Spicy enough to be interesting, mild enough to be preschooler-acceptable.
You probably won’t appreciate the title of this post unless you’ve watched way too many late-night infomercials.
For the longest time, I was spending something close to the national debt on flavored almonds from a vendor at the farmer’s market. I was a little bit obsessed, particularly with the butter toffee almonds that I no longer let myself buy because I blew through them much too quickly (the serving size is 400 nuts, right?); I forced myself to switch to the more savory flavors because I didn’t obsess over them in quite the same way.
Then the price went up. And up. And up again. And that’s when I realized that I could do this on my own, at home. The recipe is loosely based on one given to me by someone in book club; hers used a little less Worcestershire, and was seasoned with garlic salt, pepper and rosemary.
And, even better, it’s a relatively good-for-me snack, which is particularly important as I watch what I’m eating during the tapering phase of my race plan.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 cups roasted, unsalted almonds
- 2 cups roasted, unsalted cashews*
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/8 tsp chipotle powder
- Pinch of cayenne**
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Add butter to a 13 x 9 baking dish. Set the pan in the oven to melt the butter.
Remove the pan from the oven and toss nuts, butter and Worcestershire until well mixed. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.. Stir. Bake 15 minutes more.
While the nuts are roasting, stir the spices together in a separate dish.
Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle evenly with the spice mixture. Stir to coat. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving, or cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Results
The Tiny Kitchen Assistant tried a cashew, complained that it was too spicy, then quickly reconsidered. “Maybe it’s not spicy. Maybe it’s just flavor!” He then asked for a bowl of nuts to munch on before dinner.
* Any nut will work. I just chose the two that the Tiny Kitchen Assistant enjoys. The recipe is designed to make four cups of nuts altogether.
** The pinch of cayenne is the recommended dose for kid-friendliness. Adults can certainly tolerate more. Add as much or as little as you like.
Cooking
Fitness
Health