Lemon Maple Granola from A Modern Way to Eat by Anna Jones.

It was one of those morning yesterday where I didn't want to get out of bed. I could have quite happily stayed under the covers all day with a pile of cookbooks to keep me company and thats it.

The only plus side was that I had homemade granola waiting for me, all I needed to add was thick greek yoghurt and fresh strawberries. It was amazing.

A few weeks ago I made the Lemon Maple Granola from Anna Jones's cookbook 'A Modern way to Eat' and then made it again since then it was so good. My old pickle jar which works great in its second life as a granola jar will soon be empty, I don't even think I can last until Friday which is a scary thought. I might be making a batch of granola after night classes on Thursday... I will have definitely gone granola mad if that happens. I need my fix in the mornings!!

I hated breakfast as a kid. How things have changed. My parents would drill it into me that I needed to eat a huge breakfast to get me through the day and they were right, I just never liked it. On week days, before school I would have to eat a bowl of fruit, a bowl of cereal and a piece of toast with a glass of orange juice to wash it all down. Weekend breakfasts weren't fun either, I hated eggs growing up so unless I got pancakes, breakfast was always a let down. I'd have rather eaten a bowl of spaghetti in the mornings instead.

Since I've grown up I love weekend breakfast and all eggs whether they are runny, hard, soft, scrambled, boiled, poached or fried but I never have time to make eggs of any sorts on the weekdays as I am running out the door like a mad woman. So for a while weekday breakfasts were a chore, I used to scoff down some dry cereal and that was that. Until I discovered home-made granola. It's a revelation. I'm fussy when it comes to cereals, they are either overly sweet, have too much 'fake' vanilla flavour or are heavy on the cinnamon and always have random bits of fruit in them. Making my own means I don't spend 5 minutes fishing out the mysterious yellow squares of dried fruit in my bowl that are listed as 'tropical' fruit on the box.

Anna Jones's Lemon Maple Granola is seriously delicious. The lemon gives is very subtle in the mix is a lovely freshness that gives you kick in the mornings and goes great with the sweet maple and earthiness of all the seeds and grains. It's quite a nubbly granola mix with all the seeds, baked dried fruit and nuts so goes great having some fresh fruit to serve with it and of course a healthy dollop or two of greek yogurt. It ticks all the boxes in the morning that a breakfast should do.

I now wake up and look forward to my granola in the mornings, just wish I could take it make to bed with me along with a book rather than leaving the house.

Thinking of making this one next which Amelia from Bon Appetempt makes with her son, Teddy. Am going on a dried cherry hunt this weekend, just need to hold out until then and refrain the crazy lady inside of me from making midnight granola.

Lemon Maple Granola

recipe adapted from A Modern Way to Eat by Anna Jones
makes 1 large jar

8 tablespoons maple syrup
2 large handfuls (150g) rolled oats
2 large handfuls (150g) quinoa flakes
1 handful (40g) pumpkin seeds
1 handful (40g) sunflower seeds
1 large handful (80g) almonds, chopped
1 handful (30g) unsweetened desiccated coconut
grated zest of 1 lemon
a handful (50g) of dried currants
a handful (50g) of dried cranberries

- Preheat oven to 180C or 400F and lightly grease two large baking trays with some butter or vegetable oil.

- In a large bowl add your oats, quinoa flakes, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, coconut, lemon zest and roughly mix until everything is spread evenly throughout. Pour over the maple syrup and give it a really good mix so all the little flakes and seeds are coated, don't rush this bit.

- Divide the mixture onto your two large trays and bake for a total of 30 minutes, but stir every 5-10 minutes to get an even colouring. You may need to bake it for a little longer or a little less, depending on how strong your oven is but in the last 10 minutes of baking try and throw in your dried currants and cranberries. This will turn them into sticky, almost caramelised, chewy nuggets throughout the granola.

- Once it is a lovely golden colour, allow to cool completely in trays then transfer cooled mix into an airtight jar or container. The granola will last up to 4 weeks, although mine never seems to last that long as the jar seems to be forever empty.

- Serve with some thick greek yoghurt and chopped fresh fruit.

lentils and beets with salsa verde from A Modern Way to Eat by Anna Jones.

Over January this year I'd been essentially living alone and cooking for one so my dinners consisted of a lot of pasta and curries. Now don't get me wrong, I love pasta (you'll notice pasta recipes are strong with this blog) and curries but there is only so many pasta dishes and curries a girl can eat before she turns into them. They were my staples...pasta with what ever sauce I found stashed in the back of the freezer from a few months ago or a mystery curry made up of all the vegetables that were going off in the fridge. Both these meals would feed me for at least two dinners and two lunches and by that point I never wanted to see either of them ever again.

After ingesting enough pasta for an entire family one night I decided that tomorrow would be different. I went to the grocery store when I finished work and went shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables, herbs, lentils and cat food. The cat food was initially what prompted me to go to the grocery shops... pasta and curry isn't so great for cats I've heard.

The result of this shopping expedition for cat food was one of the most delicious meals I had eaten alone on the couch in a long time. Roasted beets with lentils and salsa verde. The recipe came from 'A Modern Way To Eat' by Anna Jones which is a fantastic book. I'm a little late on the band wagon again but it's never too late to jump on and I'm glad I made this online purchase when I did. It's a vegetarian cookbook but it's one of those vegetarian cookbooks you can flick through and not even realise its meat-free until someone points it out to you.

The roasted beets with lentils and salsa verde was so fresh and such a lovely welcomed change from what I had been eating. The lentils were cooked with herbs, tomato and garlic which were so comforting and warming but not heavy and the roast beets had their lovely earthiness which worked so well with the red wine vinegar they are roasted in and finally the salsa verde which gave it such a fresh bright zing to the whole dish. It would be a perfect dinner for both winter and summer months, you could even chuck in some other roast veggies like carrots or parsnip with the beets for a more veggie-full dinner. Also, on a side note... the salsa verde is amazing on fish taco's the next day!

There are so many more recipes I want to make from this book, my copy is full of tabbed pages. Recently, I've made her granola which is so delicious I've made 2 batches of it already. It's so good mixed through thick greek yoghurt and also makes a lovely gift.

lentils and beets with salsa verde

serves 4
recipe adapted (very slightly) from A Modern Way to Eat by Anna Jones

for the beetroots.
8 medium firm beetroots, peeled and quartered
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

for the lentils.
400g puy lentils (called french lentils here), washed
4 cloves of garlic
1 small tomato
1 bay leaf
a few sprigs of thyme (or a pinch of dried)
1 litre of vegetable stock

for the salsa verde.
2 tablespoons capers (35g)
2 tablespoons cornichons (50g)
a bunch of fresh mint
a bunch of fresh parsley
a bunch of fresh basil
extra virgin olive oil
juice from 1/2 a lemon

- Preheat your oven to 180C/400F (or 160C fan-forced)

- Put the quartered beetroots on a tray with the red wine vinegar and a good glug of olive oil and a splash of water, season with salt and pepper then toss everything together to coat. Cover with foil and roast for 1 hour or until the beetroot are tender.

- While the beets are roasting, get on with your lentils. Put them in a pan with the unpeeled garlic cloves, tomato, bay leaf and thyme. Cover with vegetable stock and on a medium heat bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 20-25 minutes, until they are cooked and the liquid has evaporated. You can always top up with a little water throughout the cooking if it starts to look a little dry.

- When your lentil are blipping away, make your salsa verde. In a food processor add your capers and cornichons and whizz until finely chopped but not mush. Add your herbs, olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Have a taste. Does it need more lemon juice? oil? salt? now is the chance for you to make it to your liking. I love tart things so I added a squeeze more lemon juice.

- Once the lentils are cooked and all the liquid has evaporated, scoop out the tomato and garlic cloves and place them in a bowl to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, pop the garlic out of the skins and place back in the bowl with the tomato. Mash the garlic and tomato up with a fork and stir into the lentil. Season lentils with salt, pepper, a glug of olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar.

- Finally when the beets are cooked, pile the lentils onto plates, top with the roasted beets and drizzle with any roasting juices still in the pan. Spoon over the salsa verde to finish.

Note: salsa verde will last 2-3 days in an airtight container in the fridge and is amazing on fish taco's the next day!