Brighten up your Diwali with California Walnuts
Ways to incorporate walnuts into your Diwali Celebrations - By Chef Neha Deepak Shah
New Delhi, India: Rich in plant-based omega-3 fatty acids, protein, fiber, good fats and antioxidants, walnuts have a long history (and research-backed data) of providing a host of textures, flavours, and health benefits to our body and mind. Benefits that boast of the potential of making everyday healthy. As the aura and spirit of Diwali slowly take over the country, we can’t stop thinking of all the ways in which we can celebrate the festival of lights with walnuts. Here, we share with you a few that will brighten up your Diwali celebrations.
Gifting walnuts = gifting a healthy habit
Give the gift of good health and prosperity this Diwali by sending your loved ones a hamper of walnuts (shelled or unshelled, your call). Also, make sure you also inform them that research shows that eating a handful of walnuts daily may help support your heart, brain and gut health, among other things.
Health benefits aside, these nuts are a good substitute for mithai, which are loaded with sugar and have a shorter shelf life compared to walnuts. Your friends and family can munch on these nutritious and delicious walnuts as a nutrient-rich snack or turn them into walnut flour, butter, milk, and even nutrition bars. They can discover more ideas and inspiration here www.californiawalnuts.in/recipes
Gift treats loaded with the goodness of walnuts
Nothing shows festive love like whipping up delectable and decadent treats. If you’ve got the time to, turn the walnuts into a memorable festive snack or dessert. We all may love eating walnuts as is, but who can refuse a still warm akhrot (walnut) stuffed shahi tukda, or a walnut coconut laddu. Oh, and a crunchy gujiya filled with sooji, khoya, desiccated coconut and chopped walnuts! For those who aren’t into desserts and sweet snacks, there are always chipotle and lime seasoned walnuts, instant pickled walnuts, and mushroom parmesan walnuts to choose from.
Get crafty with walnut shells
Creating Diwali decorations that showcase what the festival is all about isn’t as hard as you think if you give Do-It-Yourself (DIY) decor a chance. Gather up your fam jam or at least the kids, take a bowl or two of walnut shells, and let your creativity and design aesthetic shine.
Recycle the walnut shells to make a decor art to hang on the wall, or put together a walnut shell candle holder, or light diyas in those shells. You can even turn the shells into DIY jewellery, ring box, or colour them with spray paint or watercolours, tie a few together with a string, and hang it up on your wall, window frame or door frame.
Snack on walnuts to avoid festive binge
While Diwali, the festival of lights, is exciting for many reasons - get-togethers, gifts, and puja - it is the variety of scrumptious eats that always takes the cake (well, in this case, mithai!). Bingeing/overeating on your favourite foods during the festival and then resorting to starvation or excess exercising out of guilt isn’t the right way to tackle a festive binge, say experts. Instead, you can take steps to control festive binge eating and stay in the pink of your health throughout the year.
Ensure that your kitchen is clean of junk food and choose your foods wisely, especially snacks. Walnuts make for a healthy snack choice and research suggests that the healthy fats in walnuts may influence your body in a way that slashes overall hunger and makes you feel full/satiated for longer.
And that’s folks, how you can brighten up your Diwali with walnuts. Wish you and your family a Happy Diwali and hope you have a prosperous and healthy new year ahead!
