Nutty for Nuts

Janet here: Our family has kind of a nut thing going, specifically with Aunt Ruby's peanuts. I know it may sound like hyperbole, but these are the best peanuts in. the. world. Seriously, once you've had an Aunt Ruby's peanut, you will never ever eat another peanut in your life again that's not made by this North Carolina family company and think it's actually a real peanut. These peanuts are that good.

It was brave of me, then, to even try introducing another kind of nut into the Reynolds' house given Aunt Ruby's mythic presence in our home and that my husband, Peter, is practically on Aunt Ruby's Christmas card list because he's ordered so many cases of these nuts over the years. I mean he doesn't let the case — yes I wrote case, not can — get down to fewer than two cans before he's reordering. The man is that addicted.

But I decided to persevere after finding this recipe from — yes, it's true — Ellie Krieger's cookbook, The Food You Crave. Ellie didn't let me down. The nuts were gone within the week. Watch out Aunt Ruby; Ellie is on the way.


Ingredients
1/2 cup raw pecans
1/3 cup shelled raw pistachios
1/3 cup raw cashews
1/3 shelled raw pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon cayeen pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon salt
cooking spray

Method
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the nuts and seeds in a medium bowl. Add the maple syrup, spices, rosemary and salt. Toss to combine.

Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Then transfer the coated nuts to the sheet and spread evenly in a single layer. Bake, stirring once, until the nuts are fragrant and lightly toasted 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. The nuts will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.