Food Fact Fridays: Quiona Granola

One of my favorite blogs is InspriedRD.  She has wonderful recipes and a great perspective on life and faith.  She also has monthly contributors speak on fitness and  ethics in the field of dietetics.  It is worth multiple visits to her blog each month, but I couldn't help also bringing over one of her recipes over here.   It is Quionoa (KEEn-WA) granola .  It certainly is different than your regular oatmeal granola and may not be for all people, but I found myself really liking (ok,so I  thought it was delicious and had a hard time with portion control!). For people who are gluten-free and/or who wish to avoid any kind of oatmeal (even the gluten-free kind) this is worthy of trying.  Keep up your healthy, holiday eating goals with this unique recipe!

Cathryn's Variations:
Soak Quiona and walnuts for 2 hours or overnight.  Drain both before using.  Note that this adds ~ 20 minutes to the cook time.  Why soak the grains and walnuts?  Well, it helps to activate the enzymes that take care of a pesky little anti-nutrient in both nuts,seeds and grains called phytic acid.  Phytic acid binds to the vitamins and minerals in your food, inhibiting your own absorption of them.

Crunchy Quinoa Granola

Recipe type: Breakfast, Snack

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  25 mins

A fun twist on granola. Gluten-free and oat free. Super easy and delicious!

Ingredients

• ¾ cup pre-rinsed quinoa
• 1 cup walnut halves
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• ½ tsp. Celtic sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup unsweetened dried cherries (I used dried blueberries...yum!)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine quinoa, walnut halves, coconut, salt, coconut oil and maple syrup. Spread quinoa mixture into a thin layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Toss with dried cherries and cool. Store in an airtight container.