I’m going to tell you two stories.
First is the story of my disdain for almonds. Almonds are the lowest form of nut. They aren’t good for snacking. They aren’t good as an ingredient for ice cream or milk. They’re just weak and chalky and they suck. Well okay fine, they’re alright. It’s just that if you have the option to use cashew or oat for milk, or cashews or walnuts for snacking, then why would you ever choose almonds?
Secondly, the story of how my mom inexplicably sends me a giant five pound bag of almonds every few months. I think she must have read somewhere that almonds are a “guilt free vegan snack”. In fact she probably read it right here on this very bag because that is exactly what it says on the label. And she knows that I’m vegan, and I guess she suspects that I must feel pretty guilty about it. She’s trying in her own way and I don’t have the heart to tell her to stop.
Look I don’t care if it doesn’t make sense to you. It’s me and my mom, and it’s our relationship not yours.
So anyway I basically effectively have this lifetime supply of almonds that I hate and won’t ever eat.
The only thing I can think to do with them is to make almond milk for my smoothies because I love a tasty fruit smoothie.
And actually this is kind of great because I’m picky about my nut milk and never want it to have any sweetener or really anything in it at all. And also sometimes I just want a little bit. So this way I have control over how much milk I get and also what’s in it.
Recipe
Ingredients:
- mom’s unsolicited almonds, unsalted and unroasted. 1 c
- water. 5 c
Steps:
- Soak 1 cup almonds in 5 cups water overnight.
- In the morning blend it in a blender.
- Strain the milk through some cheesecloth and pour it into a bottle
BONUS RECIPE: ALMOND MEAL
After you strain all the milk, you’ll end up with a bunch of wet almond pulp at the end. Squeeze it out real good. It’ll still be a little damp but that’s fine. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Spread the pulp out on some parchment paper on a baking sheet and pop it in there, stirring every 30 minutes or so for about two hours until it feels nice and dry. Transfer it back to the blender and pulse until you have a fine powdery flour.
Add a few tablespoons of almond meal for a dose of protein and fiber to your smoothies, oatmeal, sourdough, waffles, and other baked goods.