Nut
Cardamom-Pistachio Carrot Cake
Take your time when streaming the butter into the egg and sugar mixture—you want to create an emulsion, as when making a vinaigrette. If you go too quickly, you’ll end up with a greasy batter.
Ancho Mole Cookies
Hold these sesame-coated chocolate-and-nut cookies up to the light to appreciate the stained-glass effect of the dried fruit.
Butter Pecan Skillet Cookies
If butter pecan ice cream were a cookie, it would be this all-levels skillet shortbread.
Seed and Nut Bread
Gluten-free and literally packed with good things, a slice of this bread is a great way to get your daily dose of seeds and nuts.
Pasta With Broccoli and Lemon Cashew-Cream Sauce
We highly recommend finishing the pasta with finely grated Parmesan and some extra cracked black pepper—they’re great flavors with the creamy lemon sauce.
Sweet Potato and Pecan Waffles
Make a big batch of these bright orange waffles when you want to slow down and make a nice, hot breakfast—then freeze the leftovers to pop in the toaster on mornings that aren't so slow.
Carrot Ribbon Salad With Ginger, Parsley, and Dates
This salad evolved from my father’s favorite road-trip snack—carrot sticks with roasted almonds, lemon juice, and salt. I’ve punched it up with fresh ginger, lots of parsley, and dates.
Sumac, Spelt, and Apple Cake
Sumac is a Middle Eastern spice with a tart, lemony flavor and the most beautiful deep red color. More commonly used in savory dishes, its citrus fragrance also works just as well in a sweet cake. The spelt flour gives this vegan number a rustic look and nutty taste, producing a delightfully crunchy crust that hides a soft, moist crumb underneath, with chunks of sweet apple running all the way through.
Crunchy Pickle Salad
We tend to favor pickles that are bright with acid and low on sugar; anything labeled “half-sour” usually fits the bill. If using sweeter pickles, add a bit more vinegar and salt.
Swirl Spice Cake
The layer of streusel in this marbled loaf cake gets a complex punch of flavor from a coffee spice blend that includes dried orange peel, cardamom, and fennel seeds.
Stuffed Cabbage With Lemony Rice and Sumac
With its crinkly texture, savoy cabbage is our go-to for stuffed cabbage, but the regular ol’ green variety also works. Both will become meltingly tender.
Fragrant Mixed Herb and Flatbread Salad
The salad works best with strips of Persian flatbread, but plain tortillas work just as well. The addition of golpar, with its citrusy aroma, really lifts this dish, accentuating the sweetness of the pomegranates and adding a wonderful depth of flavor, so try and track some down if you can.
Pistachio and Pomegranate Meatballs
Herby turkey meatballs get flavored with pistachios, tangy pomegranate, and grape molasses. Serve the meatballs as wraps with lavash and crisp lettuce.
Sumac Baked Fish With Saffron Quinoa
Quinoa and baked fish are well seasoned with tangy sumac, tart lime, and garlic in this Persian-inspired dinner.
Chocolate-Almond Fridge Fudge
The dairy-free secret to this fudge's creaminess? Avocado.
Double Chocolate Rye Cookies
Full of both dark chocolate chunks and bits of unsweetened chocolate, this cookie is rich and chewy—perfect for dunking into a glass of milk.
Mala Fried Peanuts
Shelled raw peanuts are easy to find at Asian markets, health food stores, and other specialty food stores.
Pine Nut and White Bean Dip
Toasting the pine nuts until they’re properly golden brown to the center and not just on the surface is key in coaxing out maximum flavor. That said, pine nuts are expensive and can burn, so keep a close eye on them as they cook.
Almond Pad Thai With Shiritaki Noodles
Shirataki noodles are made from the fiber of the konjac plant. Here their tossed with vegetables and an almond-butter-based sauce for a quick low-carb, vegetarian weeknight dinner.
Cardamom-Pistachio Bûche de Noël
A pistachio custard filling makes for an enchanting moss-green spiral inside this cardamom sponge cake Yule log.