When Allie posted on her blog a few of weeks ago (yes, this is a tad late – I originally wanted to post this that week I couldn’t post photos – sorry!) that she was the host of the Blogger Secret Ingredient and that her ingredient of choice was almond butter, I just knew I had to enter.  I really love all nut butters and feel like they can be put on anything.  Plus, if you’re a fan of the sweet/savory combo (I realize it’s sort of a ‘hate it’ or ‘love it’ type thang), then nut butters can basically be worked into anything and everything and will make your creations taste out of this world.  Consider working nut butters into your pasta dishes, spreading them on fruit and/or dried fruit, as a topping for your yogurt or hot cereal and my personal favorite, in a crazy sandwich or panini combination.

When I was a kid, I remember my uncle making this unusual sandwich and saying to myself, “is he nuts?“  For some reason, I was intrigued by his non-traditional sandwich making ways.  I then took a bite and I was instantly in love.  My uncle’s sandwich of cinnamon raisin toast with peanut butter and ham was unbelievable.  The saltiness of the ham was tamed by the sweetness of the cinnamon raisin bread and the peanut butter just tied the two together.  To this day, that is still one of my favorite sandwiches but I know not everyone ‘gets’ it.  But that just makes the sandwich that much better in my mind.

That said, I decided to come up with my own updated version of my uncle’s sandwich and enter it into Allie’s contest.  It was the perfect opportunity to recreate one of my favorite meals and to enter into my very first BSI contest.

My entry for BSI: Almond Butter was….

Creamy Nut Buttery Fig Panini

• 1 tortilla wrap (I used Joseph’s Flax Oatbran & Whole Wheat tortilla wrap)
• 1 TBSP of nut butter (I used Trader Joe’s Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds, but Almond Butter would work just as well.  Allie welcomed any type of nut butter in her contest)
• 1 TBSP of ricotta cheese (I used nonfat; you could use any kind)
• 1 slice of ham (I used Applegate Farms Slow Cooked Ham, but prosciutto would be swell, too)
• 1 dried fig, chopped into bite sized pieces (I used Trader Joe’s Turkish Smyrna Dried Figs)
• drizzle of agave nectar

Spread the nut butter onto the wrap, spread the ricotta, then layer the ham and finally, layer the fig pieces.  Drizzle the agave nectar over all and wrap like a burrito.  If you’d like, you could also fold your wrap in half like a quesadilla.  Place onto your indoor grill, panini maker or frying pan with a heavy object such as a filled tea kettle placed on top, and heat and press for a few minutes until everything starts oozing out!  Once cooked, cut in half (or in multiple wedges if using the quesadilla method) and savor the goodness!

The result?  Delicious! It tasted just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, except much more sophisticated! The sweet and savory flavor was a bit more subtle than the sandwich my uncle created but more complex for the palate.  The dried figs and agave nectar complemented the peanut butter and ham and gave the entire panini a tart and mildly sweet taste.  The ricotta balanced it all out and added to the creaminess of the peanut butter.  I chose the Trader Joe’s Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseed because of it’s saltiness and the fact that there are chunks of peanut and flaxseeds which helped to add to the depth of the sandwich.

This panini was so easy to make and was quite filling.  I love simple panini/sandwiches that have a crazy little combination inside.  They’re fun to test out and even better when they end up tasting yummy like this one!  I want to thank my uncle for giving me the inspiration to make this wonderful sandwich and I want to thank Allie for giving me the outlet to revamp my family classic.  I had a great time brainstorming my idea for the contest, but I had an even better time tasting and eating my entry.  Come on now, nuthin’ is better than nut butter.

What is your favorite type of nut butter?  What is the most unusual meal/dish you’ve made with a nut butter?

Namasté,
Nicole

***Speaking of nuts, check out what my sister dressed up as for her office’s Halloween party/costume contest! Pretty scary, huh?***

Chuckie from Child’s Play!

A pie eating contest?

My sister’s nametag

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

No, not that kind of getting baked, silly!  I’m talking about apples! Remember how I said that I was slacking in the apple recipe making/baking department in comparison to some of my fellow food bloggers?  Well, slow and steady wins the race and I’m making a go at the apple recipe cooking finish line (if there is such a thing?).  Because I used only one apple in my previous recipe and still have a million (not a lie) left in my crisper, I wanted to find a dish that would call for the usage of multiple apples.  Hence, I scoured the internet and did hours of research (total lie) until I found this gem…

Getting Baked Apples
Adapted from SimplyRecipes.com
Serves 4

• 4 large good baking apples (I bucked the trend and used McIntosh apples, which is not recommended for baking)
• 1/4 cup of rolled oats
• 1 TBSP of evaporated cane juice (I used Florida Crystals, feel free to use dry sweetener of your choice)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• sprinkle of nutmeg
• 14 raw almonds, chopped (you could use pecans, walnuts or no nuts)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped (dried apricots, raisins, dried figs would be good here, too)
• 1 TBSP of peanut butter (I used Trader Joe’s Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds)
• 3/4 cup boiling water

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash and dry your apples.  Using an apple corer or paring knife, remove the cores to 1/2 inch of the bottom of the apples.  Be careful not to cut all the way through to the bottom (I confess, I did this once)!  Then, use a paring knife to widen the cavity and a spoon to scoop out the seeds.  It’s a tad tricky at first, but you’ll get the hang of it.  Make the cavity about 3/4 inch to an inch wide.

2) In a small bowl, combine the oats, evaporated cane juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds and dried cranberries.

3) Place the apples in an 8 x 8 baking dish.  Fill each apple with the mixture and then dot the top of each apple with 1/4 of the TBSP of peanut butter.

4) Pour the boiling water into the baking dish.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the apples can be easily pierced with a knife, but not mushy.  While the apples are baking, be sure to baste the apples with the dish juices (I repeated this three different times).

5) Serve hot!

These baked apples were like whoa! I couldn’t believe how good they tasted for something that was so simple to make.  I really liked the fact that even though the apples were stuffed with goodies like cinnamon, nutmeg and dried cranberries, the natural sweetness of my personally picked produce still shined through.  And, the McIntosh apples stood up quite well in the oven.  They came out tender and did not fall apart.  So take that, you online apple experts (whoever the heck you are)!  This is one of the best DPAABs (dessert-parading-around-as-breakfast) I’ve had in a long time.  While it’s quite similar in taste to the healthified fruit crisp I made a few weeks ago, the sheer fact that I was eating a whole piece of baked fruit made this dish stand out from anything else I have ever made.  Plus, having to eat this dessert/breakfast with a fork and knife made me feel as if I was having an entire meal, versus just a snack.

And because this is a healthy food blog and I like to give recipes my own little twist, I decided to substitute the brown sugar for evaporated cane juice and reduce the amount.  And to make the dish even heartier, I decided to add one of my favorite foods, oatmeal! Instead of dabbing the tops of the apples with butter, I used a natural peanut butter.  It’s less greasy and adds more flavor to the recipe.  The original recipe called for serving this dish with vanilla ice cream, which is a tremendous call.  However, I didn’t have any on hand (just cookies and cream ) and figured a dollop of thick greek yogurt would be the next best thing.  You could also drizzle some honey or agave nectar over the entire apple for some additional sweetness, but my apples didn’t require it.  Plus, I had some of the oatmeal mixture leftover, so I sprinkled some over the greek yogurt.  I’m not gonna lie, it was a stroke of genius on my behalf…just sayin’.

Who says eating food can’t get you high?

Random question: Is there a recipe or dish that you are intimidated to make?  Or, what is the one recipe you’ve been dying to make but just haven’t had the chance to do so?

Namasté,
Nicole