There are only a few things I can guarantee an interest in keeping up with in my kitchen these days. The first is coffee. The second is nutella. The third is making a fresh batch of granola once a month.

To be more inclusive of loved ones' health needs, I have been trying to include cholesterol-friendly foods in my recipe repertoire. I have mastered the egg-white breakfast burrito, and am now working my way up in the world towards granola. For some reason I am starting at breakfast. No idea why.

I've googledresearched all the requisite ingredients for a cholesterol-fighting granola. Flax, olive oil, nuts and seeds galore. What makes this granola extra fancy is the inclusion of dried lentils, which I would not have had the guts to try if I hadn't seen it on the Stonesoup blog first. I am now hooked on lentils as a powerhouse secret ingredient in all of my granola recipes! And with all of the other aforementioned cholesterol fighting ingredients, I like to think of this particular recipe as Cholesterol-Ninja granola.



I am a sucker for anything tropical, and am extra excited about making food pull double duty: taste good and be good for you. This granola is yummy, tropical-ly, chewy, and--most importantly--a naturally heart-, cholesterol-, and belly-happy recipe that yields a million breakfast servings in under half an hour.



Dry Ingredients:

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup puffed millet or quinoa
• 1 cup shredded or flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped almonds and walnuts
• 1/2 cup sunflower and pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup dried red lentils
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 3 tbsp flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla

Do you have a favourite secret weapon in your homemade granola??