Tropical Okara Granola. It's time again for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Ed at Tomato. I am happy to also tell you that Weekend Herb Blogging will be hosted here for the week ending February 25th!

As you all know, I am having fun and health making my own soy milk and that leaves me with a lot of OKARA - the bran left over from the beans! Okara was taking over my refrigerator, so it was time to come up with another recipe.

An interesting fact I learned since last posting about okara, is that Japanese researchers have determined that okara is the only known vegetable source of bivalent iron easily assimilated by the human gut. Important for vegetarians!

This takes some time, but is well worth it!

Tropical Okara Granola

5 cups okara (if homemade, 'fluff' it first, then measure)
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup brown rice syrup
1 1/3 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1 fluid oz. coconut essence (a small bottle)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 325F. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread mix no more than 1/2 inch thick over a large cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally until desired color/crispness is attained. Cool and store in an airtight container (in refrigerator for longer life).

Made with homemade okara - fluffed, it got to the desired color while still retaining a lot of softness/moistness. This is my own recipe, and the first time making, so I'm not sure how much crisper commercial okara would become. The sesame oil and brown rice syrup probably help retain the moisture as well. It tastes really great as a cereal, and I think it would be marvelous layered in a yogurt parfait too. And there is a fringe benefit of a house that smells marvelously of toasted coconut!