Let's talk about granola. For years I would declare at each grocery store visit, "I'm going to make my own granola!" I never did. Now, I can't live without it. This granola is Alicia's, and I love it. a lot. a whole lot. a "look, I know it's just granola, but I love it" a lot. Why? It is so simple, and so good for you, and so filling. I eat it as cereal or just as a snack. It's sweet but not too sweet. It's just a great recipe. It also makes the house smell freaking cozy.

This recipe is nice and easy and can be improvised. I pretty much stick to it because I like it, but I always add more raisins or dried cranberries.. sometimes I throw in slivered almonds. You can add what you like or what you have on hand.

Oh, and it makes a bunch. It makes about 2 quarts.

6 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup maple sugar (or raw if that's what you have)
3/4 cup wheat germ (I get wheat germ that has cinnamon and flaxseed, and I get it at Giant Eagle)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup nuts, sesame or sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped raisins (or dried cranberries)
1/2 cup safflower oil
1/3 cup brown rice syrup (or maple syrup)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Spread the oats on a rimmed baking pan, and bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, wheat germ, coconut, nuts, raisins, and seeds. Stir to mix well. Add the oats and mix some more. Add the oil, syrup, and vanilla extract. Mix until everything is well moistened.

Spread half the mixture on your baking pan, and bake for 10 minutes, stirring after 5. You could just do 2 pans at once, but I always just do 1 at a time. No reason why really.

Store in an airtight container, and try not to gobble it all up in one day.

Forkin' A, man! This is like the coolest food thing to hit the Cleve since Melt (who has vegan cheese now, btw!). So Joe went to EarthFest at the zoo on Sunday (I know, mom, you're SO proud), and talked to the folks at Fresh Fork Market. So this is the scoop: 70 farmers, all within 75 miles of Cleveland, supply packages of food (meat, dairy, produce) for 22 weeks. You can either sign up to receive all 22 weeks, or you can just order month-to-month, or just sporadically choose to order. Then, there are 6 pick-up locations for you to conveniently pick up your booty each week.

On the site, they have samples of what they delivered last year, and they look really tasty, and well worth the money. While the traditional packages include meat and dairy, you can request vegetarian or vegan packages, which is cool. A small package looks something like this:

1 lb sweet cherries
½ lb of mixed kale (Black Italian Tuscan and Red Russian Kale)
1 yellow zucchini
1 green zucchini
1 bunch garlic scapes
1 lb fresh spinach pasta (linguini noodle)
4 oz chevre (goat cheese)
1 dozen free range eggs
½ gallon organic milk
1 head winter density lettuce

and, if you sign up for all 22 weeks, it comes out to be about $25 a week. At first I thought this sounded steep, but while I was at the store last night, I realized it's pretty much on target, and probably even more for the money when you consider most of the items in the package are organic and local. Plus, I'd much rather give my money to local farmers than Giant Eagle (sorry, Big Bird).

So Joe and I plan on partaking in this, and I'm really pumped about it. Pretty sure it'll feel like Christmas every week that we pick up our package, and I think it'll be super fun to come up with dinners with what we receive. Plus, I'm just really excited to support this effort and local growers.

I know not everyone is in the Cleveland area, but if you are, check it out, and maybe try out a package or two this year :)

http://www.freshforkmarket.com/

I love a brothy soup. Well, actually, I just love soup in general, but now that the weather is on the up, a brothy soup with crisp veggies is right on the money. I found this recipe in Alicia's Kind Diet book, and at the time, I didn't have all the ingredients so Joe and I improvised a smidge. I have her original recipe below minus the part where instead of broth, she soaks mushrooms in water, and that is the brothy part. Confession time. Mushrooms and me don't mix. Like, at all. I can't even handle the smell of them without wanting to curl up in the fetal position and go to my happy place. I have tried them more than once, but even recalling those memories now gives me a shiver and a belly quake. So needless to say, I skipped the whole mushroom soaking process, and opted for just a nice, vegan-friendly veggie broth. Plus, it's quicker.

So the other improvisation was that I didn't have any fresh ginger on hand, so I used about a quarter tsp. of ground ginger, which seemed to work fine. And then, as always, I just used the veg I had in the fridge. I think we ended up with carrots, snap peas, daikon, and scallions. I love a recipe that lets me use up the produce in the fridge. love it.

Sauce:
2-4 tsp. shoyu
3-4 T. water or broth
5-8 drops ginger juice (grate some ginger and squeeze the juice out of it like you're Macho Man Randy Savage)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice or rice vinegar

Veggies:
1 carrot, cut into bite-size pieces
1 stalk broccoli, bite-sized
1 handful bean sprouts
2-3 napa cabbage leaves or collards, chopped
4-6 dandelion greens, chopped
leaves of some bok choy, chopped

1 (8 oz) package udon noodles
1" piece of kombu

1 can of low-sodium veggie broth

Cook noodles according to package directions. Strain, and rinse under cool water to stop them from cooking anymore. Set aside.

Meanwhile, Bring broth to a boil w/ 2-3 cups of water. Add the kombu and lower to a simmer.

Have all the veggies ready to go on your cutting board or a plate next to the stove. Add the veggies, starting with the carrots, and anything else that would take longer. Most of the veggies shouldn't take longer than a couple of minutes. You want them fresh and light with some crunch, and not mushy.

I added the sauce directly to the broth and veggie mixture, but you could just put it on the side. I figured it was all going to the same place, so I just threw it in.

Serve by placing your noodles in a bowl and ladling your broth and veggie mixture over top. Eat with chopsticks to impress your friends.

Enjoy!