There are some books I routinely peruse. Alison Roman’s debut, Dining In, is one of them. The sudden heatwave made me want to cook any and every fruit recipe. The problem is, I don’t love fruit. I only really enjoy it with meat and cheese, which is problematic as someone trying to be vegan(ish). Alison Roman has a lot of savoury fruit recipes which is exactly what I wanted.
I digress though, I found this Decidedly Not-Sweet – ergo Savoury – Granola which contains three large egg whites that, conveniently, I had in the freezer after making the three egg yolk chocolate chip cookies t’other week. I figured a week or so of savoury granola is probably preferable to an egg white omelette and healthier than making meringue.
A very easy mix of the three egg whites with various seeds, oats, buckwheat groats and some spices and other seasonings, roasted until crispy. The resultant vat of granola is then jarred for snacking on, sprinkling over any and every meal over the next week, and trying to force every houseguest to take some home with them. As a nut-avoider, it was also nice to have a granola recipe that didn’t have any nuts. Alison did specify buckwheat groats but they weren’t in stock in Lidl and I’m not entirely sure what they are, so I added some more oats and seeds.
This savoury granola really is very good. Alison writes that the egg whites make the granola extra crispy, I guess in an egg-free version you would need extra sugar and oil to achieve the same crunch. I can vouch the egg whites do make this granola extra crispy but I will probably opt for egg-free next time in the interest of veganism. The granola is just hot enough from the Aleppo pepper (pul biber) and the nigella and caraway seeds added some lovely aromatics.
Next time, I’ll probably make half the quantity of granola. As delicious as it is and with all the enthusiasm in the world, I struggled to get through the jar in a timely manner. I sprinkled the egg-white granola on scrambled tofu (the irony doesn’t elude me), various salads, roast vegetables, hummus, avocados and and marmite pasta (don’t knock it). I also had an embarrassingly virtuous office lunch of raw radish, cucumber and tomatoes, some dairy-free yoghurt and a lot of savoury granola. I was the envy of no-one in the office, but I felt like Gwyneth Paltrow and that’s what counts.
The recipe for Decidedly Not-Sweet Granola is on p.143 of Alison’s must-purchase-immediately book Dining In… or if for some reason you just want this recipe without the rest of the book…. The recipe is also available online here.
