Best Nuts Recipes

SWEET, SALTY, SPICY PARTY NUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
• Combine walnut halves, pecan halves, almonds, and cashews in a large bowl. Add salt, black pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper; toss to coat.
• Heat sugar, water, and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until the butter is melted. Cook for 1 minute and remove from heat. Slowly pour butter mixture over the bowl of nuts and stir to coat.
• Transfer nuts to the prepared baking sheet and spread into a single layer.
• Bake nuts in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Stir nuts until the warm syrup coats every nut. Spread into a single layer, return to the oven, and bake until nuts are sticky and roasted, about 6 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

CONTEST-WINNING SUGAR 'N' SPICE NUTS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and cayenne; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk egg white; add nuts and cranberries. Sprinkle with sugar mixture and toss to coat. Spread in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. , Bake at 300° until golden brown, 18-20 minutes, stirring once. Cool. Store in an airtight container.

SWEET & SPICY NUTS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the salt and spices; set aside. In a large heavy skillet, melt butter. Add walnuts and pecans; cook over medium heat until nuts are toasted, about 4 minutes., Sprinkle with spice mixture. Add the brown sugar, water, Worcestershire and hot sauce. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until sugar is melted. Spread on foil to cool. Store in an airtight container.

NUTS AND BOLTS

Steps:

• Combine cereals, pretzels and nuts. In a small saucepan, melt butter; stir in seasonings. Pour over cereal mixture; toss to coat. Spread in an ungreased 15x10-in. rimmed pan. Bake at 250° 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

SPICED NUTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Spread the nuts out on a large baking sheet. Bake until the nuts are lightly toasted, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• In the meantime, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Transfer the nuts to a serving bowl. Pour in the butter and toss to coat evenly. Serve warm or room temperature.

SPINACH AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Wash the spinach, but allow the water to cling to the leaves. Cook the spinach until it wilts in a skillet over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes.
• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spinach, pine nuts, and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Season with pepper and serve.

COUSCOUS WITH PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the shallots and cook them over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, until translucent. Add the chicken stock, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat. Stir in the couscous, cover the pan, and set aside for 10 minutes. Add the pine nuts, currants, and parsley and fluff with a fork to combine. Serve hot.

MAUREEN ABOOD'S EGGPLANT WITH LAMB, TOMATO AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Heat broiler and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.
• Brush both sides of eggplant slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Arrange slices on prepared baking sheet and broil in batches until they are deep mahogany brown, turning once halfway through, 5 to 7 minutes per side.
• Adjust the oven to 375 degrees with rack positioned in the center.
• In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, but not browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground lamb or beef, stirring frequently and breaking up meat into very small pieces with the side of a metal spoon. Season with remaining teaspoon salt, cinnamon and pepper. Sauté until meat is just cooked through. Taste and add more salt or pepper, or both, as needed.
• In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add pine nuts and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir nuts to coat them with butter and continue stirring constantly until nuts are golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Keep a close watch over the nuts; they can burn quickly once they begin to brown. Transfer nuts to a bowl while still warm and salt them lightly.
• Coat a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish. Lay 1/3 of the eggplant slices in a single layer over the sauce, covering as much surface area of the bottom of the dish as possible. Spoon half the meat evenly over eggplant. Pour 1/3 of the remaining tomato sauce evenly over meat. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the pine nuts. Layer again with eggplant, meat, tomato sauce and pine nuts. Finish with a layer of eggplant and cover with more tomato sauce, sprinkling top with pine nuts.
• Pour 1 cup warm water around the perimeter of the baking dish. (Sauce will thicken as it bakes.) Cover pan with foil and bake for 90 minutes. Remove foil and top eggplant evenly with mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes longer, uncovered, or until the cheese is bubbling and golden. Serve eggplant warm, over rice.

SPICED NUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat egg white until soft and foamy. Combine all remaining ingredients except pecans; whisk into egg white. Stir in pecans until well coated; spread mixture in single layer onto an ungreased baking pan.
• Bake pecans for 15 minutes, then remove from oven. Using a metal spatula, toss, stir, and separate nuts. Reduce oven to 250 degrees and return nuts to bake until medium brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; toss, and stir again. Place baking pan on wire rack to cool (they will crisp as they cool). Break up any that stick together.

CANDIED NUTS

Steps:

• Grease a baking sheet or line with a silicone mat.
• Cook and stir peanuts, sugar, and water together in a wide, heavy skillet over medium heat until liquid evaporates and nuts begin to crust with the hardening sugar; about 5 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low and continue to cook and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to coat peanuts with syrup as the sugar begins to melt and darken to a deep caramel color, about 10 minutes. Tilt pan away from the heat as needed to allow peanut mixture to darken without burning. Remove from heat immediately when peanuts are deeply bronzed; stir.
• Sprinkle peanuts with sea salt and cinnamon or chili powder; tilt peanuts onto prepared baking sheet to cool completely. Break up clumps. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

SPICY MIXED NUTS

Steps:

• In a large skillet, melt butter over low heat. Add nuts and Worcestershire sauce; cook and stir 5-7 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Place nuts in a large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients; sprinkle over nuts, tossing to coat. Cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

SPINACH WITH PINE NUTS & GARLIC

Steps:

• Wash the spinach thoroughly and cram into a large pan. Pour over a little boiling water, cover tightly and cook for 2-3 mins, until the leaves have wilted.
• Tip into a colander and drain well. Use the side of a small plate to press the spinach down to extract the last of the water. If using frozen, defrost in the microwave and drain.
• Meanwhile heat the oil, add the pine nuts and fry until golden. Add the garlic and fry briefly, then stir in the spinach and stir until heated through. Season and serve in a warm side dish.

GRANDMA JENSEN'S NUTS AND BOLTS

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Combine the wheat cereal, corn cereal, rice cereal, oat cereal, cheese-flavored crackers, pretzels, and mixed nuts in a large bowl; set aside.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce until evenly blended. Pour over the cereal mixture, and gently stir until the cereal is evenly coated with the seasoned butter. Spread the cereal mixture onto baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.

HOMEMADE GRAPE NUTS®

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.
• Combine flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla extract; mix well. Pour mixture into prepared baking sheet and spread evenly with a spatula.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and firm, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool patty in the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
• Break cooked patty into chunks and put through a meat grinder, using a coarse blade. Divide crumbs over two baking sheets.
• Bake in the oven until dry, stirring every 10 minutes, about 30 minutes. Allow crumbs to cool completely and store in an airtight container.

PASTA WITH CHICKEN, SUN-DRIED TOMATOES, GORGONZOLA AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil reserved from tomatoes in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to skillet and sauté until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate and cool; do not clean skillet. Cut chicken into 1/2-inch pieces.
• Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta; transfer to large bowl.
• Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon tomato oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté until tender, about 1 minute. Add sun-dried tomatoes, chicken, basil, broth, cheese and prosciutto to skillet and bring to boil.
• Add sauce to pasta and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with pine nuts and serve.

SWEET COUSCOUS WITH NUTS AND DRIED FRUIT

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine the water, sugar, cranberries, apricots, and cherries. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Stir in the couscous and remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid until the couscous has absorbed all of the cooking liquid, about 5 to 7 minutes.
• Using a fork, fluff the couscous to break up any lumps. Add the almonds and hazelnuts and toss. Spread the mixture evenly on a baking sheet until completely cooled, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer the couscous to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.
• Serving Suggestion: Drizzle the couscous with 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil for a moister texture.

SPICED MIXED NUTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Mix the cayenne, cinnamon, ginger, mustard powder, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Whisk the egg white in a large bowl until frothy. Toss in the nuts, then add the spice mixture and toss until well coated.
• Spread the nuts on the prepared baking sheet; bake until dry, about 45 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheet.
• Hot: These nuts are a not-too-spicy crowd pleaser. Cayenne, ginger and mustard powder give them mild heat.
• Hotter: Add 2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder to the spice mixture, then continue as directed.
• Hottest: Add 2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder to the spice mixture, then continue as directed. While the nuts are baking, fry 4 thinly sliced serrano chile peppers in 350 degrees F canola oil until crisp, about 30 seconds. Drain on paper towels, season with salt and toss with the nuts.

GREEN BEANS WITH LEMON AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Cook beans in a 4-quart saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, about 5 minutes, then drain well in a colander. Transfer to a bowl and toss with nuts, parsley, zest, oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

SAUTEED SPINACH WITH GOLD RAISINS AND TOASTED PINE NUTS

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the oil and heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until softened. Add the raisins and cook until warm, about 1 minute. Add the pine nuts, increase the heat, and add the sherry vinegar. Stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Add the butter and melt, then add the spinach and stir or toss with tongs until wilted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.

WILD RICE WITH DRIED FRUIT AND NUTS

Steps:

• Thinly slice scallions, separating white and green parts. In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add scallion whites and cook, stirring often, until soft, 3 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Add wild rice and cook according to package instructions.
• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine vinegar, dried cherries, and 2 tablespoons water. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Reduce to a simmer and cook until vinegar is almost absorbed, 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add rice mixture, scallion greens, and chopped pecans. Stir well to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.