Homemade Granola with a Twist

I was all set to make Ina's granola--had all sorts of ingredients collected for it, then on the day I decided to make it, I just happened to run across another granola recipe. Sorry, Ina--I switched courses--actually, I kind of wound up combining my two recipes. Here is the one that intrigued me--http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/dining/151arex.html It is a sweet/salty granola made with olive oil, maple syrup and kosher salt.

I used Ina's fruits and nuts suggestion--and especially liked the chopped figs idea (but I am a fig-lover). I did find that it is better to go by "cooking fragrance" rather than time in a granola recipe. There was a period that my granola smelled heavenly--then suddenly, maybe 10 minutes before the set time, I noticed the smell was getting on the "toasty" side of heavenly. I wish I had taken the granola out of the oven a bit earlier than I did. But, even with the dark golden brown it became---I LOVED it! The combination of olive oil, salt, and maple syrup were amazing! Now I know that was not the Ina part, but I like this granola so much, I think I will never go back. I eat this every morning now with plain yogurt and a banana or berries, and heavy granola on top.