Sriracha Roasted Walnuts with Ginger

Start Smoking in the New Year: The New Year is heating up with smoke and spiciness. From boldly flavored smoked salts to actual smoking techniques, subtly smoked food is on-trend. The same can be said for spice as we savor heat from harissa, sriracha and smoked paprika. Show us the healthy dish you’re heating up with smoke and/or spiciness.

I’m sharing a rather wonderful roasted nut recipe today! (I’ve never actually made roasted nuts, but after seeing how easy/delicious this was, you better believe I’ll be doing more experimenting in the future! *-*

I’m currently on my peds rotation. My preceptor is super, super nice, and the day before, he had also happened to tell his staff that no matter how many patients were on his schedule, he would see any patient under 12 months old who needed to be seen. …But why am I talking about this, and how does this have anything to do with this recipe?

The inspiration for this came from a bag of sriracha-roasted cashews (thanks, Ricardo/Naturebox!) that I was cramming into my mouth whilst on Hour 8 of Day 2, with another 8 patients to be seen.

I finished the bag and kinda wanted/needed a replacement, so I decided to try to make my own! I’ve always loved the sweet & spicy combination, so I decided to modify it a bit, because the sriracha roasted cashews I’d been eating left me craving lots of water to douse the fire in my mouth, and I have yet to locate the water fountain in the building (I’m not sure there is one!).

I also recently came upon the realization that I have roughly 6 months to eat everything in my apartment, or I’m going to have to move it all again, and believe me, I do not need/want this to happen. Hence, my current ongoing crusade to (a) be on a partial grocery ban, and (b) come up with recipes that use up every last bit of what’s currently in my apartment.

My mom had read somewhere that walnuts were good for the brain, since they contain a lot of neuroprotective compounds (e.g. omega-3 fats, antioxidants, folate, vitamin E), so she sent me a ton. (By that, I mean that I still have 5 pounds left, and she sent me all this last year.) I decided to soup em’ up! :]

I also recently won a bunch of super-awesome food, one of which happens to be a pack of natural ginger! <3

Ginger is awesome. :D Normally, I’d eat this like candy, but I figured I’d see what would happen if I threw it into the mix! I definitely wasn’t disappointed! :] If you don’t have candied ginger, you can probably bake minced fresh ginger along with the walnuts!

Sriracha Roasted Walnuts with Ginger

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups walnuts
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp sriracha
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 1-2 tbsp natural ginger, diced

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Mix together honey, sriracha, and sesame seeds. Add the walnuts and mix until well combined.
4. Spread out walnuts onto baking sheet and bake for ~5-7 minutes. Take them out and give them a good stir.
5. Bake for another 5-7 minutes, or until they reach your desired level of toastiness.
6. Add diced ginger.
7. Let cool before eating!

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