Do you know the best uses and benefits of nuts in the kitchen? By now, most of us have figured out that nuts make a pretty awesome healthy snack.
The challenge with using nuts in the kitchen is understanding where their unique flavours best suit what kind of dishes and is open to all the awesome ways you can sneak a few into different meals.
They add great texture to salads, can be blended and processed into all sorts of dips and sauces, and make wonderful additions to baked treats. While they are often seen in confectionery approaches and desserts, their savoury appeal is increasing. Nuts are appearing in many more products – and in forms not widely used in the past.
They now appear as an ingredient in many recipes, not only for their nutritional role but also for the rich versatility that lets them adapt to a broad range of products. Nuts are high in calories, but they are nutrient-dense.
They are a good source of plant-based protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals, and unsaturated fats. Another benefit of eating more nuts? Research shows consuming them may be associated with many health benefits, including lowering the risk of heart disease, hypertension, and inflammation.
Some of the best culinary nuts
Cashews
Cashews are a vegan's secret weapon – they make "creamy" dips and spreads without any dairy. It is also the trick to a velvety and cream-less soup.
They also make for a mighty fine bar snack. Cashews' high-fat content makes them ideal for processing and puréeing.
They are infinitely better when roasted. Buy them raw and roast them in batches, so they will be fresh every time.
Macadamia nuts
Vitamins A and iron can be found in macadamia nuts and they are a great addition to many different desserts, including fudge, cookies, brownies, muffins, and granola.
Coconut
Coconut is really a dry fruit known as a fibrous drupe and not a true nut. The biggest savoury applications of coconut are in sauces and in Indian or Thai curry dishes. In both of these cases, either the coconut milk or the creamed coconut form is used.
To get coconut milk, the coconut meat (the edible white flesh lining the inside of a coconut) is squeezed. For creamed coconut, the entire coconut meat is crushed. Spray-dried coconut is also used for dry soup mixes or to coat potato chips.
Walnut
They may look alarmingly like a brain surgeon’s model, but walnuts are a delicious, highly versatile nut.
Nutritionists rave about their generous level of omega-3 fatty acids, while their tangy, tannic quality adds a pleasing dimension to dishes as diverse as cakes, summery salads, or pesto.
Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts are used to make pralines, in the popular Nutella spread, in liqueurs, and in many other foods.
They are also known for enhancing chocolate in many desserts, are also used in coffee flavourings, and can be used in savoury dishes to add an earthy flavour to dishes like chicken.
Almonds
Almonds blend well with other ingredients. The subtle, yet distinctive flavour of the almond provides a buttery, nutty taste – still light enough to lend richness to a formulation without overwhelming it.
The variety of almonds available in stores is shocking. Skip the flavoured or seasoned almonds and go for raw, whole nuts instead. You can toast and season them yourself.
Chestnuts
While most nuts are higher in healthy fat, chestnuts are higher in carbohydrates. They are great for thickening up sauces and soups.
Peanuts
You would think that having the word nut in their name would make peanuts an obvious member of the category.
However, according to research, they are technically legumes. Nonetheless, in practice, peanuts are treated as a nut – possibly the first one you encountered as a child.
If you love slathering your breakfast toast with peanut butter, replacing it with a product that only contains nuts (and salt, if desired) is an excellent way to reduce unnecessary vegetable oils and additives, health experts reveal.
Here’s a quick and easy recipe that uses hazelnuts and walnuts by Tony Jackman that you can try at home.
Walnut and hazelnut tart
Ingredients
2 packets of puff pastry
2 cups golden syrup plus 1 cup hazelnut syrup (but use 3 cups golden if you can’t find hazelnut)
¼ cup butter
1 cup caramel or muscovado sugar
2 tbsp rum or brandy
4 jumbo eggs, whisked
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ tsp salt
2 cups walnuts, chopped
Method
Flour a clean, hard surface and roll out the room-temperature pastry. Grease or spray a ceramic or glass tart dish and line with a round of pastry, crimping the edges with your fingers. Prick the base about 15 times and place it in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Into a deep saucepan, pour the golden syrup and hazelnut syrup, and add the butter, sugar, and rum or brandy. Bring to a simmer on moderate heat, stirring. When it starts to foam, keep stirring for one minute making sure it does not boil over, which it will try very hard to do.
Leave the sauce off the stove to return to room temperature, for at least two minutes. This is to avoid the egg scrambling when you fold it in.
Whisk the eggs and fold into the sauce, then add the salt and vanilla and fold in the chopped walnuts.
Pour into the tart dishes and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the pastry is lightly golden but not too dark.
Remove and place dishes on a wire rack to cool. Serve chilled or at room temperature with whipped cream infused with vanilla or a little of the hazelnut syrup.