I hope you are having a wonderful new year so far! Are you the type that likes to start the new year off with resolutions or do you like to ease back into the day-to-day after the holidays? Personally, I do not make resolutions, but rather seek balance and set goals that I would like to accomplish. One of my goals as a blogger this year (among other things) is to bring useful content to my readers that they are seeking answers to. I love connecting with my followers and hearing what recipes, entertaining ideas or home decor needs they have. With that said, I have received a lot of recent requests for healthy and easy snack ideas. I came up with a recipe that hopefully suffices all those hunger pains in between meals.

When I started thinking about this recipe, I knew I wanted it to be something that you could easily make on a Sunday to prep for the week and I wanted to keep the ingredients to a minimum without compromising on flavor. What I came up with is a 5 ingredient snack that takes about 15 minutes from start to finish. And the flavor is amazing!

You start by combining olive oil with fresh rosemary and thyme, maldon salt and pepper. There really is nothing like the smell of fresh herbs when you're cooking. So good!

I chose to use all cashews because I happen to love them, and because I honestly burnt the first test batch I made that was a mix of almonds and cashews (oops!). But you can certainly use any type of nut that you prefer. Once all of the nuts have been coated in the dressing, lay them in an even layer on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.

Although the nuts only cook in the oven for about 5-10 minutes, they make the house smell amazing in that short amount of time. And, you will most definitely be ready to snack on them by the time they come out!

I think you will be amazed at how these simple ingredients take plain roasted nuts and make them into a delicious yet healthy snack!

The ingredients and recipe make this snack so versatile. You can fancy them up by putting them out for guests in your favorite bowl. Or, simply keep them to yourself and put them in individual serving size plastic bags or containers to take to work or pack in your kids school lunch.

I have been enjoying this snack both ways! I have a big bowl of them for our Golden Globe viewing party (I love awards season) and I also put them in individual bags with an extra sprig of rosemary to grab on the go during the week. Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy this snack as much as I do. I would love to hear what other recipe requests you have, so be sure to leave them in the comments below or on my Instagram account.

Herb Roasted Nuts Recipe

Ingredients:

5 cups of nuts (I used cashews)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbs. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 Tbs. Maldon or sea salt
Fresh cracked pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a bowl, mix the olive oil, chopped herbs, salt and pepper until combined. With the nuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, pour the dressing on top and coat the nuts until evenly coated. You could also do this step in a bowl and pour the combined mixture on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake the nuts for 5-10 minutes, checking regularly so they do not burn. Once roasted to a golden brown color, remove them from the oven and sprinkle with Maldon salt. Serve warm or once they have cooled. Enjoy!

It's the end of the week and don't you wish dinner would just make itself and appear on the table? That's how I usually feel most weeks. Insert these amazing roasted green beans with almonds and shallots. I can't promise that dinner will make itself but they are incredibly easy and the flavor is beyond amazing.

I'll be honest, I didn't like green beans growing up. So when I had a bag of them staring me down in our refrigerator, I knew I had to do something different with them. I chose simple ingredients that I had on hand that I thought would make for a winning combination. The shallots give this dish a nice caramelization and the almonds a nice nutty flavor.

My husband and I both absolutely loved them and will definitely be adding them into the dinner rotation. They make the perfect weeknight side dish or they are also great for making for a crowd. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do!

Roasted Green Beans with Almonds and Shallots

1 lb. green beans, rinsed and trimmed
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 Tbs slivered almonds
Sea salt and cracked pepper
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Trim the ends of the green beans and add to a large bowl. Toss the green beans with a liberal amount of olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Spread the green beans out evenly on a sheet pan and roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Stir the green beans and sprinkle with the shallots and almonds and place back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Once cooked through, remove from oven and finish with a sprinkle of sea salt and enjoy!