she cooks…he cleans

Adapted from Thai The Essence of Asian Cooking, Judy Bastyra with recipes by Becky Johnson.

In anticipation of our flight to Albuquerque this weekend, I have been looking for some interesting, primal-friendly snacks for the plane. Traveling in coach, one usually gets the choice of peanuts, cookie wafers, or chips – or a deep breath of recycled air. Well, our snacks are going to be the envy of the travelers seated in the exit row section! These wok-roasted cashew nuts are both sweet and a little spicy, although slightly sticky. Good thing we’ve been saving extra packages of hand wipes from the local barbecue joints!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups raw cashew nuts (almonds also work well)
• 1 1/2 cups dry, unsweetened, shredded coconut
• 2 fresh red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Stir in the honey; after a few seconds add the nuts and coconut. Stir-fry for about a minute, then add the chopped chillies.

Continue to stir-fry until the coconut and nuts are golden brown. Remove from heat and add the sesame seeds, salt and pepper (to taste). Toss until all the ingredients are well mixed.

Serve warm or at room temperature. [Update! See comments below on how to make this crunchier and less sticky!]

Just as every meal has a soundtrack, so does an area. And we’ve found the perfect music for the RF in John Prine.

To my ears, it don’t get much better than John Prine. The world looks almost human seen through his eyes, on songs like “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore” or “Illegal Smile” and the oft-covered classic, “Angel From Montgomery”. So I plan on snacking on some spicy sweet cashews…and the rest? I’ll leave that up to your imagination.