Rosemary Roasted Cashews

To be very honest, I've never been too much of a nut fan.  And by that I mean I would never just choose to munch on plain nuts.  However, I've learned to be able to enjoy some nuts (i.e. almonds!) especially when they are roasted with some other natural flavors.  

Cy on the other hand is a huge nut fan and is munching away on nuts all the time.  Seeing Cy eat them, I always wondered if too many nuts can be harmful to your body, but the verdict is out.  He recently had his bloodwork done and all of his numbers are amazing.  His LDL/TGL are super low while his HDL is through the roof. His A1c was 4.8.  For those of you that are unaware,  the Hemoglobin A1c reading basically helps determine how well your body has been regulating blood sugar by looking at the sugar sticking to your red blood cells.  Normal people should be in the 4.0-5.9% range and diabetics should be striving to be below 6.5%.  Needless to say, Cy's endocrinologist was impressed.   

So in light of this fact, I've been making more of an effort to snack on nuts. Cashews are not particularly a favorite of mine, but this recipe works really great with them...you may have noticed that I over-roasted them a little in the pictures...this was definitely not intended, but they still came out tasty ;)

I made a little package for Cy.  He saw the note and said it was cheesy, but it made him laugh so mission accomplished :)

Rosemary Roasted Cashews

adapted from Food Network

Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds cashew nuts
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon melted butter

Directions

1)  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2) Place the nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until they are warmed through. Meanwhile, combine the rosemary, pepper, sugar, and salt. 

3) Drizzle the oil on the warm nuts.  Sprinkle the rosemary mixture until the nuts are completely coated. Serve warm.