Crazy about nuts
Hello, my name is Iemke Moore, from Belgium. I am 26 years old and am married to a New Zealander from Blenheim. I have had the privilege of being brought up on vegetarian healthy food. My parents have a health society in Belgium (www.groenedag.org) for which I have worked for the past 3 years. The main part of my diet exists of raw fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds with a small portion of cooked food.
In this article I would like to give you a few ideas of what you can do with nuts and seeds. There is much more to do with nuts than just eating them alone. You can turn them into nut pâté, nut milk, sweet/savory sauce, sweets, crackers, raw pie, etc.
Nuts and seeds are a concentrated source of energy; they are rich in minerals, trace minerals, vitamins, protein and essential fatty acids. Please note that they are a concentrated food and should be used in moderation. Never use roasted or salted nuts. This treatment is done to prevent them from getting rancid.
Nut milks are a good alternative to drinking cows milk. They are delicious for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. We need to remember that nut milk is food as well as a drink so it is best to ‘eat’ this by itself or with some fresh fruit.
Almond milk
1 cup almonds (soaked overnight)
3-4 cups water
1 or 2 tablespoons of honey or 6 pitted dates (soaked for a few hours)
Soak the almonds overnight in plenty of water.
Rinse the almonds and put them in the blender with 3 cups of water and the honey or dates. Blend until smooth. Add more water if desired. If you don’t have a strong blender or you want to give this to little children you can strain the mixture through a cheesecloth or a strainer to get a milk consistency.
Strawberry-almond milk
1 cup raw almonds soaked and peeled
1 tbsp linseed (flax seed)
2 tbsp honey
1 ripe banana
250 gram strawberries
3 cups water
1 pinch vanilla
Blend all the ingredients, with parts of the water, in a blender on high speed and add the water until you have the desired thickness.
Almonds are a rich source of calcium, vitamin E and many other minerals.
Summer Sun Seed Pâté
1 cup sunflower seeds: soak for 8-12 hours
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 clove garlic (optional)
1 tbsp herbal/vegetable stock (powder) or soy sauce
a handful soaked sun dried tomatoes
when necessary some olive oil
Soak the sunflower seeds for 8 hours and rinse before using.
Grind the parsley fine in the food processor.
Add the soaked sunflower seeds, garlic, stock or soy sauce and the soaked tomatoes and mix until you get a smooth pâté.
This pâté is a delicious addition to a raw vegetable meal or you can use it to fill tomato, pepper and cucumber halves with, you can spread it in celery stalks, between sheets of nori (seaweed).
Sunflower seeds are rich in vitamin D, B complex, E and K. They are also a rich source of high quality protein.
Creamy Cheese dip
This is a delicious creamy dip that goes well with a platter of cut up veggies.
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 cup cashew nuts
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
(garlic)
Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend to a smooth sauce. Add extra water if necessary.
These recipes come out of the book ‘Crazy about nuts’, a book with over 100 delicious recipes. If you would like to order a copy (NZ$20,00 +postage) please contact Iemke iemkedewever@hotmail.com or 03/5784868. In the future I plan to set up my own business and website in New Zealand, if you would like to be on my email list please let me know.