Turmeric and Japanese 7-Spice Super Seed Mix – a kind of granola

A kind of savory granola minus the oats, this turmeric and togarashi super seed mix is wonderful straight out of a jar, swirled into yogurt and sprinkled over all kinds of savory dishes. A super-easy paleo, sugar-free and vegan recipe. But don’t hold that against it. 😉

As much as I love homemade granola, believe it or not, it’s not something I eat for breakfast. I am a savory breakfast girl through and through. Give me a poached egg or two over a mess of stir-fried greens, a sprinkle of coconut bacon (another thing I could just eat out of a jar!) and I’m a happy bunny. Granola for me is a snack. Something to nibble on out of a jar or tuck into if dinner was too early for my liking. A faintly sweet treat to enjoy with fresh berries and a dollop of yogurt.

Inspired by my recent habit of sprinkling togarashi (Japanese 7-spice blend) over nearly everything, I thought I would introduce it to my other go-to flavour and nutrition booster, turmeric.I usually make my own togarashi, but while in Japan I picked up a few dinky, beautifully illustrated bottles and have been happily dusting everything from those morning poached eggs to cheese on toast, baked katsu tofu (recipe coming soon!), popcorn and steamed greens.

Togarashi, also known as Shichimi is a centuries’ old blend of ingredients that includes chilli, black sesame seed, white sesame seeds, dried orange peel, ginger, Sichuan pepper and dried seaweed. My own togarashi recipe is fairly traditional (here it is with some Japanese-style veggie tacos, complete with awful pictures!). The blend is used to flavour soups, noodles and rice dishes and to flavour tofu and rice crackers.

And to make this quasi-granola. I call it granola because that’s how I have been using it, but really it is a punchy, more-ish seed and nut mix, imminently scoopable and incredibly delicious.You could make it more granola-ish by toasting honey and oil-coated oats and mixing into the contrasting savory seeds. Indeed, I make a turmeric and maple granola for some of my nutrition and cancer classes (recipe coming one of these days!). But I recommend keeping it as is for versatility.

I can see this seed mix sprinkled over roasted or steamed vegetables, swirled into congee, dropped onto salads, soups, omelettes and avo toast. Maybe even pressed into puff pastry and twisted to make incredible breadsticks. But I think my fave will always be straight out of the jar. Spoon and manners optional. 🙂

RIPE FOR PINNING!