After our long trek we spent several days chilling out Lakeside in Pokhara. There we spent lazy days barefoot on cushions, in low-tabled bungalows or on hammocks tasting the local food while enjoying long conversations about life and plotting our next adventure.

Annapurna Circuit is most definitely on the list, but it’s a 20-day trek at a higher altitude than Base Camp. It’s also where a recent avalanche killed 39 people. We’d need a month or more to properly enjoy it safely, so that is still a few years off. We also agree that a full year of travel would be the greatest luxury and an important necessity at some point in the future, but again, with work obligations being what they are, that too would have to wait. Still, these were lovely ideas to contemplate as we lounged around Lakeside under the warm Nepalese sun, snacking on Peanut Sadheko and sipping Everest Beer.

I’m not much of a beer drinker but the mellow malt flavor of Everest beer was the perfect compliment to the spiciness of Peanut Sadheko, our favorite afternoon snack. It’s a popular bar food that showed up on most of the Lakeside menus and we sampled it at every opportunity. As soon as I tried it, I knew it would end up as a Motivational Monday with a few tweaks.

To make this dish as healthy as possible, I used mixed nuts rather than peanuts. I also used cucumber rather than tomato to cool off the heat of jalapeno and spices. Also, I cooked some parts of it while leaving other parts raw, whereas in Nepal what we experienced was either a raw version or totally sautéed version of this dish.

The results were awesome if I do say so myself, and served as a perfect afternoon snack yesterday while I got ready head out for the evening (minus the beer 🙂 ). You can also serve it as an appetizer at your next party or take some to work to have with a green juice or just plain water in the afternoon.

There are more Nepalese inspired recipes coming down the pike in the coming weeks. I hope you try them and that they become a healthy addition to your culinary repertoire.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy week!

xo
B

Mixed Nut Sadheko

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw, mixed nuts, chopped (I used almonds and Brazil nuts but you can try with cashews, walnuts or anything you have on hand)
• 3 scallions, sliced thin (including all the healthy looking green parts)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and minced
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, deseeded and diced
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, cleaned and coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder (I used seeds and pounded them in a mortar and pestle because it was all I had on hand, but the powder is certainly easier)
• ½ teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Juice of one lime

Directions

• Combine the chopped nuts, scallions, cucumber, and cilantro in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a small sauté pan and sauté the garlic for one minute then add the ginger, jalapeno, chili powder, cumin and chili powder. Saute for another minute or so until fragrant.
• Add the sautéed mixture to the cold ingredients along with the lime juice and mix well. Enjoy.

Makes about 2 cups of sadheko, which can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.