thursday recipe: terri anne leske's choc pecan granola

Food helps to create traditions,

community, love and joy. 

It has a way of bringing people

together and making us happy.

~ Terri Anne Leske

It's been a while between posts. Again. I'd love to be more consistent with my posting but it is just not turning out that way at the moment. So, thanks for continuing to visit and for your patience. 

Let's get on with a recipe.

Today's recipe comes from blogger and mother of three, Terri Anne Leske who blogs at Carrotsticks and Cravings.

Terri Anne is originally from a sleepy little fishing village on the New South Wales south coast where as a child her Dad taught her to dive for abalone and catch fish. These days she finds herself in the bright city lights of Singapore, where she has lived for the past 4 years with her husband and their children, twins Eli and Olivia who are 3 and her baby girl Halle who has just turned one.

How Terri Anne has found time to blog and to write and self-publish her first cookbook I'll never know! But write a book she has and not only that she has done all the photography herself too.

Before we get into the recipe here is a Q & A I did with Terri to find out a bit more about life in Singapore and her love of cooking...

What do you love about living in Singapore? It is a cultural melting pot, and being so close to so many other amazing countries we are lucky to travel regularly. It's a great place to have a young family and has given me the opportunity to follow my passion writing this book and my blog. I've also met so many amazing people throughout our time here. 

Where does your passion for food and cooking come from? My mum was always a foodie, she used to get in the kitchen and just whip up something amazing with whatever we had in the house. I started cooking from a young age learning from her and learning my baking skills from my grandma. I love creating amazing meals for friends and family and trying new things. I also love baking and have always said baking is my therapy - when I was pregnant with my twins and had too much time on my hands I was baking batches of cupcakes and cakes daily! The kitchen is my happy place and I love now getting my kids involved in creating meals and getting them excited about food too - it's not just about the eating that I love it's the journey too and the creating :-) 

Why the name Carrotsticks and Cravings? When I decided to write a blog I played with so many names and I wanted the name to really resemble me and my food philosophy - which is all about balance. I feel Carrotsticks and Cravings does that! The majority of my recipes are super healthy and full of superfoods but I love making decadent cakes and treats too. We can have anything in life, it's all about balance. 

Why did you start your blog? I was cooking a lot and constantly throwing dinner parties and a friend wanted a recipe and said I should start a blog. I'm a terrible writer if I'm being honest but I loved the idea of sharing my creations with others and inspiring them to try new things in the kitchen. It's grown organically and I love to see and hear that people are making my recipes. 

What do you hope readers will get out of your cookbook? I want to get people excited in the kitchen and try things they normally wouldn't. I want readers to be able to make healthy nutritious meals from my cookbook for their loved ones and create memories in the process cooking and enjoying good food. 

What do you love the most about cooking? The eating of course!! I love that food creates traditions and brings people together. Some of my best memories involve amazing meals I've shared with loved ones. I also love trying new flavours and experimenting with different combinations. 

Terri Anne shares her recipe for Choc Pecan Granola.

Makes 4 Cups

1/2 cup raw pecans chopped

1/4 cup raw almonds chopped

2 cups thick cut rolled oats

2 tbsp ground flaxseeds

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

⅓ cup dried cranberries

1 tbsp raw cacao powder or cocoa powder

1 tbsp raw honey

1 tbsp coconut oil

Pre heat the oven to 160 C. 

Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Chop the nuts roughly into smaller pieces.

Add nuts and all other ingredients to a medium mixing bowl and mix until fully combined.

Spread out granola mix onto the baking tray and bake for 8 minutes.

Mix/turn the granola and return to the oven for a further 8 minutes until golden.

Mix/turn the granola and return to the oven for a further 8 minutes until golden brown.

Once cooled transfer to an airtight jar and keep at room temperature for up to a month.

– If you want to keep it longer store in the fridge.

(photo credit: Terri Anne Leske)

Terri likes to serve this with Greek yoghurt and fresh seasonal berries, as overnight oats layered with yoghurt and berries, with fruit salad or as a crumble topping for desserts. I think it could be the perfect dish for breakfast on Christmas morning.

Thanks Terri Anne!

To read Terri's blog visit Carrotsticks and Cravings and to buy her cookbook go here.

thursday recipe: fried green bean, breadcrumbs and pistachio salad by Rachel Pitts

A big thankyou to hungry girl recipe writer extraordinaire Rachel Pitts for sharing one of her salad creations with us today. Some of you may remember Rachel from the wholefood mama interview she did last year where she shared another beautiful recipe for peanut and celery salad.

Green beans are in season here in Australia and this is my all time favorite green bean salad recipe, the recipe comes from volume 2 of The Hungry Girls' Cookbook series which by the way are on sale!! (I am not an affiliate just a fan). Normally $25 the girls are taking $10 off each book. For those who don't know their story, Rachel, Leah and Katherine are a trio of talented friends who got together and created three beautiful handmade cookbooks. Rachel writes the recipes, Leah takes the beautiful photos and Katherine takes care of the design and illustration and then with a team of helpers they sit around, drink tea, eat cake and hand stitch up the books. Well, I don't know for certain if there's tea and cake involved but I'm guessing there's a good chance.

Let's get into the recipe. I am not one to stick to recipes, I tend to do a lot of substituting based on what I have on hand and what needs to be eaten. I have made this recipe many times true to Rachel's original and other times I have used different herbs or nuts such as almond or pecans, I preferred the almonds over the pecans. Sorry Rachel! I'm not messing with your recipe just want people to give it a go and not be held back if you don't have pistachios in the cupboard. (that's why there is pecans in the picture above not pistachios)

As most of you know I am big on involving kids in cooking meals rather than just including them when we bake. I made this salad recently and set Sol and River up to top and tail the beans and cut them in half, kept them quiet for almost half an hour and while they weren't keen to eat a whole bowl of the finished product they were both happy to try some beans. Encouraging children to at least try a variety of vegetables is key to raising healthy eaters and if they are involved in the cooking process this is more likely to happen.

Enjoy this recipe, it is super delicious. Thanks again Hungry Girls.

Fried Green Bean, Breadcrumbs and Pistachio Salad

"This dish came about with some stuffing leftover from Christmas and a heap of beans picked from the garden. It's packed with flavour, so serve it with something simple, like a piece of plain grilled fish and some lemon wedges. The only thing you really need to prepare in advance is the breadcrumbs."

80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
Handful sage leaves
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
700g green beans, trimmed and cut in half on the diagonal
1/2 cup pistachios, toasted
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 cup grated parmesan
1/3 bunch parsley, chopped
1/3 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add the oil, onion and sage.

Fry until the onion is soft and browning at the edges.

Add the garlic and beans and turn the heat to high.

Fry, stirring regularly, for around 5 minutes, until the beans are almost cooked.

Add the pistachios, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper.

Fry, stirring constantly, for a few more minutes until the breadcrumbs are crisp. Some will clump together with the parmesan. Keep scraping the bottom of the pan to make sure the mixture isn't burning, although a little bit of sticking makes for good crispy bits.

This salad is equally delicious hot or cold.

Serves 6