I LOVE nuts! And no wonder, I just learned that almonds are a symbol of LOVE and happiness! The early Romans showered newlyweds with almonds as a fertility charm and the nut was a symbol of good luck for centuries throughout southern Europe. I once even heard that if you eat 6 raw almonds before drinking, you won’t get a hangover.
Do you think that could work?
Nuts in general got a really bad rap some years ago. We all knew that they were delicious and fatty but luckily, we’ve discovered that this fat is good for you and is even known to lower blood LDL cholesterol levels. An ounce of almonds gives you 35% of your daily allowance of vitamin E, which is a powerful antioxidant to keep you healthy all winter. They also have other vitamins and minerals, are cholesterol free and a good source of fiber – all good stuff!
Recently, I’ve been toasting raw almonds in peanut oil and fine sea salt. Everyone I serve them to is like, OMG – where’d you get these?
So I know this is a stupid simple thing to do, but I thought I’d share it as it has received such high praise from everyone. Now that the holiday season is coming upon us, a nice cute little jar of these roasted almonds would make an awesome hostess gift. After all, years and years ago, gifts of almonds represented happiness, romance, good health and fortune. Not bad, eh?
These are great during cocktail hour or chop some up and throw them on a salad or oatmeal. They don’t take long to make at all and you will LOVE them!
Just be sure to check you’ve toasted them all the way through by cutting them in half and seeing if the brownish roasting effort reach the center of the nut.
ROASTED WHOLE ALMONDS WITH SEA SALT
1.5 cups of raw whole almonds
2 tbs. peanut oil
Sea salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss almonds with peanut oil and season with sea salt. Roast in the oven for a total of 13 minutes. Toss at 6 minutes so that browning is even. Check at 12 minutes by cutting an almond in half and making sure it is toasted inside. When done, remove pan from the oven and salt them again with the fine sea salt and let cool in the pan. Toss again and taste for the proper salt level. Store in a tightly covered container. Enjoy!!
A great bean dip
We must know what we’re eating!
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Thinly sliced
I’m with you, Mary Francis. I love roasted nuts and almonds in particular. You mentioned the Romans. Even today, it is customary for the married couple to give “confetti” to their guests. They consist of a few sugar-coated almonds usually wrapped in a piece of lace.
ChgoJohn recently posted…Today’s Jam is a Real Plum, Damson Plum with Cardamom
Oh yes!!! Thank you John for reminding me of that! Those are like the pink and green and white ones, right?
We have been snacking on roasted almonds with our prosecco in Italy 🙂
Nice!!! A perfect combination. I am jealous!
Yum 🙂 I love nuts, particularly almonds…
Totally – I’m with you!
I love almonds also. There are so many things you can do with them They also make a great pie crust for folks sensitive to gluten.
Jovina Coughlin recently posted…A Fall Bolognese Style Dinner
Now that’s a great idea. Do you use ground almonds totally? Or add a little something else/
Love almonds and interesting that you use peanut oil to toss them in before roasting, I bet that gives a great flavor.
apuginthekitchen recently posted…Creamy Chicken Tenders
It does!! You should try it!
These look yummy! Thanks for helping me get some of my Christmas list covered 🙂
🙂 No problem!
I’m going to try on salad tonight. Sounds great.
Hope you liked it!! 🙂
Love almonds. They’re so delicious!
yummychunklet recently posted…Fig Toasties
Definitely! 🙂
These look so delicious Mary Francis! I love toasted almonds. I’ve never tried them roasted in peanut oil though (I normally just dry-roast in the oven) but the idea sounds wonderful. Do they need to be blanched almonds or do you ever use raw almonds with the skin on? I’ll give this recipe a try!
laurasmess recently posted…Globe Artichokes with Lemon Aïoli
I have only used blanched almonds. Not sure about how they would turn out with the skin on. Sorry.
It’s such a Spanish thing. You’ll see people munching on them as tapas. And I couldn’t go very far, the last time I travelled there, without having a pack of them in my pocket. So tasty.
Definitely. But they also use marcona almonds which are way more expensive here. This method makes regular almonds taste just as good as marcona to me!
This is a very interesting post and I am going to definitely try it.
I eat a mixture of almonds and raisins every day as part of my on going way of eating, food combining, low carbs, lots of water.
Almonds are full of health and goodness and I wrote a blog, under “Cleansing Diet”/ “Spring Boost,” Which might interest you.
Where I live in Greece, there are always sugared almonds in amongst the rice, which the congregation throw over the bride and groom during the wedding service, for fertility and prosperity and which they shower the bridal bed with, when making it up for the bride and groom.
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Great! If you look at John’s comment up top, he says the Italians do the same thing, but I think the almonds are alone, not with rice. My husband and I adore Greece!! You may want to look at this post – https://lovethesecretingredient.net/2012/09/23/going-to-greece/
Thanks so much for stopping by! I’m going to go look at your post now.
We loves these at our house too!
Francesca recently posted…Kofta
🙂 🙂 🙂
I usually dry roast the almonds but these look fabulous! A little extra decadence with peanut oil and sea salt. Our weddings also include a lot of nuts, we give them to nge bride/ bridegrooms family in loads and then they are also given to guests as favours along with candy and dates.
I like the idea of putting them in jars and giving them as gifts!
Nazneen
Coffee and Crumpets recently posted…Shallot Tarte Tatin with Homemade Puff Pastry
Love this Article.
Grace recently posted…Foods4BetterHealth Reports on Heart Disease Risk and Eating Fruits: Study
Thanks Grace!!
Love almonds: ) have tried using honey cinnamon never used peanut oil. Wil try ur version
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