auntie sarah's coconut granola.

SARAH is actually my mother-in-law ❤️ but one of her many other titles, “auntie sarah,” sounds much more fitting alongside a granola recipe. 😊

i just looove how mapley and crunchy and chunky her granola is - not all loose and sandy, no way.

the lighter crunch of all the coconut flakes against the crunchier crunch of the nuts & seeds….oooh i fancy that experience.

her granola seems a little bit different every time we have it, but that’s the beauty of a recipe that’s so versatile!

sarah makes it gluten-free by omitting the oats (probably why her version is so chunky, which i adore), but i love oats so i kept them in the recipe.

i used extra coconut flakes and a little extra maple syrup to compensate for sweetness in this recipe ratio.

another idea that would be great is to use melted coconut oil instead of the olive oil - or better yet, an equal combination of both!

make sure to taste your seeds in advance for freshness - i could tell the sunflower seeds that i used were a bit funky after it was a little too late.

chopped dried cherries are great in this granola. i used chopped dates and that is also lovely. i’m not too much of a dried cranberry fan, but they would be nice, too. there are also orange flavored dried cranberries that i have a random bag of in my miscellaneous foodstuffs bin. basically - any chopped up or small dried fruit of your choosing would suffice. or leave it out altogether!

….just had an idea. if this were a “dessert granola” (a thing??) you could toss in some chocolate covered almonds, raisins, acai berries, etc after the whole mixture has completely cooled.

YUM. a bonus snack mix recipe.

also a big shout out to the passionfruit flavor of the ellenos greek yogurt - holyyyyyy moses, it has to be one of the best things i’ve ever tasted. pete is nuts for passionfruit & lilikoi like they have growing all over in hawaii. those little tangy seeds and the bright juiciness will just make you feel alive!

this ellenos yogurt is a splurge. if we have it on hand, i’ll put a scoop of plain greek yogurt on the bottom of the bowl and a small scoop of the ellenos fancy yogurt on top, and then all the toppings. i would never let us eat the whole container in one sitting unless it were, say, christmas! ha! it is a special occasion treat for us. it is sooo delicious and rich and tastes like dessert!

this is now just veering into dessert for breakfast territory. 😛

this recipe yields a ton of granola - so feel free to halve anything to make a smaller batch, or give a jar of it to a friend or neighbor. 😊

i’ve been really enjoying having it around for variety and crunch in our morning yogurt bowls.

thank you to my sweet MIL, sarah, for sharing this with me!

Sarah’s Coconut Granola

Makes about 2 Quarts

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oats

• 1 cup raw pepitas, hulled pumpkin seeds

• 1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds (taste for freshness!)

• 1 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, or a mixture of both, chopped

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

• 1 - 2 tsp. kosher salt, to taste

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil, or a mixture of both

• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup

• 1/2 cup chopped dates, dried cherries or cranberries

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 1 - 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a large rimmed sheet tray with parchment or a silicone liner.

Gather and prepare all ingredients and combine in a large bowl until evenly coated with maple syrup and the oils. Add any extra salt to taste.

Evenly spread the granola across the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, tossing the granola every 15 minutes or so. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until all the components are evenly golden. Watch carefully for any burning during the last 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely. Store in glass jars or quart containers at room temperature.

Enjoy as a snack, on yogurt bowls, ice cream, oatmeal, with fruit, etc!

qp

potato, beef & tomatillo salsa baked eggs with avocado crema.

a hearty & shareable breakfast / brunch with tons of zing zang flavor.

this one will “stick to your ribs”….. a phrase my mom used when i was growing up that always made me envision an xray skeleton with scrambled eggs sliding down the rib cage? i was like… “hmmm. interesting & kinda gross, mom. but ok.”

but really - this is as hearty as they come!

you could think of this a sort of “green shakshuka”, but it’s really not that, so i won’t bastardize the identity of shakshuka in this way lol. it may also be a “hash,” but i just don’t think so - so i’ve resorted to giving this recipe a very long descriptive title.

this is meat & taters with a deliciously bright green salsa and baked eggs, topped with a creamy avocado yogurt sauce.

the tomatillo salsa is based off of this avocado tomatillo salsa recipe but i skipped the tomatillo roasting step here - which makes this way easy. just throw all the salsa ingredients in the food processor, and it is done!

the color gets muted in the beef & potato mixture, but it sure is a gorgeous green. slather that avocado crema and cilantro on top and you’ve got a bright green visual dream.

this could be made without meat altogether - just simmering the cooked potatoes in the tomatillo salsa and following the remainder of the recipe would turn out scrumptious as well.

the brightness & acidity in the salsa and avocado crema really offset the heaviness of the meat, eggs & potatoes.

^after all the tie dye and bleach die we’ve gotten into over quarantine times in the last year, i regret not making soooo many more tie dyed linens and photo props before we recently ran out of all the dyes. i love how they look in photos (blue/grey linen napkin above)!

however, not a day goes by anymore where at least one, two, three or even four people that dwell within this household is not donning a piece of tie dye or bleach dyed clothing. we went pretty hard in the at-home arts & crafts department in the last year. 😂

and just look at that creamy dreamy avo crema. i used plain greek yogurt, but you could use sour cream or mexican crema as well. i added a touch of honey to it because it was tasting kind of bitter with the lime in there as well.

also - using the food processor or blender for this recipe is not daunting becauuuse you’re going to make 2 sauces separately and NOT have to clean the machine in between. if i saw that a recipe called for washing the food processor two times for the same meal, i’d throw my computer/phone/cookbook out the window.

also also - in the spirit of not hand washing too many dishes, you could cook the potatoes in the same skillet where you’ll cook the beef and set them aside until you need them again. in the interest of sAviNg TiMe, which seems more important to people, i cooked the taters & beef in 2 separate skillets simultaneously.

sidenote - we are getting a teeny tiny dishwasher installed in our teeny tiny kitchen soon, and i can hardly wait to see what i do with all my spare time NOT spent hand washing 6,000 dishes a day.

if you like flavor and cozy hearty breakfasts (or lunch or dinner, really), then you should please try this recipe and be satisfied for many hours!! good byeeeeeeeeeee!

Potato, Beef & Tomatillo Salsa Baked Eggs with Avocado Crema

Serves 2-3

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 TB vegetable oil

• 1/2 lb. lean ground beef

• 2 cups small, quartered creamer potatoes (about 12 small potatoes)

• 3 eggs

• rustic bread or sourdough toast, for serving

  Tomatillo Salsa:

• 6 tomatillos, peeled, cored and quartered

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1 TB extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 a jalapeño, seeded

• 1/4 cup cilantro, packed - with stems, plus extra for garnish

• 1/4 cup chopped white onion

• 3/4 tsp. kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

• juice of 1 small lime

• splash of white vinegar, optional

Avocado Crema:

• 1 medium avocado

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

• juice of 1 small lime

• 1-2 tsp. honey, optional (if crema is too bitter)

Instructions-

In a large food processor or blender, combine all ingredients for the tomatillo salsa and pulse until very smooth. Taste and season with salt, pepper, and lime juice as necessary.

Heat 1 TB vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Quarter the potatoes and add to the hot oil with a big pinch of salt. Toss frequently and cook 5 minutes to tenderize. Add about 2 TB water, toss and cook 3 more minutes to steam through. Cook potatoes just until fork tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In an oven-safe skillet on the stovetop, break up and cook half a pound of ground beef until crumbled and browned, about 3-5 minutes on medium heat. If the beef is lean, add an additional drizzle of olive oil after browning, if desired.

Add the tomatillo salsa to cooked beef in the oven-safe skillet. No need to wash the food processor or blender - make the avocado crema in the same machine by pulsing ingredients for avocado crema together until very smooth. Add honey to the mixture if the taste is too bitter.

Simmer tomatillo salsa and beef on medium-high to thicken, 5-8 minutes, until just a bit of liquid remains but you can form wells for the eggs in the bottom of the pan. Add the cooked potatoes to the tomatillo beef mixture and toss to incorporate.

Create 3 small wells with a spatula and crack an egg into each well. Transfer skillet to preheated oven and cook the eggs about 7-8 minutes, until egg whites appear set.

Remove from oven and top with avocado crema and torn cilantro. Serve immediately with rustic bread or toast.

qp