Walnuts

A small handful, about 30 g of shelled walnuts, is a practical portion. That provides 178 kcal and 1.6 g of fibre.

Spread the walnuts in one layer on a baking tray and toast at 160 °C for 8–10 minutes, stirring once. Take them out as soon as they smell nutty; they can turn bitter quickly.

Keep shelled walnuts in an airtight container in the fridge, where they stay fresh longer than in a warm cupboard. For longer storage, freeze them; you can use them straight from the freezer.

Chopped walnuts add crunch to porridge, salads and cakes, and they are a classic ingredient in walnut brownies and carrot cake. Blend them with basil, hard cheese, garlic and olive oil for a pesto-style sauce.

Walnuts pair especially well with blue cheese, pears, apples and honey. Try them crumbled over a salad of pear and blue cheese, or stirred into porridge with apple.

Pecans are the closest swap in cakes and biscuits, with a similarly rich flavour and texture. For a less sweet, firmer alternative, use chopped hazelnuts.

Walnuts are the edible seeds inside the fruit of a walnut tree. The familiar wrinkled kernel sits inside a hard shell, which is enclosed by a fleshy outer husk.