Sometimes you feel like a nut. Strike that. Nuts are superfoods full of healthy oils, omega-3 fatty acids and enough protein to keep a body going through a long day. You should always feel like a nut. The Mayo Clinic, which never actually endorsed mayonnaise, now tells people to eat nuts for improved heart health. Salted and roasted, smashed into butter or eaten raw, nuts are a tasty source of fiber and vitamin E. Hungry for a taste? These Oklahoma City restaurants are cracking good places to try.

By Greg Elwell | Photos Garett Fisbeck and Gazette file

Gazedibles: Aw, nuts!
Keaton Draper
fruit salad(seasonal fruit and berries topped with anglaise sauce and raspberry sauce and garnished with chopped walnuts, served with a cafe comlette. Best of latin restaurant 2015. Taken in Oklahoma City, Thursday, August 6, 2015.

Café do Brasil

440 NW 11th St., Suite 100

cafedobrazilokc.com

405-525-9779

Vegetables rule the salad game with an iron fist and a head of cauliflower. But leave it to the rebels at Café do Brasil to switch things up with a salad filled with chilled seasonal fruits and berries and dressed in passion fruit and raspberry sauces. It’s intensely fresh and light. It’s almost too light, until you notice the generous garnish of chopped walnuts on top of the salad, giving it the staying power to keep diners feeling fine all day long. It’s also gluten-free.

Gazedibles: Aw, nuts!
.Shannon Cornman
Vermacelli bun bowl with chicken, peanuts and vegetables at Pho CA Dao.Photo/.Shannon Cornman

Pho Ca Dao

2431 N. Classen Blvd.

405-521-8819

Much like the rain forest or a middle school gym class, Pho Ca Dao’s vermicelli bowl is a delicate ecosystem. Remove an ingredient and everything is off balance. The base of shredded lettuce and bean sprouts gives the noodle bowl lightness that plays against the heavier ingredients diners can choose from: grilled pork, fried egg rolls, shrimp or chicken. Roasted peanuts and fried shallots on top give it an exquisite, savory crunch. Toss on the sauce, mix it up and enjoy.

Gazedibles: Aw, nuts!
Garett Fisbeck
Lamb fries at Cattlemen's Steakhouse, Tuesday, March 8, 2016.

Cattlemen’s Steakhouse

1309 S. Agnew Ave.

cattlemensrestaurant.com

405-236-0416

What the?! How did Cattlemen’s lamb fries end up on this list? Sure, tender morsels of lamb are pounded thin, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried until the exterior is crispy and the inside is delicious, but it’s a little off-topic for this roundup. This is supposed to be about the most nut-rageous dishes in Oklahoma City, not the appetizer that helped make Cattlemen’s one of the best-loved restaurants in the metro.

Gazedibles: Aw, nuts!
Shannon Cornman
Multi-grain pancakes with chopped nuts cooked into the batter. Background, 3 egg omelet surrounded with jalapeno and cheddar, and added avacado on top. Biscuit and gravy on the side.Photo/Shannon Cornman

Stray Dog Cafe

6722 NW 39th St., Bethany

facebook.com/straydogcafe

405-470-3747

A cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal is no way to eat the most important meal of the day. Go nuts and head to Bethany’s Stray Dog Cafe for a stack of nutty multigrain pancakes. The hearty sweetness of the flapjacks gets an extra textural boost from a mix of nuts incorporated into the batter, so each bite is fluffy, crunchy and delicious. Pour on the maple syrup and chow down while you check out the rest of Stray Dog’s delectable menu.

Gazedibles: Aw, nuts!
Garett Fisbeck
Catfish almondine at Cajun King in Oklahoma City, Monday, Dec. 14, 2015.

Cajun King

5816 NW 63rd St.

405-603-3714

Plenty of Cajun and Creole foods are perfect for the buffet, where the steady heat keeps gumbo and crawfish étouffée the right consistency for diners. But there’s one dish the owners of Cajun King want delivered to each table personally: catfish almondine. Using flour made from almonds, tender strips of catfish are fried until they turn a pale gold. The light, crispy exterior is unlike the heavy cornmeal-covered catfish served at most places. When the basket runs out, don’t worry — another one is on the way.

Golden Phoenix

2728 N. Classen Blvd.

405-524-3988

It’s not clear where, exactly, evolution hit a fork in the road that sent walnuts and shrimp down two different paths. One began growing from trees, and the other started swimming in the ocean, perhaps never to meet again. Or so it was until Golden Phoenix began serving walnut shrimp. An addicting dish of shrimp glazed in a creamy sauce and topped with walnuts and broccoli, walnut shrimp is proof that decapod crustaceans and tree nuts belong together.

Gazedibles: Aw, nuts!
Shannon Cornman
Bradynn Hall slurps down a peanut butter chocolate shake at Sid's Diner in El Reno.Photo/Shannon Cornman

Sid’s Diner

300 S. Choctaw Ave., El Reno

sidsdinerelreno.com

405-262-7757

The ice cream guy showed up late to the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups commercial. “You got chocolate in my peanut butter!” “You got peanut butter in my chocolate!” But the man with the ice cream was busy enjoying a burger and a shake at Sid’s Diner in El Reno. Years later, Sid’s brought the trio together with its incredible chocolate peanut butter milkshake. Thick and sweet, it’s a perfect complement to Sid’s famous fried onion burgers and slaw dogs.

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