Meals Metropolis Friday: Having fun with recipes with loads of heart-healthy almonds | WJHL

Food City Registered Dietitians Kirby Moir and Nicole Pazdziorko, share with us some recipes for entrees and snacks, that have plenty of tasty almonds!

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Almond pesto

This is a quick low sodium pesto. It is an easy way to add the benefits of nuts as a dressing or marinade. Fresh herbs and greens, add bright color and flavored full of heart healthy fats with almonds and olive oil as a base for the pesto.

• ¼ cup almonds
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1½ cups fresh basil leaves
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place almonds on a cookie sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted.
2. In a food processor, combine toasted almonds, garlic, basil, olive oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Process until a coarse paste is formed.

Spicy Crunch Tuna with Almonds

This recipe is a remix on classic tuna salad. is a good source of iron and calcium, high protein, no saturated fat. The almonds and beans pump up the fiber of this dish for 8 g per serving (30% DV). Quick easy option for lunch.

• 1 (4.5-ounce) can tuna packed in water, drained
• ½ cup -fat Greek yogurt
• 1 cup white cannellini beans, drained
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce, plus more for garnish
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup toasted sliced ​​almonds

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Brown Butter, Herbs & Almonds

This is a great dish for the last of winter season, filled with filling root vegetables. The almonds add some texture and amplify the roasted flavor of the vegetables. You can easily swap out for other veggies year round. This recipe boasts >100% of daily vitamin A, 10 g of fiber (38%) and 11 g of unsaturated fat.

• 3 Tbsp balsamic or sherry vinegar
• 1 medium onion
• 1 lb parsnips
• 1lb rainbow carrots
• 3 sweet potatoes
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 oz almonds
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter

• Preheat oven to 425°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Cut sweet potatoes lengthwise into ½-inch thick wedges. Peel carrots and parsnips and cut into similar size pieces (wedges or halves) as the sweet potato. Peel and thinly slice 3 large garlic cloves. Pick 10–12 sage leaves from stems. Discard stems, and keep leaves whole.
• In a large bowl, toss sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and pearl onions with ¼ cup oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Spread vegetables in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets. Transfer to upper and lower oven racks and roast until vegetables are tender and golden, rotating sheets from top to bottom and stirring halfway through, 30-40 minutes for root vegetables. 20-25 minutes for soft vegetables.
• Place almonds on another rimmed baking sheet or pie plate. Toast on lower oven rack until golden brown, about 2 minutes (watch closely, as ovens vary).
• Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add sliced ​​garlic; cook, stirring, until garlic is golden brown and butter is beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in sage leaves, then pour into a medium heatproof bowl.
• Add 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar to butter mixture. Drizzle vegetables all over with the butter-vinegar mixture. Garnish with toasted almonds. Enjoy!

Snacking is an easy way to get your 1 oz serving of nuts.

Popcorn and Almonds

This snack provides whole grain, hearth healthy fats and fiber lower in saturated fat than traditional buttery popcorn. Grains, fruit and nuts all combined in a quick option to meet cravings and keep energy levels up.

Ingredients

• 1-2 tsp avocado or olive oil
• 3 Tbsp popcorn kernels
• ¼ cup raises
• 2 oz whole almonds
• 2 Tbsp dark chocolate chips
• Heat the oil in a small pan, add the corn, cover and cook for 2-3 mins or until all the kernels pop. Tip into a bowl, leave to cool, then stir in the raisins, almonds and dark chocolate chips. Store in an airtight container.

This is a super simple recipe that highlights almond flour, almond flour is naturally gluten free, due to almonds high fat content that helps make baked treats moist and tender.

Canned pumpkin puree is great because you can use pumpkin all year round, you could also sub for banana – but by substituting for pumpkin it is going to be lighter in carbohydrates, but still full of fiber with a boost of vitamin A.

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin spice seasoning (cinnamon, nutmeg)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 cups almond flour
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ¼ cup almond slivers

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, line metal 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper or leave non-stick as is. Spray only bottom and lower 1″ with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, maple syrup, pumpkin puree,
3. Combine almond flour, baking powder + soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and salt. Whisk well until combined.
4. Using a spatula gently combine wet and dry ingredients
5. Pour batter into previously prepared loaf pan, sprinkle with almond slivers and bake for 50 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out somewhat clean. This bread burns fast, so don’t over bake and remove from the oven while top still appears semi soft. They key to moist and firm bread is to let it cool down.
6. Remove bread from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool off for 20 minutes. Holding onto the flaps of parchment paper remove bread from a loaf pan and let it cool off for another 60 minutes before slicing with sharp serrated knife.

Mustard Roasted Almonds

This is a fun way to add flavor to almonds, great if you are working to limit sodium, you can add flavor without salt. This pairs well with a piece of fruit to eat on the go.

• 2 tablespoons oil
• ⅓ cup Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 lb. Almonds, unsalted
• 1 Table Spoon cinnamon
• ½ teaSpoon Tumeric or cumin
• ½ table spoon salt
• ½ tea spoon black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Melt oil in medium skillet and whisk mustard and honey into melted oil.
3. Add almonds and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring to evenly coat all the almonds.
4. Transfer almonds to a parchment paper lined baked sheet.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients.
6. Sprinkle the mixture over almonds to taste.
7. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes.
8. Remove from oven, cool and serve or store