More Granola! And...Salad

I know, I know, who wants to hear about salad on a vegan blog? Chances are your friends think that salad is all you eat, topped with alfalfa sprouts and beans. (Although that doesn't sound half bad as a base...) But we're not trying to keep the stereotype alive here. However I have a pretty solid salad dressing recipe that I've been using a lot lately, so I just thought I'd share it. It's a spin off of my mom's balsamic dressing recipe, which is olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and herbs. I use miso in place of dijon, because they both have that unique salty taste. I've been on a fermented foods kick for a while, so I'm finding every possible way to get some miso in my diet.


Simple Balsamic Dressing

about 2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
about 1 tbls balsamic vinegar
1 tsp miso paste
herbs, as little or as much as you want. I always use thyme, maybe a bit of rosemary, and basil when I have it.

Wisk ingredients together. I would really recommend wisking as opposed to just mixing with a fork or spoon because it's easier to get the miso to mix in with the oil and vinegar.
Serve and enjoy!

I think I may give raw apple cider vinegar a try at some point in place of the balsamic vinegar, but other than that this is what I use on a regular basis.

The cool this about this dressing is that you can really use it for any type of salad. Lots of veggies, or fruit and nuts, this dressing compliments both types. And it's the type of dressing that bread tastes fantastic dipped in when you have a little bit left :)




And...here's another granola recipe! This one is much more simple that either of the previous granola recipes I've posted. It's inspired by a sample of granola that I had at the Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting. It's also debatebly raw, depending on the state of your walnuts and figs, and your stance on agave.


Walnut & Fig Granola

3 cups of walnuts
1-1 1/2 cups of dried figs
5-8 tbls agave nectar
a pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract

1.) Soak the walnuts overnight, and soak the figs for at least a couple hours. If you wanted to soak them overnight too, that would be fine, they just don't need as much time as the walnuts.
2.) Drain the walnuts and the figs, and cut the figs into relatively small pieces. Put the walnuts and figs in your food processor, and process them until the walnuts are smaller pieces.
3.) Now add the agave, salt, and vanilla. You can add as little or as much agave as you want, depending on your preference. The granola will be a little bit sweeter after it comes out of the dehydrator, so keeping that in mine it's pretty easy to gage if your batch is sweet enough for you.
4.) Dehydrate at 110 degrees overnight, or for about 10 hours. (It's winter break, 10 hours is not usually an accurate unit of measurement for overnight.)
5.) Enjoy!

Walnut & Fig Granola with Hempmilk.



In other news, would you like to see the most adorable cat ever? This is Taz, he's my brother's adopted cat and he's living with us for winter break!