Bonus Lesson: Nuts & Seeds

In this bonus lesson for How to Cook Real Food, the online cooking class hosted at Nourished Kitchen, you’ll receive a quick, sneak-peak into the cooking class through this brief video covering how to properly prepare nuts and seeds including recipes for a basic pesto sauce and a basic fruit and nut snack bar.  Please note that videos in the online cooking class will be more comprehensive than the brief look at nuts and seeds you see below here.

In this video and using these downloadable print materials.

Preparing Nuts and Seeds Traditionally

Nuts and seeds can be a powerfully nutritive food: rich in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants.  However, as is the case with many foods, nuts and seeds are also potent sources of antinutrients: particularly food phytate which binds up minerals preventing their full absorption and enzyme inhibitors which makes them difficult to digest.  Fortunately, the simple act of soaking nuts and seeds in slightly salty water overnight improves not only their digestibility but also the availability of minerals naturally found in these foods.

Combining unrefined sea salt with warm, filtered water and pouring this salty mixture over your nuts or seeds provides optimal conditions to help mitigate the effects of these two antinutrients.  Leaving the nuts or seeds to soak overnight in warm, salty water, you’ll not only improve the nutrient profile of these foods, but also their texture.  They become softer and, for this reason, are well-suited to cooking and using in sauces like classic pesto, fruit and nut bars, breads and other dishes.  If you have a food dehydrator, you can even dry the nuts or seeds after soaking to make a delicious snack.

In this Bonus Lesson, you’ll learn:

• Why nuts and seeds prove valuable additions to a nourishing, healthy and wholesome diet.
• How to prepare nuts and seeds to maximize nutrition and digestibility.
• How to make a basic pesto using nuts or seeds, herbs and greens and an unrefined oil.
• How to save money making a basic dried fruit and nut bar featuring dates, dried fruit and soaked nuts.

Bonus Class Materials: Video & Printables

• Download the Recipes & Worksheets: Bonus Lesson: Nuts & Seeds

Watch the Nuts and Seeds Video Lesson Now!

Enjoy your free lesson and downloadable material!   I can’t wait to try the nut and dried fruit recipe, because I won’t need an oven or stove top to prepare this yummy snack.