Walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, pine nuts, pistachios, dried figs to create new recipes, consume natural and energizing snacks, quit smoking, treat face and body.

It doesn’t get more versatile than that.

Nuts liven up the table, are good for health, fight stress and are a healthy and nutritious snack.

The project co-financed by the European Community « I love fruit & veg from Europe« , which promotes the consumption of fruit and vegetables, makes wellbeing flourish in spring with dried fruit, which provides ready-to-use energy.

We find it shelled or in shell, natural, dry or toasted, in the form of grains or in cream.

If the awakening of spring brings light, colors and many products of nature, let’s not forget that the mind and body are also rekindled and thus need energetic foods.

Dried fruit comes to our aid: cashews, peanuts, chestnuts, dried figs, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, can become anti-stress remedies in everyday life, both for the nutritional principles they contain and for the high digestibility.

For example, one of the main minerals to be supplemented to recharge the body is magnesium, contained in large quantities in dried figs, walnuts and almonds.

Furthermore, dried fruit is rich in antioxidants, nutrients, and polyphenols; it contains vitamins B1, B2 and B6, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, it is a source of omega 3 and linoleic acid, which recharge the body, promoting a good mood.

Science shows that anxiety and stress are often linked to poor nutrition as well as psychological factors.

And here is that dried fruit helps fight fatigue, lends itself to many recipes and can be used to prepare handmade beauty products.

It is recommended for sportsmen, dieters and even children, to be consumed instead of caloric sweets and industrial snacks.

Thanks to its nutrients it is a valid ally for pregnant women and also for those who want to quit smoking, because it can be munched if necessary, removing the desire for a cigarette, but obviously without exaggerating.

“Dried fruit is highly recommended in a dietary diet – explains nutritionist Federica Avitabile – it gives a notable sense of satiety and can also be enjoyed twice a day.

The ideal is to eat it for breakfast, perhaps with a low-fat white Greek yogurt and as a snack after dinner to help you sleep.

Furthermore, among the many beneficial effects there are those it brings to the cardiovascular system, as it is rich in omega 3 and omega 6”.

As a snack, a 30/40 g portion is recommended and, moderately, it can be combined with other foods: for lunch in addition to salad, but also in an Asian dish such as chicken with almonds.

Natural cosmetics.

With the nuts you can also prepare natural cosmetics such as the nut mask to moisturize dry skin.

Chop 6 walnuts, mix with 3 tablespoons of cream and leave to macerate for 4 hours. Then add a spoonful of honey and mix.

Put the mixture on some cotton gauze and apply it on your face.

Leave on for 30 minutes and then rinse with warm water.

The result will be surprising: softer, smoother and more luminous skin.

To lighten the skin, on the other hand, just mix 20 peeled and ground almonds in a glass of boiled milk.

You will get a delicate mixture to be applied on the face with a slow massage.

Leave it on for 15 minutes and then rinse with warm water.

Dried fruit in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, the creative idea is a delicious and particular breading.

Crumbled walnuts, almonds and cashews are ideal for breading tuna steaks and red meat fillets.

But you can also indulge yourself with the Milanese « cotoletta »: a lighter breading is created with walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts, or you can make a slightly more savory breading by adding pistachios.

The secret is to bread the cutlets beaten first with a meat tenderizer in flour, pass them in the beaten egg and then in the finely crumbled dried fruit and then fry them with clarified butter.

Furthermore, dried fruit can revive light side dishes and fruit salads, giving that pleasantly crunchy note or make ricotta or pesto even more delicious with a nice sprinkling of grain.

At this point how about preparing a really nice pesto?

This time we go to Sicily with the « pesto alla trapanese » recipe, easy and quick to prepare and really tasty.

Few ingredients are needed, a mortar or a mixer.

Ingredients:

• 20 pachino or piccadilly tomatoes
• 30 basil leaves 1
• 00 g of almonds
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt
• 60 g of grated pecorino
• 2 cloves of garlic

Method

Carefully wash the tomatoes and basil, dry them and cut them into pieces. Put them with the almonds in the mortar or mixer and pound or mix according to the instrument you will use. Add the olive oil, salt, pecorino cheese, finally the garlic and continue blending until you get a thick and tasty pesto.

Federica Riccio