nuts Archives - Healthy Green Kitchen

Tara’s Fig and Ginger Cluster Granola

I have shared many granola recipes here on the blog over the years, but it’s been quite a while since I made a new batch. I’ve even caved and bought granola from the supermarket a few times recently …gasp! But homemade granola really is much tastier in my opinion, and with milk or yogurt, it’s truly one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast or for a snack. So I figured it was high time to get my act together and make some more.

This recipe, from Tara O’Brady’s new book Seven Spoons: My Favorite Recipes for Any and Every Day, is a definite keeper. It’s clumpy, nutty, sweet, and a wee bit spicy (from the ginger), and I love it. I’ve been eating it topped with all sorts of fresh berries including local strawberries, gooseberries from my garden, and black raspberries from my yard.

Though I don’t personally know Tara, I have admired her work from afar for years (feast your eyes on her cakes!!!). Her photos, both on her blog and in this cookbook, are exquisite, as her writing. So far, I have read and cooked almost exclusively from the Breads and Breakfast chapter: I look forward to making my way through more of Tara’s stories and recipes.

I rarely eat the same thing twice. A food or drink has to be really and truly insanely delicious for me to make it more than once; I guess that says a lot about this shake since I blended it up four times last week.

The shake recipe comes from a wonderful new book (that’s officially out today!) called The New Persian Kitchen. I received a review copy from Ten Speed Press a couple of weeks ago and I simply can’t get enough of author Louisa Shaffia’s beautiful writing, or her food.

This is Louisa’s second book. I adored her first one (Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life), too. In fact, I wrote extensively about Lucid Food in a series of posts back in 2010: this granola is one of the recipes I featured.

One of the things I like best about The New Persian Kitchen is how Louisa weaves exotic, traditional Persian ingredients into contemporary dishes. Some of the recipes I most look forward to making include:

Cold Pistachio Soup with Mint and Leeks
Whole Roasted Fish with Oranges and Saffron
Sour Cherry and Rose Preserves
Herb Frittata with Walnuts and Rose Petals
Grilled liver with Cumin, Garlic, and Fresh Basil
Pomegranate Semifreddo with Blood Orange Compote
No-bake Persimmon and Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Don’t these recipes sound amazing? I am also a big fan of the ways in which Louisa shares cultural and historical information in this book. And the photography? It’s positively dreamy, as is always the case when Sara Remington is behind the lens.

I simply can’t say enough good things about this book, and I am pleased to let you know that Ten Speed Press has generously offered to send a copy of the New Persian Kitchen to one of my readers! You’ll find the information about how to enter the giveaway at the end of the post.

A couple of months ago, the incredibly nice folks at Lark Crafts sent me a book called Sweet Confections: Beautiful Candy to Make at Home. In a card enclosed with the book, Nicole from Lark wrote “I know this seems like a stretch for your blog, but making candy at home using natural ingredients is … Read more

Sweet and Spicy Pecans

I was putting together a “rub” to slather on ribs and it occurred to me that a similar combination would be delicious tossed with roasted pecans and a bit of butter. It turns out my hunch was correct…these sweet and spicy pecans are delicious. These are very addicting, so be careful you don’t go overboard … Read more

Tara’s Fig and Ginger Cluster Granola

Date Shake with Toasted Nuts from The New Persian Kitchen

Thai-Inspired Cashew Brittle

Sweet and Spicy Pecans