Pumpkin Curry Coconut Soup

In a large pot on medium heat melt:
1/4 cup coconut oil

Add:
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

Cook until onion is translucent then add:
2-3 tablespoons red curry paste

Cook until well combined and fragrant then add:
1 28 oz can pumpkin puree
1 14 oz can coconut milk

Rinse each can out with water and add water to pot (approx 2 cups). Stir in:
2 teaspoons low sodium chicken broth paste

Use an immersion blender to remove all chunks and then heat through over medium heat, stirring often.

Green Goddess Dressing

GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

green tops of a bunch of green onions
leaves from a small sprig of rosemary
leaves from a small sprig of thyme
handful of cilantro
2 cloves of garlic
1 tin of anchovies
1/2 cup mayo
juice of 1 lemon
2-4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Blend all ingredients in the blender until creamy and well combined. Great with a green salad with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, artichoke hearts and grated carrots.

Cilantro Lime Pesto

Cilantro Lime Pesto (all measurements are approximate)

• 2 bunches of cilantro - washed and big stems removed
• juice of 2 limes
• about 1/3 cup of walnuts
• about 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• fresh ground sea salt & fresh ground pepper
• olive oil

1. pulse together walnuts, sunflower seeds, garlic, lime juice in food processor, scraping down as needed
2. add cilantro and continue to pulse until everything is all smooshed together and well combined
3. with food processor running pour in olive oil until desired consistency
   

I have added chopped fresh tomatoes, (tofutti) cream cheese and (tofutti) sour cream and used it on pasta (YUM) and tonight I added probably equal parts mayo and pesto with juice of a lime as salad dressing. We had the pesto mixed in to steamed rice. We have also used it as dip with tortilla chips.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Basic dairy-free chocolate chip cookies. The big trick with using Earth Balance for cookies is never melt it, no matter what the original recipe says. I make a big batch and refrigerate/freeze the extra dough for later use. I always add a little extra vanilla to recipes. Adapted from - Best Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1.5 cups Earth Balance

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2+ tablespoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

3+ cups semisweet chocolate chips

 

1.	Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2.	Sift/whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3.	In bowl of stand mixer, cream together the Earth Balance, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, eggs, and egg yolks until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Drop cookie dough one cookie scoop at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4.	Bake for 12-14 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

 

Black Bean, Corn & Tomato Salad

half a bag of TJ's frozen white corn, defrosted
can of TJ's black beans, rinsed
half a large tomato chopped fine
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 clove garlic, minced and smashed with a few turns of fresh ground sea salt
a pinch of sugar
can of mild rotel
red wine vinegar
vegetable oil

Mix together corn, beans, tomato and onion. In a small bowl whisk together garlic, 2 tablespoons juice from the can of rotel, sugar, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar. Add more rotel juice, vinegar or oil to taste. Mix dressing in to salad along with several tablespoons of rotel to taste.

Big hit for kid #2 as long as I picked out the red onion bits. #1 was a fan too. Husband had it over lettuce and didn't complain - I guess that is good.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

This is probably how we should have brought our giant zucchini home!

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons
ground cinnamon
5 eggs
   
1 cup vegetable oil
½ cup olive oil
2 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 cups grated zucchini
2 cups chopped walnuts
Half a package of TJ’s semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1.     Grease and flour two 9 x 6 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2.     Whiskflours, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3.     Beat eggs, oils, vanilla, and sugars together in stand mixer until combined. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini, nuts and chocolate chips until well combined. Scoop batter into prepared pans.
4.     Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Coconut-Peant Thai Chicken with Rice Noodles

6-8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
oil to coat the pan
1 can coconut milk
3 oz water
2 T curry paste
2-4 T peanut butter
2-4 T fish sauce
1 red pepper
1/2 medium yellow onion
1/2 lb frozen french green beans
1 package of rice noodles, boiled for 2 minutes and then left to soak for 10+ minutes

brown chicken in oil
add all remaining ingredients except rice noodles and simmer, stirring often until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender
serve over cooked rice noodles
serve with Sriracha rooster sauce for the braver diners 


5 STAR rating from the whole family