It is funny how food groups can go in and out of food fashion! In the 70s ,FAT received the biggest bashing ever seen. Propelled by the Scarsdale Diet and a population wanting to embrace a new fad, food manufacturers decided to remove as much fat as possible from every product on supermarket shelves, and the consumer took to them in droves!
Nuts too received their bad wrap, most likely a flow on from everyone wanting everything low fat, and people all but removed them from their diet! The occasional nut surfaced in a bowl of salted nuts served with your drink at bars (grubby!) and in the days when aeroplane food was free, a packet of mixed nuts landed on your tray table as a mid flight snack. But even that has disappeared!
But just like fat, nuts never deserved their unfortunate reputation, and thankfully people are starting to add nuts back into their diets. Nuts are in fact full of the good healthy fats – mostly monounsaturated, some polyunsaturated, and if you are eating your daily dose of walnuts you’re consuming a significant amount of brain-healthy omega-3’s.
Much has been touted about the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, which is full of monounsaturated fats. Lower heart disease, lower cancer rates, healthier waistlines and longer life spans are just some of the health benefits of including monounsaturated fats in your everyday fare. So I think it is more than OK to be a little crazy over nuts and eat more. I eat them everyday. This morning I had crushed walnuts in my natural yoghurt for breakfast and my mid morning snack was fresh strawberries with a small handful of almonds!
One delicious thing I have to share with you, which I tasted at my local health food shop the other day – Activated Nuts. They’ve received a bit of stick in mainstream media in the past couple of years but activating your nuts can increase their nutritional value and break down some of the elements that make them hard to digest, plus they’re scrumptious….. and in store, expensive. But don’t let that stop you trying them, you can make them yourself at home and it’s so easy!
Activated Almonds (recipe compliments of wellbeing.com.au)
Time: 12-24 hrs soaking + up to 24 hrs drying
Ingredients:
- 2 cups raw almonds* (not roasted or salted)
- enough water to cover the almonds in a dish
- sea salt or garlic salt or tamari (optional)
*You can use other nuts, too! Try brazil nuts, cashews, macadamias, hazelnuts, pistachios
- Soak the almonds in the water for 12 hrs. If you’re using other hard nuts (like hazelnuts or brazil nuts) 12 hrs will also work. If you’re using soft nuts, like cashews or pistachios – shorten soaking to 4-6 hrs.
- Rinse the nuts under running water, and if you want to add flavour – now is the time to do it. Just shake a couple of tsp of whichever flavour you want over the wet (rinsed) almonds, and stir to combine well.
- To ‘roast’ the almonds, without damaging all those nutrients you’ve activated. Dry out the nuts on low heat – either in a dehydrator or on the lowest temperature your oven will do (mine is 40C). This will take anywhere from 6-24 hrs, depending on the temperature you’re using. The nuts will be done when they feel (and taste) dry.
- Use your activated-dried almonds as you normally would use roasted almonds. They last really well in an airtight container. And they can be ground into almond meal too!