Thinking of inexpensive but thoughtful Christmas gifts for co-workers I came across this recipe for Gingerbread Granola. Now, I'm a die-hard fan of Deliciously Ella's Granola but it wasn't very Christmassy! When I think of Christmas I think of Mince Pies, Christmas Pudding and more recently Gingerbread (very American not British!) so hopefully The Healthful Ideas's recipe for Gingerbread Granola would be a mouthful of Christmas first thing in the morning!
Yay or Nay: Nay
This was fairly easy to make, I'd say pretty similar to the Deliciously Ella one. However the ingredients didn't really clump together like you see in the shops. On the plus side, the addition of nut butter gave it a richer taste but I was surprised by the 1tsp of ginger powder. I don't know about you, but gingerbread screams a ton of ginger to me so I ignored the recipe on this front and went for three! I figured the recipe as it currently stands wouldn't have a strong enough gingerbread taste and I didn't want to tell people it was 'gingerbread granola' and for it to taste nothing like that! Even with the change there still isn't a strong ginger taste but there is a little hint of spice. BTW MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I'm always on the lookout for easy weekday meals, now the mains jump out, however, side dishes are always a pain to find. There are staples that I run back to but when you want something that is quick, tasty and healthy it is quite the gamut.
This recipe for Andie Mitchell's Healthy Peanut Sauce reminds me of Gado Gado, which is always good! I figured I'd pair it with some spicy baked tofu and drench the sauce on some noodles. I found some mung bean noodles which I thought would make a good alternative to regular wheat or buckwheat versions.
Yay or Nay: Yay
The sauce was a no-brainer, I mean peanut butter, who doesn't love?! I do have to say that the sauce was a lot thicker than I was expecting but the recipe does say to add water to get the consistency right. The mung bean noodles were a surprising hit - chewy and carb-free so win-win! I would rinse the noodles as instructed but I thought the heat from the noodles would help loosen and coat the sauce a bit better.
As soon as I moved to the U.S. I needed something from home to rustle up dinners while I wasn't working. I remember seeing Jamie do his thing on TV with Gado Gado. It looked delicious on screen and I had never tasted something like this before, so when I needed some inspiration I knew this was the dish to try. First, I had to buy the book, later I realised I could've just looked up the recipe online. Duh! What did we do before the internet?
Yay or Nay: Yay
Sorry, the photos are a little skewed! This was a combo of pictures from my last two tries of this recipes. Obviously the ingredients don't match but that's the beauty of Gado Gado, you can mix and match ingredients BUT keep the dressing the same! I substituted the green beans for Thai basil which I had leftover from Pho (although I think I had some Vietnamese coriander in the first pics). Anywho, it was all good, made even better with the nutty tangy dressing which is the star!!
