Nuts // fruits

🌱🥜🤔 Did you know how many nuts should you eat each day? As much as what fits in the palm of your hand. And they can be a handful of one kind or a mixture of nuts, like walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts Grandma Sita’s favs. 

💪 Nuts are a healthy snack when unsalted and unsweetened due to their unsaturated fats, antioxidant capacity, and nutritional composition, a good source of fiber, healthy fat, and protein, and are rich in vitamins and minerals (Ca, Fe, Zn, Mg).

👩‍🍳 Nuts can be added to main meals because they add texture and flavor e.g., sprinkled on top of porridge, a salad, or a curry and other recipes, but most often, some types of nuts are used in baking recipes like this yummy plant-based Italian-style sandwich cookies made of nuts inspired by “Baci di Dama”. Full recipe here 👉plant-based-italian-style-sandwich-cookies-baci-di-dama-inspired

👵💚 Grandma Sita’s tips:
*Nuts’ fragile unsaturated fats can go rancid quickly. Keep non-shelled nuts tasting fresh by stowing them in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator for four to six months. Shelled nuts stored at room temperature are expected to last six to nine months.
*Most nutshells are inedible but don’t throw nutshells, because they are very useful in composting. 

📗 There are more than 20 different types of edible nuts around the world for you to choose from locally. Luckily for Grandma Sita, Spain offers a variety of nuts including hazelnuts, walnuts, chestnuts, Chufa nuts, Marcona almonds, and Largueta almonds among others.

🌎 Adding nuts and seeds to your plant-based meals provides a wide range of health benefits making a wonderful ally on a plant-based diet. Making a difference for your health and the planet by starting to eat local and seasonal fruits and vegetables helps to reduce food waste saves resources, improves food quality and healthy habits, and boosts the local economy.