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Chicken and Cashew Curry

Recipe courtesy of Nuts for Life (www.nutsforlife.com.au)

Ingredients

  • 4 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 red chilis
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1 stalk lemongrass (tender base only)
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk
  • 1 cup water
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 3 ounces cashews, soaked
  • 12 ounces chicken thighs, diced

Instructions

  1. Rub 2 teaspoons curry powder and salt into the chicken and set aside.
  2. Blend garlic, onion, tomato, lemongrass and chili in a blender until a smooth paste is formed.
  3. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan. Cook blended mixture, remaining curry powder and garam masala over low heat. Stir constantly, cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add chicken and cook for about 2 minutes.
  5. Add cashews and water. Allow to simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  6. Add coconut milk, stir, and allow to come to a boil. Turn off the heat as soon as it boils.
  7. Serve hot with white rice and papadums (thin Indian crackers) on the side.

Tip: You can soak cashews in warm water for 20 minutes to soften the nuts and allow for better absorption of flavors.

Chicken, Cashew and Almond Stir Fry

Recipe courtesy of Nuts for Life (www.nutsforlife.com.au)

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon macadamia oil
  • 3 small chicken breast fillets, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium onion, cut into wedges
  • 1 bunch broccolini, chopped into 5cm lengths
  • 1 teaspoon shredded ginger
  • 1 bunch baby bok choy, trimmed and roughly chopped
  • 2 1/2 ounces snow peas, trimmed
  • 2 1/2 ounces blanched raw almonds
  • 2 1/2 ounces raw cashews
  • 2 tablespoons salt reduced soy sauce
  • ¼ cup plum sauce
  • 4 cups cooked basmati rice

Instructions

  1. Heat half the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook in batches until golden and cooked through. Set aside.
  2. Add remaining oil and cook onions and broccolini for 4 minutes until tender. Add the ginger, bok choy, snow peas, almonds and cashews and stir fry for 2 minutes or until bok choy is wilted.
  3. Return chicken to the wok, along with the soy and plum sauce and toss together gently. Cook for another minute then serve with rice.

Goats’ Cheese Tart with Macadamia Shortcrust Pastry

Recipe and image supplied courtesy of Australian Macadamia Society

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 2 cups plain flour
  • ½ cup cold butter, diced
  • ½ teaspoon cooking salt
  • 1 cup raw macadamias, chopped
  • 2-3 tablespoons iced water

Filling

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1½ cups pure cream
  • ½ cup parsley leaves, finely chopped
  • 12 sage leaves, finely chopped
  • 3 sprigs thyme, finely chopped
  • 4¼ ounces soft goats’ cheese or marinated goats’ feta (drained)

Instructions

Pastry

  1. Put the flour, butter, salt and macadamias into a food processor and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  2. With the machine still running, add the iced water one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture just comes together, do not overprocess.
  3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  4. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Put the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll out until 1/8 inch thick. Line a tart pan and trim.
  5. Once pressed into the pan, line the dough with a sheet of baking paper or foil and fill with uncooked rice, dried beans or baking weights.
  6. Bake for 8 minutes, then remove the paper and baking weights and return to the oven for another 12 minutes or until it begins to turn golden.

Filling

  1. While the crust is in the oven, prepare the filling by whisking together the eggs, cream and herbs, season to taste with cracked black pepper and sea salt.
  2. When the crust is ready, pour in the egg mixture.
  3. Roughly break up the goats’ cheese and scatter it evenly across the tart.
  4. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 15-20 minutes or until just set.

Tip: Shortcrust pastry can be a little tricky to manage. An easy way of transferring the dough into the tart pan is to peel back the top layer of baking paper and invert the rolled dough over the pan, peeling the remaining paper off once the dough is in the pan.

California Walnut “Chorizo” Burrito

Description

Flour tortilla burrito with “chorizo” walnut meat, cilantro lime rice, Mexican cheese blend, pico de gallo, avocado and shredded lettuce finished with cilantro cream and tomatillo salsa.

Ingredients

For “Chorizo” Meat

  • 2 1/2 cups California walnuts
  • 1 1/2 cups canned black beans, rinsed
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon paprika, ground
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon ancho powder, ground
  • 1 teaspoon oregano, ground
  • 1 teaspoon chipotle powder, ground
  • 1 teaspoon cumin, ground
  • 1 teaspoon coriander, ground

For Burritos

  • 4 – 12 inch flour tortillas
  • 2 cups California Walnut Chorizo Meat, divided
  • 1 cup cilantro lime rice, divided
  • 1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend, divided
  • 1 cup pico de gallo divided
  • 2 avocados, sliced and divided
  • 1 cup romaine lettuce, shredded and divided
  • 1/2 cup cilantro lime crema
  • 1/2 cup tomatillo salsa

Instructions

To Prepare the Chorizo

  1. To prepare the “chorizo” crumble, place walnuts and beans in a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons oil and remaining ingredients to food processor and pulse again until mixture is finely chopped and resembles ground meat, stirring several times and moving the mixture from the bottom of the food processor bowl to the top to evenly mix.
  3. Heat remaining oil in a very large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add “chorizo” mixture to skillet and cook for 10 minutes or until mixture is nicely browned and resembles ground meat, stirring frequently.

To Assemble the Burritos

  1. Heat tortillas.
  2. Fill each tortilla with 1/2 cup of Walnut Chorizo, 1/4 cup cilantro lime rice, 2 tablespoons Mexican cheese blend, 1/2 avocado, 1/4 cup romaine lettuce and 2 tablespoons cilantro lime crema.
  3. Roll up and pan fry in a dry pan to toast burrito and heat through.
  4. Serve each with 2 tablespoons of tomatillo salsa.

Walnut Mexican Street Corn Tacos

Description

Expect a touch of smoky flavor in these vegetarian tacos, courtesy of the fire roasted corn and chipotle adobo sauce. That boldness in flavor is contrasted with creamy cotija cheese and sour cream, and brightness from fresh lime and cilantro. The “meat” is made with a hearty combination of walnuts and chopped mushrooms. For a twist on the recipe, serve the taco filling over a rice base instead of in tortillas.

Ingredients

Chipotle Sauce

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons chipotle adobo sauce
  • 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

California Walnut Taco “Meat”

  • 1 1/2 cups raw shelled walnuts
  • 2 cups roughly chopped white button mushrooms
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, for cooking

Tacos

  • 12 small flour or corn tortillas
  • 1 cup drained fire roasted corn
  • 1/2 cup crumbled cotija cheese
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
  • 1 lime, sliced into wedges

Instructions

  1. Stir together chipotle adobo sauce and sour cream in a small bowl. Refrigerate until serving.
  2. Combine walnuts, mushrooms, cumin, chili powder, garlic, soy sauce and lime juice in a food processor. Pulse to break up walnuts and mushrooms into small crumbles.
  3. Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a skillet. Add walnut mixture and cook, stirring occasionally for 7-8 minutes, until mushrooms are tender.
  4. Spoon walnut taco meat over tortillas topped with roasted corn, cotija, chipotle sauce, cilantro, and lime wedges

Mediterranean Carrot Soup with Raisin Nut Agrodolce

Description

Nuts add a silky texture so you don’t need to add anything else for a luscious creamy soup. 

Ingredients

  • ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, finely diced
  • ½ teaspoon allspice
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½ cup dense nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias, Brazil nuts or a mixture
  • 1 pound carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup Greek yogurt, to serve

Raisin, Nut and Cumin Agrodolce

  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • Juice from 1 lemon
  • 4 tablespoons golden raisins
  • 4 tablespoons nuts – pistachios, pine nuts and walnuts work great with these flavors

Instructions

  1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat, add fennel seeds and toast for 1 minute.  Add olive oil, garlic and spices and cook 1 minute, until aromatic.  Add nuts and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring until nuts are aromatic but not browned.  Add carrots and stock and bring to a boil.
  2. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10-12 minutes or until carrots are soft but haven’t lost their color.  Cool slightly, then place carrots in blender with half the liquid. Puree, adding remainder of liquid as you puree until desired consistency.  If still too thick, add some more stock, wine or, for a creamy version, milk. 
  3. Season to taste and return to heat.
  4. To make agrodolce, toast cumin seeds in a dry pan on medium heat until aromatic, about 1 minute.  Add honey, stir to just melt, then stir in lemon, golden raisins and nuts. Remove from heat.
  5. Spoon soup into bowls and top with a swirl of yogurt, followed by agrodolce.

Vegetable, Rice and Nut Burgers with Tomato Salsa

Description

A nutty alternative to the typical burger!

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 8 ounces mixed mushrooms such as shiitake, cremini, portobello (shiitake will add the depth of umami), diced
  • 1 teaspoon chopped sage leaves
  • ½ cup grated carrot or butternut squash
  • ¼ cup chopped parsley
  • ½ cup finely chopped nuts of choice
  • 2 cups cooked rice (brown, black forbidden or short grain)
  • Juice and zest of ½ lemon
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • ½ cup mixed nuts, processed to a fine powder (or buy nut meal, such as almond or hazelnut)
  • Ciabatta buns, Dijon mustard, arugula and plain Greek yogurt, to serve.

Tomato Salsa

  • 2 ripe Roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts, diced macadamias and/or walnuts

Instructions

  1. Combine salsa ingredients and set aside.
  2. Heat half the olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the shallot, mustard and cumin seeds and sauté until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and sage, and sauté until soft and browned, 4-5 minutes, adding more oil if needed.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, squeezing off any excess moisture.
  3. Place the sautéed shallot, mushrooms, nuts, rice and ½ of the panko in a food processor. Pulse until just combined, but still coarse.  Add carrot, parsley, lemon juice and zest, and pulse just to mix in. Season to taste.
  4. Transfer to a large bowl and fold in ¼ cup panko. Test to see if mixture holds together to form burgers.  If too wet, add more panko.
  5. Combine remaining panko with nut meal.  Shape mixture into 4 burgers and roll in crumbs. Place them on a large plate, cover and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
  6. Heat a nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Coat the bottom of the skillet with remaining oil and cook the burgers for 4-5 minutes each side or until golden brown and crisp.
  7. While burgers are cooking, grill or toast cut sides of brioche, spread with Dijon and place lettuce on base. Top with a burger and a dollop of yogurt.  Spoon a mound of tomato salsa on top, add the top bun and serve right away.

Mixed Nuts, Zucchini and Ricotta Pizza

A pizza is a blank canvas, and an unexpected combination of toppings elevates this humble homemade pie to a work of art.

Ingredients

Pistachio Pesto

  • ½ cup pistachios
  • 1 tablespoon shredded parmesan cheese
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • Juice and zest of ½ lemon

Pizza

  • 1 ball pizza dough, store bought or homemade (Many pizza restaurants will also sell you a ball of pizza dough.)
  • 1 zucchini, finely sliced (or finely sliced Brussels sprouts)
  • 3-4 leaves basil, sliced
  • ½ cup fresh ricotta
  • 2 tablespoons dried currants
  • 2 tablespoons roasted pine nuts, diced walnuts and pistachios
  • 1 handful arugula
  • Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 475-500°F.
  2. To make the pesto, place the nuts, parmesan and olive oil in a blender and pulse on and off to a coarse paste.  Add half the lemon juice and zest and pulse for a few seconds. Season to taste with salt.
  3. Stretch the dough to desired size for your pizza pan or stone.  Spread with pistachio pesto and arrange zucchini slices over top.  Bake for 5 minutes or until dough is starting to color. 
  4. Remove from oven. Mix ricotta with remaining lemon zest and spoon small dollops over pizza, top with basil, and return to the oven.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until crust is golden (check the bottom).
  5. While still piping hot, scatter with currants, pine nuts, walnuts and a handful of arugula.  Drizzle remaining lemon juice and a little olive oil and fresh pepper on top and/or optional Pizza Sauce Topping.

Optional Pizza Sauce Topping:

  • 1 Thai chili
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 4 tablespoons honey

Directions: Mix ingredients and heat to just a simmer (do not boil). Drizzle on top of pizza and enjoy.

Nut Butter

Description

You won’t go back to store bought nut butter after making your own. It’s easy to do, tastes so much fresher, you can use any nut or even a blend, and, most importantly, you know exactly what’s going in it.  All you need is a food processor or high-speed blender. Each nut behaves differently because of texture and oil content, and different processors will take different times, so it’s really a matter of experimentation. 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of tree nuts (choose your favorite)

Instructions

  1. Roast 1 cup of nuts. You can use raw nuts, but the flavors and ability to make butter are greatly enhanced after roasting in a 350°F oven for 8-12 minutes. The denser nuts – almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts and macadamias – take a bit longer than walnuts, pecans and pistachios. Check after 8 minutes; they should be just browning and aromatic. Allow to cool to room temperature. Hazelnuts can be bitter if you keep on the skin, so place the nuts in a dish towel and rub off most of the skin before processing.
  2. Add nuts to food processor and pulse on and off, first to crumbs, then continue to process until a paste starts to form. Scrape down sides, then continue to process until desired consistency. This may take 10-12 minutes, sometimes up to 20 minutes in less powerful processors. If it’s not looking like a paste is forming, add a few drops of a nut or olive oil to help the process. 
  3. Flavor (or not). You may just like to eat your nut butter pure and natural, or make your own designer butter adding ingredients such as honey, maple syrup, soy, chili, nutmeg, chocolate (think Nutella) truffle oil, or stir in jam or jelly to make a swirl.

Tips

Storage – It’s best to store the nut butter in a sealed jar in the refrigerator where it will keep for up to a month.

Variations

  • Almond butter: Spread on warm bruschetta and top with sautéed mushrooms (wonderful with chanterelles if they’re in season) and sage. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and pepper.
  • Walnut butter: Spread crackers with walnut butter, then top with brie cheese and a fruit paste such as quince or fig. Then all you need is wine!
  • Hazelnut butter: Add to a toasted tomato and cheese sandwich with some fresh basil leaves or arugula and a drizzle of good olive oil to complete the experience.
  • Pecan butter: The sweet, rich and toasty notes of pecan butter need little to make it great. Simply spread on grain toast with honey and a sliced banana for a delicious meal.
  • Pistachio butter: Spread on pizza crust before topping with vegetables, mortadella and mozzarella.
  • Cashew butter: Perfect for Asian-inspired dishes. Whisk cashew butter with soy sauce and lime juice and toss through noodles just before serving.
  • Brazil nut butter: Avocado toast spread with Brazil nut butter adds a unique depth and is especially great with a garnish of cherry tomatoes, mint and ricotta.
  • Macadamia Butter: Just like real butter, macadamia butter makes the base to a wonderful healthier shortbread, or spread it on hot scones with jam for a decadent treat.

California Walnut Meatloaf

Description

This vegetarian walnut-based mixture has a classic “meatloaf” flavor. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup ketchup, divided
  • 2 cups California Walnuts
  • 1 cup cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional additions: 2/3 cup each: diced red onion, coarsely shredded zucchini and snipped fresh basil

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F and set aside 1/2 cup ketchup.
  2. Place all remaining ingredients except optional additions in a food processor. Pulse to mix well, scraping down the sides as necessary.
  3. Mix in any desired optional additions.
  4. Shape into 6 round individual meatloaves and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Drizzle with reserved ketchup. Bake for 35 minutes until firm.
  5. Recipe tip: Substitute ketchup with a thick sauce and serve over soft polenta for a more Italian flavor.