Roasted spicy nuts

My lapse in posting is being lifted by my need to save this Ottolenghi recipe!! These are delicious, and seem perfect for holiday gifting or snacking. The honey in there is very subtle, they don't taste sweet. The nigella seeds (aka black cumin seeds) and rosemary combo, with the heat from the cayenne, is delicious. Nigella seeds have lots of medicinal properties, good for treating inflammation and lung stuff, so are an extra bonus. I wonder about even adding a little turmeric too, which I'll try next time. 

*I actually was out of cayenne, so I used Ethiopian mitmita spice, which was great.

Ingredients

• 100g cashew nuts
• 100g macadamia nuts
• 120g pecan nuts
• 60g whole almonds (skin on)
• 80g pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp nigella seeds 
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil (I used avocado oil)
  
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked
• 2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 tsp cayenne

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Scatter all the ingredients except the pepper and cayenne in a roasting tray. Roast for 15-17 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the nuts turn dark brown. Remove, stir in the pepper and cayenne, and taste. Add salt if you like. Leave to cool in the tray, stirring from time to time. Once cool, transfer to an air-tight container.
   

Frozen coconut macadamia bars

I came across this recipe somehow or other - it is a "Mark's Daily Apple" post. I was intrigued because I wanted to find something to eat that is sort of like eating dark chocolate, but without the sugar. This definitely gives the same crunch, and it is really filling. I found that when I made it, I expected it to be sweeter - maybe more hopeful thinking on my part since the only "sweet" ingredients are coconut oil and coconut flakes. (It occurs to me now I could try putting chocolate powder and stevia in the mix too....hmmm.)

The final bars turned out nice, even without any sweet flavor. The chia seeds give a nice crunch, and they are cool and nice in the heat. It seems like a great snack or way to get some extra fat in, which fills me up since sometimes I could eat A LOT of veggies and meat before getting full. It's actually a little like eating a chilled bar of coconut manna. I did do some smearing of honey over the finished bar and it was super delicious, but you know, no longer without sugar! ha.

One thing is that these bars pretty much need to be eaten directly out of the freezer or they will start to melt. You could bring them on a cold weather camping trip I think, but coconut oil has a melting point of 74 degrees, so these bars need to be somewhere below that to ensure a solid bar. I found myself wishing I could bring them for part of my work lunch, but alas.

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (60 g)
1 1/2 cups raw, unsalted macadamia nuts (150 to 160 g)
3/4 cup melted coconut oil (180 ml)
1 tablespoon chia seeds (15 ml)
Pinch of sea salt (I used maldon flakes and it was so good!)

Preheat oven to 350 ºF.
Put the coconut flakes in a pan and toast in the oven until lightly browned, about five minutes.
Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper. (I had a 9" circular glass pie plate that I used and did not line with parchment - it worked out just fine.)
Process the macadamia nuts and coconut oil in a food processor until very smooth. Add the coconut flakes and chia seeds and pulse a few times.
Pour the batter into the 8×8 pan. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top.
Cut into bars and store in the freezer - or if you are like me, just keep that glass pie plate in there and carve out a piece now and again!