Rich, crunchy and delicious, almonds (badaam) have an excellent nutrient profile. They are rich in nutrients like vitamin E, dietary fibres, omega-3 fatty acids and proteins. Apart from being packed with nutrients, almonds are also a real joy to cook with. Almond's sweet, buttery taste makes it a natural for almost any sweet or savoury dish. Be it desserts, snacks or main course, their goodness can be relished in various forms. If you are tired of having almonds in their raw form and looking for some new ways to include it in your diet, we're here to help.
Here are 5 ways to increase almond intake in your diet:
1. Churn almonds into butter by putting them in a spice grinder and letting it run. You can pair this with sliced apple or any fruit of your choice to up the nutritional value of the delight.
2. Skip peanut butter or cream cheese for almond nut butter instead and spread it on your morning bagel. This way, you'll be cutting on a lot of calories and eventually end up making your breakfast more weight loss-friendly.
3. You can even add slivered or sliced toasted almonds to cereals, yogurt, salads and sandwiches to give your meal an extra crunch. Toasted almonds complement salads quite well, especially chicken or tuna salad.
4. The book 'Healing Spices' by Bharat B. Aggarwal, PhD with Deborah Yost says, "Make almonds into a cocktail snack by mixing 1 cup of unblanched almonds with two teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, three teaspoons of dried thyme, one teaspoon of salt and an egg white. Toast in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh thyme."
5. If you wish to add the goodness of almonds in desserts as well, then you can a drop of almond extract to sweets containing almonds. You can add in few drops to whipped cream as well.
So, make the most of almond's goodness by adding it in various delights!