The simplest recipe

This Thanksgiving has been a long one. Fun, and delicious, but long. Full of cooking, and eating, and working.

Because our holiday celebrations weren't spent at our house we don't have a whole fridge full of leftovers, but rather some bits and pieces here and there to make into meals. I don't much feel like cooking, but I have to make something.

I made this recipe this weekend and it turned out very well - especially for leftover tofurkey sandwiches. Today I needed to use up the rest of the loaf, so after staring into my pantry for 10 minutes I decided on some quick walnut butter.

This brings me to a peeve of mine. Nut butters can be such a nutritious thing for a vegetarian, but most store-bought ones contain a lot of sugar, salt and oil. I have only found one product from one brand that contains just nuts and nothing else, and that's the one we buy. It takes a little getting used to to go without the sugar, but I think that nut butters should taste like nuts rather than corn syrup! So, since I haven't been able to find anything but this one almond butter that fits my apparently strict snack standards, making my own seems like the best way to get what I want with a little more variety.



Nut Butters

You can use whatever nuts you like for this. I tried it with walnuts, but truly, anything would work.

You can add oil, sugar or salt if you choose, but taste test along the way - you might not need as much as you'd think!

1. The first step is to toast the nuts. You can buy roasted nuts if you like, but be sure to buy the unsalted kind so that you can be in control of how much you add. You can toast your nuts in the oven, but I like to put a single layer in a dry skillet over medium heat and shake occasionally until they begin to brown and become fragrant.

2. After the nuts have cooled enough to handle throw them in a food processor and blend, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary. Soon the nuts will becomes a smooth paste. After you reach this point you can add oil for a creamier butter if you like. Choose an oil that is flavorless or that complements the nut flavors well, and add in a thin steady stream while blending, stopping the machine just when it reaches the consistency you want. Any extra blending can agitate the oil and cause it to develop a bitter flavor.

3. Season if you like. Salt, sugar, cocoa powder, spices.

4. Store your homemade butter in the fridge - without preservatives it can go rancid quickly. In the fridge it may keep for a year or so. Separation is normal - you will need to stir it before using, especially if you added extra oil.


The verdict: I made a plain walnut butter with a little bit of homemade walnut oil that I had leftover. Spread on walnut bread it was perfect and Kirah likes it too. I will probably not be buying any store-bought spreads from now on.

Hooray for homemade snackies!