recipes at random

This recipe is from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. As long as you keep the ratio of liquid to grains pretty constant, you can mess with the nuts, spices, and fruit, and overall it's not particularly sweet or oily. My last batch had a teaspoon of powdered ginger in addition to the cinnamon, and it was pretty tasty - an excellent topping for vanilla ice cream, by the way. Mark Bittman points out that the longer you cook granola, the browner and crunchier it gets, so keep your preferences in mind while baking.

6 cups flaked or rolled grains
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Salt
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit)
1/2 cup safflower or canola oil
3/4 cup honey, golden syrup, or maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Toss the dry ingredients, but not the dried fruit, together, then add the oil and sweetener and toss again to mix them thoroughly. Spread the mixture on two sheet pans and bake until golden, turning every 10 minutes so that it browns evenly. When done, after about 30 minutes, add the fruit and let cool. As the granola cools, it will lose its stickness and become crunchy. Store in a tightly covered jar.