by Corey Leopold (Photopedia)

After a brief break, we’re back to the Secret Recipe Club. My assignment this month was a delight! Winnie, over at Healthy Green Kitchen, does a lovely job of presenting healthy and friendly food. She always has a helpful suggestion and encouraging words for the kitchen novice. You’ll find her recipes focus on healthy foods, so there are plenty of whole grains, vegetables, and healthier twists on classics. My concern this month– as I try to use up all my food while preparing to move!– is that many of the recipes I looked at called for a relatively long list of ingredients. (I’m in three to five ingredient mode these days.) I just wish I had time to truly delve into the full depth of her archives and play with more recipes, but I’m afraid I wasn’t able to do true justice to her blog as making Pickled Radishes, or Pumpkin Souffles with Maple Pumpkin Ice Cream wasn’t practical. And it’s the wrong time of year for Leek and Asparagus Pizza…

Caveat: I’m more conservative/mainstream nutritionally and do not necessarily endorse all her diet recommendations.

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Pecans

As it happens, I had a couple of bags of pecans that were originally intended for Christmas pecan bars. Repurpose: moving party snacks.  Mine came out a little clumpy (probably because I dumped in the coating all at once), so be sure to toss thoroughly.

2 cups raw pecans
1 T sugar
1/2 t cocoa powder
1/2 t chile powder (she uses chipotle, I have Indian)
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/8 t ground ginger
1/8 t smoked paprika
1 T butter, melted
Sea salt, to taste (I used canning salt)

Toast the nuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet for 12-14 minutes in a 200 degree F oven. Meanwhile, mix the spices into the sugar. Melt the butter in a medium bowl.  Remove the pecans from the oven and pour carefully into a bowl with the butter. Stir, until the pecans are coated thoroughly. Gradually mix in the sugar mixture, stirring well.

Pour the pecans back onto the cookie sheet and roast for 3 -5 more minutes. Check them halfway through to be sure they aren’t in danger of burning. Remove, and season to taste with sea salt. Allow to cool before eating. Store in an airtight container for up to seven days.

Will I make these again? Unfortunately, probably not. Turns out I like pecans best when well-coated in lots of sugar. The technique is handy, though, and I’ll likely use it to make nuts with other flavors. On the other hand, I had someone at the party who said, “These are really good! And I don’t even like this kind of nut!”

Secret Recipe Club is a fun group where the members are randomly assigned another blogger, and we pick a recipe from that blog to make. On the reveal day, all of us go live at the same time and chat about our experiences and share photos. (Or, we share a creative commons photo as *cough* we’ve lost the camera’s battery charger. In a box. Somewhere. We hope.) You can see a few examples of previous SRC recipes here: Ginger Cookies, Fresh Corn Cakes with Peppers, and Coconut Risotto with Roasted Plum and Almonds. You can visit everyone else’s adventures via the blog hop, below.



Linked to: Slightly Indulgent Tuesday