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Growing up, my mom would keep bowls of walnuts around the house for snacking, and next to each bowl, she’d place a decorative Nutcracker. The Nutcrackers were not just a holiday season thing but, rather, a year-round thing, though they were never used for cracking open the hard shells. Mom put out metal crackers for that job.

But now I believe it was for something more – to bring us joy as we snacked. Something to make us snack smarter, reach for something healthier without question because it was fun. Little Moni also used to say “walnuts look like little brains so I’m gonna eat them to get smarter”. Maybe it worked because I’ve loved snacking on walnuts ever since, and maybe I’m a little bit smarter today.

Many years later, I can still be found nibbling on and NOW cooking with walnuts all year-round. I love their mild sweetness, slight bitterness and earthy flavor. From nourishing salads to hearty mains and delicious desserts, I’ve used walnuts in so many ways – to add texture, a punch of umami flavor, or even as the star of the dish. An added bonus, they are packed with heart-healthy fats and nourishing antioxidants, so I feel great when I eat walnuts and know I’m serving my guests something powerfully nutritious.

To share the love of walnuts, I teamed up with California Walnuts to create a yummy and healthy recipe that showcases the versatility of walnuts (and also to give one lucky winner a fun CA Walnut branded gift set – pop on over to my Instagram for your chance to win). This gluten-free dairy-free Walnut Parsnip Galette is full of a lovely sweet-savory flavor from the parsnips, loaded with a zippy, creamy walnut spread, and topped with a shaving of raw walnuts. A fun way to incorporate more plants and lots of wholesome goodness for a healthier, happier life.

I’ve gone through quite a phase of making a lot of pies, quiches, and galettes over the past year. They are adaptable to a variety of ingredients and work for any season — I think they are particularly perfect picnic food for these warmer days we have been currently having. And I love working with pie dough and feeling the dough come together from crumbly to supple between my fingers. I’ll share a more in-depth video and post about how to make the perfect gluten-free pastry dough soon.

Though it may seem time consuming and/or daunting of a recipe, rest assured that every step in itself is fairly simple and easy to master. The parsnips are cooked separately first before encasing in the dough to ensure they are fully cooked. The walnut filling blends up in a few minutes; you just want to make sure to soak them far enough in advance. And the galette is assembled free-form, egg washed, and baked. Just note, it can fall apart a little as you eat since there's no egg or other 'binder' to hold the filling all together, so you might want a knife and fork, or at least a plate instead of eating it like pizza.

If you try this recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please let me know in the comments below. You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I LOVE to see your photos!

RECIPE NOTES

1. If you don’t need to eat gluten-free, just sub your favorite pie dough (or email me, I’d be happy to give you mine).

2. Add a sprinkling of dairy-free cheese if you’re a cheese lover like me. I’ve made this also as a dairy-full version with Gruyere (or Comte) cheese, and it was delicious! So feel free to add regular cheese if you can eat dairy.

3. If you want to make this vegan, substitute agave, maple, brown rice syrup, etc. for the honey. Substitute the egg wash with melted dairy-free butter or milk.

EQUIPMENT