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Savor Grains Of Truth About Healthier Granola

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By SUSAN LaTEMPA, Los Angeles Times

Published: November 7, 2007

It's a coolish November morning. You're invigorated by your morning run or yoga class - and famished. At home, before dressing for work, you breathe in the heart-gladdening aroma of coffee and then, amazingly, something that's even better: the seductive, toasty fragrance of roasted grains, seeds, nuts and spices.

Just-baked granola. It's autumn comfort in a bowl - and high-quality fuel to boot. And easy? Can you measure, stir and spread some stuff on a baking sheet? You're golden.

There are some foods so elemental, so satisfying, that although they represent an ancient cooking idea, they're reinvented in each era. The combination of toasted grains and nuts that we call granola (or "grainola" or "grunola" in some old cookbooks), a name that dates from the 1800s, is one such food.

But with each generation's rediscovery, it seems, this homespun, wholesome food is burdened with unnecessary ingredients that mask its appeal.

The tendency is toward a richness achieved with lots of sweeteners and fats. Too much of either flattens the flavors and textures of the cereals and seeds that are the heart and soul of a great granola.

Let's get one thing straight: Great granola is not crumbled cookies. And in spite of the spin, whether the granola is made by a coffeehouse staff member or a restaurant pastry chef, it's invariably too sweet.
Cookbook recipes not only call for lots of butter and brown sugar, but also require multiple stages of cooking so as not to scorch particular ingredients such as dried fruit.

A great granola has crunch, meltiness, warmth, savory, a bit of spice - it's all there, not weighed down by sticky or overwhelmed by sweet. There's interplay: light, crisp oatmeal flakes and smoky, earthy bits of pecan in one mouthful. Or a chewy, mysteriously sweet tangle of coconut combined with the firm, toasty bite of slivered almond. You just need half a cup per serving it's so filling.

Once you start experimenting with unsweetened granolas, you'll find that because dried fruit is not soaked or softened, it comes across in this context like little nuggets of candy, adding only calories.

Instead, wait till the granola's in the bowl, then play the fragrance of toasted grains against fresh fruit - seasonal or tropical. It provides the right note of cool, slightly acidic contrast, as does plain, unsweetened yogurt.

Moving away from dried fruit allows for an incredibly simple quick-cooking method. And there's an easy rule of thumb for combining complementary flakes, seeds, nuts and meals - it's almost a "one from column A, one from column B" approach.

For each batch, begin with rolled oats, the signature ingredient of granola. Next add a contrasting textural basic - unsweetened coconut flakes, usually. Follow with smaller amounts of a meal - wheat germ, nut meal, corn meal, ground flax - and small seeds (sesame, sunflower, pine nuts) or chopped nuts.

Add the showoff ingredients: large whole (or halved) nuts or seeds such as cashews, almonds or pumpkin seeds. Add a small amount of canola oil and a touch of liquid - such as prune juice or maple syrup.

Pecan-pepita granola is a wonderful basic granola that has a light, crunchy base of oatmeal, coconut and wheat germ that gains depth with the addition of pecans daintily spiced with cinnamon.

And if you're an inhabitant of the savory breakfast universe, whether your favorites are miso soup and pickles, leftover pizza or rice and beans, try a savory granola. Spiced with cumin and mustard seeds, it's also great with yogurt - for lunch or an afternoon snack maybe, after a trip to the gym.

Once you've measured in your chosen ingredients, just toss to combine and coat, then spread the mixture on a baking sheet and bake.

When the granola's golden brown, pull it from the oven and allow it to cool. One spoonful will take the edge right off your day.

PECAN-PEPITA GRANOLA

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

2/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup chopped raw pecans

1/2 cup whole raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

2 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons prune juice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Measure all ingredients into a medium bowl. Stir well to combine.

Spread mixture on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown, stirring once for even toasting.

Allow granola to cool on the cookie sheet. It can be stored in an airtight container for no more than a week. For each serving, combine 1/2 cup granola with 1/4 cup each plain yogurt and diced fresh fruit. Makes 7 servings.

278 calories; 7 grams protein; 20 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams fiber; 21 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 172 milligrams sodium

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