Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t…one of my all-time favorite jingles.  Even though they were talking about candy, I relate it to my state of being.  Most of the time I feel like a nut because of all that I have going on in my life.  I remember a couple of years ago my New Year’s resolution was simplify – and I really feel like I did a good job – I simplified my personal life so that my work life could continue to get crazier and crazier.  These days, if I can spend more than a couple of hours in the kitchen actually being creative, I feel like a new person.  I am very sorry that my blog posts are getting more and more infrequent, but that’s reality these days.  And as far as my New Year’s resolution this year, it’s called thrival.  I know it is not a real word, but I am sure you can imagine what it means.

A few years ago I started getting into making cocktails – not because I drink a lot of alcohol, but because it was a way for me to create something with almost instant gratification – I didn’t need to wait for it to cook or bake, and all of a sudden, I had a complex flavor creation that I could share with others.  Because at the end of the day, that’s what this is really all about – sharing.  Now what goes great with a nice cocktail, some awesome nuts!  I saw this recipe in Cooking Light, and I was so excited to be able to whip these up in an instant – seriously it was that easy.  They made the house smell like an exotic restaurant – and they went great with our New Year’s Eve cocktails.  At this moment, I was definitely experiencing thrival.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons peanut oil
• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Heat peanut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar, five-spice powder, cumin, black pepper, red pepper, and water to pan. Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture begins bubbling. Add cashews to pan; cook 2 minutes or until well coated, stirring constantly.

Spread cashews evenly on prepared baking sheet, using 2 forks to separate them and leaving as much room as possible between nuts. Sprinkle nuts evenly with salt. Bake at 350° for 7 minutes or until fragrant. Cool slightly on pan before serving.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Warm Spiced Cashews