Nuts are a wonderful source of protein and extremely versatile. They are great to add into a dish, sweet or savoury and so tasty as a smack with an aperitif.

Almonds

A hard shell with contents that are sweet with a delicate flavour. Fresh almonds picked from a tree are soft and so moorish. As well as excellent raw, almonds are the main ingredient in foods such as marzipan, macaroons and liquors. Almond oil is also used for skin care products. Almonds are a super food and helps to lower cholesterol. It is a good source of protein and omega 3. And almonds coated in sugar are used decoratively for gifts at events and celebrations.

Brazils

Brazils may be a hard nut to crack but the reward is worth waiting for. They are great in rich fruit cakes and why not have a go and coat them in chocolate. If you ground brazil nuts, add to a vegetable or rice dish for that extra crunch or as part of a veggie burger. Brazils are a good source of vitamin E and have a high level of selenium. Selenium helps to prevent coronary artery disease, liver cirrhosis, and cancers.

Chestnuts

Chestnuts are well associated with Christmas and are so versatile. Although sweet, the earthy taste makes the nut perfect in both sweet and savoury dishes. Typical recipes are chestnut stuffing, chestnut and mushroom soup, chocolate and chestnut cake and of course as tradition intended... roasted on an open fire! Chestnuts are a good source of dietary fibre and foliates and folic acid is required for the formation of red blood cells, DNA synthesis.

Pistachios

Resembling olives in shape, pistachios are a great stress buster - cracking those shells to award yourself with the contents is so therapeutic! Pistachios are rich in fibre and almost 90% of the fat found in pistachios is the healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats. Pistachios are great in curries, meatloaf, in cakes and when in Italy... Pistachio ice-cream!

Walnuts

Walnuts have a very distinctive flavour and the slightly bitter skin will not deter you from enjoying the nut. Walnuts are superb in or with cheeses, as an oil to dress a simple green salad.  And as a part of the classic coffee and walnut cake - this is the perfect teatime treat. And how about walnut bread, warm straight from the oven? Walnuts are considered the king of nuts for health benefits. They are renowned for its powerful antioxidant effects, which protect the body against damaging natural chemicals involved in causing disease.

In a nutshell... Eat and enjoy more nuts!