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Nuts have had a bad reputation over the years for being unhealthy. That’s mainly because they have a high fat content, and until quite recently all fats were seen as dietary enemy number one.

But the consensus of the scientific community these days is that there are good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) and bad fats (trans fats and saturated fats). Good fats help lower LDL cholesterol levels in the blood, while bad fats increase the levels of LDL cholesterol. And because nuts contain mostly good fats, they’re actually very good for your heart and arteries.

Nuts are also a rich source of other health-giving nutrients including vitamin E (which acts as a powerful antioxidant), B vitamins and potassium — and they’re a good source of protein and dietary fiber. However, nuts are also quite high in calories, so it’s best not to overindulge!

We enjoy nuts in lots of different ways. Often we’ll enjoy them as a wholesome between-meal snack, or sprinkled over cereal and dessert — but we also love using nuts in our cooking. And for inspiration all we have to do is look to Mediterranean and Asian cultures to see how nuts can be used in a wide variety of healthy and delicious ways.

Here are some Mediterranean and Asian recipes from this blog as well as our website that contain nuts:

Penne with Roasted Pear, Goat Cheese and Walnuts
Pesto Genovese
Penne Rigate alla Ricotta e Noci
Spinach, Pumpkin, Walnut, Basil & Ricotta Lasagna
Sun-dried Tomato & Walnut Pesto Pasta with Salmon & Asparagus
Honey-Lemon Chicken with Almonds
Moroccan Chicken & Olive Tagine with Almond Couscous
Mushroom, Bacon & Walnut Risotto
Thai Crab & Cashew Fried Rice
Lemongrass Chicken with Bean Thread Noodles
Peanut Chicken Noodles
Pad Thai
Tofu & Cashew Chow Mein
Mixed Greens, Cherry Tomato & Pine Nut Salad
Insalata di Riso (Italian Rice Salad)
Gado Gado
Tuna, Olive & Tomato Salad with Romesco Sauce
Roast Vegetable & Chickpea Couscous
Pancetta & Walnut Salad
Cantonese Rice Salad
Spanish Broccoli & Almond Soup
Dolmades
Chicken Satay
Romesco Sauce
Indonesian Peanut Sauce

I’ve been trying to eat as seasonally as possible, and to always ask my local vendors “What’s good today?” At a recent trip to a favorite local cheese shop, the staff mentioned enthusiastically that it was “a perfect time of year for goat cheese.” So goat cheese has been on my mind, and I’ve been inspired to go along with the season.

One of the nicest ways to enjoy goat cheese is with a good, fresh pear, so I have been eagerly scouting the markets, hoping to find that perfect piece of complementary fruit. However, while it may be a great time of year for goat cheese, it seems the pears aren’t on quite the same schedule. The pears at my neighborhood supermarkets have been a little on the hard side recently—they may look great in the produce display, but are often just a little too firm to eat right away. At least, not without a little help—roasting them in the oven is an easy way to soften them and bring out additional flavor as well.

For a quick one-dish meal at home, I combined some crumbled goat cheese with roasted pears, walnuts (left over from trying Guilherme’s awesome ricotta walnut pasta recipe recently), a couple of handfuls of greens and penne pasta. This is wonderful served warm, or as a cold salad the next day. Enjoy!

Penne with Roasted Pear, Goat Cheese and Walnuts

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. pasta, such as penne
• 2 Bosc pears, ripe but firm (firmer varieties of pears work best)
• 1 tablespoon plus 3 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 cup baby arugula (rocket)
• 1/2 cup baby spinach
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• Pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425° F. Slice the pear into thin wedges, leaving the skin on and removing the center core. Toss with one tablespoon of olive oil, coating lightly, then place in baking dish and roast in oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, stir again, and return to oven for an additional 5 minutes. Allow to cool, then cut into smaller bite sized pieces.

Mix together the remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil with the balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Cook penne according to package directions. Drain pasta and mix in the olive oil-vinegar-lemon juice mixture, then mix in the chopped pears, arugula and baby spinach. If desired, add a little sea salt to taste. Divide among plates and top with crumbled goat cheese and chopped walnut pieces.

Option: Skip the pasta and just serve with extra greens as a salad.

The other night, Trudy and I dropped into our local supermarket to pick up a few staples, and while I was in the refrigerated section something really caught my eye. It was a flashy looking new brand of pesto.

Now, I’m a pesto lover from way back, but I’m usually pretty wary of pre-packaged pesto — simply because I’ve had some rather dismal tasting pre-packaged stuff in the past. But the packaging was so slick, and the contents looked so remarkably good that I at least had to look at the ingredient list to see whether it was made to the classic Genoese recipe. (The Italian city of Genoa is where pesto originates, by the way.)

I scanned the ingredients list, and wasn’t disappointed.

Basil. Check.
Garlic. Check.
Extra virgin olive oil. Check.
Parmesan. Check.
Pine nuts. Check.

And there weren’t any bizarre sounding additives or preservatives either — a definite bonus.

At this stage I was getting seriously tempted to just throw the pesto in the cart, but I knew that Trudy would need some convincing first. Like me, she’s very aware that pre-packaged pesto can be very hit or miss. But after showing her the authentic list of ingredients, and pointing out how incredibly tasty it looked, she agreed that it was at least worth giving a try.

Well, the pesto might have contained all the right ingredients and looked glorious, but when we got it home and tossed it through some pasta with shrimp and green beans, it tasted far from glorious. It had a slight vinegary undertone, and the consistency was way too dry (I think this was because they’d skimped on the extra virgin olive oil, and probably the pine nuts as well — both relatively expensive ingredients).

Anyway, the upshot of the evening was that we vowed never to buy pre-packaged pesto again, no matter how flashy the packaging! And besides, we have our own pesto recipe that we both really adore. Yes, it takes a little more work than pulling the top off a package of store-bought pesto, but not that much more.

We don’t take the time-consuming route and use a mortar and pestle to pound the pesto into a paste by hand. We’ve found that the results in a food processor or blender can be excellent, and we actually prefer the slightly more textural consistency of pesto made this way.

And speaking of consistency, we’re definitely not fans of pesto that’s either too oily or too dry. So we’ve found a great trick is to add a little water along with the other ingredients before processing. This gives the pesto a perfect consistency — moist, but not too oily. It also helps the blades process the other ingredients more easily into a paste.

We’ve also found that it’s a good idea not to go overboard with the garlic. Raw garlic is very pungent, and it can easily overwhelm the flavor of the other ingredients in the pesto. Of course, if you’re a bit of a garlic fiend, feel free to add more!

Pesto

Makes roughly 1 cup

• 1 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
• 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a food processor or blender, combine the basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, water, salt, and pepper. While you process, slowly pour the olive oil into the mix until all the ingredients turn into a smooth paste (you may have to scrape the sides occasionally). Store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Serving Ideas: Pesto has a myriad of uses, such as tossed with hot pasta, spread over bruschetta, used as a pizza sauce, stirred into soups just before serving, mixed with mayonnaise to dress salads and sandwiches, used as a filling for baked potatoes, or served as a dip with vegetable crudités.

Variations: Walnuts, pistachios, macadamias, almonds, or cashews can be substituted for the pine nuts.