Maple Pecan Cluster Granola

Dear Mother Nature,

Please stop snowing. We are running out of places to put it!

If you'd let me rant for a brief second; I've had enough of these frigid temps and constant shovelling. And since moving somewhere warmer is out of the question right now, I am ready to just go live on the ski hill until the snow melts. Yes that is the one good thing about all this lovely winter... Fresh powder! Although that might prove difficult as many of the ski hills around us closed up yesterday for blizzard conditions. How often does that happen? I mean really, you know it's bad outside when. 

Ahem (*clears throat*). Thanks for listening to my rant. Now let's get to the food!

I've got another granola recipe to share today. If you love cluster's in your granola then you're in for a treat!

Homemade granola is fairly big in my house. Once it's out of the oven it doesn't last very long. I recently experimented with using egg whites in my granola, adding them to the wet ingredients of the recipe. I was sceptical at first and thought it was a weird addition, but they really do help bind everything together and create some pretty big clusters. I mean just check out some the clusters I picked out in the photo below.

This granola is not too sweet and of course made from all-natural ingredients. The maple syrup really shines through. The vanilla and sea salt also helps to round out the maple pecan flavour. It's incredibly delicious and smells out of this world good.

Hello new oatmeal topper!

I might just have to make another batch this week. The first one is nearly gone. Enjoy!

Maple Pecan Cluster Granola Gluten-Free, Vegan Option, Vegetarian | Yields: 5 cups

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Ingredients:

WET INGREDIENTS

• 2 egg whites (*vegan option: 2 tbsp chia seeds)
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar (or other unrefined sugar)
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch sea salt 

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups gluten-free old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces
• 1/4 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 2 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275˚F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together wet ingredients until thoroughly combined. If you are making the vegan version swap the egg whites for 2 tbsp of chia seeds. Stir in dry ingredients, except coconut and raisins, and mix well to coat everything evenly.
3. Turn the mixture out onto prepared cookie sheet and spread evenly. Bake until golden brown and dry, about 40 to 45 minutes, stirring halfway through.
4. Remove from oven and stir in shredded coconut and raisins. Let the granola cool completely before enjoying and storing. Store in an airtight container. It will keep fresh for up to two weeks. If you store the container in the refrigerator it will stay keep fresh longer. 

Notes:

*When making this recipe with chia seeds instead of egg whites, let the wet ingredients sit for 1 - 2 minutes before stirring in the dry ingredients.

To make this recipe gluten free make sure to use uncontaminated oats. 

Nutritional Information (with egg whites):

Serving Size: 1/2 cup Calories: 172 | Fat: 6.5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Carbohydrates: 26g | Sugar: 12g | Fiber: 3g | Protein: 3g | Sodium: 38mg | Cholesterol: 0g

Nutritional Information (with chia seeds):

Serving Size: 1/2 cup Calories: 174 | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Carbohydrates: 26g | Sugar: 12g | Fiber: 3.6g | Protein: 3.7g | Sodium: 27mg | Cholesterol: 0g

Whole Foods Detox Salad

Whenever I take a trip to Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, which doesn't happen as often as I might like, lunch is almost always planned at the hot and cold salad bar. There's just so much to choose from and you want it all! Every kind of veggie and greens you can think of, hot soup, I still have yet to try out the stir-fry station, and the bakery goodies are so tempting. But one of my favourite things to get is the Detox Salad. I've really wanted to re-create this one for a while now. I love how they list the ingredients on the label. The ingredient list is quite simple. There's broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, sunflower seeds, currants, parsley, lemon juice, raisins, kelp granules, salt, and pepper.

No wonder it's called a detox salad. Talk about your raw cruciferous vegetables! The broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots are the main body ingredients to the salad. They contain tons of vital nutrients that will help your body's natural detoxification system along the way and give it a little boost.

I love having this salad for lunch because it's one of those fast make ahead lunches that will have you set for the whole week. 

It's super healthy and tastes great!

Once you start to add the sunflower seeds and dried fruits the salad really starts to come together. The sunflower seeds add some extra satisfying crunch and the currents and raisins give it some much needed natural sweetness to contrast the raw veggies.

The parsley and lemon juice add a nice fresh taste, but little did you know they also play a part in the detoxifying process. I didn't bother to add the kelp granules, but I did add pumpkin seeds.  

Of course you could most definitely add whatever fresh herbs you prefer. I imagine mint and diced pinapple would be quite good in this together.  

Detox Salad gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian (makes 8-10 cups)

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Ingredients: 

• 2 heads of broccoli (stalks removed, and cut into florets)
• 2 1/2 cups of roughly cut cauliflower florets
• 3 large carrots, roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup dried currants
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/8-1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions: 

1. Place the broccoli florets into a food processor and pulse until chopped very fine. Empty out into a large bowl.
2. Do the same with the cauliflower florets. Depending on the size of your food processor you may have to work in batches. 
3. Next add the carrots and pulse until finely chopped and add to the bowl along with the broccoli and cauliflower. Give it a good stir to mix everything together.
4. Stir in the parsley, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins and currants. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper.

To store: keep refrigerated in a tightly sealed container. I like to keep it in a big sealed glass container because I find that the glass keeps the salad fresher than plastic.