Granola, a breakfast food consisting of various combinations of grains, nuts and dried fruits, is a good way to start the day. Here we have a version using oats combined with omega-3 nuts, sunflower seeds with selenium and zinc, and high antioxidant dark berries. Serving it with low- or non-fat plain yogurt, another good source of zinc, will give you a very eye-healthy start to your day.
What you’ll need to make about 10 cups:
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 cup sliced or slivered almonds
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup canola oil
¼ cup honey
¼ cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Good pinch of salt
2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
¾ cups dried cranberries
¾ cups dried blueberries
What you’ll do:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet by lining with either parchment paper or foil. Set aside.
In a large bowl, toss the oats, walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds. Pour the canola oil, honey and maple syrup over the oat mixture. Add the cinnamon and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated with the liquids.
Pour mixture onto the prepared pan. Bake, stirring about every 10 minutes to ensure even baking. After 20 minutes, add the shredded coconut. Continue to bake for about 5-10 minutes more, or until coconut begins to brown. Remove from oven and stir in dried cranberries and blueberries. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally until completely cooled. Store granola in an airtight container.
Thoughts and variations: Use different nuts, like pecans or hazelnuts; substitute some of the nuts with more sunflower or pepita seeds; use all honey, eliminating the maple syrup; if mixture is not sweet enough, add a bit of brown sugar to liquid measure before adding; if too sweet, use natural unsweetened coconut; can reduce cinnamon by half if you are not a cinnamon lover; substitute other dried berries or fruit, such as dried cherries or chopped dried apricots.