Dear Kitchen,

Embracing my inner closet-hippie, I am really getting hooked on almond milk
making… I'm stumped with what to do with the leftover almond meal that is slowly taking over my fridge. And, I'm curious how long that stuff will stay fresh. I've got a collection of jars ranging from a few days, to a week old. Any ideas, beyond the shower scrub thing, which our ancient plumbing will never allow? Maybe baked filling? Maybe savory topping? My first thoughts were a fruit crisp topping, but any recipes and ideas would be most appreciated!

-Sara

Dear Sara,

I think you’re onto something with the fruit crisp idea. Why not blend the meal with a little flour, sugar and butter or vegetable shortening to make a sort of streusel topping for fruit crisp or even muffins? You could also experiment with adding the almond meal to breads or muffins in place of some of the flour and see how it goes.

I would also recommend spreading the meal out on a baking sheet and toasting it and then using it to top salads, yogurt or sautéed greens.

Since almond milk is a raw food, I notice that some of the raw food sites have recipes for crackers and breads made specifically with the almond meal leftover from making almond milk. Of course these require a dehydrator. Here’s one for apricot almond bread

You also might try making dips with the almond meal. Since most such dips call for ground almonds and excess moisture won't matter, I don’t see why you couldn’t use your almond meal in recipes such as these two: Beet, Chickpea and Almond Dip and Pistachio, Garlic and Almond Dip.

As for how long the meal will keep, I’m not sure, but I don’t see any problem with keeping it for up to a week in the refrigerator. Any longer, and I’d guess that mustiness or mold would tip you off not to use it. Why not freeze it and see how it thaws? I’d think fine.