I'm Feeling Nutty

Me and my 2 siblings have been eternally fond of anything sweet, and so it was no surprise what  Dad would get for us when he returned from any of his official trips to different cities in India – sweets of course! It was on one of these trips that Dad decided to bring home 2 large bags of salted and roasted nuts instead – cashews and pistachios! He had tasted them himself and had also learned about their immense nutrition and health benefits, so the divine nuts had found their way to our home, and since then, to our hearts.

I remember my elder sister sharing the cashews and pistachios  - equal number of each for the 3 of us – after we returned from school and had finished our lunch. It became a daily habit, and later on, a few more nuts were added to this routine – there were almonds, walnuts and the quintessential peanuts. While my siblings are not so regular with nuts now, my romance with nuts continues….

While nuts are good for health – heart, skin, hair, they are extremely simple to add in our diet as they do not require cooking. They are not perishable and easy to carry as well. Here is how I like my nuts, though I eat them in moderation (given their high amount of fat and calories):

·         A handful of roasted and salted nuts is a tasty teatime snack (between lunch and dinner). I carry to office a mixture of nuts (peanuts, cashew, pistachio, walnut, almond) in an airtight container so that the nuts retain their crunch, and munch a handful with my afternoon tea.

·         I add a few nuts to my bowl of cereals which I have for breakfast

·         Sometimes I sprinkle a few nuts to my green salad to add that crunch

·         My desserts (kheer, halwa and icecreams) always go with a garnish of chopped roasted nuts, for colour, taste as well as nutrition

·         Nuts find their way into my baked food – cookies and cakes alike

I also like my banana split with nuts and choco-nut bar, the recipes of which I am sharing below.

·         Banana Split with Nuts and Honey

Ingredients – 1 ripe banana, 1 tsp butter, 2 tsp honey, a handful of finely chopped roasted nuts (almonds, cashew, pistachios) and raisins

Method – Heat butter in a pan. Peel the banana and split it lengthwise into 2, and cook it in the butter till the banana turns golden brown. Put the cooked banana on a plate and drizzle with honey. Add the chopped nuts and raisins and your treat is ready!

You can add a pinch of ground cinnamon powder to the banana split, or add a dollop of whipped cream/scoop of icecream as a variation. However, the cream/icecream adds calories to the banana split which is otherwise a healthy snack

·         Chocolate  & Nut Bar

Ingredients – 1 bar of chocolate (milk or dark), 2 tsp butter, a handful of whole roasted nuts (almonds, peanuts, cashew, walnuts)

Method – Melt the chocolate bar in a pan with the butter. Once it starts thickening, add the roasted nuts and mix well. Remove from heat and let it cool off completely. Line a baking dish with an aluminium foil and pour the cool mixture into the foil. Keep in the fridge for 4-5 hours. Once the bar is set, take it out of the fridge, place it on a plate (the bar comes off the foil easily) and cut into small pieces. Store these choco-nut bars in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy whenever you feel like a crunchy munchy bite!