Walnuts, thought to be brain food, can be eaten raw, as they are, or roasted to bring out more of their flavor. Glenda’s Farmhouse has ideas for what to make with walnuts and how to store the extras properly.
About Glenda’s Farmhouse
Glenda’s Farmhouse is an Andersen & Sons Shelling brand named for the Andersen brothers’ mother. Since 1904, the Andersen family has been farming walnuts, prunes, and cattle in Vina, California. We have merged with Western Nut Company and are expanding into new brands and other tree nut commodities, such as cashews, almonds, and pecans. We think of our walnuts as the “go-to” nut of choice for consumer cooking, baking, and snacking.
Easy Ways to Include Walnuts in Your Meals
- Shell the walnuts and eat them raw, just as they are.
- Drizzle with olive oil, dust with your favorite spices, toast them, and add them to salads.
- Finely chop some walnuts and add them to your oatmeal.
- When roasted, enjoy them in pasta or rice pilaf.
- Top your avocado toast with a handful of chopped walnuts.
- Exchange one-third of the ground meat in your favorite recipes for finely chopped walnuts before cooking.
- Add chopped walnuts to chicken or fish just before cooking.
- Add chopped walnuts to yogurt and cut fruits for a healthy dessert.
- Pair them with vanilla, cloves, and cinnamon in desserts.
- Add chopped walnuts to cakes, cookies, muffins, and breads.
- For extra brain health benefits, eat walnuts with blueberries.
Walnut Storage
Walnuts naturally contain fats and oil, making proper storage necessary. Exposure to warm temperatures for too long will cause the fat and oil to change and turn rancid. If your walnuts are rubbery, shriveled, or have a strange odor, they have turned old or rancid and should be thrown away. Here are some tips on the proper way to store walnuts to maintain optimum freshness and their delicious, crunchy taste.
- Keep Air Out: Like many fresh food products, minimal exposure to air will help walnuts retain their quality. Store them in air-tight containers or sealed packaging in a cool, dry place.
- Control Temperature: Walnuts last longer when kept in the refrigerator at 35 F to 40 F. If you don’t plan on using your nuts right away, you can also freeze them for up to one year.
- Avoid Storing with other Foods: As walnuts can absorb odors from foods with strong odors, like onions, store them at a distance in air-tight containers or place the original package in a resealable heavy-duty freezer bag.
- Prepare as Needed: Walnuts maintain the freshest taste when the kernels are whole. For the best flavor, prepare them on the day you plan to use them or one day before.
For more ideas on what to make with walnuts, get in touch with Glenda’s Farmhouse at 530.839.2236, or visit the recipe blog at Andersen & Sons Shelling.