Pecans!
 

Nobody outside Texas knows how to pronounce their name (hah!), but after some digging, I think Pecans could very well get up on the list as an Atkins-friendly nut. Here's a quick comparison with common recommendations.

I'm not just talking about snacking though, but for cooking (as a crust/breading substitute). Unless you oil/butter-roast them with a bit of salt, they are far too dry to eat for snacking--although that just means you drink more water!

Right now, the Atkins book recommends Macadamia nuts. Many low-carb books recommend almonds and hazelnuts. However, these are ludicrously expensive. Macadamia nuts run over $10 a lb. Most stores that even carry them, carry 3oz jars for almost $4. Eight oz packages run $9+.

However, I'm Texan, and pecans are everywhere, and cheap.

I have a nifty little USDA database handy, so here's the information I have on these. All of these are for a 1oz (28.4g) of the nuts, dry roasted, without salt added. I'm listing only the most prevelent information (i.e. vitamins in extremely small amounts I won't list)

Macadamia nuts: Net carbs 1.53 g
Calories: 203.553 kcal
Lipid fat: 21.569 g
Saturated fat: 3.385 g
Carbs total: 3.793 g
Fiber: 2.268 g
Protein: 2.208 g
Calcium: 19.845 mg
Magnesium: 33.453 mg
Potassium: 102.911 mg

Almonds: Net carbs 2.12 g
Calories: 169.250 kcal
Lipid fat: 14.977 g
Saturated fat: 1.145 g
Carbs total: 5.469 g
Fiber: 3.345 g
Protein: 3.345 g
Calcium: 75.411 mg
Magnesium: 81.081 mg
Potassium: 211.491 mg

Hazelnuts: Net carbs 2.33 g
Calories: 183.141 kcal
Lipid fat: 17.690 g
Saturated fat: 1.279 g
Total carbs: 4.990
Fiber: 2.665
Protein: 4.261 g
Calcium: 34.871 mg
Magnesium: 49.046 mg
Potassium: 214.043 mg

And, finally:

Pecans: Net carbs 1.18 g
Calories: 201.285 kcal
Lipid fat: 21.056 g
Saturated fat: 1.780 g
Total carbs: 3.841 g
Fiber: 2.665 g
Protein: 2.693 g
Calcium: 20.412 mg
Magnesium: 37.422 mg
Potassium: 120.204 mg

Positives:
Pecans have less net carbs
Pecans are higher in fat (fix my ratios, perhaps!)
Pecans are much lower in sat. fats than macadamia nuts

Negatives:
Pecans have fewer minerals
Pecans are higher in sat. fats than almonds and hazelnuts
Pecans have less protein than the other nuts

Those are pretty minor negatives.

On this note, I bought 2 lbs of (essentially) pecan meal. I have two plans for this:

A) Crust for a low-carb cheesecake my mother is making for my birthday Friday (no more cake! bah, no loss to me!)

B) Crust/breading for baked chicken, fish, etc.

Pecans tend to bake pretty well, so let the testing begin!

Thanks for the research, Brad. I love nut crusts for cheesecake and there are some fabulous recipes at... http://www.low-carb-friends.com/bbs/index.
Too bad we don't grow pecans (is it peKAHN?) in my neck of the woods but hazelnuts are plentiful.
BTW, I'm one of those people who doesn't mind eating raw pecans but then I'm a nut nut anyhow. I'll eat them anyway, anywhere, anyhow.

Thanks Brad! I am thrilled for your info since I really don't care for macadamia nuts and you're right, they are way to expensive. I am in Houston and pecans are abundant and loved here, and I definitely know how to say it right. I will have to purchase some to use for breading. Cheesecake sounds heavenly right now!:angel:

Thanks for the link, Linda! It didn't post right, but I found what I was a looking for and much more!

Time to put that pecan meal to use!

Good stuff! I am basically allergic to nuts...EXCEPT PECANS! go figure. So I've been using them in my baking for the last few years in any case. I do find them expensive here....more so than walnuts.

I also love eating them "straight".... I have not graduated to "nuts" yet so have avoided them so far, but I remember finding them addictive before Atkins, so I will have to be careful.

As for pecan meal...have NEVER seen that here, but I presume I can make my own if required.

Let us know how the "testing" goes!

Froufy