Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Sweet (and ever-so-slightly spicy) Honey Glazed Mixed Nuts (Vegetarian)

Friday, October 31, 2008

Sweet (and ever-so-slightly spicy) Honey Glazed Mixed Nuts (Vegetarian)

First off - Happy Halloween!

As I mentioned in a previous post, a co-worker and friend of mine, Kathy, is having a baby really soon, and we had a baby shower for her at work this week. For a gift, I got her a locally made "baby sling" to carry her "little Hulk" around town in. The "baby slings" are really neat - we've seen women around town with them and their babies are never crying. When Brett and I were discussing what to get her, we liked that with the baby sling, the baby was able to stay close to Mom in transit and that probably helps to ease a lot of their anxiety. I also know the woman who makes these and sells them at The Peace Nook. I was very happy being able to get Kathy something that was not only useful, but also locally made - you can't beat that! I hope she and "the Hulk" make lots of good use out of it. (In case you are wondering "the Hulk" is the tentative name her husband gave the baby :-)).

I also needed to make a food contribution to her party and since the cake and other little nibblies were covered, I decided I would bring in nuts. I then decided to go beyond that and glaze the nuts, because I would rather, of course, have made something a little more extravagant for the occasion, but a purchased cake was already in the works. So this was my compromise - why buy something from the store when I could (happily) make something homemade?

A little note: These nuts are vegetarian as they contain honey and I know a lot of vegans don't eat honey. I am not sure whether this would work with agave or not. I can tell you that, at the very least, it wouldn't taste the same as this. Also, since I was making these for other people, I toned down the cayenne. The small addition of the cayenne in this recipe gave the nuts a smoky and savory flavor to complement the sweet flavors. If I had been making these for myself, I would have upped the cayenne and made this into "spicy-sweet" nuts, but I'm a freak like that and that is just how I roll. :-)

The local booty legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = The Root Cellar
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

















Sweet (and ever-so-slightly spicy) Honey Glazed Mixed Nuts (Vegetarian)

3 cups of mixed nuts (I used 1 cup of peanuts, 1/2 cup of hazelnuts, 1 cup of cashews, and a 1/2 cup of walnuts)
1/3 cup of honey *
1 tbsp raw organic sugar
1 tbsp safflower oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne (or MORE! I was taking these into a baby shower so I had to keep them mild and sweet)

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine honey, sugar, oil, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne in a medium bowl.

Slowly stir in nuts and make sure to get the nuts evenly coated.

Place on a baking sheet and roast for 8-10 minutes - watching very carefully. You'll need to shake the pan a few times during the cooking process to keep the nuts from sticking.

Once removed from the oven, place in a single layer on parchment paper to dry for at least a few hours.

Store in a container for up to 3 days.

These were a pretty big hit at the party. And nobody was none-the-wiser that these nuts were homemade, not store bought. ;-)

'Til next time!

7 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Looove sweet & spicy - no doubt those nuts would be a hit!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Anonymous said...

You are so sweet to be so thoughtful in your gifts and contributions to your co-workers shower! I hope she liked the baby sling (I have seen them too and I think they look great!) and it sounds like the nuts were a hit!

Happy Halloween!
Courtney

DP Nguyen said...

Baby slings are so cool! I hope she liked it.

For me, aguave and honey can be used interchangeably. I actually like aquave nectar more than honey, so I would try it and see if it tastes good!

jessy said...

what a thoughtful & awesome gift to give! i never understood strollers - why push around your baby in a bulky big piece of plastic, when they could be close to you and sooooo much happier?! :) that's too awesome on the locally made baby sling!

these spiced nuts sound super stellar, Jennifer. i bet they'd be pretty yummy with agave, too - i'll give them a shot, for sure! thanks for the recipe - i am totally going to make some to have on hand at our house this thanksgiving. we're hosting thanksgiving for my family and these are just perfect for nibbling! they look AMAZING!

J said...

Veggie Girl - They were really good.

Thanks, I hope you had a good one too!

Courtney - Hey she helps me out a lot at work and she is a friend of mine, so that is what you do. I am really excited for her. She did like the sling!

You too!

DP - I think so too. She did, thanks!

I like them both for different things. I've been participating in an Eat Local Challenge, and I had local honey so I chose to use that. If you glaze nuts with agave, please let me know how it turns out.

Jessy - Thank you. Me either, they are a lot happier in the slings than in the strollers, and I can understand why. I am very happy to support great local business or merchants of particular products. The woman who makes these, Amy, is also an activist, that is how I know her. But she makes all sorts of great things and sells them here in Columbia.

Let us know how they turn out with agave. We choose honey as it is a more local alternative, and environment is the biggest reason we eat the way we do, but I also like agave. I have a huge bottle of it I've been working through, but had the local honey around. Since we were participating in the Eat Local Challenge, I opted for the honey.

Wow, hosting Thanksgiving! I bet that will be a lot of fun. The nuts would make a great nibbly. I wish I had gotten more of them, but I'll probably be making them too for a snack. We will be going to my moms, but I am going to be bringing a few dairy-free vegetarian dishes (pretty much all vegan).

Alicia said...

Sweet and spicy nuts... If I make these I'll eat them in no time... I'm gonna try to cut on nuts because I've been really addicted to cashew nuts lately and it has to stop. But I will save your recipe for Christmas, since I don't like any Christmas treats, and I'm sure I would be very successful in my family bringing these (or not, but at least I would have something to eat!)

J said...

Alice - Haha, I guess in some ways it was a good thing that I took them in to work, 'cause I probably would have eaten them all too! Cashews are really good - but I suppose there can be too much of a good thing there.

I hope you like these if you make them!