Sweet and Nutty

That could either be…

A) A description of me
B) A description of some delicious recipes
or
C) All of the above

If you picked All of the Above, you’re correct

 
I’m sweet…yet so nutty

Ha! Kidding (sort of). It’s B! Some Sweet and Nutty recipes!

Let’s start with sweet. My good friend Amanda was at Petsi Pies in Boston the other day and alerted me to a delicious breakfast she had just ordered:

Breakfast Couscous! It was couscous with cinnamon, allspice, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, brown sugar and steamed milk. It sounded heavenly!  So heavenly, in fact that I was inspired to recreate my own version…

Sweet Breakfast Couscous

[source]

Makes 2-4 Servings

What You’ll Need:

• 1 cup whole wheat couscous (you could also use quinoa)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• Handful of sliced almonds
• 1 tbsp of demerara sugar, turbinado sugar or honey (or a little bit less of agave)
• 1/2 cup steamed milk of choice (I like almond milk, but feel free to use regular, soy, rice of hemp milk as well)

Directions:

Add couscous and water to a pot along with cinnamon and allspice. Cook couscous according to package directions.  Once cooked, place a serving of couscous in a bowl and top with sugar, almonds, cranberries and a pour of the steamed milk. Enjoy!

…Moving onto Nutty Another recipe of inspiration.
Every time I walk down the streets of Manhattan there’s a sweet smell that always catches my attention. It’s the vendors that sell the hot, sweet peanuts and cashews all over the city! They smell and look so delicious, and although nuts are very healthy for you, the sugar coated ones sold by these vendors are definitely NOT healthy.

So here is my version of them using agave nectar and a small amount of pure cane sugar or stevia

Agave Roasted Nuts

What You’ll Need

1.5 cups nuts (you can use any nuts you want – almonds, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, brazil nuts)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon each nutmeg and cloves 
1 tbsp pure cane sugar or stevia
Pinch of sea salt (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Get a bowl and add in the nuts, agave syrup and spice. Mix together and then spread onto a lined baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from over, and while still warm and gooey, put back into the bowl and sprinkle on the sugar or stevia and pinch of sea salt. Place onto another baking sheet to cool.  Then… Go Nuts!

Speaking of Sweet and Nutty: I saw this recipe for Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups over at Making Love in the Kitchen which I will definitely be making. Holy Yum!

Do you think you’re more sweet or nutty? Why?