Category Archives: nuts

Pesto

by nuts, recipes, tomatoes, vegetarian,

My friend Tracy recently mentioned that she is growing basil in her back yard garden and would like to eventually make pesto. Pesto is a delicious way to add flavor to a wide number of dishes, it's not just for pasta. It can be used for a fabulous sandwich spread for tomato or tomato and mozzarella sandwiches. It's wonderful to use on chicken and thinned down it is a great dressing for a cold bean salad.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is an annual herb with a very strong flavor; originally from Asia it is now most common in Italian cuisine.  Basil comes in a number of different "flavors" so in additional the  sweet basil that we are used to you can also get cinnamon, lemon, Genovese (which has sort of a clove flavor), licorice basil and a wide number of others.  Basil is a very useful herb with high levels of vitamin K as well as calcium, iron and vitamin A.  If you plan to grow it all summer to harvest in the fall for pesto you can increase your yield by pinching the flower stems.  This will prevent the flowers and seeds from forming and keeps the essential oils from drying up.

 
This is my favorite recipe for pesto:
 

Pesto

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 2 C. fresh basil leaves, washed and destemmed
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 C. parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 C. pine nuts
  • 1/2 C. olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Place all ingredients into a food processor
  • Turn the food processor on and begin to add in olive oil until mixture is smooth
  • Add salt to taste

Notes

Note: you can make different types of pesto by using parsley or red peppers instead of basil, using walnuts instead of pine nuts and changing the parmesan for romano cheese.  Experiment and find out what your favorite flavor is.

healthy granola recipes

Healthy Granola Recipes

by breakfast, gluten free, nuts, oats, recipes, vegetarian,

The kitchen is fragrant with the smells of baking granola right now.

Steve and the kids like to eat it as a bowl of cereal, I prefer it as a garnish on top of a bowl of yogurt and fruit, as an added treat to a bowl of muesli, or as a crumb topping for making muffins.

One of the reasons that I like to make my own granola is because I can control the flavor and the sweetness; I also believe I save money by making my own.

Bear Naked Apple Cinnamon Granola is $4.85 for approximately 3 cups, Kashi Mountain Medley Granola is $4.56 for approximately 3.5 cups and my homemade version comes out at around $3.65 for 6 cups.
 
Because I want less sugar in my granola it is admittedly less crunchy but we find it to be very flavorful and enjoy it a lot. Taste testings with friends and family shows that they like it too.
 
The most recent batch is apricot, raisin, walnut, and cinnamon. The kids were very eager to "taste test" it as it came out of the oven, I had to fend them off with my mixing spoon so that it could cool properly.
 

Great Granola

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 3 T. honey
  • 3 T. molasses
  • 1/3 C. oil
  • 4 C. rolled oats
  • 1 C. nuts, chopped
  • 1 C. dried fruit
  • 1/4 C. flax seed, ground
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • spices, optional (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc)

Instructions
 

  • In a small pot on the stove mix honey, molasses and oil
  • Heat until just starting to bubble, stirring to mix well
  • Place oats in a large ovenproof dish
  • Pour liquid mixture over oats and stir well to coat evenly
  • Bake for 10 minutes
  • Remove from oven, stir well, add nuts and return to oven
  • Bake for 10 minutes
  • Remove from oven, stir well, add dried fruit and return to oven
  • Bake for 10 minutes
  • Remove from oven, stir well, add flax seeds, vanilla and any spices if desired
  • Let cool completely before storing in a container
    Enjoy!

My friend Christine also shared her chocolate granola recipe. She said it's a big hit with her family, I'm sure it will be for yours as well.

With the addition of ground flax and coconut oil, this recipe provides some great fatty acids (flax seeds have omega-3 while coconut oil has medium-chain fatty acids). These healthy fats help provide satiety, or fullness, which means it helps fill you up. Dark chocolate and cocoa provide antioxidants, especially epicatechin (found also in green tea), which protect against cardiovascular disease.

granola recipes

Chocolate Granola

My friend Christine's recipe
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • Mix in crock pot:

    7 C. organic old fashioned oats

    1/2 C. ground flax

    1/4 C. organic brown sugar

    1/2 C. shredded coconut

    Pinch of sea salt

    ½ C. raw honey

    2 T. maple syrup

    ¼ C. coconut oil

    2 T. cocoa powder

Instructions
 

  • Mix well and heat on low all day, stir once in while.
  • After slightly browned (4-6 hours on low) stir in:
    ½ C. 70% chocolate or darker, finely chopped
    1 C. chopped almonds & walnuts
  • Cool completely then store in an airtight container

Next recipe is...I was trying to decide what to call this cereal. It's probably somewhere in between granola and muesli.

It's not really granola because it doesn't have the hard, crunchy bits that so many people like in granola (mine is less crunchy mostly because I use less sweet stuff). However, muesli (pronounced moos-lee), isn't baked at all.  Rather it's mixed together - flaked grains, nuts, seeds, and dried fruits.

Anyway, "muesola" sounds silly.  On the other hand, "gruesli" sounds completely unappetizing.  I think I'll stick with calling it granola and leave well enough alone.

Granola

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 4 C. flaked grains - oats, quinoa, your preference
  • 1 C. raw, unsalted nuts, chopped - my favorites are pecans or almonds
  • 1/4 C. flax seed, ground
  • 1/4 C. sesame seeds
  • 1/4 C. raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 C. raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds

Instructions
 

  • Mix ingredients together well
  • Store in an airtight container
  • If making muesli:
    Place 1/3 C. of the mixture into a bowl
    Add 2-4 T. of dried fruit
    Mix in 2/3 C. milk, yogurt, or apple juice
    Cover and place in the fridge overnight
    In the morning top with 1/4 apple, grated and spicesYum!
  • If making granola:
    Preheat oven to 350F
    Put dry mixture into a large 9 x 13 casserole dish
    In a saucepan mix together1/3 C. honey - I prefer raw and local1/3 C. molasses1/3 C. coconut oil
    Heat in a small pot until just starting to bubble
    Pour mixture over the base recipe, coating evenly
    Bake 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to avoid burning
    Pull mixture out of the oven and sprinkle with 2 t. vanilla extract, incorporating well
    Let mixture cool completely before storing in an airtight container
  • To serve:
    Place 1/3 C. of the mixture into a bowl
    Add 2-4 T. dried or fresh fruit
    Mix in milk to the desired level
    Enjoy!

Happy But Sad

by baking, grains, nuts, recipes

Happy, yes I am, mostly because I am sitting here eating this delicious muffin.  Sad, yup, that too, because I'm not sure I'll be able to replicate it.

It's raining here today…for the third day in a row.  Big bolts of lightning, huge crashes of thunder and a torrential downpour.  Enough to make me decide that I needed some muffins and a cup of tea to cheer myself up.
Not sure what kind of muffin I wanted I decided to rummage and see what we had. Leftover flours in the freezer, millet, corn, oat and wheat yielded just enough flour to feel “muffin-y.”  I had some applesauce, a few raisins, some pecans, mixed those together with a couple of glugs of oil, an egg, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt and voila!  It tastes scrumptious.  I just wish I had remembered to measure before I started throwing things into the bowl.
But the important thing to remember here is to be creative with your food.  If you have a little of this, a little of that try it, you'll never know but you may find a new favorite.  If you start with good ingredients you'll usually end up with a pretty successful result.  I think part of what makes this creation so successful is that it is basically a cinnamon raisin muffin with pecans but the balance of the different flours is what makes it special.  A previous family favorite of greens and beans was also a “smattering” recipe it came about because I had a lot of little bits of leftovers.
To the best of my remembering (in other words guesstimating amounts) here is the recipe:
3 C. flour (from assorted grains)
1 C. applesauce
1/3 C. oil
3/4 C. sucanat
1 t. vanilla
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 C. pecans – crushed
1 C. raisins
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 egg
mix all ingredients together
spoon into greased muffin tin
bake 375 F for 15-18 minutes
rest 2 minutes in tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool
Enjoy!
PS My friend Mary who stopped by for tea tells me that these are “Yum yum yum!” hope you enjoy them too

National Pecan Day

by fats and oil, nuts

Today is National Pecan Day.  Pecans are one of my favorite nuts.  Although they are very hard to crack they are certainly worth the effort.  Pecans have sweet, tender nutmeats that are very tasty.

Brief History

Pecans (Carya illinoinensis) are a species of hickory tree that is native to the south-central region of the United States of America. The name Pecan comes from an Algonquin word that means a nut requiring a stone to crack. Although they are native to North America they have been imported and are now grown commercially in Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, Mexico, Peru and South Africa. A pecan tree can bear fruit for up to 300 years.

Nutritional Profile 

There has been a lot of interest in pecans and their healthy profile; they add fiber to your diet as well as providing vitamins B and C, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorous.  Pecans are also a good source of monosaturated fats (the same kind of beneficial fat that is found in olive oil).  
 
According to studies from Loma Linda University and Texas A&M University, “a heart-healthy diet…is more effective in lowering cholesterol when pecans are added – even though the pecans added more total fat to the diet. And study participants did not gain weight on the pecan diet.”
 
“This confirms that it is the type of fat in the diet (i.e. the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat in pecans) that is more important to heart health than total fat intake. These studies showed that the addition of pecans to a heart healthy diet decreased the levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol…and helped maintain desirable levels of “good” HDL cholesterol.”

The National Cholesterol Education program states, “For every 1% reduction in LDL cholesterol, there is a 1.5% reduction in incidence of coronary heart disease. Thus, the pecan diets in the Loma Linda and Texas A&M studies would correspond with a 25% decreased risk of heart disease.”

Of course, the best way to eat them is to start with raw nuts.  Pecans are very versatile and can be added to a wide variety of baked goods, they go well in salads, can be used in pilaf-type recipes, or can be spiced and flavored to be eaten as a snack.

Proper Storage

However you use them, just remember to store them properly.  Pecans need to be kept in dry, clean, airtight containers.  Out of the shell they will last at room temperature up to two months or refrigerated up to one year and frozen up to two years.  Because they are a low-moisture nut pecans can be refrozen several times without losing quality.

Pecan Recipe

Pecans are usually thought of as a nut that is used to make sweet foods such as pecan pie, pecan sandies cookies, or pecan brittle. They’re also a frequent topping for sweet potatoes or other holiday favorites.

Although this recipe does have a little sweetness to it, the rosemary gives it a wonderful aromatic boost. These make a great snack and won’t last long.

Savory Rosemary Pecans

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings 4 cups

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • ¼ tsp ground cayenne
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 3 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 4 cups pecan halves
  • 1 rounded Tbsp turbinado or demerara (large grain) sugar

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat oven to 350°F
  • Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or use a baking mat, such as Silpat
  • In a small bowl mix together rosemary, cinnamon, cardamom, cayenne, salt, and black pepper
  • Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat.
  • When butter is melted add maple syrup and stir well to combine
  • Heat for another 1-2 minutes then remove from heat
  • Add pecans to a large bowl
  • Pour butter mixture on top of pecans and then add the spice mixture, stirring well to coat the pecans
  • Pour pecans onto the prepared baking sheet, arranging in a single layer and spacing well
  • Bake for 15 minutes, stir pecans and then bake another 15 minutes
  • Remove pecans from oven and let cool 5-7 minutes
  • Sprinkle with turbinado or demerara and stir to coat
  • Store in an airtight container, will last for 2 weeks
    Enjoy!