Swimming & Summer Salads

The lazy, hazy days of summer are approaching and I can't wait.  I don't know what happens to me but when June first rolls around all I want to do is hit the beach, sit by a pool, ride my bike and forget about the grind of work.  I guess those childhood memories of summer are etched deeply into my soul and the next three months become my time of yearning for peace and tranquility at a much slower pace than the other seasons.

As a kid we grew up in California and went to the beach every summer for 2 weeks.  Those were my favorite two weeks.  The rest of the time we swam in our backyard pool.  When I was 10 we moved to Connecticut and our family continued to beach it at the Jersey shore or Cape Cod.  When we weren't at the beach we swam on the swim team at our club.  The evenings consisted of "kick the can" or "touch football" in the streets with our neighborhood friends.

This past week I had the opportunity to revisit my childhood neighborhood and walk the streets I used to play in decades ago.  My favorite place was the reservoir where I could be found riding my bike for hours on end along the paths through the woods.  It was my sanctuary.

I really have no childhood memories of summer foods.  Remember, my mother hated to cook.  What I can recall is the smell of the charcoal as my dad cooked up steaks and burgers on Sunday evenings.  I also remember the Good Humor man who would ring his bell and we would drop everything, race home for a quarter and jump on our bikes and find him before his truck took him to a different hood.  My favorite was toasted coconut over vanilla ice cream on a stick.  Ah, sitting on the curb enjoying each mouthful was heavenly!

Memorial weekend marks the start of summer with the halfway point the 4th of July, and ends with Labor Day weekend. There are sure to be family reunions, baseball picnics and summer parties.  I have included the summer salad recipes that have been my go-to for the pot lucks that abound this time of year.  I always bring my bowl home empty.  Bon appetite!

Black Bean and Quinoa Salad

5 TBL olive oil

1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked

1 cup Veggie broth

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 TBL lime or lemon juice

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 cup cooked black beans

1 cup whole kernel corn

1 large tomato, diced

1 red sweet pepper, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

3 TBL cilantro, chopped

2 TBL fresh parsley, chopped

In large saucepan heat 1 TBL oil over medium heat.  Add quinoa & stir till toasted & aromatic, approx. 5 minutes.  Stir in broth, cumin & salt.  Reduce heat to low & simmer, covered until all liquid is absorbed, approximately 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, let stand 15 minutes.

In medium bowl whisk 4 TBL olive oil, lime juice & pepper.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

Serve on bed of greens at room temperature.

Eat For Life Hummus

2 -3 cloves of fresh garlic

4 cups cooked garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ fresh squeezed lemon juice

¼ cup water (reserved from cooking the beans)

1 tsp cumin

¼ cup tahini

One my favorite brands of tahini!

1 tsp your favorite dried herb or 1 Tbl fresh (oregano, basil, rosemary)

In food processor chop the garlic with steel blade till stick to sides.

Stop machine and scrape minced garlic back to center and add beans and cumin.

Process to a course puree, then stop machine and scrape the sides again.

Mix the oil and lemon juice in a separate bowl.

Slowly add the liquid mixture to the beans as machine is running.

Add any fresh or dried herbs you prefer.

Add tahini and process until the hummus is smooth.

If mixture is too thick, thin with reserved water or plain water.

Serve with cucumber slices, baby carrots, celery, and sweet peppers.

The garbanzo beans and sesame seeds (tahini) are high in calcium.

Hummus will keep 3-4 days in fridge.  It is great also spread on whole grain wraps with fresh veggies.

Desserts WITHOUT Sugar!

When my husband, Ken and I first moved to Tennessee and purchased our land to do organic gardening and make functional pottery, we met several other artisans from other parts of the country.  One of our new friends was a couple from Michigan and Kris; the wife was an amazing folk singer. She actually sang at our wedding, Beatle John Lennon’s, “All you Need is Love”.

When we had potlucks on Sunday afternoons she would often entertain us with her acoustic guitar and the lyrics of many of our favorite folk singers of the time. One of my favorite songs Kris sang was Judy Collins’ song “Cook with Honey”. 

(CHORUS)

I always cook with honey

To sweeten up the night

We always cook with honey

Tell me, how's your appetite

For some sweet love

I remember hearing that song and deciding I would never cook with sugar again and only natural sweeteners of nature like honey, maple syrup and molasses.  I doubt if Judy or Kris knew the impact the lyrics would have on setting my standard for sweets.

I offer you a recipe made from natural fruit, natural dates and wonderful nuts. It is not original, but this recipe is from the wholefoods.com website.  My son actually found it.  He was in the grocery store and noticed how fresh and delicious the pineapples looked.  So he got out his smart phone and went to the Whole Foods web site and searched for pineapple recipes. So easy and completely gluten free, dairy free, egg free, sugar free dessert! Voila – delicious!

CINNAMON ROASTED PINEAPPLE WITH MACADAMIA NUT CREAM         

Serves 4

The natural sweetness of pineapple and dates and the richness of macadamia nuts make this palate-pleasing dessert, but it's also something you could enjoy at breakfast—try it over hot oatmeal.

Ingredients

3/4 cup raw unsalted macadamia nuts or cashews 
1/3 cup chopped pitted dates 
1 cup boiling water 
1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices 
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Method

In a small bowl, combine nuts and dates with boiling water and let soak 30 minutes. 
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange pineapple in a single layer over the paper and sprinkle with cinnamon. Roast until pineapple is very tender and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. 

Pour nuts, dates and soaking water into a blender and add vanilla and salt. Blend until very smooth, about 1 minute, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender once or twice. Serve drizzled over the warm pineapple.

Nutrition

Per serving: 330 calories (170 from fat), 19g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 80mg sodium, 44g total carbohydrate (6g dietary fiber, 33g sugar), 3g protein

Celebrate Spring - Nourish Your Seeds

This week celebrated the first days of Spring! 

As I sat on my front porch this morning to watch the sunrise, the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance were actually blue.  But today the blue was like a hue I had never experienced.  It was spa blue, the color of Calm.  It was as if God painted it Himself by hand just for me.

Spring to me always evokes feelings of recommitment to hopes and dreams and reconnection to our true self.  More than the frenzy of New Year’s Resolutions after a month of holidays, spring is an awakening of life within our souls, yearning for purpose.  Just as the early shoots of spring emerge from the earth and point their way upward to the sun, so too our hearts long for that resurgence of nourishment and growth.

Virginia Bluebell's
A sign of spring's arrival!

One of my favorite things to do in early spring on our farm in Tennessee was to take walks in the woods looking for wildflowers.  I knew the spots to hike to find the Dutchmen britches, the Indian paintbrush and Virginia bluebell.  But my favorite was a spot by the waterfall deep in the woods where there was a cluster of Narcissus.

When I reached that spot, I knew that winter was over and spring was here!  I would spread out on my back like an angel in the moss and listen to the water as it hit the rocks and gaze at the white petals of the flower.  In my spirit I knew that all was well with my soul.

We are like that little seed, and when given the right nutrients and elements will prosper as well.

This spring do something to connect with the earth.  Get your feet on a trail or hands in the dirt.  Plant some flowers or herbs.  Get adventurous and plant a garden.  When you see those little seedlings sprout up out of the dirt, you are amazed at something so simple, yet so amazing.  Within that little seed is everything the plant needs to become a tomato, a daisy or some basil.  All it needs is the earth, the rain and the sun and it will grow.  We are like that little seed, and when given the right nutrients and elements will prosper as well.  This spring dig deep into your soul and discover what you need to blossom and bear fruit in your life.

“Be yourself, everyone else is taken” Oscar Wilde

Granola

When I think of the farm and hiking in our hills I think of our homemade granola, that I made every spring and summer for years.  In the fall and winter we made oatmeal.  Remember oats are great for lowering cholesterol and their low glycemic index makes them a great breakfast to keep your blood sugar stable.  This recipe is an adaption of my original recipe.

Bon Appetite! 

GRANOLA

3 cups rolled oats

½ cup ground flax seed

1 ½ cup sunflower seeds

1 cup coconut

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup raisins

6 TBLS Natural Peanut Butter

2/3 cup agave nectar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  I like a wooden bowl.  Heat the peanut butter and agave nectar on low until blended.  Add the vanilla extract and then add to the dry ingredients.  Blend thoroughly with your hands to coat the oat mixture.  Spread out on a large baking sheet or pan and bake at 300 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes turning once, until lightly toasted.  Dump out on your clean counter to cool.  If you like a clumpier granola, let it cool in the pan.  Let it cool completely before you store in glass jars.

Nutritional data:

Serving size ½ cup

Calories 234

Fat 13 grams

Carbs 25 grams

Fiber 9 grams

Protein 7.5 grams

Asparagus & Chocolate

I spent the weekend in Williamsburg and everywhere I went restaurants and health food stores were promoting asparagus and chocolate, not necessarily in the same dish, but as aphrodisiacs for Valentines Day. I realized that until just a few years ago I hated both asparagus and chocolate. 

Raw, fresh asparagus beats soggy,
 canned asparagus any day of the week! 

My only experience with asparagus was out of a can in my youth, pretty mushy and stringy for a kid to embrace.  Sometimes my Mother would hide it and disguise it in her asparagus casserole.  I remember there being cream of mushroom soup, cheese (probably Velveeta cheese food) and I think bread bits.  I thought it was nasty, but my sister loved it. 

My next experience with asparagus was in 1978 when we bought a 250 acre farm and dug a huge trench and planted lots and lots of asparagus.  I figured maybe if I labored for it I would like it.  No, still not a favorite. But then a few years ago I tried roasting it.  Oh my gosh – it became a different vegetable.  Now it is on my top five green veggies!  Little soldiers all lined up that taste sweet and crunchy! (see recipe below)

Worlworth's 5 and 10 Cent Store
A classic when I was growing up!

Now maybe you can relate to the asparagus story – I mean who likes stringy and mushy.  But chocolate?  I doubt I have one reader who doesn’t like chocolate.  Growing up I never liked chocolate.  I remember when I was a youngster in Southern California, my sister and I would walk several blocks to the Woolworth's 5 & 10 candy store every Saturday with our allowance.  You could buy a candy bar for a nickel.  My sister would always get a chocolate bar, Snickers, Almond Joy or Butterfingers.  I ALWAYS got a Payday.  Fast forward five years and we are now living in the suburbs of Hartford, CT.  My friend Susie Gates and I would ride our bikes a few miles to Friendly’s ice cream every Saturday with our allowance. You could buy a Sundae for a dollar.  She would get hot fudge and I would ALWAYS get butterscotch.

My favorite DARK chocolate! I first tried
it in Italy 5 years ago and I was hooked.

I even took my one of my daughters to Hershey, PA to go through the Hershey Museum and did not eat any chocolate.  Because I did not like chocolate, UNTIL I went to Italy five years ago and had European DARK Chocolate.  It was a different breed of chocolate and I became hooked.

So this Valentine’s Day enjoy your DARK Chocolate and your Roasted Asparagus and remember that “we can LOVE each other because HE first loved us”. (1John 4:19)

Roasted Asparagus

Purchase tender spears – thicker ones are tougher and less sweet

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Rinse the asparagus clean

Snap each spear near the bottom, the woody part knows where to snap off.

Delicious, healthy & easy to prepare.

Line up like soldiers on your cookie tray

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Place in oven and cook 20 -25 minutes turning once after 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate

The darker the better

Organic is best

Fair trade is great

With nuts is divine

With cherries or raspberries is the best

One square (or 60 calorie piece per day)

120 calories is a splurge!!

Control – there is always tomorrow!

Year 2012, Week 3, Day 20

How is your New Year’s Resolution going?  Have you started yet?  Are you getting weary yet?  OR are you forging ahead, on fire, ready for change?  Ready for a NEW YOU!  Let 2012 be your year of Jubilee!

They say it takes 21 days to make a new habit! You can move from conscious non-compliance to conscious compliance and eventually to unconscious compliance.  It actually becomes PART OF YOU!  The down side is it takes only 3 days to break a good habit and go back to the path of least resistance.  So each day you can accomplish your nutrition and fitness goals you get further down the path to sustainability.

Change is not easy.  Just like water, we take the path of least resistance.  I think of it as a river, a mighty force of nature that is going to chart its own course.  Unless, of course, we build a damn.  Changing behavior is like building a damn, one sand bag, and one stone at a time, until the water is re-routed.  Re-route yourself, one decision, one food choice, one workout at a time, until the path of least resistance is your path of unconscious compliance.

There are three key factors to staying on track as you re-route your journey to Optimal Health.

#1 – Mindful Eating – Eat food that supports your health vision.  Be conscious of not only what you put in your mouth but also why you are eating it.  Be aware of the quality and quantity of the food choices you make.  Plan, plan, plan on the front end so you are not stuck eating from the window of your car.

#2 – Find something you LIKE to do for movement and exercise.  Schedule it in your day just as you would schedule a dentist appointment or a haircut.  It is non-negotiable!

#3 – Prioritize your rest and relaxation.  When you are not on a racetrack, then planning and scheduling healthy living becomes more realistic.  Learn to discern the difference between the important and the urgent.

I purchase my beans in bulk at my
local health food store
(Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op). 

One of the ways I plan for healthy eating is to make homemade soup or stew every weekend.  This provides at least one evening meal and a few lunch heat-ups.  Legumes are a perfect food, high in plant-based protein, good fat, and high in fiber.  The low glycemic index gives you long lasting energy and helps stabilize blood sugar, which helps stabilize your mood.  The high fiber content keeps you fuller longer and helps lower cholesterol and regulates elimination.  What’s not to love about beans?

If you grew up in the North like me, you never had beans.  If you grew up in the South you had plenty of them, the Southern way – cooked in fat back with lots of salt and sugar.  Here are a few healthy ways to use legumes in hearty winter soup recipes.  Serve with fresh bread and a green salad and you have my all time favorite meal!!

It is important to soak the beans…  Overnight if possible, but at least for several hours.  Rinse them before you soak them and after you soak them to get all the dirt off.  Soaking also helps cut down on the cooking time, and since beans take so long to cook, up to 3 hours without a pressure cooker, we are all about saving time.  Finally, soaking the beans cuts down on gas, which are the main reason people complain about why they don’t like beans. The indigestible complex sugars on the outer coating of the bean, which is responsible for the gas, is removed through soaking.  So get a strainer and rinse and soak and rinse and soak and learn to appreciate Mother Nature’s gift to you.  Inexpensive, fiber rich, high protein, plant based complex carbohydrate that comes in a variety of colors, shapes, and tastes.

Bon appetite!

Lentil Stew

Every great soup starts with fresh onions!

Eat For Life - Jeanie Redick, CN

2-3 Tbls olive oil

1 cup diced onion

2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced carrots

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp marjoram

1 tsp basil

1 tsp. oregano

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (or fresh)
2 TBLS vegetarian soup blend dissolved in 2 quarts of water

2 cups dry lentils rinsed and drained

Garnish with: (optional)

A squirt of soy sauce

2 tbsp Nutritional cheesy yeast

Heat the oil in a large soup pan.

Saute onion and garlic, add celery and carrots and herbs.

Next add the tomatoes, water, lentils and soup blend.

Simmer 45 minutes until the lentils are tender.

White Cannellini Bean Soup
EAT FOR LIFE - Jeanie Redick, CN

2-3 TBLS olive oil
1 large onion diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh rosemary sprigs –  1 TBLS fresh – 1 tsp dried

Salt and pepper to taste
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 bunch kale leaves (6-8 leaves)
2 TBLS veggie soup blend dissolved in 2 quart of water
3 cans white cannellini beans (or 2 cups of dried beans soaked and cooked)
½ cup bulgar

Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil
Add the rosemary and salt and pepper
Add the soup blend to the water & add to pot
Add the beans, washed and drained
Add the tomatoes
Add the diced kale leaves
Add the bulgar and heat thoroughly for
20 to 30 minutes

Optional:
Partially blend by pulsing with an immersion blended
OR add part of the soup to a blender and pulse and add back to pot 

Split Pea Soup
EAT FOR LIFE - Jeanie Redick, CN

2-3 TBLS olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
3-4 carrots diced
2-3 celery stalks diced
1 tsp dried rosemary, 1TBLS fresh
2 quart water
2 TBLS veggie soup blend
3 white potatoes diced
2 cups dried split peas rinsed and soaked
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and garlic on olive oil
Add carrots and celery
Add rosemary and sauté
Add soup blend to water and add to pot
Add potatoes and dried split peas

Bring to boil and simmer uncovered for 1 - 2 hours until peas are tender
Garnish with nutritional yeast and Bragg’s liquid aminos
Serve with corn bread and salad!

Christmas Cookies

My most favorite dessert on the planet is cookies.  Forget cakes, pies, even ice cream; nothing holds a candle to cookies and Christmas cookies are the BEST because they are made from scratch and there are so many varieties to chose from.

The only cookies my Mother ever made were Christmas Cookies with our neighbor, Mrs. Mixter.  We never got to actually see her make them as she did it at the neighbor’s house while we were in school.  She would bring them home in blue Maxwell House coffee tin cans lined with wax paper and hide them in the cupboard over the oven behind the Charles Chip can.  But we knew where they were.  My favorite was the rum balls dusted with white confectioner’s sugar.

She loved chips over cookies (and I have always loved cookies over chips) so we had a can of Charles Chips delivered to the house, regularly.  It lived above the oven in a cupboard by itself, except at Christmas.  When our house was robbed, my Mother told all of her friends to hide their money and jewelry in the Charles Chip can.  The kitchen, she discovered, was the only room not ran-sacked.

I loved baking cookies with my
girls when they were little!

My first encounter with making homemade cookie goes back to Mrs. Greene in 8^th grade Home Ec. Class. After my first baking experience with Mrs. Greene I decided I would master the art of cookie baking and never have to deny my sweet tooth again.  Our Mother liked a clean kitchen, so messing it up with baking was not a welcome prospect. My Dad went out of town quite often and sometimes my Mother got to join him.  Since we did not have family in town, she would hire a grandmother-type matron from the yellow pages.  Our favorite was Mrs. Reeves.  She taught us to play pinochle and let me bake cookies.  My first batch rose bigger than the other cookies in Mrs. Greene’s class.   I was delighted, but quickly deflated as the taste test brought ruin to my endeavors.  Mrs. Reeves knew immediately what I had done.  Lifting that little orange box in the air she asked, her face contorting as her mouth frowned in bitterness, “How much baking soda did you use?”  “One half cup”, I replied.  Upon inspection of the round canister of oats, I realized it had called for ½ teaspoon.  I wondered why they used such a little box.  I had cleaned it out trying to fill that half-cup measure to the top, leveling it off with the blunt side of a kitchen knife, just like Mrs. Greene had taught me.  I quickly learned that the carpenter's adage, “measure twice, cut once” could be revised and applied to baking, “read twice, measure once”.

I have tried many cookie recipes over the years and oatmeal raisin with nuts remains my favorite.  Unfortunately to make a good cookie, sugar is a key ingredient to give it the perfect balance of chewy and crunchy.  As a nutritionist I preach against sugar as something that we can easily get addicted to, adds to weight gain and can weaken our immune system.  So you can see my great values conflict! But like all things in life there are what I call "worthy splurges".  And sometimes the benefit outweighs the cost, and Christmas is one of those sometimes.  

When my children were little we made Tasha Tudor’s Christmas Cookies every year.  They were simple sugar cookies made with real butter.  We rolled them out and cut out shapes and made a mess in the kitchen.  It was so fun and the cookies were delicious.  My husband’s Aunt Betty loved cookbooks and gave me Tasha Tudor’s Christmas book, Take  Joy! as a gift my first Christmas in their family.  I think the main reason that Aunt Betty loved Tasha Tudor so much was because of their common bond of Welsh Corgis doggy owners.  Her book shares many of their Welsh Christmas traditions, including cutting a live tree on Christmas Eve.  We have always cut a live tree, too and make sugar cookies.  Now my daughters continue the tradition with their little girls.  What are some of your traditions at Christmas? 

Tasha Tudor's Sugar Cookies

1 lb. butter

2 eggs

5 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 3 tbsp. milk

Mix all ingredients together by hand. Chill thoroughly. Roll thin on parchment paper and cut out

with cookie cutters.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350 degrees about 8 minutes or until light brown around

the edges. Makes about 80 cookies.

We kept them simple and slightly dust them with nutmeg. 

Tweeners

The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas can put on a lot of pounds in between the shoulders and the knees. We call these tweeners. This is not what you want to get for Christmas. For Christmas we want leaners – leaner abs and a leaner derriere. To achieve this goal you have to stay away from the tweener-bites.  These are the snacks that we graze on in between meals throughout the month of December because, well just because. Sometimes the tweener-bites become the meal and it becomes a foggy memory of calories. The grocery store shelves call our names, actually not just at the grocery store anymore, the drug store, the gas station, and the office.  There is no privacy anymore, all the cakes, candy, cookies, chocolate know your name. Forget credit card fraud, your identity is not safe anymore. It is time to change your name! Wear your sunglasses into the grocery store and maybe the holiday treats won’t recognize you and leave you alone.

It’s time to prepare for battle! Now, not in 2012 when the armor will no longer fit. Get a strategy to survive the onslaught and your tweeners will turn to leaners and you’ll leave Santa in the dust. Poor Santa, he has to eat cookies at EVERY house he visits, but you don’t. You get to choose! After all, not ALL the temptations in the month of December are really worth it. It used to be that everything was made from scratch around the holidays. Not so anymore. So why waste your calories on what is not a “worthy splurge”?

Even Santa has to take a little time for
himself to exercise and fight those "tweeners!"

When at a holiday party or in your kitchen, peruse the joint and decide what is really worth it. Then just take one small portion, eat slowly, enjoy and then move on....to the gym the next day and the day after that until when January comes you are not one of the newbies, but you are one of the regulars wondering where all these people came from. Movement is the key to not gain the 2, 4 or even 7 pounds that appear out of nowhere on January 2^nd. Start your New Year’s resolution NOW! 

When you go to a party or dinner, bring something healthy, so you can be sure to have at least one healthy choice.  Surprise your friends and family with a new recipe. Below is one I enjoyed once in Napa, California and again in Beaune, France. The crème de cassis is made from black currants that are grown in Burgundy.  It can only be purchased at an ABC store. I put the two experiences together and came up with my version of Poached Pears. 

EASY Poached Pears – 12 servings

6 pears – I prefer Bosc

1 cup dried fruit – I use raisins, cherries, cranberries and sometimes dried apricots – Mix and Match

1 cup liquid – water, apple cider and crème de cassis – 1/3 each or ½ cup water and cider (or juice)

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

¼ cup chopped pistachios

1 - 80% dark cocoa bar melted (I like the Lindt or Green & Black’s organics)

My Poached Pears right before I add the
chocolate sauce and pistachios! Delicious!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the pears in halve lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and stringy part to the stem. A melon baller works great for this. 

Spread the dried fruit on the bottom of a rectangular glass, baking dish. Place the halved pears upside down on the dried fruit. Combine the liquids together in a measuring cup and stir in the cinnamon.  Then pour over the pears. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes or until the pears are soft (pierce with a fork). Riper pears take less time than harder pears. Meanwhile melt your chocolate and chop your pistachios.

To serve:

Place a pear halve right side up in a dessert bowl. Fill the hole where the seeds were with soft dried fruit.  Pour some of the juice over the pear.  Drizzle chocolate on top and sprinkle with nuts.

Voila! Bon Appetite!