Tag Archives: Cranberry

Healthy cran-almond granola bars

11 Sep

Recently, I’ve been bent on finding healthier versions of my favourite breakfast foods. As everyone close to me knows, I’m a peanut butter addict. But I’ve decided to kick the habit and face the harsh truth: the stuff is full of saturated fat. A few days after I made healthier blueberry muffins, a colleague of mine came to work with these little gems: cranberry-almond granola bars chock-full of good grains and reduced in fat (thank you, applesauce!).

These healthy granola bars have a dirty secret: they're awesome! Chewy, crispy and tangy all rolled into one.

Even before tasting them, I was turned on. And once in my mouth, Whoa! The brown sugar makes them crispy on top while the applesauce and honey keeps the inside chewy and the cranberry and cinnamon give the granola some ‘tude! These bars make for great breakfast on the go or a hearty snack. Plus, they keep for a good two weeks in an airtight container and I’m sure they would freeze nicely. I’ll definitely be making more of these.

gra∙no∙la  girl / noun:
according to Urbandictionnary.com

Modern hippy woman minus the heroin and STD’s. Socially aware and active with a penchant for hemp and sodium-free soap. May eat tofu for breakfast and sweeten food with agave syrup. Is determined to save the world. You know you’re granola when you strap your five thousand dollar bike to your five hundred dollar car and vote for Ralph Nader.

Recipe
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup wheat germ or wheat bran
¼ cup ground or whole flaxseed (I prefer whole for the extra bite)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup whole wheat or white pastry flour (I used whole wheat)
½ cup dried cranberries
⅔ cup chopped roasted almonds
¾ tsp sea salt
¼ cup honey
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup applesauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8 x 12 baking pan or line it with parchment paper (that’s what I did!).

In large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, flax, cinnamon, flour, cranberries, almonds and salt. In a smaller bowl, mix together the honey, egg, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well. Pat the mixture evenly into the pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, but don’t overcook or they will be dry and crumbly. Cool for 5 minutes and cut into bars or squares. Don’t let the bars to cool completely or they will be too hard to cut.

Osso Bucco and cranberry gremolata

17 Apr

What better way to warm up a cold and grey April day than to make one last pot roast before the summer gets here. Hopefully, that will be soon. But for now, I’m making Osso Bucco. I love this recipe because of its rich aroma. It’s made with an entire bottle of full-bodied red wine (the original recipe calls for a $30 bottle of Amarone, but what am I nuts?), San Marzano tomatoes and veal stock. The cranberry gremolata gives this classic italian recipe a little modern kick. It’s not exactly a cheap meal, but it’s a lot easier to make than you would think.

Osso Bucco with cranberry gremolata: Great one-pot dish for entertaining. Or not.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 pieces of veal shank for osso bucco
Extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 carrots, diced
Zest of 1 lemon, peeled off in wide strips with a vegetable peeler
1 head of garlic, cut horizontally through the middle
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 bottle of full-bodied red wine
14 1/2 oz. of veal stock (or 1 can beef stock)
1 can (28 oz.) of San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed (yay! for playing with our food)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put the flour in a large plate and season with salt and pepper. Dredge the veal shanks in the flour and tap off the excess.

Heat a large pot (dutch oven is even better) over medium heat and add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the butter, making sure not to burn. Sear the veal shanks, turning carefully with tongs, until all sides are a rich brown caramel colour (you can do this in batches to avoid over crowding the pot). Set the veal aside.

In the same pot, sauté the onion, celery, carrots, lemon zest, garlic, bay leaves and parsley over medium heat. Cook the vegetables until they start to get some colour and develop a rich aroma. Season with salt and pepper.

This step is when everything really starts smelling delicious.

Nestle the veal shanks back in the pot. Pour in the wine and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until it has reduced by half. Add the veal stock and tomatoes and stir everything together.

Hey Mat, keep a glass for the chefs!

Cover the pot and pot and braise in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and cook for 30 minutes more. The sauce should be thick and the veal tender, almost falling off the bone. Nix that, mine was definitely falling off the bone!

Remove the bay leaves and serve.

Cranberry gremolata:

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (cooled), finely chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
Zest of one orange, finely grated
2 tablespoons of chopped flat-leaf parsley

Combine pine nuts, cranberries and garlic clove in a mortar and crush together using pestle (or combine in mini chopper). Fold in orange zest and parsley. Scatter the gremolata over the Osso Bucco before serving.

If you swear by your own Osso Bucco recipe, try this gremolata to change things up.

Source: Adapted from Tyler Florence, the Food Network.

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