This is an actual recipe without comedy. My comic tone just can't compete with you humming "Put the Lime in the Coconut" while you are reading the instructions. And my friend Carolyn won't be able to stop thinking about using coconut oil as a massage oil and/or "personal lubricant" (not recommended). Let's keep your mind in the game, girl!
Coconut Lime Chicken Soup
4 to 6 cups of chicken broth (I use whatever I've got enough of a carcass to make)
Juice of 1 lime
6 small scallions or 4 chunky ones, white and light green parts, finely sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried lemongrass
Thumb sized piece of ginger, finely minced
Red pepper flakes to taste, 1/2 teaspoon to as much as 2 teaspoons
1 to 2 cups of leftover chicken (I like to use leftover roasted chicken picked from last night's dinner)
1/2 large head of bok choy, chopped into 1" chunks. If it's a skimpy head, throw it all in.
1/4 cup coconut butter
Unsweetened shaved coconut or cilantro--optional
Put the lime juice, broth, scallions, lemongrass, ginger, and red pepper flakes into a pot over high heat.
When it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken and bok choy. Stir in the coconut butter.
Simmer for another 5 minutes or soy and serve garnished with fresh shaved coconut or cilantro. Serve as soup or over a bed of brown rice. If you want to bump up the protein and make it more filling, you can also add 1 drained can of garbanzo or cannelini beans with the chicken and bok choy.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Spaghetti Squash "Lo Mein"
Going low carb? Tired of pasta night? Want something the kids might possibly attempt to eat that does not involve the word "nugget" or "smile" in it? Well, then you might try this. My kids will eat the meatballs and the peas as long as they're still frozen. Everything else, not so much. But you can try.
The Squash
1 spaghetti squash
Canola oil or sunflower oil
Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Don't bother taking out the seeds yet. It's easier once it's cooked. Place it, seed side down, in a large baking dish that's been coated with a little oil and cover it with foil. Pop it in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour. Then forget about it. And I mean that. I often make the squash the night before when I am watching some juicy television show like House or Real Housewives of NYC or even American Greed: Scams, and then I forget to take it out of the oven until after coffee the next day. Really.
The next morning, or when it cools, whichever comes first, take it out of the oven. Scoop the seeds out with a soup spoon. Then use a fork to shred all the strands of squash into a bowl and put it aside until everything else is done.
The Meatballs
1 lb. ground chicken (you can use turkey, but the chicken meatballs come out lighter)
1 egg
2 cups of rice krispies (which you can find behind the Cheerios leftover in the cupboard from that time last summer when you let the kids make rice krispie treats)
2 scallions, chopped
white pepper
ground coriander
chili powder
dried lemongrass
2 T tamari (I use San-J Tamari Wheat Free Soy Sauce. Use what you like.)
Canola or sunflower oil
This is great to make if you've had a lousy day. You get to use your hands to mash up the ground chicken mixture, and you get to use a rolling pin to bash the rice krispies into submission.
Put the cereal in a large ziploc bag and bash it (or roll it gently) with a rolling pin until it looks like matzoh meal. Or you can just use matzoh meal.
Mash all the ingredients together with your hands (don't forget to take your rings off) in a large bowl until it is well mixed. For the spices, I don't measure, I just sprinkle. Probably 1/2 teaspoon per spice, if you must know. If you don't have one of them because, honestly, how often are you gonna use dried lemongrass? ...just omit it. You really only need to use the soy sauce and the white pepper. Yes, you can use black. If you don't have chili powder (which I think is just wrong), you can use a little paprika for color.
Roll them into a zillion 1 inch balls and bake them on an oiled baking pan at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.
While these are baking you can make the:
The Veggies and Sauce
Canola oil or sunflower oil
1 sliced red bell pepper
1/2 bag of frozen peas (If your kids are like mine, save some uncooked peas for them as a side dish)
3 garlic cloves, run through a garlic press or grated
thumb-sized piece of ginger, very finely minced or grated
1/4 cup tamari (use whatever you used in the meatballs)
1 10 oz. bag of baby spinach or 1/2 head of bok choy
chopped hemp hearts (optional)
Heat a little oil in a 12-inch nonstick pan. Add everything except the tamari and spinach, if you are using it. If you are using bok choy, add it now. Saute over medium high heat for about 4 minutes.
Add the spinach and the soy sauce.
When spinach is wilted add back in the Spaghetti Squash and toss over the heat for about a minute to coat it with the sauce. Serve it with the Meatballs. Garnish with hemp hearts if you like.
Note about feeding your kids: I am completely incapable of making the right amount of spaghetti. There is always too much. So, whenever I have leftover spaghetti, I toss it with a little oil and freeze it in a Ziploc. When my kids are hungry and I forgot to cook, I dump it in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, just like fresh pasta. It comes in handy when I make spaghetti squash because they won't touch the squash. They get meatballs, which they gobble up, even my "dairy-tarian" daughter. Then they get plain spaghetti with a little sprinkle cheese on it and a side of still-frozen peas.
Anyone know how to say "Bon Appetit" in mandarin?
The Squash
1 spaghetti squash
Canola oil or sunflower oil
Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Don't bother taking out the seeds yet. It's easier once it's cooked. Place it, seed side down, in a large baking dish that's been coated with a little oil and cover it with foil. Pop it in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour. Then forget about it. And I mean that. I often make the squash the night before when I am watching some juicy television show like House or Real Housewives of NYC or even American Greed: Scams, and then I forget to take it out of the oven until after coffee the next day. Really.
The next morning, or when it cools, whichever comes first, take it out of the oven. Scoop the seeds out with a soup spoon. Then use a fork to shred all the strands of squash into a bowl and put it aside until everything else is done.
The Meatballs
1 lb. ground chicken (you can use turkey, but the chicken meatballs come out lighter)
1 egg
2 cups of rice krispies (which you can find behind the Cheerios leftover in the cupboard from that time last summer when you let the kids make rice krispie treats)
2 scallions, chopped
white pepper
ground coriander
chili powder
dried lemongrass
2 T tamari (I use San-J Tamari Wheat Free Soy Sauce. Use what you like.)
Canola or sunflower oil
This is great to make if you've had a lousy day. You get to use your hands to mash up the ground chicken mixture, and you get to use a rolling pin to bash the rice krispies into submission.
Put the cereal in a large ziploc bag and bash it (or roll it gently) with a rolling pin until it looks like matzoh meal. Or you can just use matzoh meal.
Mash all the ingredients together with your hands (don't forget to take your rings off) in a large bowl until it is well mixed. For the spices, I don't measure, I just sprinkle. Probably 1/2 teaspoon per spice, if you must know. If you don't have one of them because, honestly, how often are you gonna use dried lemongrass? ...just omit it. You really only need to use the soy sauce and the white pepper. Yes, you can use black. If you don't have chili powder (which I think is just wrong), you can use a little paprika for color.
Roll them into a zillion 1 inch balls and bake them on an oiled baking pan at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.
While these are baking you can make the:
The Veggies and Sauce
Canola oil or sunflower oil
1 sliced red bell pepper
1/2 bag of frozen peas (If your kids are like mine, save some uncooked peas for them as a side dish)
3 garlic cloves, run through a garlic press or grated
thumb-sized piece of ginger, very finely minced or grated
1/4 cup tamari (use whatever you used in the meatballs)
1 10 oz. bag of baby spinach or 1/2 head of bok choy
chopped hemp hearts (optional)
Heat a little oil in a 12-inch nonstick pan. Add everything except the tamari and spinach, if you are using it. If you are using bok choy, add it now. Saute over medium high heat for about 4 minutes.
Add the spinach and the soy sauce.
When spinach is wilted add back in the Spaghetti Squash and toss over the heat for about a minute to coat it with the sauce. Serve it with the Meatballs. Garnish with hemp hearts if you like.
Note about feeding your kids: I am completely incapable of making the right amount of spaghetti. There is always too much. So, whenever I have leftover spaghetti, I toss it with a little oil and freeze it in a Ziploc. When my kids are hungry and I forgot to cook, I dump it in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, just like fresh pasta. It comes in handy when I make spaghetti squash because they won't touch the squash. They get meatballs, which they gobble up, even my "dairy-tarian" daughter. Then they get plain spaghetti with a little sprinkle cheese on it and a side of still-frozen peas.
Anyone know how to say "Bon Appetit" in mandarin?
Monday, April 19, 2010
Shameless Promotions
Many of my loyal readers have asked what type of stevia I use. I do not use the types that are mixed with other additives (dextrose, sugar, xylitol, etc) to make them into a powdered form. I use this stevia extract from Sweet Leaf. It is the best. The sampler is the best value if you want to have different flavors on hand. And it goes a REALLY long way! You only need one drop per two ounces of whatever you're putting it in.
Here's how I use the different flavors:
Vanilla Creme: Use three drops in 8 oz. of warm milk with 2 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa to make supreme hot chocolate. It comes out bittersweet like real dark chocolate. If you like it sweeter add a 4th drop, but be careful. It is very powerful stuff.
Chocolate Raspberry: Use one drop per two oz. of mascarpone, two tablespoons of milk and two tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa to make chocolate mousse.
Lemon: Use two drops with 1 cup of plain yogurt (I like Stonyfield.)Stonyfield Farm Yogurt Cookbook
Then add 1 cup of frozen blueberries. Puree it all in the blender for a delicious breakfast.
Orange: Add two or three drops to my pumpkin/ricotta hot "cereal" recipe that I posted previously. Or add it to yogurt with some canned pumpkin or leftover butternut squash. (I know it sounds crazy, but it's good.)
My other new favorite "superfood" is cacoa nibs. but I get the 8 ounce package at A Market in Manchester and it is NOT this expensive. You can sprinkle them on yogurt or a smoothie (or a sundae, if you are feeling decadent), to add a little kick and a little crunch.
And for all you crazy, healthy people who have asked me about hemp hearts, which are fabulous to dress a salad or hot cereal....
Dese are dem. They pack quite a punch. They are so nutritionally dense, that they give you a kick without the normal accompanying crash later. Eat them early in the day. And not at all if you are sedentary. You won't know what to do with yourself.
I truly hope that someone nearby starts carrying more of these items (especially the Stevia sampler), but for now, I'll be doing more grocery shopping online....
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Un-Gumbo
I don't like okra. It's okay in gumbo but, if I'm going to go through the trouble to make gumbo, I'm not going to add stuff I don't particularly care for. However, my dad recently clued me in to the fact that "gumbo" means "okra". So if your gumbo doesn't have okra in it, it isn't gumbo. Ergo, the recipe for un-gumbo.
Un-Gumbo
2 T sunflower oil (you can use any oil you like)
4 links of chicken/turkey sausage, about 1 lb. (I use Applegate Farms Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage)
1 large leek, cleaned and chopped. Use two if they are skimpy (you can substitute a sweet onion, like Vidalia)
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
couple of dashes of thyme or one sprig of fresh
2 cups chicken broth* (or 1 can)
2 cups cooked whole tomatoes**, or 1-14.5 oz. can of diced or plum tomatoes
salt to taste
cayenne to taste
*I cannot use commercial chicken broth, so whenever I cook a bone-in chicken, whether it's whole or just the leg quarters, I save the bones and skin and leftover bits in the freezer and boil that carcass into broth when I need it. It only takes about 30 minutes, and you know what's in it.
**I do use canned tomatoes quite often. At the end of each summer, however, I buy a ton of second-quality tomatoes for cheap at the local farm stand and spend a day (usually labor day weekend) making a ton of tomato sauce and cooked tomatoes. Since I do not know how to can and am fearful that any canning experiment may result in poisoning my whole family with botulism, I freeze the cooked tomatoes in 2-cup bags in my freezer. By March, I've used it all up in braising, soups, stews, and pasta sauce.
Okay, this is a one pot dish, but you will dirty one additional bowl--oh pity--after you brown the sausage. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot or dutch oven. Slice the sausage into 1/2 inch rounds and brown it in the oil--about 3 minutes per side. Spoon out the sausage and reserve.
Put the chopped leeks, green pepper, celery, garlic and thyme in the pan and lower the heat to medium. Cook the veggies, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon until golden and very tender, about 15 or as long as 20 minutes.
Add the sausage back in and pour in the broth and tomatoes. Add salt and a few dashes of cayenne. Heat to boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
You can serve this over quinoa, brown rice, or on it's own. Even by itself, the mix of flavors fools your palate and your belly into thinking you just ate a LOT more food than you did.
Warning: if you are on a food rotation diet, this breaks every rule, unless you are allowed to eat food from the lily family, the nightshade family, and the celery/carrot family all in one day. But, hey, you only live once, right?
I still think it's gumbo.
Un-Gumbo
2 T sunflower oil (you can use any oil you like)
4 links of chicken/turkey sausage, about 1 lb. (I use Applegate Farms Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage)
1 large leek, cleaned and chopped. Use two if they are skimpy (you can substitute a sweet onion, like Vidalia)
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
couple of dashes of thyme or one sprig of fresh
2 cups chicken broth* (or 1 can)
2 cups cooked whole tomatoes**, or 1-14.5 oz. can of diced or plum tomatoes
salt to taste
cayenne to taste
*I cannot use commercial chicken broth, so whenever I cook a bone-in chicken, whether it's whole or just the leg quarters, I save the bones and skin and leftover bits in the freezer and boil that carcass into broth when I need it. It only takes about 30 minutes, and you know what's in it.
**I do use canned tomatoes quite often. At the end of each summer, however, I buy a ton of second-quality tomatoes for cheap at the local farm stand and spend a day (usually labor day weekend) making a ton of tomato sauce and cooked tomatoes. Since I do not know how to can and am fearful that any canning experiment may result in poisoning my whole family with botulism, I freeze the cooked tomatoes in 2-cup bags in my freezer. By March, I've used it all up in braising, soups, stews, and pasta sauce.
Okay, this is a one pot dish, but you will dirty one additional bowl--oh pity--after you brown the sausage. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot or dutch oven. Slice the sausage into 1/2 inch rounds and brown it in the oil--about 3 minutes per side. Spoon out the sausage and reserve.
Put the chopped leeks, green pepper, celery, garlic and thyme in the pan and lower the heat to medium. Cook the veggies, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon until golden and very tender, about 15 or as long as 20 minutes.
Add the sausage back in and pour in the broth and tomatoes. Add salt and a few dashes of cayenne. Heat to boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
You can serve this over quinoa, brown rice, or on it's own. Even by itself, the mix of flavors fools your palate and your belly into thinking you just ate a LOT more food than you did.
Warning: if you are on a food rotation diet, this breaks every rule, unless you are allowed to eat food from the lily family, the nightshade family, and the celery/carrot family all in one day. But, hey, you only live once, right?
I still think it's gumbo.
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