re using pasta, cook as you would normally. If you’re using zucchini noodles, you can saute the zucchini noodles with 1 tbsp of oil on low heat until soft. If you’re using spaghetti squash, preheat the oven at 400 degrees and bake for 40-50 minutes, then rake out the fibers

2. Scoop out the avocado and place in food processor or blender

3. Add garlic, basil (and cilantro if you like), lemon juice, oil and 1 tbsp of water. Process / blend until smooth. You may need to scrap down a couple times. If the sauce is too thick or isn’t really mixing, drizzle a little bit more oil

4. Season with salt and pepper

5. Reheat the pasta of your choice if needed, mix well with the sauce, garnish if you like and enjoy!