3 things you should know about pecans.
Pecans are the Supernut!
It’s hard to find any food that is more packed with good stuff for the human body. For the short list, pecans contain Phytonutrients like flavoniods and plant sterols for heart health, plant-based protein, healthy unsaturated fats, antioxidant vitimins like beta carotene (provitimin A) and gamma-tocopherols (vitamin E), dietary fiber, and minerals like manganese, copper, and zinc. So the more you can eat, the better for your health.
It’s a true native.
The pecan tree is the only nut tree native to North America. Looking back the the 1500s, the word “pecan” comes from “Pacane” the Native American Algonquin tribe’s word for stone-cracking nut. They were even used as currency among native peoples for a while. Native American people’s reliance on this healthy nut for food and for trade inspired early european settlers to grow them commercially.
It’s amazing in many traditional recipes.
Without the pecan tree, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy many of our North American favorite traditional desserts. Not just candied pecans and pecan pie of course, but also butter pecan cookies, pecan pull-aparts, butter pecan layer cake,and pecan fudge too. But pecans also have many savory applications like in tuna or chicken salad, fruit salad, pecan bread, pecan cheese spreads, pecan salad dressings, and any other recipe you can think of that needs a sweet nutty addition. Go for it. Pecans are good.