Spiced Nuts

Sometimes healthy snacking can be a challenge, especially during the holidays when we’re surrounded by cookies, sweets, and other baked goods. Instead of reaching for the candy jar, a handful of nuts is filling enough to satisfy those mid-afternoon hunger pangs. This recipe combines zesty seasonings (which can easily be adjusted to taste) with delicious protein-rich nuts for a snack that’s fairly “neutral” on the health scale. But, as they say, everything in moderation! Stopping at just a handful might be a challenge :)

Ingredients: (~4 cups)

~4 cups mixed nuts (cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, etc.)

~2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce (for a vegetarian version, use vegetarian Worcestershire sauce - traditional Worcestershire contains anchovies!)

~1 TBSP olive oil

~1 TBSP garlic powder

~½ tsp paprika

Pinch of salt (optional)

Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and heat oven to 250°F. Place nuts in a large bowl. Add Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, garlic, paprika, and salt. Mix everything to the nuts are well-coated. Spread the nut mixture on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Let cool thoroughly before removing from the pan. Serve up at your next get-together!

~Karla


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Candied Pecans

I often get mid-afternoon snack cravings - especially if I’m working at my desk and not doing something more interactive. Although I feast on an occasional muffin or chocolate (or pie if it's Pi(e) day at work!), I try to keep these snacks on the healthier side. Nuts are perfect to curb these cravings - rich in protein and the fibre is filling. Raw or toasted nuts are probably the best, but it’s fun to have flavored nuts once in a while. However, the store bought ones typically use a lot of oil for roasting - be it sweet or savory. In addition, the savory ones can have a lot of sodium and the sweet candied ones can often be way too sweet. Not ideal for a workday snack unless you want to risk a sugar crash!

The solution - make your own candied nuts at home with reduced sugar, without any added fats (the nuts provide enough healthy fats), and at a much lower price. The best part is how quick and easy this is. You’d go from plain old pecans to super delicious candied pecans in 5 minutes flat!

Ingredients

1 cup pecan halves

¾ - 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1-2 tsp water (enough to dissolve the sugar and make a thick concoction)

A small pinch of salt (optional)

½ tsp vanilla essence (optional)

Mix the sugar, water, salt, vanilla in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

In a nonstick pan over medium heat, toast the nuts for ~3 minutes stirring continuously until you get a nice nutty aroma. 

Take the pan off the heat and add the liquid mixture. It will start to evaporate immediately, so stir quickly to coat the nuts. Put the pan back on the stove and keep stirring for another minute or so until the liquid has evaporated and the sugar just begins to crystalize.

Take the pan off the heat and spread the nuts on a plate/cookie tray. Let them cool down completely before storing in an airtight container.

 

 ~Gayatri

 

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Low sugar candied pecans with no added fat..http://cooksofcakeandkindness.blogspot.com/2016/03/candied-pecans.html
Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Monday, March 14, 2016

Apple Millefeuille (a.k.a. Leaning Tower of Fruit!)

Growing up I’ve always had a sweet tooth, and I can hardly recall any meals from my childhood without a dessert. If nothing else, I used to have a little bit of jam, jaggery, or sugar with ghee on my plate. Over the years I’ve consciously tried to reduce my refined sugar intake, which is not very easy when you like to bake cakes ;-) … but I now enjoy the healthier desserts with a lot of fruits, so I can occasionally indulge in the more sugary delicious baked treats.

This recipe is for a simple dessert which can be made with fresh fruits such as apple or pear. I like calling it Millefeuille because it is a layered tower. Millefeuille is a French pastry with several thin crispy layers stacked up with creamy filling in between. This version doesn’t have any pastry but it does have thin and crunchy layers of apple! The dish is not just visually pleasing but it also really elevates the taste of the simple everyday apple. It uses very few ingredients (things you might already have in your pantry) and takes hardly any time and effort to put together. It’s a healthier dessert too - in addition to the vitamins and fiber from the fruit, you can also get your protein fix with your favorite nuts and nut butters.

Ingredients: (Serves 1-2)

1 apple (any kind - I used the Gold Delicious variety)

~2 Tbsp peanut butter (or any other nut butter)

1 Tbsp dried cranberries/raisins (or chopped fresh berries)

1-2 tsp chopped nuts (I used pecans and pistachios)

Cinnamon, nutmeg (optional)

Any seeds such as sunflower or chia, nuts, granola etc. can be used in this recipe.

Sauce

1-2 tsp honey

¼ - ½ tsp lemon juice

Water

A pinch of ground cardamom

Salt (optional)

Thinly slice the apple. Mandolin slicer would work great for very even slices, but I just used a knife. Core the slices with a small cookie cutter or a knife. Start laying down the slices from the bottom up. After every 2-3 slices spread a thin layer of nut butter, sprinkle chopped nuts and cranberries. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg if using. Continue till you reach the top.

To make the sauce, mix honey, lemon juice and cardamom powder. Thin the sauce to your liking with water. If your nut butter doesn’t have any added salt, a little bit of salt in the sauce would taste great! Drizzle the sauce on the apple tower.

I’ve been asked how to eat this tower of fruit , so here are the 'instructions' ;-). I like to gently push it over so the apple slices fan out nicely onto the plate. That makes it easy to cut into only a few slices at a time. Dip in extra sauce if desired and enjoy as a (relatively) guilt free breakfast or dessert!

~Gayatri

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Healthy, fruity, layered deliciousness!http://cooksofcakeandkindness.blogspot.com/2015/08/apple-millefeuille-aka-leaning-tower-of.html
Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Monday, August 17, 2015