Don’t you just love cashew nuts when you want a delicious, healthy and tasty snack? I bet you also love them as part of a dessert or trail mix. They aren’t actually a nut, but a seed that can be used as a part of many recipes. Read on to discover interesting OMG Teen Book facts about cashews, as well as tips for including them in your cooking.
Some Useful Tips and Facts about Cutie Cashews
Health Benefits
Cashews, like many other culinary nuts, are very rich in minerals and vitamins that are essential to our bodies. They contain high levels of monounsaturated fatty acids, which help keep your heart healthy by regulating your HDL (“good cholesterol”) and LDL (“bad cholesterol”) levels.
They are excellent sources of many essential minerals, such as manganese, zinc, copper, iron, potassium and magnesium. They also contain selenium, which is a powerful nutrient that works with the antioxidants in our bodies. Not only that, cashews also contain B-group vitamins such as riboflavin, pyridoxine, and thiamin. Your body needs these vitamins for the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
Nuts Are Great As a Snack
The simplest way to enjoy cashews is raw, on their own. The skin of the cashew nut is toxic and causes skin irritation on contact. This is why all of the cashews sold to consumers have already been shelled. They are commonly roasted and prepared either with salt or sweetener. Cashews, like many other nuts, contain a fair amount of calories and make an excellent, satisfying addition to a trail mix.
Nuts Work Well With Many Dishes
Cashew nuts are commonly featured in Indian cuisine, either whole or ground into a paste to form a base for curries. They are also found in many other types of cuisine, such as Chinese and Thai. They can be used along with almonds and dried fruits as a part of a savory rice dish. Like many other nuts, they are particularly tasty as a part of dessert. They are commonly used in or as toppings for cakes and pies. Crushed or chopped cashews are an excellent topping for ice cream, especially alongside almonds, peanuts and pistachios.
The Cashew Apple
The cashew nut, inside its toxic shell, grows out of the bottom of an apple-like fruit called a cashew apple or cashew fruit. These fruits are less popular in areas where cashews are not grown, because they are much more difficult to transport. This is due to the fact that they are extremely soft and easy to damage.
The cashew apple is very sweet and five times richer in vitamin C than an orange. They can be eaten fresh, but are also used in curries, chutneys, and jams. They are made into drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and cashew juice is available in many countries where the fruit isn’t commonly shipped.
Cashew nuts have a nutty taste, yet also sweet. They are a versatile food that provides a nutritional boost to all sorts of recipes. They contain many essential nutrients for most OMG Teen Book Series Members. In fact, they are so rich in them that eating even a few cashew nuts every day is very beneficial to your body and your taste buds alike.
Dedicated to your happy and successful life,
Cristina & Greg Noland
Founders of The OMG Teen Book Series
PS Remember to check out the OMG Teen Book Series on Amazon – CLICK HERE (Some books are FREE from time to time! Enjoy J)
