Taste Test Tuesday: Kashi Cocoa Beach Granola

Imagine a little taste of cocoa, coconut and almonds all wrapped up in a high fiber, higher omega-3 granola. I had to go to a couple of grocery stores to find this new cereal, but it was worth it. This morning I enjoyed a serving of this new granola (only 1/2 cup) with 1/2 cup of light vanilla soy milk.

I literally measured this out so I could get an idea of whether this suggested serving size was truly "enough" to satisfy my morning hunger. I probably would be more likely, left to my own devises, to pour 3/4 cup of the cereal instead of 1/2 cup.

How did it taste?
This granola has a very pleasant flavor with subtle tastes of almonds, coconut and cocoa all coming through. Lowfat or skim milk or soy milk compliments this granola nicely.

What's in it?
The first seven ingredients include:

• Kashi Seven Whole Grains & Sesame Blend (rolled oats, barley, hard red winter wheat, rye, triticale, long brain brown rice, buckwheat, sesame seeds)
• Evaporated cane juice syrup
• Expeller pressed canola oil
• Almonds
• Gum Arabic
• Coconut
• Cocoa

All of this translates into a cereal that contributes an assortment of helpful nutrients such as fiber (7 grams with 3 grams soluble fiber), omega-3s (.4 grams), monounsaturated fat (4.5 grams), and protein (6 grams). Here's the breakdown:

1/2 cup cereal = 230 calories, 9 g protein, 36 g carbohydrate, 9 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 2.5 g polyunsaturated fat, 4.5 g monounsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 7 g fiber, 140 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 35 percent.

Related Topics:

• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox