Vegetarian recipe #1

Remember how I said I was committed to learning 15 new vegetarian recipes by the end of 2013?  Well I need to hold myself accountable so I'm going to post my new recipes on here when I try them.  To qualify as new I have to simply have never tried making it before.  The purpose of this is to expand my repertoire of foods I know how to cook for myself so that I can be healthier and more creative with my cooking. 

Vegan Apple Cinnamon Granola:  (adapted from Scott Jurek's Eat & Run)

I eat oatmeal almost every day for breakfast so I thought this would be a great addition to top my oatmeal with.  You might want to play with this a bit because my measurements are not exact.

4 cups of whole rolled oats (soak 2-5 hours or overnight)
2 cups pecans (leave whole or chop - i prefer whole)
2 cups almonds (leave whole or chop - i prefer whole)
1 apple cored and sliced (i used honeycrisp)
1/2 cup wheat germ
2-3 generous tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
3-4 tablespoons honey or maple syrup or agave syrup (i used honey)
1/2 cup  dried, unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup sunflower seeds

process the drained, soaked oats with the apple, spices, honey, and wheat germ in a food processor for about a minute - scrape the walls once in awhile. 

Mix in a big bowl with the nuts, sunflower seeds, and coconut.  Lightly grease 2 cookie trays and spread the mixture thinly on the bottom.  Bake at 250 for 2-4 hours (I know...it's a commitment) turning, breaking up, and stirring around the granola so it bakes evenly. 

*Note - this is not your typical store-bought granola.  The very first thing I noticed was how extraordinarily sweet store-bought granola is in comparison to this stuff.  This granola is just my type - nutty, very earthy, cinnamony, and almost has a popcorn like thing going for it.  It's a perfect topping for my oatmeal and a good snack throughout the day.