Pancakes v6: Vegan Coconut

Had some extra coconut milk around, plus shredded coconut, and felt like an indulgent breakfast... Found this recipe that seemed to check the boxes and not require any crazy ingredients and stuff:

Recipe
1 c flour (doesn't have to be coconut!)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 c coconut milk
1/2 c water
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

handful of shredded coconut

• Whisk together the dry ingredients, then add the wet ones and combine - doesn't have to be super smooth, lumps are fine!
• Heat a non-stick skillet over medium; once hot, add some coconut oil and cook up batches of pancakes - about 2 tbsp to 1/4 c, a minute or two per side until set and browned.
• In the meantime, sprinkle the shredded coconut on a baking sheet and roast for a few minutes - don't forget while everything else is going on!
• Serve topped with toasted coconut, syrup, butter, etc.

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

This soup is a super creamy Thai-ish bowl of wonder. I combined two recipes and riffed on a few things, so below is my best idea of what exactly goes into it.

Necessary Tool: Immersion Blender! Bless this thing. Makes soup so easy.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 tbsp coconut oil (def used more as things cooked down)
-1/2 sweet onion
-garlic (I did 6 cloves)
-ginger (2ish tbsp)
-red curry paste (about 2 tsp? to taste, it is strong!)
-2 big sweet potatoes peeled and cut into medium chunks
-2 cups chicken broth
-2ish carrots (optional...I got the wrong kind of potato! Were white inside and weren't very sweet, so I added some carrots for orange color and sugar. Worked really well! Would recommend.)
-1 can coconut milk
-1 lime
-scallions


DIRECTIONS:

Heat up coconut oil in a big pot. Cook onions til nice and brown, preferably caramelized, but that takes forever. Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste. Cook down for a few minutes until super fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes and carrots, mix well. Cook, adding more oil if needed, until potatoes start to get soft, about 20 minutes. Add broth, bring to a boil then simmer until potatoes are super soft. Remove from heat and immersion blender the ever living sh*t out of it til nice and blended. Add coconut milk, stir in some lime juice, mix it up, and heat it all back up.

Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk if you want, but DEFINITELY with slices of lime and scallions.

Honey Coconut Salmon

A combination of a free evening, a packet of frozen salmon, and a recently-purchased bag of shredded coconut (a possibility for an upcoming CS-ORS bake-off) led me to this recipe:

Recipe

1 1/2 c butter
3/4 c honey
1/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c flaked coconut
4 salmon fillets (~4 oz each)

Melt your butter, then stir in the honey, brown sugar, and coconut.  Pour over your salmon and turn to coat, then marinate in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Preheat your oven to 375, spread some marinade over the bottom of your baking dish, place your salmon in there, and coat with more marinade.  Bake about 25 minutes, basting with marinade a few times.

Notes

A good recipe for a lot of flavor from not a lot of ingredients.  I was worried it would be overly sweet what with the honey and brown sugar etc., but the butter and (unsweetened!) coconut balances it out a bit.  It worked well for some freezer salmon fillets - if you have a high-quality piece you're probably better off doing something more discreet...  It's also a pretty large amount of marinade - you're fine scaling it back significantly.

Smoky Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup

I'm still in the process of deciding whether I like butternut squash or I *really* like butternut squash.  Good results so far with roasting it, but to try something new, how about a soup?  After some iffy metric conversions, here's what I ended up doing:

Recipe

1 medium-to-small-ish butternut squash, peeled (obviously) and diced :p
1 onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 c vegetable stock
1 can coconut milk
(coconut) oil, salt & pepper

Heat a couple tbsps of oil over medium in a large saucepan, then add the squash, onion, and garlic.  Cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.  Then add the paprika, stir, and cook another minute.  Add the broth and simmer 15 minutes or until the squash is soft.  Blend or mash it up, then stir in the coconut milk.  Heat and serve, they recommend over lentils.

Notes

Lots of thoughts...

Is butternut squash season over?  This was the iffiest of the squashes I've bought and prepped in the last month or two...

Peeling and cubing butternut squash for roasting is work enough; dicing is a pretty big hassle.

I mashed instead of blending (with my non-existent blender); the chunky texture (particularly the onions, which didn't mash at all really) is not a problem!

I figured rice would be fine, but invested in a bag of lentils anyway.  Definitely a good call.  Wouldn't consider myself much of a lentil fan, but they add a nice earthy, peppery, savory flavor to the soup.

The soup is delicious, but like most vegetarian dishes, it seemed like something was missing.  Some spicy sausage might be a key addition...

Anzac Biscuits

Happy Australia Day!  Anzac biscuits (history, recipe) are a classic Australia Day treat, with their origins (like the day itself) in the WWI era, when there was a need to send a tasty treat on a long sea voyage, and also one that did not require eggs as Australia's typically-bellicose dairy farmers were fightin' round the world.


Recipe

1 c quick cooking oats
1 c flour
1 c sugar
3/4 c coconut flakes
1/2 c butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix up the dry ingredients (oats, flour, sugar, coconut).  Melt the butter and mix in the syrup.  Mix the baking soda and boiling water, then add to butter, then add all that to the dry ingredients.  Spoon onto a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Notes

I'm not much of a baker, so this first batch was a bit of a learning experience.  Still, not too difficult.  I used honey instead of "golden syrup."  I had to split the batch between two trays, and the one closer to the burner got a little overdone.  In retrospect, I should have pulled them out once they looked done; they were very soft, but toughened up a bit as they cooled.  Overall, plenty of tasty biscuits.  And as another plus, your kitchen will smell like delicious baked goods and/or melted butter.

Quick Coconut Chicken

I LOVE breaded, fried things.  ESPECIALLY breaded, fried chicken.  BUT--unfortunately--breaded, fried things are not good for one and are not allowed Paleo-wise.  The solution?  THIS:

The coconut flakes on the outside can crisp up nicely, giving you that kick of crunchy exterior.  The inherent sweetness of the flakes adds a really interesting component not found in regular breading.  Serve with interesting dips or creamy sauces likes guacamole and it's just...WaBAM.  

Also, it's super easy and super fast.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. chicken tenders

1/2 cup shredded UNSWEETENED coconut flakes

pinch of salt

1 egg

2 tbsp coconut oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat coconut oil over medium heat.  Pat chicken dry, dip into egg mixture and roll in coconut flakes with salt until coated.  Cook a few minutes per side until done.  

NOTES:

I didn't have eggs around, so I just used extra virgin olive oil as the sticky element and it worked fine.  

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

A.k.a. Tom Kha Gai, this one was a team effort by Emma and me on an uncharacteristically cool and rainy spring day.  As good as it was, it'll be a while before I make it again, but when winter hits, it could be a go-to dinner.

The Recipe

chicken breast - a pound and change? - cut into small pieces
1 onion, sliced
2 cans coconut milk
4 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp coconut (or sesame) oil
2 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp red chili paste
2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lemongrass - paste or minced - if you can find it

Cook onion in the oil over low heat for about 15 minutes.  Mix in the spices/sauces.  Add the coconut milk and simmer for 15-20 minutes, then the stock and chicken, raise heat to low boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until done.

Results

So yeah, it was really good.  A lot of elements, but they go in in phases, so you can prep the next batch while the previous one is cooking.  We had some (friendly, of course) debate over the proportion of broth to solid ingredients, as well as the possible addition of mushroom.  And it's a little tricky to find the exact right amount of sriracha to balance flavor and heat.  But overall a success and something to make a seasonal favorite!

It was very good, but look - it's mostly broth!

Emma, feel free to add your notes or pictures!