My favorite brand of mixed nuts is Al-Rifai – a Lebanese company with branches in Jordan. I usually buy myself a few kilos at the airport before my outbound flight home. There’s really no comparison between salted or roasted mixed nuts here in the U.S. and the ones Al-Rifai has to offer. They’re roasted to perfection and the bag never lasts as long as I want it to. Once I get started, I really can’t stop myself from devouring 4 or more servings.
I’ve had roasted mixed nuts here at home. But they’re just not the same. Al-Rifai has some sort of delicious secret ingredients they use to make their mixed nuts irresistible. You won’t believe me until you try it. So the next time you find yourself in Lebanon, Jordan or any of Al-Rifai’s other branches, do not pass up the opportunity to get a mixed bag of nuts.
I mentioned my secret ingredient theory, but that didn’t stop me from making my own roasted pumpkin seeds. I’m still on that pumpkin kick, as you can see. The smoked paprika makes all the difference in this recipe. So before you think about swapping out smoked for plain-old paprika, consider that they won’t have the same roasted flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 tablespoon Onion Powder
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1 tablespoon Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Separate the seeds from the pumpkin strings
- In a medium pot, add the pumpkin seeds and water and bring to a boil
- Mix together smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and chili powder in a small bowl
- Add ¾ of the mixture to the water
- Boil for 10 minutes
- Drain the seeds
- Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray
- Spread the seeds evenly on the baking tray
- Sprinkle the rest of the powdered mixture over the seeds
- Spray the seeds with a thin layer of cooking spray
- Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly roasted
