Embrace your ‘Nutty’ side and bring more NUTS into your culinary repertoire. Walnuts, in particular, can be a wonderful addition, to both sweet and savory dishes. They also bring Omega-3 fatty acid and a decent amount of protein to “the table”.
I find it relaxing to hand-shell nuts, like these. Grab a handy nut cracker and start cracking those big shells! You may find a certain sense of timeless contentment or…maybe you might want to use this task for a little stress relief, for those annoyances you may have internalized. Yes, cooking can be quite therapeutic!
Whether smashing things brings you joy or you’d rather just slide into a bag and pull out some treasure, walnuts are easy to work with. They add a wake up of bitterness, lovely texture and the element of surprise in many dishes.
You have probably seen them used in salads. All of the elements discussed in the prior paragraph make them a great choice for this.
Walnuts are wonderful, as the primary, or as a secondary component in sauces. Consider them when working with apples, beets, blue veined cheeses, carrots, eggplant, figs, grains, greens, mushrooms, pastas, pesto and winter squashes, to name just a handful of ideas to consider.
So, maybe you are nuts, but you’re a fabulous Cook! Enjoy!! Chef Celinda