When I worked at the Manor my boss (the Mrs) always had to have a huge bag of mixed nuts ready for her to snack on at all times. I could not buy already mixed nuts. I had to buy separate nuts and then mix them specifically according to her preferences.
When I first started working there, she liked filberts, but a few months down the road she decided she didn't want filberts in her nut mix and so I spent a couple hours or so one day picking out all of the filberts in a huge bag of nuts. I did not really mind. If you want to pay me by the hour to pick the doodoo out of the pepper I will pick the doodoo out of the pepper!
My parents used to buy a large tin of mixed roasted nuts every Christmas. This was their Christmas treat. Often before any of us could even get a look in my mother would have taken out and eaten all of the cashew nuts. They were her favourite.
In a nut mix that was heavy on the peanuts, cashews were a prime commodity! Sometimes I like to get the roasted nut mix at Costco because there are no peanuts in it, and there is just a nice mix of other nuts. They are pretty salty however, which I don't like.
I have bought bags of just salted cashews . . . but they are not near as appealing as coming across a cashew or two in a mix of nuts is! Funny how that works!
Readymade mixed salted nuts are also full of things I don't necessarily want to eat as well . . . like transfats and preservatives, plus I fine they are heavy on the almonds and the rest of the mix is pretty scarce.
I like my nutmix generally not to be so salty and to have a nice mix of all the nuts. That's why its just nice to make my own mix up. I get to control all of that!
The mix largely depends on what I have in the house. Normally I would add pecans and macadamia nuts, but I didn't have any of those today, so its just almonds, walnuts, broken brazil nuts and of course cashews!
They are all pretty balanced as well, perhaps a bit heavier on the almonds, but that's okay. There is not a peanut to be had in the lot. I love peanut butter but I don't like peanuts in my nutmix. We are all individuals with our own unique tastes I guess!
I like to roast them in butter. It gives them a really nice flavour and it is a natural fat. I use unsalted butter because I am adding salt to the mix. I suppose you could add other herbs and seasonings if you wanted to vary them a bit, but I like these just the way they are.
Butter Roasted Salted Nuts. They're a good thing!
Butter Roasted Salted Nuts
Yield: 12
Incredibly moreishly delicious and so much better for you than the already salted nuts you pick up in the shops, with no transfats, or chemicals and you control the salt.
Ingredients:
- 400g mixed nuts (I used almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, walnuts) (about 3 cups)
- 2 TBS melted unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Toss the nuts together in a bowl with the melted butter then spread them out onto the baking tray in a single layer. Sprinkle with the salt to taste.
- Roast in the preheated oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on them so that they don't burn. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Taste and adjust the salt as needed.
- Store in an airtight container.
When it comes to snacking nuts are not a bad thing. They might be filled with fat, with some being more fatty than others, but they have quite a number of other impressive health benefits which far outweigh that fact. They are highly nutritious and contain a lot of anti-oxidents, vitamins and nutrients as well as fibre.. Much better for you to eat a small handful of nuts than a bag of potato chips at any rate! I really really like my nuts dipped in chocolate, but those are saved for extra special occasions and are considered an indulgence.
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