Cranberry Almond Stovetop Granola

Cranberry Almond Stovetop Granola is easy, quick and nutritious. Enjoy it as breakfast with yogurt and berries or as a snack! Naturally gluten-free and vegan-friendly. 

Remember the reader’s survey I requested you guys to fill out last week – so very valuable and lots of good information from you to me. Thank you!!!! It seems like most of you want vegetarian/weeknight friendly/quick easy recipes and video is an area of interest to you. And several of you said you want more “life” posts which is something I don’t share much of unless we are friends on snapchat (dixyab) or instagram. With everyone’s feedback, I am making some changes to the layout of the site (have you noticed yet?) to make it more user-friendly and accessible. Just bear with me while I revamp my recipe index. And even if you missed out the survey, I am always open to suggestions/feedback/recipe ideas.

Since you guys asked for more ‘life’ posts, I will tell you a little incident that happened at Trader Joe’s this past weekend? It involves me almost stealing a bag of spinach from another customer.So casually on Saturday, I went to Trader Joe’s and spent way too much time deciding on the type of greens and squash I wanted for the week. After picking a bag of spinach, I strolled around and added green squash in my grocery cart (or at least in my head that was my cart). As I was headed towards the fruits section, a lady stopped me and asked if I placed squash in her cart. Whooops, I spotted the boyfriend looking surprised and confused at me from the fruit section with our grocery cart.

So I apologized to the lady and removed the squash and the bag of spinach thinking I mistakenly placed both items on her cart. “That’s my spinach!” she yelled. She quickly grabbed the bag of spinach out of my hands and carted off while shaking her head. Talk about being embarrassed.This is the kind of things I go through regularly so maybe I will share more in future posts.

The boyfriend and I get a good kick every time I bring up Trader Joe’s now. Since it’s the first week of January, are you on the diet/juice/detox train? Please tell me NO because that train will only take you so far. Instead, let’s walk on a wholesome, nutritious path with Cranberry Almond Stovetop Granola. And, this version is so much better than the store bought as you have control over the ingredients and you pay half the price for it.

This is my 2nd batch in the last two weeks and I am certainly not bored with it because it makes a quick breakfast with yogurt and berries/bananas (when I have it) or simply as a snack. The stovetop version is extremely easy and quick (like 5 minutes quick) which is why you need to try it out too!

I am sharing this version with cranberry and almonds because I had the ingredients left from Cranberry Almond Biscotti but feel free to switch up your nuts/seeds/dried fruits/flavorings. Some of my favorite combinations include coconut + chocolate, cinnamon + walnut + cranberries, and pineapple + coconut.

Cranberry Almond Stovetop Granola

Serves:4

Ingredients

• 1 cup old- fashioned oats
• 1 cup sliced almond
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil, canola oil, or butter
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, toast oats and sliced almond for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the oats are golden, and the nuts are fragrant but not burnt.
2. Add oil or butter and mix well to coat the oats, mashing oats into oil with the back of your spoon.
3. Add honey and sprinkle salt and stir well until coated, using the back of the spoon ensuring all of the oats are coated.
4. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool on waxed paper lined plate.
5. Store it in an airtight container for about a week.

Notes

To keep it vegan, use coconut oil or canola oil and substitute honey with maple syrup.

For GF version, make sure to use GF-certified oats.

Tell me about your last funny/embarrassing incident, preferably at the grocery store.