Category: Nut Usage Ideas

Making a great meal doesn’t have to mean a long list of ingredients. In fact, sometimes the simpler the dish, the better it tastes, especially when you focus on fresh, seasonal and good quality ingredients.

There are so many ways to reduce the number of ingredients you use, without sacrificing flavor or enjoyment, and it will make cooking more of a joy than a chore. Here’s a framework for you to build your own quick meals. Start with the most important part – the plants – and select a few different colors. This time of year, it could be fresh peas, corn and tomato. Second, select a protein – it could be an egg, fish, lean meat, nuts or chicken.

Having tree nuts on hand in your refrigerator or freezer allows you to jazz up anything for added texture, flavor, healthy fats, protein and many more nutrients. Nuts also add an element of satiety, so you’ll be less likely to want to snack afterwards.

Here are some ways to create quick dishes for healthy family meals or entertaining:

Pasta – The Italians are heroes when it comes to simple, fresh and delicious. Whether it’s a pine nut pesto folded through linguini with shrimp, a walnut crumble tossed through orecchiette, or a Brazil nut cream over wild mushroom pasta, we have many pasta recipes to try.

Omelets – One of the simplest meals you can make and great for solo diners. Sauté some vegetables, such as mushrooms and zucchini. Whisk some eggs with soy, chopped green onion and grated ginger and pour over the veggies, turning in the edges as you go until cooked through, then scatter chopped tree nuts on top.

Grain Bowls – Admittedly these bowls are an easy way to get carried away, opening up your pantry and finding all kinds of ingredients to toss in. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But simply starting with your cooked grain of choice, adding some raw vegetables, nuts and a simple dressing of olive oil and lemon can make a satisfying and nourishing meal. Grain bowls are great for breakfast, lunch and dinner, or a side dish!

Pizza – You can buy ready-made pizza dough at the store, or some pizza restaurants will let you buy their pizza dough to make your own at home. Or for a speedy pizza, use pita bread. Spread with our delicious pistachio sauce, sprinkle with cheese then scatter over some veggies like bell peppers, mushrooms, and onion. Or go for a salad topped pizza, such as this one inspired by Joanne Weir.

Stir Fry with Noodles – Select three different colored veggies, add protein and stir fry, adding a splash of soy and rice wine. Toss with cooked noodles, scatter with sliced almonds, cashews or macadamias, and you have a simply delicious meal.

Plain and Simple – For many, a meal is simply “meat and veg,” which is a great thing and allows you to keep the number of ingredients manageable. There is nothing lovelier than a piece of grilled fish, some potatoes, peas and carrots, and to top it off some toasted chopped tree nuts. 

The Oven Bowl – Popping a casserole dish in the oven means more time with friends and family and you can transfer the dish right to the table for family style serving. Try layering sliced cooked sweet potatoes, a can of tuna or salmon, sliced zucchini and cover with a can of tomatoes (chopped or whole). Lastly, top with melted cheese and sliced almonds and cook until golden! Or go simply veggie, tossing together squash, mushrooms, cauliflower (or your preferred vegetables) with fresh basil. Toss with olive oil, scatter with nuts and bake until vegetables are tender!

Spicy Pork Tenderloin – Rub pork with honey and soy and sit for 15 minutes, then roast at 375°F for 15-20 minutes or until medium rare. Rest and serve sliced over a bed of sliced fennel, cucumber, cilantro and chopped macadamias, almonds or cashews.

And one more added bonus–using less ingredients means less clean-up and more play time! 

Happy August everyone!

The Fourth of July is approaching, a time to celebrate the United States of America, including our traditional dishes. Why not celebrate our fine country all month long with an American classic dish each day. Better yet, add tree nuts for added nutrition, flavor and texture!

• Pancakes for Breakfast – While many countries have their own rendition of a pancake, the pancake stack doused with maple syrup, and layered with bananas, pecans or walnuts is undeniably American and a great way to start your day!
• Corn on the Cob – Traveling from Mexico up through the Southern US, and now widely celebrated all over the country, corn is ubiquitous to the US diet. For a fancier take on the classic corn on the cob, try spreading it with pine nut or hazelnut pesto.
• Coleslaw – Though it’s origin dates back to Ancient Rome and some say it is intrinsically Dutch, coleslaw, classically made with mayonnaise, mustard and vinegar, is a true American classic. It’s an easy dish to jazz up with fresh herbs, toasted sliced almonds or chopped macadamias, and you could even use yogurt instead of mayonnaise.
• Devilled Eggs – It wasn’t until the mid-1900s that Devilled eggs found their way to the US, (another one with Ancient Rome origins), but they are here to stay! Devilled eggs were originally made hot and spicey (that’s how they got their name), but now they are an open playground for cooks to create their own version – curried, topped with caviar or topped with finely diced nuts such as pistachios.
• Hamburgers – Whether traced to Hamburg or the US, the hamburger is about as common to the American diet as Coke. Basically, ground meat slapped on a roll, the burger has been reinvented many times over with various types of meat and fillings.  Ground lamb and yogurt sauce and pork and apple burgers are two examples. Or how about a vegetarian version featuring grains, vegetables and nuts?  We have one for you here!
• BBQ Ribs – Arguments will erupt around the US about the who made the first BBQ Ribs – was it in the deep South, Chicago, or Texas? However, there’s no denying that BBQ Ribs grace many tables on July 4^th. Imagine ribs with a spicy Romesco Sauce, a Pecan and Red Pepper Sauce or Pistachio Aioli, or give your ribs a crust of diced nuts for contrasting texture.
• Apple Pie – Just mere mention of the word brings up memories of grandma’s kitchen and the aromas of baking pies – pure comfort!  And nuts have such a great place in an apple, pear, apricot, peach or rhubarb pie. Start with the pastry. Here’s a twist on apple pie, made into a rustic Galette with a pastry made with ground nuts – great for the dairy free crowd. Or scatter apples with chopped nuts before baking for a lovely earthy addition.

Wishing you a healthy and happy July 4th and remember to take a bag of tree nuts on your hike, bike ride or swim to keep you going!

Every April the American Heart Association promotes Move More Month. The goal is to encourage everyone to enjoy more physical activity on a regular basis. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect with the arrival of spring. So, let’s lace up our walking shoes or hiking boots, don a swimsuit, or pull our bikes out of the garage and embrace the warmer weather.

Whether it’s a walk around your local botanical gardens, kayaking or rowing, catching some waves, or simply running with your kids around the back yard with a frisbee, we all need some fuel to keep us going. And there’s no more perfect snack than nuts for a sustained boost of energy. Tree nuts are a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, plant protein and unsaturated fats, that not only supply energy and satiety, but contribute to an overall healthy diet.

Naturally, the most common option is to slip a bag of nuts in your backpack, but there are many other ways to enjoy nuts on the go. Here are just a few:

Nut-wiches – A simple sandwich spread with nut butter is delicious and so much more nutritious and sustaining than just plain bread. Easily packed in your backpack, car or bike bag, sandwiches bring you an all-around balance of carbohydrates, fats and protein. Try hazelnut butter with tomatoes and mozzarella, almond butter with cucumber, pecan butter with banana, walnut butter with celery and apple just to get you started.

Traveling for Work – Rather than sitting and waiting for your flight, take a roam around the airport—there’s plenty of sitting to be done on the flight. Skip the airplane salty snacks and pack your own seasoned nuts to elevate the journey. We have lots of ideas for both sweet and savory seasonings for nuts. Or make a pan of nut bars that can last your entire trip. Simply wrap each bar in individual servings. Here’s one using macadamias and pine nuts.

Family Hikes – On weekends, why not start the day by taking the family on a hike and having a scenic breakfast. You can make some muffins the night before to make the perfect portable brunch. Try these with Pecans and Banana. Or, for the more adventurous gourmets out there, these Hazelnut German sticky buns make a wonderful picnic morning treat.

Picnic Feast – Gather with friends and family outdoors for a game of touch football or badminton, instead of watching TV. There are lots of ways to incorporate tree nuts into a picnic fit for a king. Here are some salad ideas:

• This Peach and Arugula Salad with Pistachios makes a fresh addition to any picnic and the Apple Celery and Grape salad is a twist on the Waldorf, and kids will love it!

• For an Asian inspired salad, these Cashew Prawn Lettuce Cups are a great hand-held treat. Make the noodle salad, then pack the lettuce separately and assemble on the spot.

• For a meal in a salad, throw in some grains, such as this Red Quinoa and Kale Salad or an Almond Farro and Black Bean Salad. They’ll be sure to keep you going all day!

• If you’re in the mood for a barbecue, these Vegetable Rice and Nut burgers are a great plant-based option. But if it’s a real meat patty you’d like, jazz it up a notch by adding some chopped tree nuts and fresh herbs to the mix, then topping with Pesto or Romesco Sauce. 

• For fish lovers, this salmon dish makes a great barbecue. Just remember to bring a small pan for the sauce.

Grilled Salmon with Peach Almond Brown Butter

Preparation time – 10 minutes, Cooking time – 10 minutes

Serves 4

• 4 salmon fillets
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Olive oil, for cooking

Peach Almond Brown Butter

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 peaches, diced
• 2 ounces roasted almonds, roughly chopped
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar, optional

1. Brush grill or heavy-based pan with olive oil. Season salmon and cook, skin side down for 2 minutes, then turn and cook as desired.
2. While salmon is cooking, heat butter in a small skillet and cook until bubbles subside and the butter starts to color. Add the peaches, almonds, orange zest, and rosemary and toss in the butter until all are warm. Add the vinegar if using (it adds a little zip to the butter).
3. Serve the salmon with sauce spooned over the top, and a vegetable such as barbecued asparagus.

However you choose to move more, don’t forget to bring tree nuts with you!

The Nutty Chef!

The Spring Equinox arrives on March 17^th—time to get excited about planting all those fresh fruits and vegetables and/or seeing them in our local markets! Nuts are a wonderful way to enhance spring produce, in texture, flavor, nutrition and staying power!

Here are some creative ways to enrich the first “fruits of spring” with your favorite tree nuts:

• Lettuce such as arugula, kale, mustard greens and spinach are ready to pop up in your garden or farmer’s markets in early spring. And there’s nothing more welcoming for nuts than a green salad. Try a simple dressing of olive oil and lemon and a scattering of toasted sliced almonds and walnuts. Or, for something a bit more special, mix grated parmesan with finely diced tree nuts, and place teaspoonful-sized mounds in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Allow them to melt and turn golden brown, then flip and cook a minute more before placing onto a wire rack to cool and scatter over salads.

• Asparagus is one of the first vegetables to break ground in March, its shoots seem to rise out of nowhere. Lightly steamed or roasted until tender to the bite, and served with crumbled goat cheese and roasted chopped hazelnuts or pine nuts is divine. Just make sure if you steam or boil the asparagus that you cook it 1-2 minutes or until just tender, and then refresh it in an iced water bath for a few minutes to stop it from cooking further and getting overcooked. Try white asparagus with melted butter, capers, parsley, lemon and pecans or macadamias.

• Fava Beans may take a bit of work to steam and then remove their skin, but they are so worth the effort. A warm fava bean and English pea salad with mint, diced nuts, lemon zest and olive oil is a great side dish with grilled salmon or chicken. It also makes a great dip or sauce when pureed with your favorite tree nuts, olive oil and fresh herbs. Pure Spring!

• Radishes are well known to be served shaved over salads, but did you know they are also great cut into quarters and sautéed or roasted with other vegetables? For salads, layer thinly sliced cucumber, radish and red onion and drizzle with red wine vinegar and olive oil. Puree any tree nut with basil, mint, parmesan and olive oil and drizzle over the top! Walnuts and radishes are great sautéed until golden and served over a steak or rack of lamb. Or for something lush and unique, puree radish with yogurt and cashews or macadamias for a delightful summer soup.

• Morels are foragers’ springtime treat and so gorgeous with any kind of nut, especially hazelnuts, walnuts and pine nuts. Wash well, chop and sauté over high heat with nuts to serve as a side dish or toss through pasta, topped with some fresh ricotta, lemon zest and finely sliced basil.

• Rhubarb, like asparagus, suddenly shoots up when the weather warms and is so much more versatile than many realize. Of course there are the classic desserts like this Crisp, by Love & Lemons, with walnuts, but think of roasted rhubarb with a dot of brown sugar to serve over pork, it’s sweet-sour red juices drizzling over the meat. Easy but so very special. If you’re hankering for a recipe for an exquisite rhubarb, asparagus and nut pasta, try this Italian recipe by Laura Bonicelli.

• Strawberries are at their best in early spring – look for bright red berries without white around the stalk. Sometimes the smaller ones have the best flavor. For breakfast, serve over our Breakfast Grain Bowl or a bowl of muesli and yogurt. Or for dessert, our Fruit Tiramisu, which has elements of a British trifle, is succulent and fresh.

Spring is the perfect season for a healthier lifestyle with easy, more colorful and plant-based meals, so set your imagination free and make your kitchen your playground!

Bon Appétit!