Walnut Cheese Spread

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions?

I don’t.

I don’t really like to set myself up for failure.

 

However, after traveling through Italy and then celebrating Christmas multiple times with family members and eating and drinking my way into the New Year, I just wasn’t feeling great.  Not only were my pants a little tight but I had a hard time waking up in the morning without feeling groggy.  I was just all around feeling sluggish.  I decided mid-month to cut out a few things for a month to start feeling good again.

 

First up, Wine!  Those of you who know me are saying, “Yeah, right!”  If there is one thing Streusel loves its her red wine.  I finished 2012 drinking way too much of it too often though so I am going to say arrivederci to wine, just for a while.

 

Coffee!  Now you really are saying, “No way!” and you’d be right.  I love (and I truly mean love here) coffee too much to give it up completely, sshhh coffee – you never heard me say it, however I am cutting back.  I make a latte at home every morning and then also drink one to two cups of drip coffee at work everyday so I’m cutting out the drip most days of the week.

 

There are other things I’m cutting back on but I’ll not bore you with the details (right now) and get to what I am adding into my life to feel better.

 

Do you ever read Gwyneth Paltrow’s blog, goop?  I really like it.  Recently she blogged about superfoods, one of which is the walnut.  I’ve always loved walnuts but when she made a walnut pesto I was inspired to make a walnut spread of my own and add a little more walnut into my life.

 

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Walnut Cheese Spread

yields about a cup of spread

 

1 c. shelled halved walnuts

2 wedges of Laughing Cow Creamy Light Swiss

2 T. olive oil

pinch of salt

1 T. grated parmesan

2 to 3 T. milk

 

Combine the walnuts, 1 wedge of cheese, oil, salt and parmesan in a small food processor and process until combined.

Add the other cheese wedge and the milk and process until smooth, mine took about 2 minutes.  I did mine in steps only because the food processor I used was small and I didn’t want to overwhelm it!

Serve with some crackers – I think it tasted great with Triscuits.  If you want more kick you could add a variety of herbs or spices to this spread, maybe dill or basil or some cayenne pepper.  Let me know if you come up with a better combination.

 

Posted on January 21, 2013
This entry was posted in brunch, healthy, quick and easy and tagged cheese, goop, New Year, olive oil, walnuts.