Loopçoise

First I'd like to correct an error from the last Loops Bar post. Hubs graciously named the treat after me but forgot the apostrophe. Oi vey, the apostrophe. That itzy bitzy squiggle that traverses the abyss between noun and possessive pronoun. And since America is the land of the free and home of possessive pronouns, the Loops Bars should have been Loops's Bars.  Because they are mine and I love them.

But anyway back to the post at hand: Loopçoise is my (Loops) take on a Niçoise. You know that questionable ubiquitous menu item that you should never ever order? (unless you're eating at Kadosh, in that case you always must order). I'm sure the makers were well intended and granted there are some exceptional executions of the dish (ahem...Kadosh) but overall its usually a sad looking salad with cold potatios, seen-better-days-maybe I-am-maybe-I-ain't-Tuna, hard boiled egg, disturbing amount of leaves that have no place there to begin with, blanched green beans from yesterday thrown in cold from the fridge, some sheriz* and suspicious looking "Niçoise" olives.  
* Sheriz = Cherry tomatoes

Sooo, if you think about it, it was just a matter of time before those dreary bits got an Asian fusion pick-me-up and that Asian fusionist just happened to be me. And since I'm studying Pride this days, I admit I was rather proud of the result. 

I basically substituted each salad constituent with an Asian counterpart in the following manner:

• Gloomy Green beans -> vibrant slightly blanched ones, tossed in a little of the "vinaigrette" beforehand.

• Suspicious "Tuna" -> Crispy (Panko coated) Salmon bites (yes. Salmon schnitzelonim)

• Boiled potatioes (which Hubs is quiet adamant about being against)-> Baked Soy-honey glazed sweet potato wedges. However subbing the yellow potatios with the orange sweet ones created a color issue, so to reintroduce yellow (and protein) I put crispy pan seared tofu.

• Hard boiled eggs -> quail eggs 

• And the useless pile of greens morphed into a small heap of wasabi micro-greens (eat that Shuk Levinski:-)
• Over everything I poured an Asian "vinaigrette": soy, mirin, rice vinegar and maybe a touch of Tariyaki that I had lying around.

Mise en place

Pretty 

Assembly 1

The preparation is pretty simple but requires some multitasking to have everything ready to assemble. This is the order I did it in that made sense to me, starting from most time to least:

1. Put a small pot with water and salt on the stove (for green beans), and another one for the quail eggs (you can already put the eggs in, they'll just need a few minutes in the boiling water)
2. Take a block of firm tofu and put a weight on it to drain out liquid (till you're ready to cook em)



Assembly 2

3. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into wedges. Drizzle a bit of soy sauce and honey (and ginger if u want) and toss just to coat and stick in a 200C (400F) oven. They'll be ready by the time you finish the rest.
4. Skin the salmon and cut into bite size (yet biggish) pieces.
5. Organize a plate with cornflour for the tofu.
6. Organize 3 plates for the salmon breading - one with flour, one with egg and one with panko (you can add ingredients of your choice to any of these mixtures (e.g. soy in the egg, salt & pepper in the flour, sesame in the panko...)
7. Put green beans in already boiling water for a few minutes till still firm, drain and stop cooking in cold water. drain and cut into bite size pieces.



Assembly 3

8. Make vinaigrette, pretty much to taste - soy, mirin sesame oil, rice vinegar...you can add chili oil, ginger, garlic....I don't think you can really go wrong here. I spooned a bit of this on the green beans so they soak some flavor in the meantime.
9. Peel and halve cooked quail eggs.
10. Take sweet potatoes out (if ready), combine with the green beans and you can already plate those if that's how you roll)
11. Now for the action: heat a large skillet with regular oil and a bit of sesame oil, while its heating prepare the tofu - cut into slices and cover in cornflour (shake off access) and put in the pan. Simultaneously (we did this together and in one pan) triple dip the salmon (flour->egg-> panko) and put in the pan as well (or in a separate one, depending on how much you're doing). 
12. Pan fry till ready. The tofu till it has a nice crispy layer, but keep a better watch over the salmon so not to dry it. Remove from pan onto paper towels.
13. Pile whatever is ready onto the green-been sweet potato bed, dot with the halved quail eggs, drizzle the vinaigrette over everything and pile some wasabi-micro greens on top. 

 X

Loops bar

There is a problem. The problem is we go climbing. That in itself isn't a problem, it's the solution. The real problem is eating, sleeping and work. Say i leave work at 17:30 (optimistic). The earliest we actually get there is 18:00, and so the earliest we start climbing would be 18:15. The warm-up would end at 18:45 (At least two long routes or 4 short routes each, plus tying in each time), and then we want at least 2.5 hours of climbing, plus half an hour of cool down. that's 9:45 already, plus stretching we get to 22:00, packing 22:15, back home by 22:45 the earliest, and that's if we don't need to get groceries and stuff.
We are already quite quick in the kitchen, so say the salad (and eggs and toast be ready by 23:00). We finish eating by 23:30, then clean up the dishes, and ourselves, no way we get to bed before midnight, and dinner is still being digested of course. If you think i can wake up before 21:30 after all this, think again.

To mitigate the situation, we climb early on Sunday, and climb Friday night (Side note - If you think I'm not abruptly awoken Saturday morning to go to beat the crowds at Bread's bakery and the Farmer's market, think again). This still leaves weeknight of climbing.
The hypothetical solutions one might consider, in decreasing order or plausibility:

1. Move by the climbing wall.
2. Sleep less.
3. Go to bed without eating.
4. Hijack a helicopter home.
5. Obtain a hover-board that can go over the east river.
6. Climb twice a week instead of three.

The problem with moving by the gym is that we already live by work and Uni, so this would simply shift the commute instead of reducing it.
The problem with sleeping less or going to bed without eating (or skipping the cool down, for that matter) is that this would have an adverse effect on our ability to climb well three times a week, and function properly at work.
No. 4 is downright silly, and from there it's straight downhill.

Solution 1.0 Protein-Energy bar.
I've heard different theories on this, and my biology knowledge is not great, but there is a pretty large consensus saying that eating right after climbing (I've heard anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours, see This post for example), preferably something with a lot of carbs and some protein, is the most effective way to help your muscles restore their energy store. I have no proof, but personally i feel disproportionately hungrier later on if i miss the post climbing snack).
But what can we eat at the climbing wall? Long lasting, weather resistant energy bars.
I'm not talking about those ridiculous "Energy bars" that supposedly keep you skinny. These down right lie, either in name or in trait. Our energy bars carry their calories proudly. The simpler the sugar, the better. Immediately after climbing (and throughout it too) we munch on energy bars. The Protein is an added bonus, as our average meat and dairy intake is low.
Looking for protein bar recipes, none caught my fancy. Adding sweeteners loses my trust, as it suggests the recipe is directed at people trying to lost weight, in which case i feel the author is misleading their audience, suggesting eating peanut butter bars will help you lose weight. "Gluten free" loses it because of course it's gluten free, so what? Finally peanut butter loses because eating peanut butter bars 3 times a week is crazy.

The philosophy behind this recipe is that after-climbing bars are an opportunity to eat really tasty sweet stuff, in other words, Chocolate! The protein came mostly from the Whey powder, and the rest is basically reconstructed granola. It took some experimentation to get the bars to stay solid, but not too sticky.

Loopsoise's After-Climbing bars:

(Loops bars for short)

Nuts, Oats, Mixed

Ingredients:

Dry mixture:

• 250g of your favorite mixture of nuts. i did 50g each of:
• Almonds, Pecan, Hazelnuts, Walnuts,
• 400g oats
• 100g buckwheat groats.

Granola sauce:

• 1 cup Maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp cocoa
• 10 Tbsp olive oil (I often add more)
• 2 Tbsp water
  

Emulsifier:

• 150g whey powder
• 1/2 cup liquids (water or oatmilk or something like that)
• 200g melted dark chocolate (nuked or Bain-Marie)

Hardware:

• Food processor
• Mixer
• Oven
• Stove
• Large mixing bowls
• Small pots
• Rolling pin and surface

Instructions:

Before you do anything else - set the oven to 150C.

Nuts

Oats n' Groats

Dry ingredients:

The idea is to roast the nuts, roast the oats-groats, grind each to a powder, and then mix them. 

The reason to roast and grind the oats and nuts separately is to not overwhelm your food processor. If your food processor isn't a beast, consider grinding in smaller batches.

Save time by roasting the nuts, then grinding them while roasting the oats.

Whey, Chocolate

Granola sauce:

Add all the sauce ingredients to a small pot, stir over low heat until the sauce gets warm.

Emulsifier:

Melt the chocolate, either using a microwave or with Bain Marie (easier- Put a small pot with a few inches of water on medium heat, cover. when it boils, replace the cover with a bowl of chocolate, and reduce the heat to low. simply wait and it'll melt. Mixing isn't crucial but is really fun).

Add the whey powder and liquids to the melted chocolate, stir.

Once you have both both sauces, save about 1/4 cup of the granola sauce for later, and mix the rest with the Whey-Chocolate

Base:

Take the 1/4 cup of granola sauce and mix it with  150-200G of the nuts-oats mixture. Place the wet oats on your tray or parchment paper, and flatten using a roller pin.

Base, cement, together

Cement:

Put the everything sauce in a mixing bowl (if you have a mixer, better), and start mixing at low speed.

Slowly add the remainder of  your roasted-grounded nuts-oats-groats mixture. If it gets too stiff - add some liquids (water or oil). Make sure to stop once in a while and scrape the bottom, otherwise it'll really stick. Once you've mixed the whole thing, spread it on the base.

Baking:

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 150C.

Allow to cool, and then cut up into nicely shaped bars. Wrap in aluminum foil and store in freezer. 

The bars will usually be a bit stiff when frozen - we take them out of the freezer in the morning, and eat them in the evening, and they are nice by then.

Optional - Add cookie crumbs to the top of cement.

Loopsoise After-Climbing bar

Side note - Sift your walnuts.

Sifting your walnuts will get rid of that awful flaky bitter powder they come wrapped in. It'll make'em look shiny (see picture), and it's extremely satisfying. A mesh strainer (See picture) covered with a similar sized bowl is ideal - shake'em and watch the powdery evilness drift away.

Sufferin' Succotash

If any have you have ever heard Sylvester (the cat loony toon) say this and wonder what the hell he was saying (apparently Daffy duck did so also on occasion but we'll leave that be at the moment) then he's saying: sufferin' succotash!

Now why would Sylvester say such a thing? Well, as it turns out, Sylvester, along with other looneys  of the time, wanted to refrain from taking god's name in vain, kal vachomer to avoid associating it with swear words. So in his endeavor to sin without actually sinning, a malapropism came to his aid, and instead of exclaiming "Suffering Savior!!" (yaanu, "Jesus Christ!") he said: "Sufferin' Succotash!"

However, this minced oath, is sneakier that one might readily assume, so the second question becomes what for G-d's sake is Succotash? Well... its this:

Succotash, according to the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island, means "broken corn kernel", and is a simple dish made of corn, beans, peppers and/or tomatoes...and basically what you have lying around, which wasn't much else, since its popularity surged during the great depression.

Which if you think about now, the historical-theological allusion made by the above looney toon in his seemingly innocent exclamation of "Sufferin' Succotash", is pretty remarkable.

But back to the point (which hasn't been made yet), The only reason I was walking around saying I must make Succotash was because I needed an excuse to say "Succotash, Succotash" 20 times a day, which if you put your heart into saying, you'll see that it is really quite wonderful.

Although it looks rather unremarkable, there's a secret to it. The Corn. I'm not really a corn person. First and foremost, I can blame my parents god bless 'em, especially my dad you seemed to be the driving force behind that steamed corn on a cob with butter and salt concoction. Second of all there is the canned horror that uncanny kids, on scouts trips, thought it was supercool to sprinkle daintily over their "Hashachar" chocolate spread. And then there was that corn doesn't get digested bit, and then to top that, there's corn industry which is responsible for wrecking general havoc. And in Israel its OK, you can lead a happy comfortable shielded from corn life. Even on trips cause there are always people like me to veto the atrocity, and make everyone carry fresh veggies and herbs instead, so we can all make open fire rustic Calzones (cause I vetoed the cheap white bread too, and made them buy fresh baked lafot).

But I digress. America on the other hand, is a different matter. And while I spent all summer ignoring the piles of it in the farmer's market, the last time I spied it in the market, the word Succotash came into my head, and that was that.

The corn was bought. Peeled. Tasted. Yum. You didn't even need to steam it or cover it with butter and salt to make it pass for some taste, it was milky and sweet just like it was. And the Succotash that followed was this:

1 red onion chopped
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
1/2 orange bell pepper chopped
1/2 poblano pepper (for a bit of heat but didn't end up feeling it)
1 can black beans, strained
Fresh raw corn kernels from 2 cobs
Fresh thyme
Salt 'n Pepper
1/4 cup water
2-3 tablespoons Olive oil and/or butter (I did it with butter to try the original version, minus the lard, but think only olive oil will be just fine)
Fresh cilantro (i didn't have any and was upset)

Preparation: Saute onion and thyme in butter or olive oil till soft and slightly golden, add peppers and saute for a few minutes (~3), add the corn and beans, salt 'n pepper, stir everything, add water cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.

That's it. I thought that fresh cilantro on top would give it a great finish but alas, there was none.
We also accompanied the succotash with guacamole, homemade flour tortillas, and a fresh tomato salad. We basically put everything in the tortilla, rolled it up and ate.

But the Succotash would be just fine on its own.

Burgers 'n Fries

Burgers & Fries,

This blog has officially gone cosmopolitan/multinationtan/internatiotan or whatever-the-word-is-tan, because although I might be "the שכלתנית", off getting a PhD I still can't use an English keyboard for Hebrew text, without the little sticker letter things. I don't blind type. There I said it. 

The second thing I didn't do was plan to write about this dinner, see "שילחון לא מהודק" as Saboob would say. Actually he wouldn't really say that, just growl, point his finger to some invisible thingie on the tablecloth and say: "Yalda, peirurim". Which loosely translated means: Girl, Crumbs.

So there are no mise-en-place photos, but you can take my word for it that there was (all 17 bowls of them), no table design and only two pictures, but it just tasted so good that it seemed like a good idea anyway.

So what inspired this dish was a case of the good old - I have 4 kinds of mushrooms on their way to hitbaasut, a single tiny eggplant staring at me accusingly from the fridge, and frozen cooked lentils - stress. Once again "remainder - demolition" (חיסול שאריות) saved the day and this was the result:

Great veggie burgers (95% vegan: damn egg, organic, cage free, antibiotic free, meadow roaming with free access to wifi) and sweet potato "fries" which means they were baked, and sweet potato cause my hubby likes them (more than potatoes, go figure, but then again, he didn't eat Tapugan aLa-micro growing up so he wouldn't have developed the palette for the subtle finesse of those soggy oily wonders). Thank you Ima. And most importantly that what I had lying around.

 So to the best of the Hurwitz family tradition, of never ever eating the two sides of the bun even if your life depends on it, I did an open-ended one sided burger, with the buns grilled on my cast Iron plancha. The buns were of the American sweetish-soft type but really good ones from Breads Bakery and the sweetness actually paired well with the whole thing, and the softness supported the patty without domineering it (Eyal Shani, here I come).

Before the recipe for the burgers (which I'm delaying cause I can't really remember), the toppings: crispy caramelized red onion, 2 kinds of sheriz (תמר and עין הנמר or Kumato as they're called here), a bit of mixed lettuce, and as freshy sides: there is the accusing eggplant with spiced yogurt and a small sheriz salad (with chives and parsley).

Soooo the burgers....hmmmm...oh actually the sweet potatoes can go first:

• 2 sweet potateos, peeled and cut into french fries shape
• Salt, pepper, Olive oil, with the optional addition of spices - I added Cayenne pepper and it was great.
• So just mix 'em all up, and put in the oven (220 C) for about 30 minutes give or take turning them over half way through to get them crispy.

So what did I put in the patties...? I know I wanted to avoid the abominable "Portabelo - steak" or the equally heinous lentil - choke patty. I also wanted more of the umami thing going so first thing I did was to לשלוף my dried shitake.

Yields 4 burgers (patties):

• Half an onion finely chopped
•  2 garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped)
  
• 1 big chunk of oyster mushrooms (chopped to small pieces)
• 1 big portabelo mushroom (leg removed and chopped to small pieces)

             ****

• 1 big portabelo mushroom (leg removed and roughly chopped)
• 2 cremini mushrooms roughly chopped (strange number but that what I had)
• Something like 1/3 cup precooked lentils (I had french lentils)
•  2 tsp (כפיות) dijon mustard

             ****

• 4 dried Shitakes soaked in lukewarm water till soft (about 10-15 mins), finely chopped
• About 4 tbls (כפות) bread crumbs
• 1 egg (רחמנא ליצלן, or some other binding agent)
• Chopped Parsley
• Salt & Pepper

First 4 ingredients: Sauté onion and garlic till soft and golden, add mushrooms (the finely chopped ones) and saute till soft and most of the shroomy liquid has evaporated (add salt, pepper)
I then scooped this mixture onto my cutting board to hang out and chopped it a bit more. 

Second 4 ingredients: Pulse in the food processor (careful not to make it a gummy paste)

Combine: Everything (correct/add seasoning to taste). I formed the burgers and wrapped them lightly with cling film and set them to להתגבש in the fridge for a bit (until I got the rest done).

Construct: Fry burgers in a small amount of oil (olive or other), simultaneously put the buns halved, face down on the plancha (till you get the nice grill striations)  and have all your toppings ready and nearby (the sweet potato fries are well in the oven by this time). When burgers 'n buns are ready construct burger to your liking (you can also, god forbid, use both halves of the bun for yourself).

Dessert. For a freshy finish I scooped raspberry sorbet into hollowed out lime halves with a cherry on top. A bit Nira Ruso, in terms of presentation but still cute, and given the fact that I plated a home weekday dinner before hand, that's pretty "בגבוה".


x.
P.S. Hebrew added by hubby.

קומה 4 לא שומעים אותכם!!!

הגיע הזמן שגם קומה 4 תישמע!!!!

אז מיזון פלאס  (באמא שלכם אין לי כוח לחפש עכשיו איך כותבים את זה באנגלית) שלא כמו אצל ספ וענת -  זה לא הצד החזק שלי, שלא לדבר בכלל על המונח החדש לסידור שולחן - להלן ייקרא מעתה ועד עולם : "שילחון" (ענת, 2014)

אז אצלי הכל נקצץ, נפרס נאפה ומתבשל בכאוס מוחלט. שתבינו - כדי להעביר שום קצוץ למחבת למשל (על כירה חשמלית וכל מילה נוספת מיותרת) אני צריכה לעבור מעל כל המטבח והכלים, ודמיינו לעצמכם מה קורה בזמן סרוויס. וכשאני אומרת "כל" המטבח אני בעצם מתכוונת לפרוזדור קטן בכניסה לדירתי החמודה.

אז המתכון הבא התגלגל בעקבות מספר גורמים:

1.       גילגול האהובה השאירה לי בדירה צנצנת ענקית של יוגורט עיזי חופש, שהסירה את החלודה מהגלגלים שחשבו פעם מה משתדך למוצר חלב כלשהו

2.       מגמת המזון המהיר השולטת בחיי לאחרונה, עקב הגעה הביתה מ-ו-ר-ע-ב-ת מהעבודה, מביאה אותי למחשבה רק על חומרי גלם שדורשים זמן הכנה מהיר אם בכלל.

3.       וכמובן תחרות עם עצמי במשימת "חיסול שאריות" בה אסור כמובן לרדת לקנות כלום.

4.       ואיך אפשר לשכוח את הפן הבריאותי של כל זה - מנה שתשלב חלבון מלא, דל קלורי (אחרי יוון) וקליל.

דפי אורז במילוי תבשיל עדשים כתומות, טופו, עגבניות וכוסברה.

לצד יוגורט.

3/4 כוס עדשים כתומות מבושלות

מס' דפי אורז

8-10 עגבניות שרי תמר

1 בצל סגול קצוץ

2 שיני שום קצוצות

ג'ינג'ר קצוץ (נגיד..שליש אצבע?) אם יש כיוון לג'ינג'ר מוחמץ - זה פי אלף.

כפית "ברברה" (תבלין אתיופי) נראה לי שפפריקה חריפה תעשה את העבודה

חצי כפית "חמשת התבלינים" (לפי תחושה)

חצי כוס רסק עגבניות/ עגבניות מרוסקות איכותי

1/4-1/2 כוס מים

2 כפות שמן זית

מלח פלפל

חופן כוסברה קצוצה

נבטי אלפא אלפא.

אז ככה:

מטגנים בצל, מוסיפים את הג'ינג'ר , השום והתבלינים. 

כשמוכן לדעתכם מוסיפים את קוביות הטופו, ומטגנים מעט.

מוסיפים עגבניות קצוצות, 2-3 דקות ערבוב,

מוסיפים את העדשים, מערבבים קצת.

מוסיפים את רסק העגבניות ואת המים ומביאים לרתיחה, עד שהתערובת הופכת לא נוזלית: ומתקנים תיבול.

מסירים מהאש ומערבבים פנימה את הכוסברה הקצוצה.

דפי האורז:

שמים דף אורז בצלחת עם מים קרים לחצי דקה - מתקבל סמרטוט - סוחטים ומשטחים על משטח העבודה.

מניחים בשליש התחתון את התערובת, ומעליה מניחים שכבת נבטים: (נגמר לי האלפא אלפא)

מקפלים את השוליים כך, ואז מרימים מהחלק התחתון על המילוי ועושים גילגול שלם 

מגלגלים (יפה!) ומגישים לצד יוגורט עיזים רענן (מעיזי חופש!! J)

מומלץ בכלים יפים שענת קנתה לכם

בתיאבון אהובים.

Granola

Hello!

This is my contribution to the blog. It isn't much, but it puts me at 1 post, which is the 2nd highest.

רוני לא שומעים אותך!!!

Anyway, it's a recipe for granola, and i think it's quite tasty, usually.
The recipe was adapted from Ottolenghi's, which i can't find online.

Hardware:

   Oven at 140 Celsius

   Oven tray with baking sheet

   Large mixing bowl

   Small pot

   Spatula, Wooden spoon

   Cutting board + large knife

   Table spoon, measuring cups, scale

   

Main Ingredients:

   Thick oats (400-500 g)

   Buckwheat groats (200 g)

Sauce:

   Oil (3-6 Tablespoons)

   Maple Syrup, Honey (240 Milliliters combined, or less)

   2 tablespoon water

   pinch of salt

   

Nutty bits:

   Almonds (1/3 cup)

   Pecans  (1/3 cup)

   

Optional Post-Bake fruity-bits:

   Raisins

   Cocoa nibs

Preparation:  

Mixing:

1. Set the oven at 140 Celsius
2. Combine the oats and the groats in a large mixing bowl.
3. Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small pot, over low-medium heat. stir until the sauce gets mildly warm, remove from heat.
4. Pour the sauce over the oats-groats combination, stir\mix well so that the sauce gets everywhere
5. Cut the nuts to bite sized nutty bits, add to the bowl and mix.
6. Spread the mixture on the baking sheet (over the oven tray), place in the middle of the oven.

Baking:

1. Bake for 20 minutes
2. Mix
3. Bake for 17 minutes
4. If the Granola is not sufficiently dark yet, bake for 3-7 more minutes on low broil, until it browns to your liking.  

Final steps:

1. Add post-bake fruity bits
2. Allow granola to cool, and store in an air-tight container.

Fiasco Factor - 61

Side notes:

Oil.

Why? Oil makes the granola crunchy.3 spoons of oil instead of 6 will result in a decrease in crunchiness.

I usually use mostly olive oil\grapeseed oil, and a bit of some nut oil (Hazlenut\Walnut). Too much nut oil dominates the falvor.

You could use butter, but that would be silly.

Ready?

It is important to remember that the granola becomes crunchy only once it cools down. So crunchiness is not a good sign of readiness. Color, however, is. Bake the granola until it reaches the color of your pleasing.

It is a tragic thing to go through the entire process, only to burn the granola, but this is a pretty easy thing to do - make sure you watch the oven towards the end.

Why add the fruity bits after baking?

Because otherwise, once they cool down, you will be left with shrunken tough bits of raisin shaped stones.

Misc

Peanuts will dominate the flavor, which is OK if you love peanuts, but in my mind is undesirable for breakfast.

Shaved Coconut can burn easily, and it will dry and lose its crunchiness before the rest of the granola, so you’re better off toasting a bit right before eating, and adding them straight to your bowl.

Toasted sesame will result in a Tahini taste.

Salted nuts are never a good thing.

Maybe thin oats?

Quick oats are great cluster material. if you want those, substitute some of the thick oats for thin ones, and let the granola be in the oven without mixing too much. I prefer "old fashioned" thick oats.

Maple-Honey

I usually use a 50-50 mix of maple syrup and honey. If maple is hard to get, or especially expensive, 100% Honey is fine too. Silan is OK if you like the date flavor, but make sure it's proper silan and not a silan-sugar mixture, like most of them are.

Cinnamon \ Cocoa

No problem adding spices. But, do you really want to have cinnamon flavored granola every day? Instead, leave the granola spice free (or add just a hint), and add all you want, to your bowl, at breakfast time.

Why add nuts after the sauce

Nuts don’t need the sauce - they will come out crunchy and flavorful without the added oil\sugar. Better use the sauce to enhance the oats. If you can wait a few minutes before adding the nuts, even better - let the oats soak first.

Buckwheat

Granola is, basically -  oats. It’s cheap, nutritious, and doesn’t go bad quickly.

But it’s oats. oats oats oats. How many oats can you eat before you get tired of it?

Commercial breakfast cereal companies have the same issue - they are basically selling repackaged and processed corn\oats\wheat. To get you to eat this corn, it’s mixed with sugar, put in a colorful box with some story about passion for whole grains and helping underprivileged puffins get empowerment through yoga training, and then some more sugar is added.

Instead, you can simply add buckwheat. it’s cheap, nutritious, and it changes the texture enough to not seem like it’s only oats.

You can also add Pecans and almonds and cocoa nibs, but they’re so expensive, it kind of misses the point.

Finally, you could simply eat chocolate for breakfast, but, er. yes, you could simply eat chocolate for breakfast.