Love Your Heart With 5 New Almond Recipes

We're always looking for new ways to eat healthy, whether it's eating low-sodium foods or trying a new diet trend, and as February is American Heart Month, we've heard a lot about how you can eat for your heart the past few weeks. To end the month right, let's take one last look at heart-healthy cooking by looking at an ingredient that you'd find in the snack aisle at your grocery store: almonds.

Click here to see 5 New Almond Recipes

While most typically found piled in bowls that are set out at cocktail parties, almonds can play a huge role in your cooking, and even better, they're good for your heart. Naturally cholesterol-free, almonds are heart-healthy ingredients that have the highest amounts of protein and fiber of any tree nut, and recent studies have shown that eating 1.5 ounces of almonds a day can help reduce the risk of heart disease. In addition to all they do for the most important muscle in your body, they're a great weight-conscious and low-calorie snack to load up on — so why not add them to your cooking?

To help you get into a cooking-conscious state of mind with almonds, we have some recipes to inspire you from the Almond Board of California. For small bites, a sweet potato and chipotle soup is the perfect balance between smoky and sweet and a great way to start a meal, and crostini topped with candied almonds and blue cheese will reinvent your cheese plate. Invite almonds to your dinner plate with an espagnole white fish recipe that's topped with a crispy, toasted almond gremolata, and of course, almonds always have a place in any cookie, like with these almond butter cookies.

Just because American Heart Month is almost over doesn't mean you should stop thinking about ways you can be cooking for your heart. These recipes are easy to make and reinvent almonds well beyond the nut bowl. 

Anne Dolce is the Cook Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @anniecdolce