[2] Cherry, chocolate and cashew granola bars from Love And Zest. Here’s the recipe (photo © Love And Zest).

[3] Use Old Fashioned Oats, not quick oats, for granola bar recipes (photo © Quaker Oats).

It’s National Granola Bar Day. Even if you’re happy with the bars you buy, it’s the day to make your own custom recipe (ours is dark chocolate chunks, dried cherries and pistachio nuts, sometimes with a bit of coconut).

A delicious recipe and history of granola bars follow.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The year’s 90 snack holidays.

> The year’s 14 cereal holidays.
 
 
HISTORY OF THE GRANOLA BAR

Here’s the history of granola breakfast cereal, which was invented in the 19th century by Dr. James Caleb Jackson for his sanitarium patients. It was the first dry breakfast cereal, and the first to be eaten cold.

He actually invented “granula.” In 1881, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, proprietor of another sanitarium, copied his recipe; when Jackson brought a lawsuit, Kellogg changed the name of his product to granola.

Granola bars did not appear until much later, as a better-for-you snack. Most sources credit Stanley Mason (1921-2006) as the innovator. Mason was a tireless inventor. His more than 100 inventions also included the squeezable ketchup bottle, dental floss dispensers and disposable diapers.

He invented the granola bar in the 1970s by pressing loose granola to create a bar. This claim is disputed by Henry Kimball, who has a copy of a letter he allegedly sent in 1975 to an organization called the Idea Marketplace describing his granola bar invention [source].

Granola bars are dense, chewy cereal bars made from granola ingredients—oats, honey and inclusions like dried fruits and nuts. These days, chocolate baking chips, peanut butter and other ingredients not imagined by either Jackson or Mason, are often added.

Beyond the U.S., the granola bar goes by different names. It’s known as a flapjack in the U.K and Ireland, a muesli bar or cereal bar in Australia and New Zealand.

There are no “wrong” additions to a granola bar, although M&Ms and marshmallows seem to defeat the purpose of a nutritious snack. Here’s a basic recipe:
 
 
RECIPE: GRANOLA BARS

Ingredients

 
_________________

*If you don’t like these ingredients, use more oats. For gluten-free bars, use gluten-free rolled oats.

 
More Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9 x 9-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper or foil, leaving “handles” on two sides for lifting. Set aside.

2. COMBINE the oats, seeds and nuts and spread onto a rimmed sheet pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven, transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.

3. STIR in the honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a saucepan; stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the oat mixture, toss until the mixture is well coated, then add the dried fruit.

[5] Apple pie granola bars from The Baker Chick. Here’s the recipe (photo © The Baker Chick).

5. COOL for 2 hours before slicing into bars. Use a serrated knife. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for a week, using parchment or wax paper to keep the bars from sticking. You can also freezer them for up to 6 months.
 
 

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Top: Mixed greens with apples and pecans.
Second: Shaved Brussels sprouts,
watermelon radishes on greens, topped with
feta from Good Eggs. Third: Edamame, diced
red bell pepper and black beans top greens
at Betty Crocker. Bottom: Thai celery salad
with sliced hot chiles and peanuts. Photo
courtesy Bon Appetit.

These were not free salads; they were overpriced sides. When we mentioned our disappointment to the servers, both mentioned the “limited selection” in winter.

Limited choices, NO. Lack of imagination or sheer laziness, YES.

There’s just as much opportunity to pack green salads with color and texture as any other time of the year.

It’s just as easy to balance the flavors and textures with something bright-colored, something crunchy, something tangy, something peppery and something sweet.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to sprinkle with colorful, crunchy pomegranate seeds or some mandarin segments.

And it doesn’t have to cost more: Use pricier ingredients sparingly and they’ll still add interest.

Here’s how to add interest to winter salads while Mother Nature is taking a nap.

 
START HERE TO BUILD YOUR WINTER SALAD

Pick something from each group, and no one will find your salads boring.

Salad Greens: Beyond Everyday Lettuce

 
Other Vegetables

You don’t have to add fruit to every green salad, although most people will enjoy the touch of sweetness.

Diced, sliced or segmented, you’ve got great choices:

 
Garnishes

 
Plus A Touch Of…

 
For The Dressing

We’re fans of vinaigrettes rather than heavier dressings (although we do have a weakness for a great blue cheese dressing).

Vinaigrettes are lighter, lower in calories (in that you use less), and most importantly, offer so much variety in terms of which oils and which vinegars you use.

Top: Quinoa, arugula, red onion and sundried tomato at California Pizza Kitchen. Second: Mesclun and burrata atop beets, garnished with cherry tomatoes and a jumbo garlic crouton, at Duplex On Third. Third: Spinach salad with apples, beets and sliced almonds from Butterball.

 
These options should keep you busy…until the spring veggies arrive, and beyond.
 
  

Top: Be sure that herbs are absolutely dry
before you chop them. Photo courtesy
Williams-Sonoma. Bottom: Remove the
woody stems but keep the green portions.
Photo of cilantro courtesy Good Eggs | San
Francisco.

The emphasis is on fresh. While dried herb are a fine stand-by, they don’t deliver the same flavor—and the flavor fades as they age. First…

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HERBS & SPICES

These two terms are often used interchangeably, but that’s inaccurate. There are important differences.

 
It’s possible for one plant to contain both herb and spice. For example:

 
SWEET & SAVORY HERBS

Most herbs can be used in savory dishes. Think dill, garlic, thyme, oregano, parsley. In addition, there are the so-called sweet herbs, that can be used in both savory and sweet dishes:

Here’s what you should know before you grab a sharp chef’s knife and the cutting board:

1. Be sure the washed herbs are fully dry.

If they’re just a bit damp, they’ll get mushy when you chop them.

 
Next up: Different herbs require different chopping techniques.

2. Herbs with edible stems.

When you throw away the slender stems of herbs like cilantro, dill and parsley, you’re throwing away money. They are just as edible as the leaves.

 
3. Herbs with big leaves and woody stems.

You don’t need an herb keeper. To make fresh herbs last longer, use a water glass instead. Add the herbs and cover the glass with a plastic bag.

 
3. Herbs with small leaves and woody stems.

This group includes oregano, rosemary, tarragon and thyme. The leaves need to be stripped from the stems, but the stems are too woody to use.

 
4. Chopping or mincing chives.

Chives, long and stem-free, are in their own category.

HOW TO STORE FRESH HERBS

You don’t need an “herb keeper” to store herbs. Simply fill a tall glass with a few inches of fresh water, insert the herbs and cover with a plastic produce bag.

It’s that easy!

We wondered if Executive Chef Cenobio Canalizo would give us some advice on the most important considerations when buying steaks and roasts to cook at home. It’s a big expense, and we want to spend our money wisely.

He kindly provided us with these…
 
6 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR BUTCHER WHEN BUYING FINE BEEF

1. Is it wet aged or dry aged?

Dry-aged beef has a roasted, nutty flavor, while wet-aged beef can taste slightly metallic. Wet-aged beef lacks the depth of flavor of dry-aged, but it can be more tender.

Chef Canalizo says most chefs will agree that dry-aged has the preferred flavor; it’s also more expensive.

In wet aging, the muscle (beef) rests in a plastic bag in a refrigerated room. With dry-aged, it hangs to age in the air. When you see the word “aged” followed by a given amount of time, and there is no reference to wet or dry, you can safely assume that it is wet-aged beef.
 
2. How long was the beef aged?

Chef Canalizo prefers 21 days of aging. Longer is not always better, he advises. Aging actually causes the meat to decay (a tenderizing process). With too much aging, beef can develop a moldy smell and taste.

All beef needs at least 3 weeks to start to tenderize. Naturally raised beef needs more than 6 weeks because the animals are more mature when they are processed. The reason most supermarket beef is tougher is because it is not sufficiently aged. (Aging = time = more expense.)
 
3. Is it corn-fed or grass-fed beef?

What a steer eats can have a major effect on the nutrient composition of the beef. Grass-fed beef usually contains less total fat than grain-fed beef. Thus, gram for gram, grass-fed beef contains fewer calories.

According to AuthorityNutrition.com, while grass-fed beef may contain slightly less total fat than grain-fed beef, equally valuable is that it contains a lot more Omega-3 fatty acids and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), another fatty acid. Both are very beneficial nutrients.

Chef Canalizo recommends leaving a quarter inch of fat on top of the steak for flavor.

Many people choose cuts with less fat and less marbling. Marbling is the intermingling or dispersion of fat within the lean, and is a prized feature (that’s why Kobe and Wagyu are the most prized beef in the world).

The fat adds flavor and helps to tenderize the meat. Also, much of it is “cooked out” before the beef is served.
 
5. How many ounces is it with the bone?

Chef Canalizo recommends 14 ounces (bone included) per guest. You should request cuts that are closest to the bone. The meat is sweeter and there’s more flavor.

From top down, the grades of beef are USDA Prime, USDA Choice and USDA Select. Additional grades, not available for consumer purchase, are Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner. These latter grades are used in anything from canned chili to pet food.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a quality grade is a composite evaluation of factors that affect palatability of meat (tenderness, juiciness and flavor).

These factors include carcass maturity, firmness, texture and color of the lean, and the amount and distribution of marbling within the lean.

Beef is graded in two ways: quality grades for tenderness, juiciness and flavor; and yield grades for the amount of usable lean meat on the carcass.

While only the quality grade is important to you as the buyer, you should note that in the yield grade, only 3% of all beef produced in the U.S. is USDA Prime. It’s sold only at top butcher shops and top steak restaurants like Michael Jordan’s.

If you’re not going for USDA Prime, be sure you’re getting USDA Choice, not USDA Select.

We’ve enjoyed mashed, purée, roasted and stir-fried turnips, and we’ve fried and baked them in the manner of sweet potato fries.

But until now, we never tried turnip soup, a comfort food that can be crowned with garnishes from apples and chives to crumbled bacon and shredded cheese.

Although the soup looks creamy, there’s no dairy. The rich color and texture come from the gold turnips.

If you can only find white turnips, you can add a some carrots for color, or just enjoy the pale soup. But gold turnip are noted for their “bonus” flavor, slightly sweet with a nutty nuance of almond.

The recipe is courtesy Quinciple, a subscription service that delivers the week’s best fresh produce.

RECIPE: GOLD BALL TURNIP SOUP WITH APPLES

Ingredients

 
__________________________________
*There’s more about the cruciferous family below.

†Wait until ready to serve to slice the apples, so they don’t brown. Leave the skin on for a touch of color.
 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Cut the turnips and onion into ½” cubes. Toss with two tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.

2. ROAST until the turnips are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Purée the roasted turnips and onions with the stock, and add enough water to achieve a smooth consistency.

3. WARM the soup in a small pan. Taste and adjust the seasonings. To serve, garnish with apple slices, herbs and a drizzle of olive oil.

GOLD TURNIPS HISTORY

There are several varieties of gold turnips, heirloom varieties from Europe that were first grown in France in the 1800s.

In the U.S. they are marketed variously as Baby Gold, Boule D’or (the prized French variety, which translates to “golden ball”), Golden Ball and Golden Globe turnips.

Gold turnips are a less durable than the common white and purple-white varieties, as they are not a good “cellar vegetable.” This means that they will not maintain their firmness and flavor if stored throughout the winter—a prized feature of turnips, rutabagas and other root vegetables in the days before refrigeration.

Turnip were cultivated as far back as the Greek Hellenistic Period, 321 B.C.E. to 31 B.C.E. They grow from fall through spring, and can’t tolerate summer heat.
 
HOW TO USE GOLD TURNIPS

Gold turnips can replace common turnips in any recipe, and provide more flare due to their color. In fact, they can pretty much be used anywhere carrots are used, as well.

In addition to cooked recipes, turnips (white and gold) can be eaten raw as crudités and in salads. They can be shredded into a slaw along with cabbage and carrots, and tossed with a Dijon vinaigrette. The leaves can also be eaten raw or cooked.

Per SpecialtyProduce.com, the flavor is truly transformed and sweetened when they are slow roasted, braised or sautéed in butter.

Good accents include:

Top: Gold turnips. Photo © Marie Iannotti | GardeningTheHudsonValley.com. Bottom: Common turnips are all white or white with purple tops. Photo courtesy Good Eggs | San Francisco.

THE CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES FAMILY

The turnip is a cruciferous vegetable, a member of the Brassicaceae family of cancer-fighting superfoods. They are also called the brassicas, after their family name.

“Cruciferous” derives from cruciferae, New Latin for “cross-bearing.” It refers to the flowers of these vegetables, which consist of four petals in the shape of a cross.

The family includes arugula, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mizuna, mustard greens, radish, rapeseed/canola, rapini (broccoli rabe), rutabaga, tatsoi and turnips.

Cruciferous vegetables are low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins and minerals. You can’t eat too many of them, but you can overcook them.

Like broccoli, Brussels sprouts and the rest of the family, cruciferous vegetables contain chemical compounds that, when exposed to heat for a sufficient amount of time, produce hydrogen sulfide (an unpleasant sulfur aroma).

So take care not to overcook them.