Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to take a look at McCormick’s Global Flavor Forecast for 2013. With no surprise, the trend that immediately caught my eye was Empowered Eating. Basically, McCormick recognizes that more and more people are starting to take control of their health and what they are eating to support good health – this includes enhancing food that is already good for you to elevated flavors through spices and flavors.

I am all over this trend for so many reasons.

One of the recipes that McCormick featured under their Empowered Eating profile is a spice blend called Dukkah. When I saw this recipe, I immediately knew I was going to make it and probably love it and use it often. I was right.

What is dukkah? (I had no idea either.) Dukkah is a Middle Eastern aromatic spice blend made from a combination of nuts, seeds and whole spices. It can be eaten as shown here, added in olive oil along with bread for dipping – or as a spice rub to enhance fish and meats or to sprinkle over vegetables. After making a batch of dukkah earlier this week, I’m saying yes to all of the above. I personally can not wait to enjoy a piece of dukkah crusted fish very soon (cooked similar to this Almond Crusted Tilapia that I love). Not a bad way to incorporate healthier eating into the new year is it?

I prepared a batch of this dukkah in just a few minutes. All you need is a few spices, sesame seeds and your favorite nut (hazelnuts are traditionally found in this recipe, but I wanted to use pistachios – next time almonds?). After toasting up all the components, I crushed and blended them together in small batches using a mortar and pestle. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, the end of a large wooden spoon and a sturdy bowl would work well. You could also always use a clean coffee grinder (set aside for just spices), or run a rolling pin over everything tucked into a large ziplock bag.

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