Healthy Snacks - Granola

With Pete McGahey and David Gauvin

Is granola a healthy food? Should you serve it to your kids as a snack? The answer is yes and no – depending on where it comes from. Making your children’s snacks is a healthier route because you can control the amount of fat, sodium and ingredients that are used as opposed to many of the granolas purchased in the store. You probably think that making granola is a time consuming or even difficult process but that is simply not the case. In fact, it is actually so easy you can make it with your kids, and in this video with the Beverly hospital chefs 12 year old Martina Gallo helps them out.

Granola is good for breakfast, lunch, or as a snack. It is versatile so you can have it plain or mix it up with other ingredients such as plain yogurt and with fresh fruit. The basic ingredients for a granola are oats, nuts, dried fruit, oil and a sweetener or sweeteners. What kind of sweeteners and oil you use will determine the healthiness of the granola.
In this recipe they use canola oil and brown sugar and maple syrup. Kids like the natural sweetness of maple syrup and brown sugar. When these are combined with the crunch of the toasted oats, nuts and dried fruit it is a real winner.

The history of granola is interesting to say the least. Called “granula” at first, it was invented in 1863 as the first of what we think of today as the common breakfast cereal by a Dr. James Jackson. Later Dr. Kellog invented a less boring health food called granula and after being sued by Dr. Jackson changed the name to granola. C.W.Post later made another version that he named Grape Nuts. When the hippie health movement got going in the 1960’s and 70’s, they brought it back and added some other ingredients such as dried fruit and nuts.

Once it went mainstream, the taste of granola often became as important if not more than the health benefits. Manufacturers started to include sugar and high cholesterol fats. That is why if you want a truly healthy version you need to read the ingredients label carefully or make it yourself using a recipe such as this one.

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 canola oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup craisins
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Cooking spray

Instructions

1. Combine canola oil, syrup and brown sugar. Heat on low until well
combined. Add salt. Cool slightly.
2. In a large bowl combine oats and almonds, mix thoroughly. Add cooled
syrup mixture.
3. Spread thin layer of mixture on well sprayed cookie sheets.
4. Toast in oven until golden brown, stirring often.
5. Cool mixture slightly, transfer to a large bowl, sprinkle with extra brown sugar
and salt. Add raisins and craisins, mix and cool. Store in an airtight container.

Nutrition Facts: 294 Calories; 14 grams of Fat; 41 grams of Carbohydrate; 3 grams of Protein; 3 grams of Fiber; 196 mg of Sodium

Recipe courtesy of Chefs Pete McGahey and David Gauvin, Unidine, Beverly Hospital and Adam Gilbert Hospital, 2011.

Chef David Gauvin has 16 years of culinary experience. He studied and trained at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. Chef Gauvin honed his skills in healthcare dining services during a 5-year tenure with Massachusetts General Hospital.

He serves as a board member of the oldest chef's organization in the country - the Epicurean Club of Boston, which is the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation. He is committed to staying current on local trends by competing in cooking competitions and attending educational conferences.  Chef Gavin also serves as a professor at the Cambridge School of Arts. Pete McGahey is the Executive Chef at Beverly Hospital. He has 20 years experience in the culinary field, focusing primarily in seafood. He has been a resident of Beverly for 3 years.  He is an active member of the Saugus/Everett Elks and the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, an organization promoting sustainable fishing off of the coasts of New England and Canada.  He and his wife are expecting their first child.