Granola & Yogurt Parfait - What your Valentine REALLY wants

A few simple elements

make up this classy yet

guilt-free dessert

Ok so you've checked out my last post on cinnamon and you're starting to believe the hype.. let's put it to the test with this dead easy Valentine's Day Parfait and see what cinnamon can do for you ;)


Inspired by my love for a good granola, this recipe elaborates on the original Simple Granola (scroll down 5 posts ago to check it out!) by using pumpkin seeds and toasted, fresh coconut. But first, let's look at the different ways granola can be enjoyed:





1. Most simply, with a little milk.
This allows for the full flavour of the granola to be tasted, unobstructed by flavours and textures from additional ingredients. Points for efficiency.

2. With yogurt! Yogurt can provide an optimal and complementive paring with granola, and depending on the type of yogurt you choose say, greek for example, will be another source of awesome nutrition.

3. With fruit, of course! Fresh (or thawed frozen) fruit can be added by itself or with any of the first options as well. Again, this is an optimal pairing for not only taste but also as an easy way to add more bulk and nutrition.

Simply by changing what you add to granola, and in this case the vessel too, you can end up with either a healthy, filling breakfast, or a healthy, sexy dessert!

Pre-Method
Making this for your special someone? Prep the granola ahead of time and assemble in a glass with a fairly wide mouth. Avoid assembling entirely and letting it sit for long periods of time or the yogurt with soak the granola, a half hour beforehand at most (for best results). Also, if choosing to use fresh coconut, toast to a light brown before adding to the other ingredients and baking. The ratio of coconut and seeds is really up to you, the recipe serves as a guideline. Just mix the ingredients together and see if you want to add more!

Forget the dried fruit this time 

You'll need:
- 3 cups whole oats
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 3/4 cup lightly toasted or dry coconut flakes
- 4 tbsp packed brown sugar
- 3 tsp cinnamon
- 1 to 2 tsp salt (taste before adding more)
- 1/3 cup oil 
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- A couple handfuls of your favourite berries  (hint- red for Valentine's Day)
- A container of your favourite yogurt  (minimum 250ml)
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips or shaved dark chocolate  (aphrodisiac, very necessary) 

Method
1.Preheat oven to 300F. In a large mixing bowl add oats, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.

2. In another small bowl add oil, honey, and vanilla extract. Whisk together and add to your first bowl. Mix together well until everything is coated evenly.

3. In a rimmed baking sheet lay down a sheet of parchment paper, this makes stirring the granola and clean up super easy. Pour out granola onto baking sheet and spread evenly. 

4. Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Then take out, stir mixture, and spread evenly once again. Bake 5-15 minutes more until golden and smelling incredible. Less is more here.

5. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature before eating or packaging. As the granola cools it become crisp and crunchy, don't be fooled if it is still somewhat moist after coming from the oven. Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

6. Assembly. Start by summoning your inner Michelangelo. Select an appropriate clear glass cup. Start the layers with a spoonful of yogurt in the bottom, being careful not to smear yogurt on the side of the glass. Then layer in a few spoonfuls of granola. Next comes the berries and chocolate. Depending on the size of glass you will need to do this 2 or 3 times, ending with berries and chocolate!

Done! Serve Immediately!

*Bonus Marks

- top with a dash of cinnamon & a touch of shaved chocolate. Classy. As. HELL.

**As always!

Let me know how it turns out for you! Feel free to post your questions, comments, and stories below :)

Sunday Spice Tip - Cinnamon

Cinnamon.

Sweet. Spicy. Warm. Woody.

So what comes to mind when you think of Cinnamon? Maybe you're reminded of grandma's classic apple pie. Or how about the cinnamon sticks we used to dunk in hot apple cider as kids? More likely than either of those you probably remember the ridiculous yet hilarious cinnamon challenge videos that went viral several years ago, which featured the freak-outs of foolish individuals trying to swallow a spoonful of this pungent spice. Ahhh good times, seems like it was only just yesterday...

Ok enough reminiscing. Despite it's previous internet fame, let's use grandma's apple pie as a better example of how we can use cinnamon to enhance our food. 

Apple & Cinnamon. One of the most classic and delicious combinations ever. Much like how salt enhances all flavours, cinnamon in particular boosts the sweet notes of food with it's own spicy-savoury sweetness. While tasting cinnamon on it's own is generally quite uninspiring, it's actually the rich aroma which lends cinnamon it's unique flavour notes. 

What exactly do I mean? Ever notice how the flavour of food is dull when your nose is stuffed or you have a cold? I'll explain why with very technical terms. Our sense of taste and smell are linked together so that scents intensify flavours. Without smell, nothing actually tastes as it should. Watch the first 2 minutes of this if you want the whole picture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJud8MKrvBE

Native to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Burma, cinnamon has a long, rich history as being one of the world's most popular spices. In modern times, most commercially available cinnamon is actually made from related species of the original cinnamon tree. Referred to as "cassia" to distinguish them from true cinnamon, these relative trees make up the largest percentage of production crops. Although traditionally peeled from the inner bark of cinnamon trees, ground cinnamon is a more versatile and cook-friendly way to reap all the same benefits. 

Excellent when used with... desserts, baking, beverages, & Indian/Caribbean cuisine.

Cinnamon rolls, cinnamon toast, pies, pancakes, muffins, other pastries, oatmeal, cereal, apple cider, hot chocolate, coffee, cocktails, curry chicken and jerk chicken are all places you will find cinnamon's warm and spicy aroma being put to good use. Personally, cinnamon is a must-have in my morning oatmeal and seems butt-naked without it! If you don't already have cinnamon in your spice collection, grab a bottle! It's time you discover this historic flavour of the world.

Let's try it out!
This week I'm featuring Cinnamon as one of the key flavours in my Granola & Yogurt Parfait.

Sunday Spice Tip - Smoky Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Warm up with this classic
soup, infused
with a rich, bold twist

Our very first Sunday Spice Tip featured Smoked Paprika, a deliciously rich, smoky, and luxurious spice that adds a touch of sweetness. Check the post if you havn't already, grab a bottle, then meet me back here so you can try it out with this luscious Roasted Red Pepper Soup.

If you're like me and live in Southern Ontario, you've probably already been out shovelling loads of snow from your driveway, making snow angels, and worked up quite an appetite doing so. Now it's time to refuel and cozy up to a warm, satisfying meal while dreaming of spring and flipflops. 

Inspired by snow shovelling and frostbite, today's soup is a mouthwatering blend of roasted vegetables and spices, slightly charred to develop a unique smoky barbeque flavour. With only basic ingredients required, this a rockstar of a soup that anyone can make! Let's see how it's done.


Pre-Method
Start by deciding how much soup you want to make. Generally one medium red pepper equals one serving of soup, so if you want to make enough to last the week you'll need 7, brilliant huh? More can be made at once and frozen for future use. Onions, garlic, and a tomato are used as well to round off our vegetables to be roasted. Depending on your oven size, you may be able to fit 2 baking sheets at once, but otherwise you'll have to roast half the ingredients at a time. We'll be using the oven broiler to speed up the roasting process and to develop a slight char and more flavour, just keep an eye on things so nothing burns. You guys would never let that happen right ;)

A Guideline for 5 servings,
You'll need:
- 5 red peppers
- 3 medium sized yellow onions
- 1 large tomato
- 5 garlic cloves
- 3 to 4 tbsp oil
- 1.5 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 to 1.5 tbsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (approx)
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup cilantro leaves (optional)
- 1 lime

Method
1. Wash peppers and tomato. Slice tomato into wedges and add to a large bowl. Slice the peppers into flat portions as seen here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o28yI1XTQQU ensuring no white ribs remain. Add to the bowl. Peel garlic cloves & add. Cut onions in half from tip to root and peel off the skin. If the root is dirty, slice ONLY the brown off, none of the flesh. The root keeps the layers together meaning they will cook evenly. Add these to the bowl too.

2. Drizzle oil over the vegetables. Too much is better than not enough here. Sprinkle with smoked paprika, cumin, salt, and mix with hands to combine, ensuring every piece is coated evenly. Wash hands and lay either tin foil or parchment paper over a baking sheet(s). Transfer vegetables to sheet and space evenly, ensuring ingredients don't overlap. Place baking sheet on your oven's middle rack and set to broil. Once a slight char develops on vegetables, flip them over and char the other side. Approx. 8 minutes per side but keep an eye on things, aim for something like this -->


3. Once everything is roasted and charred, transfer to a large pot and set on medium-high heat. Once starting to sizzle, cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Then add 2/3 of your stock and bring to a simmer. When simmering, turn off the heat and locate your blender. An immersion blender works well here. Blitz, in batches if necessary, until a smooth consistency is reached. Return soup to pot and set back on med-high heat.

4. Evaluate the consistency of your soup. If too thick for your liking, add the either the rest of the stock and/or coconut milk to achieve your dezired consistency. If too thin, leave the lid off so the soup can reduce, otherwise cover and cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour, reducing the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Halfway through, season to taste with salt and pepper until your inner chef is satisfied!

5. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, chop cilantro if dezired and add to the soup along with the juice of a fresh lime. Add half the juice at a time, then taste, to ensure flavour balance.

Done! Serve Hot!

*Bonus Marks

- Drizzle coconut milk or cream over soup to add contrast and interest

- Garnish with cilantro (or basil as I did) to add a delicate splash of colour

- Serve with a wedge of lime and sriracha for those who are more daring

**As always!

Let me know how it turns out for you, feel free to post your questions, comments, and stories below :)

Sunday Spice Tip - Smoked Paprika

 Spices. The variety is extraordinary, the combinations are endless. 

They transform the essence of a dish and give our food dimension. But how does one learn to use them? Here at Dezired Cuisine I've come up with a solution.. welcome to the first Sunday Spice Tip!

Originally, I planned to simply chat about a different spice each Sunday, giving you juicy details and hopefully encouraging you to try it out and start getting more comfortable with spices. However, I happened to use today's spice in an amazing dish earlier last week with outstanding results and knew I had to share it with you too. 2 in 1? Ca-chingggg!

Salt and pepper are the most classic examples of seasonings we typically think of first, and both are essentials in the kitchen. Let's build on that and see what else else is out there. We have access to much of the world's popular spices, all the way from the cuisines of India to Asia, Caribbean and Mediterranean. This isn't a new idea though. Access to spices from around the world has been going on since 3000 B.C when the great Spice Trade initially began (like me, you've probably heard something about this in a history class a long time ago. A quick Google search on this can make for a good read). So now, thanks to globalization, you walk into your favourite grocery store and can easily become overwhelmed with the variety of spices, most of which you've never even heard of. I'm here to shed some light on that crazy looking spice shelf and hopefully make you want to search out some of the real game-changers.

Smoked Paprika. Intense. Aromatic. Smoky. Luxurious.

The game definitely changed when I opened a McCormick brand Smoked Paprika for the first time. I was hit with an incredibly intense, delectable aroma that reminded me distinctly of a typical barbecue chip smell, but much more rich and intriguing. Most people have probably heard of it's cousin, regular Paprika, but flavour-wise the two spices are in completely different families.
I find regular Paprika to be much more mild with a subtle sweetness that usually (for me) gets lost when adding other spices to a given dish. I highly recommend trying it though as many people do enjoy the delicate flavour it adds. Smoked Paprika however is bold, charismatic, and stands out as a key flavour when added to food.

I won't beat around the spice bush here. Because McCormick gourmet spices are very high quality they are more expensive than most other brands. So when I was looking for a more reasonable alternative I eventually ended up at Bulk Barn (highly recommend as they make a huge variety of spices accessible to the average human being). After buying a baseball sized bag of the Smoked Paprika and using some of it I found it was less rich than the McCormick's. For the regular user it will work just fine and for the price I really can't complain but with a little research there are other sources and brands out there (try La Chinata Smoked Paprika), and trust me, it is definitely worth the search. However I do strongly recommend you treat yourself to a quality brand first for the best impression and impact. My first bottle lasted less than 2 weeks, it was just that amazing!

Excellent when used with... any type of vegetable or meat. 
Currys, stews, soups, pastas, sauces, and anything grilled or roasted will be enhanced with depth and sumptuous smoky savoury notes. Very versatile and easy to use with real impact. Add this spice to your collection and see how you can take almost any dish to the next level!

Let's try it out! 
This week I'm featuring Smoked Paprika as the key flavour in my Smoky Roasted Red Pepper Soup.