I remember the moment when, as a new apprentice in a retreat center's vegetarian kitchen, I spotted the shelf of nuts in the storeroom. In those days, and over the subsequent years, I have learned how nuts can play a star role in salads, main courses, and vegetable dishes, as well as in their usual place in chocolate chip cookies or cinnamon rolls. Granted, nuts are expensive by the pound. But they go a long way, since they are used sparingly in most recipes. And they are a substitute for expensive meat protein.
Nuts are oily.
They contain large amounts of linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid that is essential to human metabolism and has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels. Bet the diet books never told you that. If you add toasted cashews to a chilled green pea salad or to stir-fried cabbage with soy sauce, all of a sudden you have a main course instead of a side dish. Offer a bowl of nuts at a salad bar or potato bar type of meal and the fare will seem gourmet. It is a shame that pecans are associated for the most part with that caramelly, gooey, albeit wonderful dessert known as pecan pie.