It has now been a few weeks since our self-care retreat that my dear friend Maggie and I hosted up in West Sonoma County, where we focused the weekend on taking care of our minds and bodies. We ate delicious meals using produce harvested daily from the Lotus Feed Farm, nourished our bodies with coastal hikes & morning yoga, and connected with like minded others. As the retreaters enter back into their daily routines, they have been asking for recipes to keep the self-care going and it got me inspired!
Aside from baking, a lot of my recipes are not measured out. I taste as I go, I substitute if I don't have something in my pantry, I improvise if a different ingredient sounds better, and I modify the recipe if I've learned something different along my cooking journey. So in an effort to share more recipes with you, I will be adding more tips, why's, and how to's so you can learn to develop your own intuitive sense in the kitchen! Plus, it saves you a lot of money and is a lot more engaging once you start understanding the why's and how's behind the process!
This granola is inspired by the granola I made during my time working at Dimes, a hipster joint focused on seasonal, local, & organic eating in the lower East Side of NYC. I made some modifications to make it more Ayurveda focused, like adding cumin & cardamom for digestion, indian gooseberry, and coconut for nourishment.
This granola has a ton of superfoods and ingredients, so if you don't have some of these at home, not to worry. Here is the basic ratio to make delicious granola every time, regardless of what you have in your pantry!
The Basics:
4 cups oats
8 cups other raw superfood grains & seeds, i.e. quinoa, sesame, hemp seed, buckwheat, & chia
2 cups liquid sweetener, i.e. honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup
2 cups oil, i.e. olive oil or coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 T cardamom (seeds or ground)
1 T cumin seeds
2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup dried fruit, i.e. apricots, figs, raisins, or currants
1 cup chopped nuts, i.e. walnut, pepita, almond, or pistachio
*Tip*
Make sure to add the dried fruit and nuts at the end when you have about 10 min left to bake! Otherwise they will burn and taste no bueno :/
For my specific recipe, heres what you need:
Utensils on hand:
mixing bowl
spatula
2 small or 1 large baking sheet
parchment paper
Ingredients:
4 cups organic rolled oats
2 cups black sesame
3 cups quinoa
1 cup chia seed
2 cups buckwheat or kasha
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 T cardamom (seeds or ground)
1 T cumin seeds
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
2 cups raw honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 cup pepitas, roughly chopped
1 cup shredded coconut
How to:
Preheat oven to 375F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper (otherwise your granola will stick and it won't be pretty!)
Add all dry ingredients to the large mixing bowl
Slowly incorporate olive oil into the bowl using a large spatula to coat mixture evenly
Add honey, vanilla, kosher salt and mix well
Lay granola evenly onto the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, rotating sheet and stirring every ten minutes with a spatula to brown evenly.
Remove granola from oven and add in dried apricots, pepitas, & coconut. Stir again with the spatula so the dried fruit and nuts are well incorporated into the mix and bake again for another 5-10 minutes. Granola is ready when the color starts to turn a golden brown.
Remove from heat and let cool for another 10 minutes. The granola will continue to brown once you take it out of the oven, so be mindful of that so you don't over-bake!
Eat with yogurt, fresh fruit, milk, or in handfuls!