It's been a heck of a year and my appetite has returned in leaps and bounds. I tell myself that this breakfast might keep me going till lunch and keep me away from (in the winter) chocolate cookies at 10:00 am or (in the summer) Starbucks chocolate banana smoothies. Mixed results on that front as willpower has as least as much to do with it as a full tummy, but this is a gorgeous breakfast, and once I've made a batch it lasts at least a couple of weeks (eating it 6 mornings a week). This is a flexible recipe: feel free to change up the nuts and dried fruit, but the oatmeal + oil + sweetener ratio should stay the same
West Coast Granola with compote
3 cups uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup oat bran (OR 1/2 cup flax meal OR 1/2 cup hemp seed OR both)
1 cup pecans (or walnuts or whatever nut you like)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup maple syrup or agave syrup or brown rice syrup or honey or a combination
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 cup dried apples (or blueberries, cherries, cranberries etc)
1/2 cup dried barberries (available in Middle Eastern stores)
Mix together everything but the fruit and bake for 20 to 30 minutes (till it's pretty dry) at 250 degrees. Stir every 10 minutes or so to ensure even cooking and avoid burning. Remove and stir in fruit, store in an airtight container.
Fruit Compote
1 bag frozen berries (about 3 cups?): generally I use rhubarb, a little raspberry added in is nice too
a bit of of water
honey to taste (in the case of rhubarb you will need maybe 3 tablespoons).
Boil till the fruit is softened.
I tend to add about a couple of tablespoons of fruit compote as well as some nice plain yogurt (goat yogurt is very luxurious). The compote lasts a couple of weeks in a jar in the fridge, if I can it properly then of course it lasts longer. Mine does not tend to last at all as I eat it up!
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