Peanuts

I'm in this constant quandry:  either organic peanut butter or raw peanuts - but I never have both organic and raw peanuts or organic and soaked peanut butter.  Why either? Well... nuts should be soaked before eating to reduce the antinutrients; and peanuts are really good at absorbing pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.  Oh, and they can also have mold/toxins like aflatoxin and the mycotoxins produced by those toxins.  But finding both organic and raw has been out of reach for me (read:  too expensive).  On the other hand, we eat a lot of peanut butter and/or peanuts.  In fact, that was the very first thing that we switched to organic, my very first baby step, or rather half-step.  Sometimes we make almond butter from soaked almonds (from a clean source) but we really like peanuts also.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found these on amazon:  Raw Organic Peanuts from Superior Nut Company for $3.95/1 pound bag.  They also have a 10 pound box.  I'm saving up for the 10 pounder.

Directions for preparing raw nuts for consumption:

- Soak the nuts overnight in filtered water and Real Salt.[The NT recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon salt per 4 Cups peanuts and soaking at least 7 hours]
- Drain, rinse, drain the next morning. [NT does not have you rinse and drain, just drain and dry but I like to rinse mine off with fresh filtered water.]
- Dehydrate for 'crispy nuts' for 24 hours in a dehydrator, or less time in the lowest setting of your oven.  Check them now and then for doneness - my dehydrator takes 24 hours but yours may take less.
- Eat; make peanut butter; or go on to the next step.
- You can make the nuts salted/flavored by coating them with oil and salt or spices.  I put them in a bowl and drizzle a little bit of oil on them.  Then I stir in the oil well.  I add salt/spices and stir some more.  Then I spread out and roast at the lowest oven temperature for about 10 minutes (if I remember right!) until I can begin smelling the aroma.

If your raw peanuts have the skins on they are easiest to take off after soaking, while still wet.  If you gently squish the peanut at one end it usually pops out of the skin.  This is a good step to involve the children!

Storage:  According to Nourishing Traditions, once soaked and dehydrated, peanuts can be stored for many months at room temperature if airtight.  I plan on vacuum sealing in bags of about 2 Cups each.

Update:  I just got my 10 pound box of peanuts yesterday!  I put some in bags for the freezer and have 1/4 of the order soaking.  Today we'll take off the skins and dehydrate.  I'll do a follow-up post later with photos all the way to peanut butter and flavored peanuts.  Yes, I had to save up for the box but at about $4/pound for raw AND organic peanuts it'll be worth it and should last for months and months and months.


















This post is part of Kelly's Real Food Wednesday at:
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/04/real-food-wednesday-4611.html