I love to snack and as a result have a burgeoning pantry filled with all kinds of edible items to munch on. Unfortunately, due to my flighty nature and need to be constantly entertained - I get bored by plain snacks pretty quickly.

So I often find myself trawling recipe books and websites looking for healthy and tasty snacks I can make easily that are unusual enough to get me excited.

The other day I came across these Lemon and Garlic Almonds from Taste (a Vogue Entertaining recipe) and I was instantly intrigued! It sounded so simple, quick and easy - but I had never thought to roast nuts marininated in a liquid. I knew I had to try it.

With friends over for dinner last weekend and a tasty meal planned, I decided these would sit nicely on my antipasto platter so I bought a bag of almonds, 2 lemons and a head of garlic and put this dish together in no time. Most definitely a Chew Town Bites recipe given how quick and easy they were (and only 3 ingredients).

They were an absolute hit. We often put nuts out when people and over and guests nibble at them politely with their beer/wine/cocktail, but its rare that I put a large bowl of them out and they are hoovered in next to no time. In fact, we all loved them so much that I chopped some of them roughly and put them on the top of the garden salad we had with our main course.

The possibility for using these lemons almonds are endless. I can see them incorporated in a simple olive oil and garlic pasta, served with seafood, used in a crust for lamb etc. Which is good, because I made a hellovalotta them!

Next ill experiment with other versions of them made with different juices (think apple, orange, pomegranate).

LEMON AND GARLIC ALMONDS

Ingredients:
500g natural almonds
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
Flaked sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. In a bowl, combine almonds, garlic, lemon zest and juice then stand for 15 minutes.

Transfer mixuture to a baking sheet so that almonds aren't overlapping too much, scatter with sea salt and roast, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes of until mixture is dry and crisp. Set aside to cool then eat!