How to Eat More Nuts and Seeds with the Mediterranean Diet

This is Day 4 of Well’s Mediterranean Diet Week. Start at the beginning here.

It’s time to add a bit more crunch to your diet, so let’s talk about nuts and seeds.

These nutritional powerhouses are rich in essential vitamins and minerals, as well as protein and gut-healthy fiber. Just a handful of almonds, for instance, provides about six grams of protein and three grams of fiber, about the amount you’d get from eating an egg and three-quarters of a cup of blueberries.

Nuts and seeds are also impressive sources of heart-healthy fats, which have been linked to improved cholesterol levels and protection from cardiovascular disease.

One recent review of more than three dozen studies, for instance, found that people who ate a little more than a handful (or about one ounce) of nuts and seeds every day had a roughly 20 percent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those who ate little to none.

The Mediterranean diet has traditionally included a generous amount of nuts and seeds. Guidelines vary from three servings per week to one to two servings per day.

Whatever your goal, it’s easy to accomplish — whether you’re dipping apple slices into almond butter, sprinkling walnuts onto oatmeal or yogurt, or scattering sunflower seeds over your salad. Just keep in mind that nuts and seeds are relatively high in calories; a one-ounce serving of almonds has 170 calories and two tablespoons of peanut butter has 204 calories. That can add up fast.

What to keep in your pantry

Aim to have at least a few different types of nuts and seeds on hand for nibbling and using in recipes:

• Raw or roasted tree nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans and cashews; as well as peanuts (peanuts are technically legumes, but their nutritional profile is more like tree nuts)

• Seeds like flax, chia, sesame and pumpkin; and pine nuts (which are not nuts, despite their name)

• Peanut and other nut butters

How to incorporate nuts and seeds into meals

For each day of our Mediterranean diet series, we and our colleagues at NYT Cooking have selected a few recipes that embrace the ingredients we’re highlighting. This is not intended to be a meal plan for a day, but rather inspiration for how to include more of these healthful foods in your week.

For breakfast, you might add a tablespoon of chia or flaxseeds to your smoothie, or smear almond butter onto a whole-grain English muffin. With a little planning, Genevieve Ko’s overnight oats are a perfect vehicle for whatever nuts or seeds your heart desires.

For lunch, I am not above a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole grain bread with a side of carrot and celery sticks. But if I have a few minutes, I’ll make Sue Li’s cucumber salad with roasted peanuts and chile. The “velvety peanut sauce” and crunchy peanut topping complement the “snappy” cucumbers used in this recipe. Or I’ll try Melissa Clark’s lemony asparagus salad with shaved cheese and nuts.

For dinner, a sprinkle of nuts or seeds will make just about any cooked vegetable more interesting, as in Martha Rose Shulman’s Swiss chard with currants and pine nuts or Colu Henry’s roasted cauliflower with feta, almonds and olives.

For a main dish, look no further than Jocelyn Ramirez’s mole verde, an “earthy sauce” that blends generous measures of sesame seeds, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and almonds with seared chiles and fresh tomatillos, romaine lettuce and herbs. Serve with sautéed mushrooms and a protein of your choice, like tofu steaks or salmon.

For a light dessert (or tomorrow’s breakfast), try this chia seed pudding topped with almonds. It’s a nutrient-dense treat with “a tapioca-like texture and gently sweet flavor.”