Thursday, June 2, 2011

Vegan apple-quinoa granola

Breakfast: Vegan apple-quinoa granola, coffee, mini danishes and tiny croissants at work - thanks Andy!

Lunch: Lentil shepherd's pie with salad and a vegan hazelnut cupcake from Tea Tree on the Danforth - thanks Putin (and Erin)!

Dinner: Home-made hummas, alfalfa and avocado sandwich with the awesome bread


I have gone on about my love of granola on here before, so I'll keep it short this time: I proper like it.

I also proper like quinoa, and though I am very much dedicated to my original granola recipe (and if 2 days go by with none of it in the house, Putin gets really shirty) I wanted to find something that was vegan and less oily / buttery. Apple juice to the rescue!

Apple juice and apple sauce can be used as sweeteners if you don't want to use so much honey or sugar in recipes, and the combination of apple juice and agave nectar in this recipe negate the need for oil or butter. You can also stand the quinoa in apple juice before you make it to infuse it a little more.

You'll need:
3 cups oats
1 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup quinoa
1/2 cup apple juice
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup agave nectar or other honey substitute (or honey, if you're not vegan)

Method:
Preheat oven to 160c
Gently heat the agave nectar or honey substitute to thin it out
Mix with apple juice juice
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl
Mix wet ingrediens into dry ingredients
Spread on a baking tray and bake for 30 mins, stirring often

This is best when it's eaten with yogurt and left in the yogurt or almond milk for a couple of minutes before eating, as it softens the grains up a bit. Eat with raspberries for an awesome treat!

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