Wednesday, May 03, 2006

A Tale of Two Cereal Recipes

The recipes for Crunchy Buckwheat Cereal and Millet Crunch Granola in The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook were a welcome addition to my home-made cold cereal repertoire when I first discovered them. After making them, tasting them and getting the rest of the family to taste them, here's the final verdict.

The Crunchy Buckwheat Cereal is a Grape Nut like, extremely crunchy cereal. Its essentially a mixture of buckwheat groats, maple syrup and the nut butter of your choice. Its delicious but because the groats are never softened up, chewing it becomes a really big time commitment. I don't think I'll be making this cereal again any time soon. However, I couldn't help but think that it might be delightful sprinkled on top of some Soy Delicious Dairy Free Ice Cream.

The Millet Crunch Granola on the other hand was a delightful, tasty change from our usual granola. The recipe called for tahini but we substituted almond butter. (My whole family is unimpressed by tahini unless its well hidden in hummus.) We also used sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin seeds. My kids all liked this served with raisins and soymilk.

Here's a tip when trying new recipes, even when cooking for a crowd like my family, make a small batch. Normally when I make granola, I double or even quadruple the recipe because a single batch will only last a day. Because I used this strategy with these two cereals, I have no leftovers of either. I think knowing the supply is finite, makes it easier for my kids to accept/eat new recipes that aren't big hits.

The Encyclopedia of Country Living has several granola recipes that I might try as well. With warmer weather approaching, hot cereals become less appealing. I'd like to have a variety of cold cereal recipes to draw from for the summer.

No comments: