Sweet and Savory recipes with peanuts

Peanuts come from South America.  The edible varieties of this incredible legume were probably domesticated in Brazil and the Portuguese were the first habitants of the Old World to discover their existence.  They took it to other corners of the world but they weren’t popularly adopted from the beginning.  A lot of time went by before they were considered to be a good food for domesticated animals.  Today, we happily employ it in peanut butter and other delectable pastries.  The United States was the first country to popularize it, when during a crisis caused by plagues in the valuable cotton crops, the scientist George Washington Carver (not to be confused with the president) suggested replacing cotton crops with peanut crops.  Today, however, Asian countries are the primary peanut producers, which are especially valuable for oil extraction.

Peanuts are very interesting legumes that are rich in niacin and vitamin E.  Niacin helps control cholesterol levels in blood and to maintain joint mobility, preventing the development of arthritis.  But protein, fiber, and oils are what make up most of peanuts.  Peanuts provide more proteins than any other legume, they even bean a lot of other nuts in this respect.  These proteins also contain high arginine levels which animal proteins do not.  Peanuts also contain monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils which are easily digested and help regulate cholesterol levels.  I hope that with these following recipes, you’ll want to add peanuts to your next meal:

Steak kabobs with peanut sauce

Ingredients

Peanut Sauce:

• ½ c. peanut butter
• 50 grams toasted and crushed peanuts
• ¼ c. hot water
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. spicy salsa
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 1 tsp. chives, diced

Meat:

• 1 kilo of steak
• ½ tsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• ¼ c. brown sugar
• 1 clove of garlic, diced
• 3 Tbsp. chives, diced
• ½ serrano or green pepper, diced
• Fresh cilantro
• ¼ c. olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Sauce:

1. Mix peanut butter with warm water. When ingredients are mixed well, add the remaining ingredients required for the sauce and mix well.  Set aside, this will later be drizzled on the meat.

Meat:

1. In a Ziploc or hermetically sealed container, prepare the marinade by combining fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, diced garlic, chives, pepper and olive oil.  Mix all ingredients well inside the bowl or bag.
2. Cut the meat into 3 cm wide strips and place them in the marinade.  Bathe all meat pieces and seal them in the bag or bowl.  Let meat set in the marinade for at least 2 hours.
3. Remove the meat pieces from the marinade and using toothpicks or a long wooden roasting sticks, pierce the meat three or four times (once in each end, and another time in the middle) so the meat does not come off the stick while cooking.
4. Roast the meat on the grill.  Cook however long you like, but preferably until the ends start to scorch a little.  Turn eat piece halfway through cook time.
5. Serve and cover in peanut sauce.

Blueberry peanut cookies

Ingredients

• ½ c. peanut butter
• ¼ c. diced peanuts
• ¼ c. dehydrated blueberries
• 2 c. flour
• ¾ c. sugar
• 1 tsp. sodium bicarbonate
• ¾ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¾ c. honey
• ½ c. vegetable butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix flour with sugar, sodium bicarbonate, baking powder, salt, blueberries, and diced peanuts.
2. In a blender, blend peanut butter with the honey and vegetable butter, for about 4 minutes.  Then, immediately add egg and vanilla, blend until well combined.
3. Slowly add flour to the cream.  While still in the blender, continue blending.
4. In a greased and floured pan, portion out cookie dough circles and then back at 180? C for 10 minutes, or until cookies turn golden.

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