Homemade granola base

Granola may seem like something that’s easier to buy in a store, but let me set the record straight: Homemade granola is simple, fast, and so much better than most of the commercially made stuff. Also, it makes your house smell amazing.

Take me to the recipe!

Let’s talk about granola and kids. I love granola because it’s a fun topper for lots of different things: yogurt, apple sauce, purees, pancakes, fruit, ice cream, etc. I like to pretend that it’s nature’s sprinkles. But there may be a chunk of kids who think granola is too crunchy or who don’t like the mix of textures. For them, I would add some mini chocolate chips or chocolate covered sunflower seeds and call it “trail mix.”

But granola is a great way to add some whole grains and make a more balanced snack.

I include millet in my granola and also my granola cups because it’s super crunchy and adds fiber, calcium, and iron, which we always need more of in our diet.

This recipe is a base and you can feel free to customize with whatever fruits and nuts you like best.

Also, if making this for a nut-free school snack, skip the nuts and double the fruit, sub in seeds like sunflower or pepitas, OR toast the nuts separately and toss them into an individual portion at home.

A couple of notes:

• If you have trouble finding millet, check the bulk sections of Whole Foods or any health food store.

• When spreading the raw granola mix onto your sheet pan, make sure to leave some holes in the middle of the pan. If you spread it as one large mass, the middle will be undercooked while the edges start to burn. With some holes and thinner spots in the middle, you’ll get a more even bake and better chunks in your final product!

• Be mindful that when the outsides start to brown, the thicker parts may still be a bit undercooked, but that the whole thing will continue to cook and crisp while it cools. Once you see significant browning on the edges, take it out of the oven and let it cool completely. If there are any undercooked spots, feel free to re-toast them in the oven or a toaster oven for a few minutes before eating. But DON’T toast any fruit that you may add. Toasted dried fruit = hard as a rock!

Homemade granola base

Yield: about 3-4 cups of granola, depending on how many nuts and berries you add
Time: 25-28 minutes (5 minutes active time, 20-23 minutes baking time)

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
½ cup millet
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 large pinches of kosher salt
½ cup nuts (your choice!)
2 egg whites, slightly whipped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup maple syrup
1/3 cup dried fruit of choice

Preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, millet, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the untoasted nuts, if using.

In a large measuring cup, mix together the egg whites, olive oil, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly.

Spread out on the mixture on a large sheet pan, leaving gaps and holes in the middle.

Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until the edges of the pan and any edges next to gaps in the middle start browning.

Let cool completely.

Add the dried blueberries (or other dried fruit) and crunch up the baked granola so that you have some chunks and some smaller bits.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.

Almond and coconut baked doughnuts

A healthier baked doughnut that features whole grains, lower sugar, and my favorite flavor combination: Almond and coconut. YES, PLEASE.

Take me to the recipe!

I have bad news and good news: I was diagnosed last week with gestational diabetes. Luckily, I’m in my third trimester and don’t have much longer to go, so what’s a few weeks of monitoring my blood sugar and trying to eat really healthy foods?

I did eat half of one of these doughnuts and it didn’t send my blood sugar soaring (thanks whole grains, coconut sugar, and healthy fats!), so that was another piece of good news. Obviously, if you have diabetes of any kind, you know what works best for your body or are working with your doctor to figure that out, so not everyone will be able to say the same. But I was glad to know that at lease some treats aren’t off the table.

What has made this so hard isn’t the dietary restrictions or even the blood sugar monitoring.

What’s hardest is the added layer of scrutiny over my body when pregnancy already casts a harsh, glaring spotlight. Every routine thing you eat, drink, use on your skin, or take for a headache feels so consequential. And anyone who’s had disordered eating in the past can tell you that it takes a lot of work to STOP feeling like these minor choices are so meaningful.

Ugh. It just feel like I’ve lost myself a little more with this diagnosis. I resigned myself 8 months ago to making all of the changes you have to make when pregnant for the greater, temporary good and I wish it didn’t feel like ever day meant cutting out one more thing that brings me joy.

And now i’ll stop complaining. There are real problems in the world.

But! Lack of a delicious, healthier doughnut option doesn’t have to be one of them!

A couple of notes:

• We’re aiming for a batter that is thicker than pancake batter, but thinner than cookie dough. Depending on how much liquid you get from your banana and egg, you may want to add more flour. Start with an extra Tbsp and keep adding until you’re happy with the density.

• These doughnuts are okay without the topping, but the extra sugar, almonds, and  coconut really take them to a new place. I really don’t recommend skipping them.  

• The brown sugar and coconut oil topping makes a pretty dense mixture and a lot of the topping will fall off. BUT, it’s delicious. If you’d like something a bit smoother and more glaze-like, you can swap in 6 Tbsp powdered sugar, enough water to make a thin glaze (start with ½ tsp and add slowly), and a few drops of almond extract.

Almond coconut doughnuts

Yield: 10-12 doughnuts
Time: about 35 minutes, mostly active

 ½ large, very ripe banana, thoroughly smooshed
½ cup milk (any type will do!)
3 Tbsp full-fat yogurt (Greek or otherwise)
1 large egg
¾ cup coconut sugar
½ tsp almond extract
3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1¼ + 1/4 (if needed) cups Whole Wheat pastry flour (regular whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour work too, but the texture is slightly denser)
1¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut 
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom

Topping:
3 Tbsp coconut oil
3 Tbsp brown sugar
½ cup toasted coconut slivers
½ cup toasted almond slivers
½ tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375.

Grease your doughnuts pans with coconut or other neural oil and set aside

In a large bowl, smush the banana as much as possible. Add the rest of the wet ingredients except the coconut oil and whisk together.

Add 1¼ cups flour, baking powder, salt, shredded coconut, cinnamon, and cardamom. Mix well.

Add the coconut oil and mix well. If the mixture is too runny (if it looks like pancake batter), add the remaining ¼ cup of flour 1 Tbsp at a time and mix again.

Fill each doughnut tin about 2/3 full. 

Cook both pans (if using 2 doughnut pans) in the same oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the doughnuts just spring back when poked lightly with a finger. Rotate and pans after 5 minutes to ensure even baking.

Let cool.

In a separate small bowl, combine the coconut oil (that should still be rather liquid) with the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix. If the mixture seems too liquid and not spreadable, chill it in the refrigerator until slightly more set.

On a baking sheet, combine the coconut flakes and the sliced almonds and let brown in the cooling oven, abut 6 minutes or until you begin to smell the nuts.

Spread a small amount of the sugar and coconut oil mixture on each doughnut and sprinkle the toasted nuts and coconut over the top, pressing lightly to get them to stick.

Creamy chickpea and halloumi skillet dinner

Cheat the clock with this vegetarian dish inspired by the flavors of tikka masala that uses shortcuts for both time and flavor!

Take me to the recipe!

It’s January! That means we can’t binge eat cookie dough for dinner anymore.

I KID! Heartburn is my constant companion lately, so poor eating is much less appealing. That said, I’m feeling pretty great this pregnancy. I am, however, exhausted by 5 pm, so easy dinners that don’t require a lot of prep or cleanup and that cook super fast are at the top of our meal rotation. And I’m looking for shortcuts EVERYWHERE.

There’s absolutely nothing “authentic” about this tikka masala-inspired dish, but it’s so easy and so good, that hopefully you can overlook it this once. The flavors recall your favorite takeout and the halloumi adds a tangy, salty bite.

I normally shy away from recipes that “cheat” with jarred sauces, but I’m making an exception in the interest of time. Rao’s is by far our favorite jarred sauce, but the first time I made this, I was trying to use up another jarred sauce that we didn’t like. It’s great either way.

A couple of tips:

• Be sure to cook the spices with the onions and garlic before you add the tomato sauce or cream. Since this dish cooks fast, you need to deepen the flavors by giving the spices a quick sear.

• Speaking of cream, don’t forget to let it warm up while you make the rest of the recipe. Adding cold dairy to hot tomato sauce can make the cream curdle. It’ll still taste fine, but the dairy will look like little beads in your tomato sauce instead of mixing together completely.

• You might notice that there’s not a lot of salt in this recipe. Since we’re using jarred sauce and really salty cheese, I recommend waiting until the end to add salt if it’s necessary.

• Garam masala may not already in your spice rack, but it should be! It’s available all over the place and is really just a mixture of familiar spices that you might not have on hand. Try some!

• Wait until the last minute to add the chickpeas because putting them in the sauce too early will soften them too much.

• Finally, if you can’t find haloumi or if it’s too expensive, feel free to sub in farmer’s cheese, feta, cojita, queso blanco, or any other salty cheese. If using another type of cheese, no need to cook it beforehand, just add it to the tomato, cream, and chick pea mixture right before serving.

Chickpea and haloumi tikka masala

Yield: 4 grown-up servings
Time: about 35 minutes, all active

1 large can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 Tbsp butter, ghee, or oil of choice
½ large onion minced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2½ tsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp turmeric
2 cups jarred tomato sauce (about 24 oz)
½ cup cream or half and half
Haloumi, sliced
Naan or flatbread for serving

Preheat the oven to 400.

Pour the half and half or cream and set aside to warm up.

Wash and drain the chickpeas and dry them off lightly with a paper towel. Toss with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast until crispy, about 20 minutes.

While the chickpeas cook, heat the butter, ghee or oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

Add the spices and cook, stirring to mix well, for 2-3 more minutes until fragrant.

Add the tomato sauce, mix well, and turn the flame up to high. Let the sauce come to a boil and turn the heat off.

Heat a small skillet over a high flame until a few drops of water bubble immediately when they hit the skillet. Add the cheese and sear until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and repeat on the other side. Turn the skillet off and set aside.

Check the chickpeas for crispness.

Mix the chickpeas and cream into the tomato sauce. Test for salt, keeping in mind that the haloumi is quite salty. Top with the seared haloumi.

Coconut and cardamom alfajores

You may think you don’t need another holiday cookie recipe, but these are subtly spiced, barely sweet, and super easy. Win, win, win!

Take me to the cookies!

First of all, who’s had Alfajores before? If not, get thee to an Argentinian bakery because they. are. delicious. This South American staple uses dulce de leche in between two soft, cakey, vanilla cookies and is then rolled in shredded coconut.

In the US version, we often swap the softer cookie for a crispier vanilla shortbread, which I prefer. Also, I decided to skip the shredded coconut on the outside and opt for a coconut-flavored shortbread because, while I love the taste of coconut, I don’t always love its texture.

I started with this Coconut Shortbread recipe from Food52, but simplified the method, dialed down the sugar, swapped two egg yolks for one whole egg, and added a tiny bit of cardamom for a warmer, spicier flavor that felt right for the holidays.

You know what else feels right for the holidays? Shortcuts. In this version of the recipe, we use only one bowl and mix up cold fats with the rest of the ingredients in a food processor instead of a mixer.

AND, this part might seem like sacrilege to some, but I used jarred dulce de leche. I know, I know. Bad food blogger, bad! I like this one the most and found it at World Market, but you can also find it online. If you feel like making your own, here are some options:

Smitten Kitchen’s stovetop dulce de leche
Displaced Housewife’s olive oil dulce de leche
Live Well Bake Often’s oven-baked dulce de leche
The Spruce Eats boiled condensed milk dulce de leche

Here we go!

Coconut and cardamom alfajores

Yield: 24 cutout cookies; 12 sandwiches
Time: 90 minutes (about 30 active)

½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
6 Tbsp coconut oil (solid)
½ cup cane sugar (can substitute granulated sugar if necessary)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp cardamom
¼ tsp sea salt
1 15-oz jar of dulce de leche

Cube the butter and add it to a food processor. Add the coconut oil (making sure it’s solid). Run the food processor until the butter and coconut oil have combined and are smooth, about 30 seconds. You may have to scrape down the sides.

Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and egg. Run the machine until the ingredients are well combined. Again, you may have to scrape down the sides.

Add the dry ingredients and pulse just until the dough comes together. I often need to scrape the sides once. The end result of the dough should be a crumbly wet dough that’s in large and small sandy chunks that come together easily when pressed.  The dough should be wetter than a pie dough, but slightly more crumbly than your typical sugar cookie dough.

Divide the dough roughly in half and place one dough chunk on a sheet of parchment paper. Using the paper or your hands to form a ball. Place another piece of parchment on top of the dough ball and roll out to a ¼-inch thick disk. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Chill both dough disks in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

When the dough has chilled for about 25 minutes, preheat the oven to 325.

Working one disk at a time, remove the top parchment sheet from each half and use it to line a cookie sheet. Cut out as many shapes as possible and gently transfer them. Re-roll the dough to cut out more shapes. For the cookies that will be the base of each sandwich, score gently with a fork. For the top cookie, cut out any shape you like from the middle.

Bake the cutout cookies for 14-17 minutes, turning once during baking to ensure even cooking. The cookies are done when they just begin to brown. Let cool.  

When the cookies are cool, top each bottom portion with 2-3 Tbsp of dulce de leche and top with a cutout cookie.

Warm farro, chard, and pancetta salad

Winterize your salads with whole grains, quickly cooked greens, some pancetta, and a shower of cheese. You might even get your littles on board with this salty, crunchy, filling salad.

Take me to the recipe!

So! Winter is here. However you feel about that, one thing is for certain: It’s comfort food season. I mean, cold temperatures and hearty fare go together like tomato soup and grilled cheese, boeuf and bourguignon, chocolate and marshmallows…you get the idea.

Buuut, I definitely suffer from the winter blues and hiding under a weighted blanket of Gruyere doesn’t help.

This warm salad is somehow a happy medium between a green salad (there’s still plenty of green!) and a soup/stew/comfort dish (there’s pancetta and cheese! It’s warm!). There’s a lot of goodness in there but you don’t feel deprived after eating it.

I can even get my little to eat some of this along side something else. Miracle!

PS- my favorite way to eat this salad is with a runny egg on top. Talk about comfort.

Chard, pancetta, and farro salad 

Time: 35 minutes (20 active)
Yield: about 6 side servings

1 cup uncooked farro 
3 cups water 
8 oz pancetta, diced small (I use the pre-diced stuff, which doesn’t render as much fat, but is a big time-saver)
1-2 Tbsp olive oil, as needed 
1 large onion or 4 large shallots, thinly sliced 
2 small bunches chard, rinsed, dried, and roughly chopped (about 6-8 cups) 
5 large cloves garlic 
2 large pinches salt 
2 tsp balsamic vinegar 
1/2 - 1 cup crumbled ricotta salata, cotija, feta or other crumbly, salty cheese 

Rinse the farro and add to a medium pot with the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes or until the farro is tender, but still chewy. Drain any remaining water.

Heat a separate pan (I love cast iron for this dish, but use whatever you have) over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes until hot. Turn the heat down to medium/medium-low (if the pancetta fat is popping, turn the heat down more and gradually raise it) and add the pancetta. Cook, stirring frequently, until the pancetta is browned, smells gamey, and has rendered some fat, about 5 minutes.

If needed, add some olive oil to the pan. Add the sliced onions or shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions or shallots have wilted and become translucent, about 3 minutes. If the onions seem like they’re cooking too fast, adjust the flame to medium low.

Add the chard and cook, stirring and tossing frequently, until the chard is wilted, about 3-5 minutes.

Test for seasoning and add salt as needed.

Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Turn off the heat and add the balsamic vinegar and stir several times. The residual heat of the pan should cook off some of the vinegar.

Drain any water from the cooked farro and add to the pan. Stir and test for seasoning.

Top with crumbled cheese and serve.