Conscious Choice: Nuts About Nuts!

May 1998 | Cooking with the Seasons

Nuts About Nuts!

by Colette Christian

For more than a decade, nuts have received a bad rap. "Full of fat and calories," everyone said. Many of my baking students would ask if they could leave out walnuts in the chocolate chip cookies or almonds out of the scone recipe. I understood their concern, but nuts add flavor, richness, and texture to many dishes and baked goods. I always hoped that the prevailing attitude would change.

I thought I was seeing things when I began to see nutrition articles actually touting the health advantages of nuts. Could nuts be good for you — or was it culinary wishful thinking? No, it’s true. Adding nuts to your diet can reduce the risk of heart disease and lower your blood cholesterol.

Nutritionists now tell us that a handful of nuts, eaten several times a week, can have significant health benefits. A recent series of nutrition studies done by California’s Loma Linda University revealed even more good news about nuts. Studies have shown that eating two ounces of nuts five times a week can reduce the risk of having a fatal heart attack by one half. This is especially good for vegetarians who use nuts in their diet as a valuable source of protein.

How can this be when nuts are so high in fat? Well, nuts are a plant food, which makes them naturally cholesterol free. It’s true they are quite high in fat; on the average nuts get 78 percent of their calories from fat. However, the fats in nuts are unsaturated. It’s saturated fat, the kind found in meat and cheese, that stuffs up the arteries.

Nuts can actually lower the risk of heart disease when they are used as a substitute for foods high in saturated fats. They may also reduce blood cholesterol. One study reported that when 20 percent of the calories in a low-fat diet came from walnuts, cholesterol levels dropped an average of 12 percent. Similar results have been seen with almonds and peanuts. Nuts also are rich in vitamin E which is believed to prevent the oxidation of LDLs, that nasty bad cholesterol that can do so much harm. Nuts also contain many minerals, including copper, iron zinc and magnesium.

So if you’ve been leaving nuts out of your recipes, put them back in. It’s easy to add nuts into your diet; they grace the dishes of every cuisine. Nuts appear as garnishes, thickeners, and even as beverages. They appear naturally in many desserts. They are also invaluable for their edible oils. Try walnut or hazelnut oil in your favorite vinaigrette recipe. (Most nut oils — except for peanut — have a low smoke point, so they are not recommended for sautéing or frying.) Because of their high oil content, nuts are often ground into spreadable pastes. I would be lost without peanut butter. Cashew, almond, and hazelnut butters also are absolutely delicious.

A word of advice: always buy your nuts from a market with rapid turnover. The oils in nuts can cause them to turn rancid very quickly. Older nuts won’t necessarily make you ill, but their flavor will be greatly diminished. Do remember to check the freshness date if you are buying packaged nuts. I recommend storing nuts in the freezer in freezer bags or other airtight containers. The refrigerator is also fine if you are using them up quickly.

Skinning nuts is an easy process. Many nuts have thin, papery skins that are often tannic and bitter.To remove the skins, use a method of blanching or toasting. After blanching briefly in boiling water, wrap nuts in a kitchen towel and rub in the towel to remove their skins. Dry blanched nuts out in a 325 degree oven for a few minutes. Blanching works well for pistachios and almonds. Hazelnuts and Brazil nuts can be toasted in a 325 degree oven and then rubbed briskly in a kitchen towel. Their skins will then rub off easily.

Toasting brings out the rich flavor of nuts and crisps their texture. Nuts used in cakes, cookies, stuffings, salads and sautés are almost always improved by a brief toasting in a 325 degree oven. This process doesn’t take long. Use a rimmed baking sheet, spread nuts in a single layer, shake the baking sheet occasionally, and remove the nuts when fragrant. To toast a small amount of nuts or seeds, use a dry skillet and medium heat. Stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes, remove from pan to cool. Don’t leave the kitchen while you are toasting nuts. They burn quickly.

Some recipes call for grinding nuts. It’s easy to grind your own with a nut mill or a food processor. When grinding nuts in a food processor, mix the nuts with a little of the flour or sugar called for in the recipe. This will prevent the nuts from turning into a paste.

It’s easy to benefit from the nutrition in nuts by adding them to your favorite recipes, both sweet and savory. Now, you can enjoy their flavor and richness without worry. Happy cooking!

Trailblazing Mix
This is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to eat the recommended "few handfuls" of nuts a week.
1 pound Brazil nuts, unskinned
1 pound almonds, unskinned
1 pound blanched cashews
1/2 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup dark raisins
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries
(optional)
1/2 pound shelled pistachios
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
salt (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In separate batches, toast Brazil nuts, almonds, cashews, and pine nuts on rimmed cookie sheets until light brown and fragrant. Set nuts aside to cool.
2. Combine toasted nuts with raisins, pistachios, sunflower seeds, and apricots.
3. Sprinkle with salt if desired.
Yield: About ten cups. This recipe can be halved successfully.

Wheat Berry, Rice, and Walnut Pilaf
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 onion, minced
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 cup wheat berries (available at health food stores)
1 cup brown rice
1/3 cup wild rice
4-1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onions and carrots, and cook until softened but not browned. This takes about three to five minutes. Add wheat berries, brown rice, wild rice and stir until grains are well combined with vegetables. Add stock or water and salt. Stir to combine.
2. Cover pan, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for approximately 40 minutes. Before serving, stir in walnuts and garnish with parsley.

Spicy Pear Almond Muffins
2 large pears (I prefer Bartlett for this recipe) peeled, cored, and diced
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped, blanched almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 muffin cups.
2. Mix pears and sugar together in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add pear mixture to egg mixture. Mixing the pears with the sugar prevents the pears from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix only until flour disappears. Fold in raisins and almonds. Do not over-mix.
4. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full.
5. Bake about 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in centers comes out clean.

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