it’s been awhile…

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It’s been awhile since I’ve busted out the food processor. 

It’s been awhile since I’ve given you a nut buttery recipe.

Today I did both.  I mean to do one, you have to do the other.  You just do.

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Peppercorns.  Are you scared yet?

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Salt + pepper + nut butter?  What?  Has she gone mad?  Nope.  Not one bit!  Have I ever led you astray?

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Are you starting to see where I’m going with this yet?  Are you still in disbelief at the combination?

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Think about eating roasted cashews covered in salt + pepper.

Now think about turning it into creamy goodness.

Not so bad, right?

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Right!

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Salt + Pepper Cashew Butter?  Most definitely.

creamy.

salty.

peppery.

savory.

spicy.

addicting.

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I could have gotten fancier with this, but decided to keep it simple.  If you’re looking for a fancier, savory nut butter, you must check out my smoked paprika almond butter.  Sometimes simple is better.  Or at least just as good.

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Salt + Pepper Cashew Butter

  • 2 cups raw cashews
  • 1 – 1 1/2t fresh ground pepper
  • 1/2t salt
  1. Roast cashews, on a pan, in the oven at 170* for about 30min, turning once.  [gives them a nice slow + light roast]
  2. Add nuts to processor, and turn on, scraping sides as needed.  It should butterize in about 5-8min.  It goes much quicker than almonds. 
  3. Allow the cashew butter to process until creamy/drippy and add in 1t ground pepper + 1/2t salt.
  4. Process + scrape sides + bottom to make sure it’s all combined.
  5. Taste + add more salt/pepper as needed. 

*This has quite the kick of pepper.  You can always start by adding in 1/2t and adjust from there.

*If you’re using a 7c food processor, I would decrease to the recipe to a max of 1.5c nuts + adjust other ingredients accordingly. 

*You can definitely make this with other nuts or a combination of more than one.

The peppery spice, mellow cashew flavor, + pop of salt, work together to make a stellar new savory spread. 

Try this on:

  • carrots
  • crackers
  • egg sandwich
  • veggie sandwich
  • tempeh
  • celery
  • toast
  • sweet potato
  • any potato

You get the idea.

And if you’re really brave…try it on an apple!

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I dare you!

Ashley

what’s in that cup?

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This morning was a bit rushed, but my breakfast couldn’t be compromised.

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I made a large pot of plain cooked millet Monday night, for easy leftovers.  Millet is one of my very favorite grains.  I love everything about it.  However, I’ve never eaten it for breakfast.  It always seems like more of a lunch/dinner grain to me.

But if you cook it plain [water only] you can easily whip it into breakfast.

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The millet was heated up in a pot this morning, with almond milk.  I also added frozen cherries + blueberries and cooked it until the liquid was absorbed.  This created a very creamy + thick consistency.

Layered with: banana/almonds/currants/raw buckwheat groats/salted honey cashew butter/maple cinnamon almond butter 

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Breakfast was ready in 8min flat and gobbled up in no time.

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Millet Porridge

  • ~1 – 1 1/4c precooked millet [cooked in water]
  • 1/2 unsweetened almond milk
  • 1t cinnamon
  • 1t vanilla
  • 1/3c frozen blueberries
  • 1/3c frozen cherries
  1. In a pot over medium heat, add millet + milk together.
  2. Stir and bring to a simmer for 3-5min.
  3. Once it starts to thicken, add in frozen fruit, if using. 
  4. Done when fruit is cooked through and desired consistency is met. 

Love the crunchy buckwheat groats on top!  The 2 nut butters were DEEvine.  I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve eaten the maple cinnamon almond butter.  I savored every little bite!

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In other breakfast news….Chris’s breakfast was a toasted bagel with smoked paprika almond butter.  I was shocked when he wanted this for breakfast, but he confirmed it was “delicious.”  FYI – this nut butter is also delicious on pan sautéed broccoli.  Yum.

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Tons of progress made today!  The kitchen is fully primed, as is the bathroom.  It was a long + tiring day.  Bathrooms are no fun to paint.  You basically turn around on yourself a million times and get paint everywhere.  It takes forever and tomorrow I get to put two coats of actual paint on! Yaaay [sarcasm]  We’re slowly making progress on the packing.  It’s hard to tell exactly how much more there is, and we don’t have too much to purge, since we’ve moved 3 times in the past 1.5yrs!  At least we’re not doing a long-distance move this time! 

Off to relax for a few + then get to bed!

Ashley