Welcome to That's Vegetarian. I'm your host, Karen Buchholt. Today, we are going to make
candied walnuts. Now, we can't just have the candied walnuts, so we're going to put them
in a salad. I have a fresh herb mix, which has some baby spinach, arugula, other baby
leaf lettuce, some herbs in there like parsley and cilantro, and so it'll be very tasty and
a little bit spicy. For the candied walnuts, I have a cup of walnut pieces, and what we're
going to do is we toast them a little bit to warm them up and open them up, so when we
make the balsamic reduction and put the nuts in there, they'll be willing to soak up that
reduction. We're going to throw some beets in the oven to roast those to add to our salad,
and then we're going to mix all the lettuces that are already premixed. I did get a bag
lettuce because this is all about convenient and eating healthy and vegetarian, and then
we're going to add some cranberry. You can see here, the goat cheese has cranberry around
the outside, so I'll add an additional bit of tanginess to the salad when it's all said
and done. So why don't we get started on making those candied walnuts. We'll start with roasting
the walnuts a little bit to open them up as we mentioned before. All I'm going to do is
put the chopped walnuts onto a dish, and along with the beets, stick them in the oven. The
walnuts will only do for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees, but I'm going to keep the
beets in there until they're tender. Meanwhile, what we're going to do is we're going to start
the reduction while that's going for 10 minutes. I know people say that you should be particular
about the type of wine that you use in cooking. I'm nowhere near as particular. So what I'm
going to do is I have some red wine. I use three quarters of a cup of that, and lo and
behold, there's not enough of this one. So let's move to another bottle. As I said, I'm
not particular. Let's see. And then the good old balsamic vinegar. I'm going to add a
half a cup of that. And we're going to turn the stove top on about medium high and pour
that in so we can reduce it. We're going to add about a tablespoon of brown sugar, half
a teaspoon of cinnamon, a little bit of vanilla for some extra flavor, and stir. If the reduction
starts to boil, turn the heat down to medium low so it is simmering. Reduce by about a
third, about 10 minutes. At that point, add the warm walnuts. Stir to make sure all the
nuts are coated with the liquid. I prefer walnuts because they are an excellent source
of Omega 3. Try different types of nuts to find your favorite. Continue to cook on a
medium heat until the liquid dissolves and creates a nice glaze over the nuts. Remove
from heat. Here is our herb salad with fresh roasted beets, goat cheese that is crusted
in cranberries, and then last but not least, our homemade candied walnuts with the balsamic
vinegar, red wine, a little bit of cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla. Make sure when we
take our bite, we get a little bit of all the goodies on there. That's vegetarian.
