Nutty California weather brings avalanche of almonds, walnuts, pistachios

Adapted from the National Honey Board.

Combine honey, butter, wine and eggs; beat thoroughly.

Combine flour, baking soda, lemon peel, spices and salt; mix well.

Add dry ingredients to honey mixture; beat until thoroughly mixed. Stir in hazelnuts.

Pour into greased and floured 13- by 9- by 2-inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes on rack; invert cake onto serving plate or tray. Brush with honey wine glaze or dust with powdered sugar. Slice and serve.

Honey wine glaze: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine 1/2 cup honey, 2 tablespoons dry red wine and 1/2 teaspoon ginger. Heat through until the consistency is thin enough to brush over warm cake.

Crispy, crunchy, creamy – all in each bite of this delicious side dish, with cabbage, fennel and pear.

The recipe calls for raw eggs: If you are concerned about the risk of salmonella, use pasteurized eggs, available in select supermarkets.

Make ahead: The dressed slaw needs to sit at room temperature for an hour before serving. The slaw can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day.

Adapted from “Spring: The Cookbook,” by Skye Gyngell (Quadrille).

For the slaw: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Toast (middle rack) for 4 to 5 minutes or until fragrant and golden brown. Let them cool, then coarsely chop half of them.

Finely slice the red and green cabbage into thin ribbons, placing them in a large bowl as you work. Remove the tough, fibrous outer layer from the fennel; cut the bulb in half lengthwise, discard the core and then slice the bulb very finely. Add to the cabbage.

Halve the pears and remove the cores, then cut the pears into thin slices. Add to the bowl of cabbage and fennel. Add toasted nuts and the parsley. Toss lightly, and season well with salt and plenty of pepper.

For the dressing: Whisk together the egg yolk, mustard, honey and vinegar in a liquid measuring cup. Season with a little salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the oil, almost drop by drop to begin with, increasing the flow slightly once the dressing begins to emulsify. Continue until all the oil is incorporated. Stir in the buttermilk, then taste, and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Pour the dressing over the slaw; use your fingertips to mix gently but thoroughly. For best flavor, let it sit at room temperature for an hour before serving.

Bread replaces the tomatoes found in a traditional gazpacho. Adapted from “Big Vegan: More than 350 Recipes No Meat / No Dairy All Delicious” by Robin Asbell (Chronicle Books)

In a food processor, combine baguette, almonds, vinegar, garlic and salt. Process, adding ice water gradually to make a smooth purée.

With machine running, drizzle in oil. Transfer purée to a medium bowl or tureen, then stir in grapes and cucumber. Refrigerate for up to three days until serving. Before serving, top the soup with a few slivered almonds for an additional crunch.

This quick, hearty dip is herby and only mildly salty, which is surprising given how much feta is in it. Serve with hunks of focaccia or rye crisps.

Make Ahead: The dip can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance. Adapted from “Persiana: Recipes From the Middle East & Beyond,” by Sabrina Ghayour (Interlink).

Combine the pistachios and oil in a food processor; puree for 30 seconds, then add the feta, dill, cilantro, garlic, chili pepper, yogurt, and lemon zest and juice.

Purée for about 1 minute or until the mixture has a nice, rustic texture. Any chunks of feta that are left should be no larger than a pea.

Taste, and season with a small pinch of salt. Serve at a cool room temperature.

Coating chicken breasts in a walnut crust is an easy way to put a different spin on chicken. Walnuts, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese are the main players in the coating. Once coated, the chicken gets a brief sauté so the walnut crust adheres to it and then it's baked, not fried. Baking crisps up the exterior and cuts down on the fat and calories. Serving the chicken on a bed of greens rounds out the meal.

Adapted from "Power Foods" by the editors of Whole Living Magazine (Clarkson Potter, $24.99).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor, combine bread, walnuts and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Process until fine bread crumbs form. Transfer to a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, beat egg white until frothy.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dip each breast into egg white, letting excess drip off, and then into crumb mixture, pressing to adhere.

In a large, nonstick, ovenproof skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned, 1 to 3 minutes. Carefully turn chicken over and put skillet in oven. Bake until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve chicken with lemon slices and green salad.

Recipe from “Cook’s Country Best Potluck Recipes” via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the pecans evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Toast until fragrant and the color deepens slightly, about 8 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. Transfer the baking sheet with the nuts to a wire rack.

Meanwhile, combine the granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice in a medium bowl; set aside.

Bring the rum, butter, vanilla and brown sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Stir in the toasted pecans and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the nuts are shiny and almost all the liquid has evaporated, about 1½ minutes.

Transfer the glazed pecans to the bowl with the spice mix; toss well to coat. Return the glazed and spiced pecans to the parchment-lined baking sheet to cool. The nuts can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

This pantry-friendly recipe is easy to scale back to 2 servings, but leftovers taste great cold. Try adding chopped celery or carrots to the latter.

If the taste of raw garlic doesn't agree with you, pop the whole cloves into the pasta pot for a few minutes, then let them cool before mincing.

Serve with a salad of peppery greens.

Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add a good pinch of salt, then the pasta. Cook just until tender, then drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Meanwhile, toast the hazelnuts in a small, dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan often to avoid scorching, just until the nuts are fragrant and lightly browned in spots. Cool, then coarsely chop.

Smash, then mince the garlic. Finely chop the dill.

Place the tuna and its oil (to taste; if you like a lot of tuna, use the whole cans) in a pasta serving bowl; use a fork to break up any large clumps of fish. Add the garlic, dill, the just-cooked pasta and its cooking water; toss gently to incorporate. Mix in a few grinds of pepper and the 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Divide among bowls; garnish with the hazelnuts. Serve right away.

Recipe from “Around the Fire” by Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quinonez Denton.

In small bowl, combine oil, olives, almonds, lemon juice, orange zest, oregano, chipotle and salt. Mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.

Let sit at room temperature for up to 1 hour before serving. (Salsa can be made up to 1 day ahead, but leave out chopped almonds until just before serving to retain their crunch.)

Serve with grilled vegetables.