Orange, Carrot, Sweet Potato, Coconut-Curry Soup

This turned out just as I had hoped it would!

1 lg. sweet potato

3-4 big carrots

1 stalk celery

1/3 lg. red bell pepper

1/2 lg. white or yellow onion

4 big cloves of garlic - minced

2T butter

Peel and cube the sweet potato. Put the cubes in a bowl of salted water to keep the surfaces from oxidizing and turning brown. Rough chop the carrots, celery, pepper and onion. Melt the butter in a 4 quart soup pot then add all the vegetables.

1/2t each salt and pepper

1T pumpkin pie spice

1 to 2T curry powder

Season, stir and sauté 10 minutes or so, until the vegetables start to scent your kitchen. 

Add the bone broth and soup base.

32oz. chicken bone broth

2T chicken Better Than Bouillon

Simmer this, covered, for about a half hour or until the carrots are tender. Blend now with your immersion blender. Check the flavors and add anything it might need.

I added 1T turbinado sugar to bring out the flavors.

If everything is cooked the way you like it, now is the time to turn off the heat and stir in the coconut cream and orange.

1 can coconut cream
zest and juice of 1 navel orange

Serve this with your favorite garnishes. You could use any of these: A little dab of sour cream -or- plain Greek yogurt, pine nuts, sprouted pumpkin seeds, a sprinkle of dry dill. . .Lin

Coconut Curry Roasted Fruit and Vegetable Soup

1 med. butternut squash

1 lg. sweet potato

3 carrots 

EVOO, garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper

3 stalks of celery

4 cloves of garlic

1 med. purple onion

EVOO, garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper

Today I prepped then roasted the orange vegetables for 40 minutes at 400° Once the squash was cool, I peeled that then added the roasted vegetables to the pot where the others were simmering.

1T curry powder

1t coconut sugar

1t pumpkin pie spice

3T Better Than Bouillon 

3 very ripe, seeded, unpeeled pears (not shown)

20oz ± cold, fresh water

Blend this with an immersion blender and when slightly cooled, add 1 can coconut milk or coconut cream.

Serve this garnished with chopped nuts or seeds and a drizzle of seasoned, thinned, sour cream.

You could easily omit the coconut milk if you'd rather, but I like the way it brings all the flavors together and adds depth to the soup. . .Lin

Curried Beef and Vegetables

Oliver—My 10 year old, Perpetual Puppy

I'm at The Lake this week, and so far there's only been a couple hours of calm sunshine. It's pretty windy, grey, and misty out there, just off my deck right now, but also a lovely spot, regardless of the weather, to hang with the dogs and listen to NFL Football in the background with something yummy simmering on the stove. . .

Perfect Cooking Weather! 

Penny—My 17+ year old, Old Girl

I'm sure that again, I brought WAY too much food with me. 'Someday,' I'll find I'm low on groceries right before coming up. I'll get everything unpacked and settled here, then go to the lovely Super One, down the road, for exactly what I need for the week! As opposed to dragging 4 big, fully-packed bags of cans, frozen and fresh food like usual. . .

I'm not sure just when that'll happen, crazy-over-shopper that I am, but I look forward to it!

Sooo, today, the meat, about a pound of Black Angus eye of round steak, was cut into chunks, browned in 3T EVOO with a little of that onion, finely chopped. Then browned and deglazed several times with some lemon tea, sweetened with honey, that I made earlier.

I added the vegetables shown in order of their length of cooking time:

Celery, carrots, cabbage, then covered and simmered 15 minutes. Then red bell pepper, potatoes, onion and sweet potatoes, simmered another 15 minutes. Sliced garlic and some green onion tops at the very end. I added more tea as needed, using about 24oz.

This photo is just before adding the coconut cream. Do that at the very end, just before serving, pour it over everything, stir gently, taste to check flavors. I used 3T of this curry powder, which is way too mild for my taste! I added 1t each of salt and pepper, but some crunchy peanut butter and golden raisins would have been perfect to round out the flavors. Heat once more to a low simmer and serve in big rustic bowls.

Mmmmm!!

This is perfect for A Chilly, Fall Day,

on our Beautiful Lake Superior! .😊. .Lin

Coconut Curry Vegetable Cod-Shrimp Chowder

Oh my goodness!  This turned out so well. . .I'll eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

13-14oz. thick cod loins
None of those skinny little filets!
Carefully, rinse and pat dry. Season the cod generously with fresh ground black pepper, and lots of dry dill.

Vegetables: Carrots, Celery, Onion, Potatoes, Garlic - amounts as shown, AND 12-16oz. frozen, cut green beans.

First off, trust your instincts and get a feel for your vegetables, your mood, and the recipe for this particular, singular day, in your cooking life. Sometimes vegetables want to be cubed, julienned, chopped, or diced. . .Today it was all about slicing and chunking. Start with the ones that take longer to cook. 

Melt 2-3T pure, organic coconut oil in a 4 quart pot. Add the carrots and celery with a little of the onion to impart some nice oniony flavors (and wonderful aroma to your kitchen!) I cooked these, covered, on low heat for about 15 minutes, then added the rest of the cut vegetables. I got this sizzling, then added 2c of water. Once it was bubbling, I reduced the heat to low, covered the pot, and took my dogs for their walks.

2-1/4 miles and an hour+ later, I added the whole, seasoned chunks of cod, and the following:

2T Better Than Bouillon - lobster flavor
~ good luck finding this -or- use chicken or vegetable
1-1/2T± powdered cumin
1T± curry powder
1 14oz can coconut milk or cream

At this point I thought I was done. However, there was so much wonderfully flavored broth, it just needed more vegetables, so I added 2c frozen corn AND 2c frozen baby peas. Realizing I had used less than a pound of cod, I tossed in the remainder of a package of frozen Argentinean Red Shrimp, which was 8oz after thawing and draining. I covered this, let it come to a low bubble over very low heat, and cook it for about 20 minutes longer, before serving.

Hey. . .It's SEPTEMBER!!!

~!!~ Happy Soup Season ~!!~

(for those of you who need the justification of a 'season'. . .

put away your white shoes and pull out your soup pot!)

For me it's ALWAYS 'Soup Season'!

Be Bold! — Be Adventurous!

Happy Cooking! . .😁. . .Lin

Honey-Vanilla Coconut Cream

1 13.66 oz. can of coconut cream

3T organic honey

1-2t pure vanilla

Whisk the coconut cream (NOT coconut milk) together with the honey and vanilla.  

Pour into a glass container, cover and store in the refrigerator.  Scoop out whatever amount you like to enrich your perfectly brewed coffee.  Make sure your coffee is very hot to melt and incorporate this homemade coffee creamer.

This is NOT low calorie, and a little does NOT go a long way.  I needed 2-3 tablespoons per cup!  It is a mild, creamy sweetness for your favorite cup of liquid-bean energy.  A nice coconut-e change from your usual. . .Lin

Albanian-Indian-Italian Chunky Red Sauce

4oz. mushrooms

1-2T Tuscan oil

½c dry white wine

5 lg. cloves garlic

8oz. mixed olives ~

~ and sun-dried tomatoes

3-4oz. tomato pesto

¾c mild Ajvar
1T sugar

1 18oz. pkg. RANA pasta

Saute' the washed, sliced, paper towel-dried mushrooms in the oil for a few minutes until they shrink a bit.  Add the wine, chopped garlic, olives and tomatoes.  Stir in the pesto, Ajvar and sugar.  Cover and bring all this to a simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat.  Stir in the coconut cream, cover and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the RANA pasta according to package directions, or just a little less, then drain.  This chunky sauce would also work well with penne, fettuccine or linguine, or even as a lasagna sauce.  Put half the drained pasta-of-your-choice, into a 2qt. casserole dish.  Pour and spoon half the sauce over the pasta.  Repeat this layer, sprinkle with grated cheese if you want, then bake, uncovered for 15 minutes at 375°.  Turn the broiler to low and put the casserole directly under the heat source for just a few minutes to bubble-brown, and crisp the top.  Keep an eye on it though, it'll go from perfect to burnt in no time.  Serve alone, or with a green salad. . .Lin

Fruity Coconut Frozen Yogurt

Assorted Frozen Fruits - I used a variety today.  Orange peel, half a banana, pineapple, cranberries, and a cherry-berry mix containing sweet cherries, tart cherries, blueberries and strawberries.  I used my chopper on all this while partially frozen.  It measured 2 cups.  Put that aside for now so it thaws a bit more.  The juice will help everything come together in the blender.  This recipe almost filled both a 30 and a 41oz. container, so I had to blend in 3 batches.

1c coconut milk

1½c coconut cream

2c Chobani Greek yogurt

¼-⅓c honey (or Maple syrup)

1-2t pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

2c chopped assorted fruit

Put the ingredients in the blender in the order given, blending well, then pouring out a couple cups into a bowl to make room for the rest.  I've been working on perfecting a couple ice cream or frozen yogurt recipes, rather than buy regular sugar-filled ice cream that often has artificial ingredients and chemicals.

I just put this in the freezer.  It's 7:00 in the evening now, so I may even switch it to the 'fridge if it doesn't freeze to the consistency I want tonight.  Then I'd pop it back in the freezer tomorrow morning.  I don't use an ice cream maker, so it's important to stir this AS it's freezing, to keep it aerated so it doesn't freeze really hard, like a fruity ice cube.  Making this sort of dessert is time-intensive, so it's good to start it on a morning when you're hanging around the kitchen, doing 'house things.'  Last year, I said I was going to try making lemon frozen yogurt.  That'll probably be my next dessert project!
Be Bold, Be Creative and most of all, I wish you Fun and Happy Cooking 😉 . . . Lin