Not-As-Sweet; Lower-Fat Granola

 

Me and granola, we have issues (as you may have guessed from the title of this post).  Our issues go way back, and I will tell you that I came to this post and this recipe with no small amount of baggage.  Granola baggage, to be exact.  Here’s the thing… I started making granola back in the 70’s when it was a totally hip and cool thing to do.  Everyone ate granola; everyone made granola.  We ate it with abandon, we cooked with it and put it in our cookies, breads and cakes and muffins.  We were young and skinny and who cared that there were about a thousand calories in a handful.  It was good stuff.

Then came the 80’s, the ‘90’s, and not so young and not so skinny, and who could afford all those calories, and the lowfat versions tasted like cardboard, only crunchier.  And so I abandoned granola.  For about 30 years.  Just stopped eating it.  No granola.

But recently I’d begun to wonder… would it be, could it be possible to make some granola that wasn’t overly sweet and didn’t contain a quart of oil?  It had to be.  Besides, 30 years is dang long enough to be without it.

 

So I started with Ina Garten’s granola recipe.  Since there are 2 cups of sweetened coconut in it, I decided that’s all the sweetness I would need, and eliminated the ½ cup of honey.    Her recipe calls for ¾ cup of vegetable oil, so I reduced that to 1/3 cup but swapped it out for virgin coconut oil. 

Now, if you’re familiar with coconut oil, you already know the health benefits associated with it.  And you know that it comes in solid form.  So I just heated it ever so slightly in the microwave until it melted to a pourable consistency and it worked perfectly.

This granola turned out astonishingly good… toasted oats, almonds, coconut, dried cranberries and apricots…. incredibly scrumptious, perfect granola… not too sweet, not too rich and heavy, yet super flavorful and delicious. 

I honestly don’t know what I was thinking all those years.  Not thinking can be difficult.  It cost me precious time with granola that I now happily sprinkle on top of yogurt or douse with milk and fresh fruit or just grab for a mid-afternoon handful….without the thousand calories.  Gotta love that.  Here’s the recipe…  

Low-Fat Granola

Click here for a printable recipe

• 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
• 2 cups sliced almonds
• 1/3 cup virgin coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups small diced dried apricots
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl. Pour the coconut oil (or vegetable oil) over the mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated. Pour onto a 13 by 18 by 1-inch sheet pan.  Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even, golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Add the dried apricots and cranberries. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container.

Turkey-Ricotta Meatballs with Red Wine Sauce

 

It’s a testament to how good these meatballs are that I even have the inclination to talk about food right now.  The only thing I’ve had on my mind the past few days is my weekend, and more specifically the Mother’s Day that I didn’t even know I was going to love so much.

I promise I’m going to tell you about these heavenly meatballs, but first a little snippet of the Mother of all Mother's Day weekends...

 

Like most families, we get together as often as we can, but having everyone in the same place at the same time can be tricky.  But we not only got ourselves all together, but the party lasted for 3 days and turned out to include a few firsts…

 My first Mother’s Day with my new little grandson.

   My first Mother’s Day with my 3 amazing children and 5 incredible grandchildren around me

      My first Mother’s Day with my Mom in like 20 years

 Sigh.  It was beyond memorable. You can find a few more photos of my weekend here.

 OK.  I think I can talk about meatballs now.

And, oh man, are these ever the most incredible meatballs I’ve ever made.  And you know I’ve made a lot of meatballs in my day, so saying that these are head and shoulders above all of the others is not to be taken lightly.  They are definitely the best.

I was watching Michael Symon make these on his show a while back, well, he wasn’t exactly making these ones, but he was making meatballs and adding ricotta cheese to them, and I knew in my heart of hearts that this had to be a very good idea.  And it was.

Michael, of course, was making his meatballs with veal and beef and pork, and then he added 2 cups of ricotta cheese, and while I was totally on board with the concept, I was pretty sure that was going to be too much ricotta.  I like my meatballs to taste like meat, so I only added 1 cup of ricotta, and I like them to be at least sort of on the healthy side, so I made them with ground turkey.  I tweaked a few other ingredients, the most notable being the addition Kitchen Bouquet, which I described in detail here.

I found this recipe for Red Wine Sauce on The Kitchn website (which they paired with veal meatballs), and boy howdy if this wasn’t the perfect sauce for my turkey meatballs…incredibly fabulous, I tell you.   The recipe makes a ton of sauce, so I used the leftovers on spaghetti a few nights later and it was divine.

So here I am taking a short break from my Mother’s Day reverie to share not one, but two scrumptious recipes with you.  Yes, they’re that good.  Here are the recipes…

Turkey-Ricotta Meatballs with Red Wine Sauce

Click here for a printable recipe

This sauce and these meatballs go amazingly well together.  I suggest you make the sauce first and let it simmer while you put the meatballs together.  It's fabulous over pasta too!

Turkey-Ricotta Meatballs

1 cup ricotta cheese drained
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
¾ cup grated parmesan
¼ of a large yellow onion minced (about 1/3 cup)
1 egg (beaten)
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet (optional) 
1  1/3 lb turkey (not turkey breast) 
Flour for dusting
Olive oil for frying

Combine the first 9 ingredients and mix well.  Add the ground turkey, combining well with your hands until it all comes together.  Form into meatballs and then dust with flour.  I get all of the meatballs made and then place some flour in a bowl and then dip each meatball into the flour and then onto a rack or cookie sheet.

Meanwhile heat a little olive or grapeseed oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat.  I just use enough oil to to thinly cover the bottom of the pan.  Brown the meatballs and then drop them into the red wine sauce to finish cooking.

Red Wine Sauce
Recipe courtesy of The Kitchn

1 small yellow onion
6 cloves garlic
Olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
1 cup beef or chicken broth
32-ounce can whole plum tomatoes
One 4-inch long sprig fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Heat a large, deep sauté pan over medium high heat. (It should be large enough to hold the sauce ingredients, as well as most of the meat.) Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until very soft — about 10 minutes, turning the heat down if necessary.

Stir in the tomato paste and fry for a minute or two, stirring until well-incorporated. Pour in the wine and broth and bring to a simmer, then add the tomatoes, salt, and a generous amount of black pepper. Place the rosemary sprig on top, bring to a simmer and cook for 30 to 60 minutes, covered. When the sauce has developed a deep, rich flavor, turn off the heat and puree with an immersion blender (or in a standing blender) until smooth.

Keep the sauce at a low simmer after you add the meatballs and let them cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Mexican Fideos with Shrimp and Chorizo

Many of you are already aware of my love for pasta and have an inkling of how much I adore Mexican food, and won’t at all be surprised at how excited I am about this recipe.  I couldn’t believe my luck when I found it…Mexican pasta??  Really?  I’m in!!  And boy howdy, am I ever in.  This is just phenomenal stuff.  But, really, how could it not be?  Chorizo, shrimp, little fideo noodles, and tomatoes all simmered together to create some incredibly delicious flavors.  It’s fun food that tastes sublime and is ever so easy to throw together.

The origins of most fideos dishes are Spanish, and this one resembles a paella-like dish made with mussels and shrimp and baked in a cazuela.  Although this is a knock-off, short-cut version, it definitely has enough personality to demand its own respect.  It has mine, I’ll tell you.

 

And in case you’re unfamiliar, fideos are short little pasta noodles about 2 inches long.  Sometimes they come coiled in little nests, but for this recipe, the little short ones work best.  If you can’t find them, you can just break some thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta into 2-inch pieces.

As for the chorizo, you can use your favorite brand, but I was able to find Aidell’s chicken chorizo at Costco.  Of course, I had to buy enough to fill my freezer and I’m pretty sure it’s enough to last until I’m about 70, but I’m thinking it’s going to be well worth it.  As long as I keep some shrimp in there too, I’m set to make this as often as I want.  And that, I’m thinking, is going to be pretty often.  Here’s the recipe…

Mexican Fideos with Shrimp and Chorizo

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle

Serves 4

The word fideos refers to a short spaghetti-like noodle that's used often in Spanish cooking. If you can't find them in the store, simply break up thin spaghetti into 2-inch lengths.  And if you can’t get your hands on Cotija cheese, you can easily substitute feta cheese.

2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces fideos or spaghettini broken into 2-inch lengths
8 ounces Mexican-style chorizo
1/2 large onion, diced small (about 1 cup)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Chopped fresh cilantro
Cotija cheese, for garnish

Instructions: Warm the olive oil in a shallow stockpot over medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Add the fideos or broken spaghettini to the pot, and cook, stirring frequently, until toasted and golden brown, about 5-6 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside.

Break up the chorizo and add to the pot, and continue to break it into crumbles as you stir. Cook for about 2-3 minutes; add the onions and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and cumin, if using.

Add the pasta back to the pot; stir in the chopped tomatoes and 2 cups of the broth. Turn heat to high and boil, stirring occasionally, until the broth has been mostly absorbed.

Season the shrimp, and stir it into the pot with the final cup of broth; reduce heat and simmer until the shrimp is cooked through and there is barely any liquid left, about 10-12 minutes. Season to taste.

Spoon into bowls and garnish with crumbled cotija cheese and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro.

Mediterranean Farro Bowl with Yogurt-Tahini Dressing

Oh my dears.   I’m not even kidding about how good this is.  I realize that it might be hard to tell exactly what it is from the photo, so let me briefly explain.  In a bowl, first we layer some farro which is ever so good for you and way beyond delicious.  Each grain sort of pops in your mouth like barley, but it’s much more flavorful.  So then on top of the farro we have a smattering of garbanzo beans, cucumber, a little chopped red onion, some feta cheese, chopped tomato (I’ll get to that later), and then a wondrous drizzle of  a yogurt/lemon/tahini dressing and some chopped parsley.  And all of that comes together to create some of the most incredible flavors and textures ever, with the added bonus that it’s a cinch to make and very, very good for you.

Oh, and about the tomatoes.. in my zeal to get this put together for the photo, I just totally forgot to sprinkle on the tomatoes, which sucks because it could have used the color, but you will have to use your imagination there.  I decided it’s not a good idea to photograph your lunch right around noon.  One has a tendency to rush things a bit.

But I digress… If you haven’t cooked with farro before, nothing could be easier.  Boil some water, add the farro, cook for about 20 minutes, drain.  If you can’t find farro, which I can imagine might be a problem for some, you could easily substitute barley and/or brown rice.  Farro comes pearled (perlatto), partially pearled, and just well, farro.  Traditional farro takes about an hour to cook, but has the extra advantage of still possessing its husk and germ, so that’s a bonus in the nutrient department.  I could only find the perlatto, but I’m going to hunt down the whole grain variety before I make this again.

 

So here’s the thing.  We’re not far away from summer’s heat, and I’m pretty much thinking that a nice cool bowl of Mediterranean flavors isn’t a half bad way to stay cool and still eat well.  But to be honest, I’ll be eating this in the frigid dead of winter too.  All year long, actually.  Here’s the recipe…

Mediterranean Farro Bowl with Yogurt-Tahini Dressing

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe adapted from the San Francisco Chronicle

Farro is a wonderfully healthy grain that can be as versatile as your imagination.  For this recipe you can use traditional farro, semi-pearled farro or pearled farro.  The difference between them is how much of the bran and germ layers have been removed.  If you are using regular farro, it will take about an hour to cook.  The semi-pearled and pearled varieties will cook in 20 to 30 minutes. 

Dressing:

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons finely minced parsley
2 tablespoons finely minced mint
1 tablespoon tahini
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ cups farro
1/2 cup crumbled feta
2 cups cooked garbanzos (rinsed if canned)
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved
1/4 cup finely minced red onion

Bring a medium pot of lightly salted water (about 4-5 cups) to a boil.  Add the farro to the water, return to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Cook the farro until tender, about 20-30 minutes and then drain.  If using traditional (not pearled) farro, let it cook for an hour before draining.

For the dressing: Whisk together the lemon juice, zest, parsley, mint, tahini and yogurt; drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly, until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

To assemble: Divide the farro between 4 bowls. Top with the garbanzos, cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese and red onion. Drizzle with dressing and serve.

Tangerine Marmalade

  

I have come to believe that there are marmalade people and then there is the rest of the world.  I have always planted myself squarely with the rest of the world, but The husband is a marmalade person and I have therefore, slowly, come to admire its charms.

 

It’s so easy to love a nice spoonful of strawberry jam on your toast; I’ve always preferred peach or apricot, but over the last year or so I’ve come to appreciate the complexity of a good marmalade.  OK, that last sentence isn’t entirely true.  It’s sort of true in that I’ve decided that I really like the contrast of the sweet/bitter flavors characteristic of a good marmalade, but actually finding a good marmalade hasn’t been all that easy.  They all seem to be way too heavy on the pectin, making them much too stiff, and all that pectin seems to mute the citrus falvors.

 

What to do?  How ‘bout making your own?  Now, if you’re a marmalade person, this is the way to go.  You get to control how much peel you add, how sweet to make it, and how thick it should be.  You also get to decide what kind of fruit you use… oranges, mandarines, tangerines, clementines or all of the above.  How great is that?!?

 

And honestly, people, it couldn’t be any easier than this.  Basically, we’re talking about 2 ingredients (3 if you include the water), and the hardest thing you’re going to have to do is slice up your tangerines.  I love this!

And yes, I did love this marmalade.  I trimmed off some of the peel on the ends of the tangerines, but if you’re a real marmalade aficionado, you may want to keep as much of the peel in there as you can.  I mean, that’s what gives marmalade its personality and this is a chance to really let it shine.  And it's amazingly good on those yogurt biscuits.  Here’s the recipe…

TANGERINE MARMALADE

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe from Everyday Food magazine

3 pounds tangerines (about 18), unpeeled, washed, ends trimmed, and cut crosswise into thin slices
4 cups sugar

Directions

1.       Place a small plate in freezer. In a large pot, bring tangerines and 6 cups water to a boil over high. Reduce heat to medium and cook at a rapid simmer until tangerine peels are tender, 20 minutes.

2.      Add sugar, increase heat to medium-high, and stir until sugar dissolves. Return to a boil and cook, stirring often, until mixture is thick and darkens slightly, 40 to 45 minutes. To test for doneness, drop a spoonful on frozen plate and freeze 2 minutes. Marmalade is done if it has a slight film that wrinkles when pushed with a finger. If it spreads out and thins immediately, continue cooking. Transfer marmalade to airtight containers, cover, and let cool completely.

To store, refrigerate for up to a month, or freeze up to 6 months.