Make a jar of this, and every meal is just a sprinkle away from crunchy

One common complaint about vegetarian dishes is that they can lack texture. But plant-based foods can range in texture just as much as meat can, so it's simply a matter of paying attention to that quality when you're cooking.

Most weeks I write about a full-fledged meal, but this week I'm writing about a DIY pantry item that can act as a texture-insurance policy. It's a savory granola, made the same way the sweet kind is, but with herbs, salt and pepper instead of sugar, and with mustard instead of, say, dried fruit. I've seen references to such a thing in a few other cookbooks and on restaurant menus recently, but I went with a recipe from David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl's new “Green Kitchen at Home” (Hardie Grant Books, 2017).

This is what you'll want to have around to throw on a salad, on top of a roasted sweet potato or into soups, grain bowls, fried rice, braised tofu or just about anything that could use a little extra crunch. (Which is just about anything, period.)

For those of you who like your morning yogurt, there's nothing to stop you from stirring in this instead of a super-sweetened granola. And in case you run out of ideas for how to use it — you won't — you can also eat it as a snack. Consider yourself warned.