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These days, grown-up hippies are thinking less about scoring and more about cholesterol. Luckily for the groovy set, this flower-powered savoury granola is made with heart-friendly canola oil. Those who want to live longer and stick it to the man can use Highwood Crossing’s local, organic, non-GMO canola oil. Canola is also used to make biodiesel, so after breakfast the aging hippies can take the old shaggin’ wagon out for a carbon-free spin.

Ingredients:
Dry stuff
•2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
•3/4 cup whole raw almonds
• 2 tbsp canola seeds
• 1 tbsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne

Wet stuff
• 3/4 cup tomato, V8 or carrot juice
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup

Procedure:
1) Preheat the oven to 275°F.
2) In a big bowl, mix all the dry stuff together, then add the wet stuff, and mix with your hand. Don’t freak out because it looks like slop; the liquid will evaporate during baking.
3) Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Plop little globs freely all over the baking sheet. Just let it plop, and don’t muck with it—the more you muck with it, the more it will glom together.
4) Blap it in the oven. Every 20 minutes, take the tray out and, using a spatula, flip the granola while breaking it up into slightly smaller pieces. By the third flip (60 minutes of baking), the pieces should be ever so slightly damp and bite-sized. Then blap it back into the oven for the last time, baking for 20 more minutes. Then, without opening the oven door, turn the oven off, and leave the tray in the oven for 2 hours. Cooling it this way is crucial to get the granola crunchy.
5) Once it has cooled completely put the granola in a sealable container, and add your nut medley. Shake it all up and you’ve got savoury granola.
6) Serve it on plain yogurt, or sprinkled on a fresh salad, or munch it straight from the container. Makes about 3 cups of granola.

Originally published in Swerve Magazine on Mar.25.11.