I love nuts. I'm for nuts. I am nuts.
Good-quality nuts, toasted in a little butter and salt, make a magical addition to many salads.
Parma is an amazing Parmesan cheese substitute made from walnuts. It tastes like a dream and is healthy, to boot!
It's hard to beat the rough texture of steel-cut oats, with their slight resistance against the teeth.
Pesto is such a great standard. It's so simple to make and always tastes good.
There's almost nothing you can't do with a cashew. Not only does it lend its nutty sweetness to savory dishes, it also gives desserts a deep richness.
Jerusalem artichokes have a great affinity with nuts. I love them with chopped walnuts or almonds, lemon juice, garlic, herbs and plenty of olive oil.
Few people realize what a perfect ingredient brown butter can be for desserts. It adds a whole new flavor dimension.
The difference between brown and white rice is that the former is not milled. With the outer bran and germ intact, the rice is therefore chewier and nuttier.
For me, Romesco is one of the greatest sauces in the world.
Like brown rice, black rice is unmilled, and it is the dark outer husk that makes it so nutty and chewy. It's also why it takes longer to cook than many other rices.
Kasha is the hardy starch of a Slavic winter - buckwheat, in fact - but when cooked properly, it gets a nutty, deep-brown crust.
Replacing white flour with whole wheat generally makes baked goods denser, drier, and more crumbly because the germ and bran in whole wheat absorbs more water.
I will say one of my favorite Russian side dishes is beet salad. It is dehydrated beets chopped very finely with nuts. It is a great side dish. I would like to try to make this when I get home. The nuts make it!
I rarely cook traditional risotto, but I love other grains cooked similarly - barley, spelt or split wheat. I find they have more character than rice and absorb other flavours more wholeheartedly.
I like cashew nuts.
Halva works brilliantly in ice-cream.
Escamoles have a cottage cheese-like consistency and have a buttery yet slightly nutty flavor. They are usually served sauteed with butter, garlic, and scallions for making soft corn tortilla tacos.
Forget mung beans' reputation as healthy yet bland - used right, they soak up loads of flavour.
Romesco with asparagus is simple and brilliant.
Chestnuts are my favorite ingredient to use in the fall, especially for the holidays. I always find that they are meaty, hearty and have a mysterious refinement when cooked or roasted over sea salt.
Many ingredients are called 'earthy,' but none comes as close to fitting the bill as buckwheat. I'm mildly obsessed with the stuff.
All families had their special Christmas food. Ours was called Dutch Bread, made from a dough halfway between bread and cake, stuffed with citron and every sort of nut from the farm - hazel, black walnut, hickory, butternut.
I cannot get enough farro.
Long-stemmed broccoli should be tossed with olive oil and flaky salt and roasted in a hot oven until the florets turn the color of hazelnut shells and shatter on the tongue.
