There’s no money in tv. None.

Okay maybe there is some, but when I signed my first contract to be a tv news reporter I can certainly tell you that all of the big flashy tv money was not coming to me.

I quickly realized that my small town rent would eat up more than half of my take home pay and no clothing allowance meant the other dribs and drabs of my checks would go towards “tv clothes.” A blazer in every color, please!

So I tried to become an extreme couponer, because I did not want to eat Ramen in my expensive rental while wearing the blazers. I have no patience for clipping coupons and didn’t subscribe to a million newspapers, so my “couponing” was limited to checking the store circular online and buying whatever was on sale.

Do you know what is constantly on sale? Chex Mix. Luckily, there are a lot of flavors of Chex Mix.

I don’t know how the math added up but week after week I would toss buy 1 get 1 bags of Chex Mix in my basket. Then dutifully dole out the savory cereal into snack bags for afternoon editing snacks during the week. Shoveling a handful in my mouth as I rushed out the door in the morning was also not an uncommon occurrence.

This is probably not the best breakfast for you but I’m all about that salty crunch first thing in the morning.

Fast forward a few years and I started seeing savory granola pop up on various sites with challenging flavors like rosemary or curry that sound great with a cocktail but not for the first meal of the day. I didn’t want sweet but I still wanted a comforting flavor, something I already knew. Something I bought by the pair on an almost weekly basis for the better part of a year.

This granola doesn’t scream party mix but the salty Worcestershire, sharp Dijon and slightly sweet maple syrup laced dressing would not be bad if you baked it onto cereal squares and pretzel nubs instead of these more wholesome ingredients. I am really telling myself this is health food with the popped quinoa tossed with the oats. Hat tip to Martha Rose Shulman from the NYTimes for enlightening me about quinoa in granola.

Since I was on this health kick from the quinoa I impulse bought nutritional yeast to make this granola saintly. I try not to leave the house on Saturday mornings, except for quick farmer’s market run down the street, because that is when the Food Network has their best programming. One Saturday morning I saw Trisha Yearwood make a black bean lasagna with a ricotta made from tofu and nutritional yeast. She said the nutritional yeast made the tofu cheesy. So I got some from the bulk bin section of Whole Foods and dumped into in the granola.

This mix bakes up just like any sweetened granola but probably wouldn’t be very tasty on the fruit yogurt that I usually pair granola with. I think tzatziki sauce should be served with everything so a pseudo deconstructed tzatziki yogurt bowl is not a bad breakfast. To make the bowl, I mix half a cup of plain Greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a generous pinch of kosher salt. I top that with some chopped cucumber. I like hothouse cucumbers because the seeds annoy me less but if you only have regular cucumbers then remove the seeds. Because it is breakfast and you should have fruit, dried apricots bring a little sweetness. Then a handful of granola and you are ready to start the day.

This savory granola is also a great sub for croutons on a salad and will add texture to any New Year’s Resolution plate of lettuce that you’re dying to quit.