nutmeg seeds

We first had home made roasted nuts courtesy of our friend Amy – so good we had to try them ourselves.

A few words about spices – spices are Real Food ® and therefore have a shelf life – if you use cinnamon and nutmeg from those bottles leftover from the 20th Century, the results will not be the same – use only the freshest spices.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

• 1/4 c sugar – or less turns out OK for us
• 50 g egg whites (about 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 tsp salt (or less)
• 1 whole nutmeg seed, grated with a fine microplane
• 1 heaping Tbsp of ground cinnamon

Mix this all together in a large bowl – this mixture will be used to coat the nuts.

• 2 lb of raw nuts – my favorite mix is 1 lb walnuts + 1 lb almonds. I imagine any two pounds of nuts and seeds you can throw together will turn out fine.

Use a spatula to turn the nuts, coating them well. Turn out onto 2 cookie sheets and pat down to a single layer.

Put the cookie sheets into the 250 degree oven for 1/2 hour. Remove and stir the nuts. Put back in the oven for another 1/2 hour. Remove and cool. Ready to eat.

Bonus! 3 cups of roasted spiced nuts run through the food processor until ground to a paste makes about a pint of the best nut butter I’ve found…

My version:

• 2 medium-small sweet potatoes
• 1 lb uncured bacon – OPTIONAL
• 2 Tbsp organic coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Clean the sweet potatoes, remove any uglies (I like them unpeeled) then cut them lengthwise into quarters. Then cut into bites that your 1/2 bacon slices will wrap around.

Melt butter over low-heat and stir in chipotle chili powder. Toss the potatoes in the spiced, melted coconut oil to coat.

Cut the bacon slices in half, so you have 32 mini-slices of bacon. Wrap each sweet potato bite with a half slice of bacon, and use a toothpick to hold the bacon in place.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, turning once about halfway through.

These are done when the bacon is crispy and the sweet potatoes are fork-tender. Remove from heat and let cool (but  not cold) before serving.

Enjoy…

With all the protein and little or no fat, they like to stick, so you’ll need some fat in the pan, and I had to resort to my non-stick fry pan ’cause I was essentially chiseling them out of my cast iron fry pan.

• 1 C Oatmeal
• 1 C plain yogurt
• 3/4 C egg whites
• 2 Tbsp honey (or sugar, or skip entirely)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Put the above in the blender and do so for 30 seconds or so.

• 1 C blueberries

If you’re using frozen blueberries, defrost and drain before adding.

Cook over medium heat in a non-stick pan with a little coconut oil. I wound up using 3 minutes per side. YMMV.

I toted up ~750 calories for the batter, plus however much oil you use and about 36 g of protein for the whole batch.

P.S. – looks like there are a lot more good things over here at cleananddelicious.com, so check it out – I’ll be looking at the sweet potato recipes!

I’ve now made this three times, so I consider it a keeper!

I had some freshly cooked black beans (I pretty much always have freshly cooked black beans around) so I made this up:

• 16 oz (by weight) cooked and drained black beans
• 3 slices uncured bacon
• 2 Tbsp EVOO
• 8 oz (by weight) chopped onion
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp chipotle chili pepper (more – in my case – or less – to adjust heat level to your liking)
• 3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 fistful of fresh cilantro if you’ve got it

In a fry pan on medium heat, cook the bacon in the EVOO until it’s crispy. Remove the bacon slices and set aside.

Add the cumin, chipotle and onion; saute until soft.

Add the rice vinegar and deglaze. Add the beans and stir until mixed.

Put the bacon in a food processor, pour the bean mixture on top, add cilantro and run it until you get a good consistency.

Serve with vegetables, corn chips, whatever.

Namaste, Rick

• 2 C cooked and drained black beans (or 1 15 oz can; if you use canned be sure to rinse them well)
• 3 Tbsp EVOO
• 2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin (or more, yum
• 1 Tbsp chipotle chili pepper
• 1 fistful of fresh cilantro if you’ve got it

I put it all in my food processor and ran it until I liked the consistency. Carol says “2 thumbs up”. Use it for anything you’d use chickpea hummus for…

• 1 can black beans ( rinsed + smashed )
• 3 eggs
• 3 TBS veg oil
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla (I used 2 tsp almond extract)
• 1 tsp instant coffee (I left this out)
• 3/4 sugar ( or substitute honey )
• 1 cup semisweet choc. chips (I used 1 C organic coconut) (Note – it was a mistake to leave out the chips – too dry – will try adding both  next time)
• 1/2 cup walnuts (I used 1/2 c raw almonds)

Put everything but chips and nuts into food processor, process until it’s batter. Add coconut and nuts, process until nuts are broken up. Pour into baking pan greased with coconut oil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

The measurements are approximate; I tend to use my palm to measure spices. Also, if you buy commercial curry mixes you’ll find they vary widely, so a taste test is the best way to go.

I assume upfront a discerning cook like you has at least one Microplane, if not more…

Prepare:

• 3 lbs of chicken breasts cut into whatever serving size you wish
• A thumb-sized chunk (or more, I have yet to find the upper limit, but I’m looking for it ) of peeled fresh ginger, Microplaned
• 6 or so fresh garlic cloves, Microplaned
• 1 Tbsp (or more) crushed red chili
• 2 Tbsp (or more) curry powder, red or yellow, your choice
• One good-sized onion, peeled and chopped
• 3-4 carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal to make them look fancy
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 400 mL can of unsweetened full-fat coconut milk
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I use a wok on medium  heat:

Melt the coconut oil. When it gets hot, dump in the chili & curry, let the curry swell. Add the garlic and ginger, stir for a few seconds and let the aroma be  your guide. Don’t burn the spices!

Dump the carrots and onions on top, add maybe 1/4 c water, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until the onion turns clear.

Add the chicken, pour on the coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Stir to distribute the spices, onion and carrot, simmer until you’re satisfied the chicken is fully cooked. At this point the aroma should be amazing.

Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. If you wish you can thicken the sauce; I recently used quick tapioca to do this.

Enjoy as is or add some cooked veggies (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, collard greens, Swiss chard, whatever you have). We’ll add a bunch of veggies and call it dinner…

My modified version:

The night before cream in a large bowl:

• 1 1/2 cup of plain whole yogurt
• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened

Mix in:

• 3 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour (I’ve substituted 1 C of oatmeal successfully before)
• flavorings – caraway seeds, black pepper, habanero pepper, chipotle powder, sesame seeds, use your imagination.

Cover and leave in a warm place for 12 to 24 hours (this is the “soaking” part). Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using whole wheat flour to dust your surface and dough, roll your dough out thin. Cut into strips and then cut into squares.

Place your squares on an ungreased cookie sheet and prick with a fork. Bake for about 8 minutes and check, keep checking every two minutes until done. They should be browning slightly on the edges, when done. Take off of sheet and place on a cooling rack and enjoy!