Before I get to that, you need to know some of the benefits that almond provide. For a long time, it was thought that eating almonds (and any other nut, for that matter) would make you fat and cause you to put on excess belly weight. As with anything, I'm sure if you ate enough of them, they would do that. But in moderation, almonds are actually SUPER HEALTHY. Eaten in moderation, almonds promote lower cholesterol, can help prevent heart disease, and actually help with weight loss. They're high in protein, which makes them excellent for vegans and vegetarians who sometimes are at a loss as to how to get enough protein in their diet. For me personally, in the last couple of weeks I've realized that I'm definitely not getting as much protein as I should because I noticed excess hair fallout in the shower and my fingernails are getting slightly bendy, so I picked up some of the Blue Diamond 100 Calorie packs of plain almonds to carry with me and snack on to keep my protein up. They've got 9 grams of fat (albeit the types of fats in almonds are actually pretty good for you, in moderation of course), 3 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and 4 grams of protein. They're pretty bangin' if you ask me.
Another way to get some almonds into your diet is to use almond butter. It's sort of like peanut butter, but with almonds. My favorite brand is Maranatha, and they happen to make a million types of almond butter: creamy and raw almond, creamy and roasted almond, crunchy almond, honey almond, organic almond, hint of sea salt almond, no-stir almond, and there's probably some I'm missing. I actually really like the crunchy hint of sea salt almond butter - something about the sweetness with the slight tang of sea salt goes really good together, and I always liked crunchy peanut butter anyway, so the crunchiness is satisfying to me. Maranatha also makes specialty nut butters (as if almond butter isn't kind of special anyway) like dark chocolate almond spread (yum!), cashew butters, sunflower seed butters, and sesame tahini. You should really go check out their stuff, it's badass. But anyway, I like more than anything to put almond butter on English muffins. I also like it on apples, celery, carrots, and when I even use it to make almond butter and jelly sandwiches.
You don't just have to eat almonds plain or in your cereal, you can use them in recipes, too. I put up a recipe back in August for Sauteed Zucchini that has toasted almond slices in it that is so delicious. Another recipe I tried is from the one and only Jamie Oliver (I adore him) for tray-baked artichokes. Obviously you have to like artichokes to make this recipe, which I happen to love. I also love how Jamie Oliver makes up his recipes, nixing exact food measurements and preferring to use 'handfuls' of this and that. I think cooking like that gives you a little bit of freedom to play around, and it's certainly not like baking where the measurements really do matter.
Ingredients
8 medium-sized globe artichokes
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 handful whole raw almonds, finely chopped (use the damn Ninja I hope you're invested in by now to chop them)
2 handfuls coarse breadcrumbs
1 handful fresh mint, finely chopped
1 handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
2 wineglasses of white wine (I swear it really said this, I'm not just adding this in because I might possibly be a bit of a lush)
Directions
To prepare the artichokes, trim 2 inches above and below the base of the choke. Peel back the artichoke leaves one by one until you get to the paler yellow and more tender leaves. Insert a spoon into the center of the artichoke flower and slowly turn it to remove the fluffy choke. Then rub the artichoke with lemon to prevent discoloring. It takes a little practice, but by the time you've finished all 8 artichokes, you'll have the hang of it.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the garlic, almonds, breadcrumbs, and herbs into a bowl and season with sea salt and pepper as you wish. Add in a little olive oil to loosen it up. Scrunch your hands together and pack in as much of the mixture as you can to the center of the artichokes. You want to fit these in side-by-side in a glass baking dish. Sprinkle any excess filling over the top, and drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil, then pour in your wine. Rip off a big enough piece of parchment paper, wet and scrunch it under a tap, then tuck it over the artichokes and around the edges of the dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then remove the parchment paper and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve hot. Jamie Oliver suggests it to be served with fish or white meat if you're not a vegetarian, but I think it makes a good appetizer or even a main dish.
Another recipe with almonds that I really love is actually a recipe I found at an Indian-foods website that I don't recall, unfortunately. I wrote down the recipe and forgot to bookmark the website, and even though I've searched all over for it, I can't find it. Oh well. Anyway, the recipe is for baby potatoes coated in almonds. They're kind of crunchy, kind of mushy, kind of spicy, but totally good. I haven't made these in a LONG time, so now that I'm writing about them I've got a craving for them big time.
Ingredients
3 lbs baby new potatoes
2 tbsp almond oil (like the kind you bake with, but not the fake shit, you need to use the real pure almond oil)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
2 tbsp grated ginger (yesssssssss I love ginger)
1/2 cup powdered almonds*
2 tbsp cilantro, minced
salt and pepper
lemon juice
*To make powdered almonds, you want to blanch them first. This means you drop them in boiling water for a very short time, not even a whole minute, remove them, and then drop them in ice water to stop the cooking process. Once they've cooled, take them out and let them dry on paper towels. When they're dry, put them in your mother effing Ninja and pulse it until they turn into a powder. Simple. And go buy a Nijna before you do this because it'll burn up the motor in a fancy blender, trust me, I've done it.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Steam potatoes until just tender, about 15 minutes, set aside. Combine oil, peppers, ginger, almonds, and cilantro in a large bowl. Add potatoes and toss until well-coated. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with lemon juice. Arrange potatoes on a baking sheet and leave in oven about 10 minutes. Serve hot. If using as an hors d'oeuvres, spear with cocktail sticks and put on a pretty platter or dish.
I wish I had a picture for these, but I don't. But know that they should be golden brown when they come out of the oven, and they'll be slightly crunchy.
So now you know that almonds don't have to just be used in sweet stuff, they can be used in really delicious (and healthy) savory dishes, too. Eat your almonds!
