At first glance this recipe might look like a dessert, since it calls for sugar. But this recipe uses sugar as a seasoning rather than a main ingredient.
There is about 1 tsp of sugar in each 1/4 cup serving, which is a good sized snack. If you’re using it as a salad topping you’ll probably use even less.
You’re getting Vitamin A and anti-inflammatory compounds from the spices, protein from the nuts and egg white and if you use rapadura sugar you’ll get small amounts of some minerals and B vitamins.
Not bad for a spicy-sweet snack!
Ingredients:
1 large egg white
1/4 cup sugar (I prefer Rapadura which is unrefined)
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3 1/2 cups pecans (or mix of walnuts, pecans, unsalted cashews, almonds)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 3oo. Use a whisk or mixer to beat egg white to soft peaks. Add all the spices and whisk together. Then stir in the nuts until well coated. Spread onto a baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake for 15 minutes then remove and stir thoroughly. Reduce the oven to 250 degrees and continue to bake another 10 minutes or until browned.
Remove from oven, stir and let cool. They will crisp as they cool. Will keep in an airtight container for many weeks.
I did find that using an old, darkened baking sheet tended to burn the nuts before they browned. Using this baking sheet they come out perfectly.
Let me know how it turns out for you in the comment section below.