Nuts are the summer diet you want

Since every season has it’s eating rituals, we’re gonna tell you how nuts can change your summer diet forever.

Hot drinks and soups are popular during winter, seasonal greens are eaten during spring and autumn has it’s cozy treats, but summer foods are without a doubt the best. During the sunny season many of us stop thinking of what we’re eating and start to indulge in everything tasty. This may be because it’s too late to work on your summer body (summer is here and it is what it is), or we just simply want to enjoy it to the max in every way possible. However, as well as always preach, tasty foods don't have to be unhealthy, a bit of nuts in your summer diet can be both healthy and delicious.

While different continents eat them differently, nuts are popular foods all over the world. Having been part of the human diet for more than 11,000 years, they are among the oldest sources of nutrition known to man, and for good reason. Kernels found inside fruits contain high amounts of unsaturated fats (the good kind), as well as fibers and protein, making them tiny bundles of superfoods. They are also generally rich in vitamins such as folic acid, niacin and vitamins E and B6, as well as minerals like magnesium, copper, potassium, selenium, zinc and phosphorus.

In practice, a fist full of nuts a day can drastically improve your health and provide you with your complete nutritional needs for the coming spin along the planet’s axis. You could of course snack on them, which is one of my favorite ways to eat nuts, but there are more creative (and tasty) ways to include them in your summer diet.

On hot summer days you usually crave something cool or cold to help you cope with the heat. During such days you can sprinkle a mixture of chopped nuts on your yoghurt and have a deliciously crunchy breakfast or healthy light lunch. Another way to cool down is to drink cold drinks, and many of them become a bit tastier (and way more fun) if you add whole pine nuts or almonds, such are rosewater or lemonade.

Salads are also popular summer foods, and we love them because they are just as nutritious as they are tasty and colorful. You can include nuts in nearly every type of salad, especially if they contain any type of cheese. When that is the case, we recommend crushed walnuts, cashews and/or pine nuts.

And of course, we won’t leave out the grill. One of the most popular summer pastime activities is barbecuing, and nuts fit in on the barbecue table well too. Nuts can be blended into many sauces and marinades, crushed and used for seasoning (try crushed cashews with chicken), as well as in salads, snacks, and in drinks as mentioned above.

Overall, summer diet only gets better once you toss in a handful of nuts. Don’t be afraid of experimenting and testing out what nut fits into what, the worst thing that could happen is that you get a crunchy, healthy food to snack on.

*All photos are from our upcoming cookbook that includes recipes of healthy and tasty dishes and treats made with nuts.