School days are here again, and if you’re one of those parents who keep agonizing about healthy baon for your kids, why not make your own sandwich spread from raw nuts? Yes, raw nuts, and we’re not just talking here about peanuts, which are actually legumes. Nuts, in their natural state, are among the healthiest foods available. They reduce the risks of stroke, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and gallstones. They are good sources of fiber, vitamin E, folic acid, copper, magnesium, and the amino acid arginine, which all have a role in preventing heart disease. Nuts are the best food source for manganese and contain plant sterols, compounds which reduce cholesterol adsorption from food. They also contain good-quality protein and healthy fats. Although we often snack on nuts fried or roasted, salty or spicy, or simply boiled, we also consume nuts as nut butter, a spreadable paste or paté made from nuts – specifically, commercial peanut butter. However, this often contains trans fats and hydrogenated fats which harm our bodies. The cheapest local brand of peanut butter costs around P55. A 190-gram bottle of an imported brand can cost from P100 to P120. But for around P160, one can buy 1 kilo of peanuts to make more than 300 grams of peanut butter. The simplest nut butter recipe is made solely with nuts and uses only a blender or food processor that’s sturdy enough to extract the oil from the nuts and mix it with the resulting nut dust to form a spreadable paste. Two cups of peanuts will yield one cup of peanut butter. Just place the peanuts in a blender and blitz! During the process, the nuts are reduced to grains, then fine sand. When the nut oil is released, it mixes with the nut sand and the whole mixture starts to clump. Every once in a while, switch off the blender and scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure that every bit of nut is ground. Before long, the mixture starts to liquefy. At this point, it is up to you if you want the nut butter as it is, slightly grainy but spreadable. If you want smoother nut butter, blitz the mixture a little longer. The whole procedure could take some 30 minutes. That, in a nutshell, is how to make your very own nut butter. A recipe for almond spread Recently, I made almond chocolate butter as a special treat for my sister who loves the cocoa version of a certain Romanian hazelnut spread with an Italian name. For this almond chocolate butter, I used:
Place the almonds in the blender and blitz. When the nuts start to clump, add the chocolate chunks in small batches, making sure that the chocolate blends with the nuts before adding the next batch. Note that almonds have a mild flavor and too much chocolate will overpower it.
When all the chocolate is incorporated, add the oil and then the honey. (Tip: Add the oil first and then use the same measuring spoon for the honey. The coat of oil prevents the honey from sticking to the measuring spoon.) I used cold-pressed virgin coconut oil and coconut nectar which both have a slight coconut taste. The coconut taste disappears after a day. Use a neutral vegetable oil if you prefer a different taste.
Add a pinch of salt and blend until the mixture reaches the desired consistency. Store the almond and chocolate butter in an airtight container. This nut butter is raw and has no preservatives, so keep the nut butter inside the refrigerator and consume it within one week.
Spread it on fruits on veggies Nut butter can be eaten with apples or celery. It can be used as a sandwich filling by itself, with some sliced bananas in between or as a spread for a carrot, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. For salad dressings, replace one teaspoon of your oil with one teaspoon of nut butter. Add a spoonful of nut butter to smoothies. Or add a few tablespoons to stir-fried dishes or meat stews like
kare-kare. Raw nuts are often roasted beforehand to release some of the flavors. But heat damages the healthy oils of raw nuts, making them go rancid and increasing free-radical damage to our bodies, putting us at higher risk for accelerated aging and cancer. Those who have trouble digesting raw nuts can soak the nuts overnight in filtered water and unrefined sea salt. The next day, drain the nuts and dry them in a slow oven at no more than 150 degrees.
Choosing your nuts Almonds contain large amounts of calcium and are the least acidic of nuts. They have zero glycemic index, the measure of how fast and how much any food item raises blood sugar levels. This means that almonds will not raise blood sugar levels, an important consideration especially for diabetics. However, most other nuts are also in the low glycemic levels. Peanuts or groundnuts are actually legumes, not nuts. All eight amino acids the human body needs are found in the protein of peanuts. They provide some calcium, potassium, and niacin. However, moldy peanuts contain poisons called aflatoxins, carcinogens which can damage the liver and have been linked to mental retardation and lowered intelligence. Allergies to peanuts can also be so severe that they sometimes result in death. Cashews, like peanuts, are grown locally and cost P450 to P500 a kilo. Cashew nuts rank second to almonds in magnesium content, which helps build strong bones and reduces the severity of asthma. They have lower fat content than most nuts and are a very good source of monounsaturated fats that promote heart health. However, they are poisonous if not properly shelled and contain small amounts of oxalates, which can interfere with calcium absorption. Those with kidney and gallbladder problems should avoid cashews. Of the imported nuts that are commercially available, walnuts have concentrated amounts of omega 3 essential fatty acids which promote heart health and better cognitive function. Omega 3 also provides anti-inflammatory benefits to those with asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis. Other commercially available imported (but expensive) nuts include Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans and pistachio nuts. Depending on your budget and health concerns, select the nuts that are best for your family.
– YA, GMANews.TV 
GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
