Tom Kha Ghai

It's funny, I've never been a fan of coconut. It's probably the texture of dried coconut. We had those baby coconuts on a dessert on our honeymoon and I picked around them. However, over the last year or so, as we've had more pan-asian meals, the flavor has grown on me, in a subtle way.  I'm not sure I'll ever be a fan of Almond Joy or Mounds (sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't...) but coconut milk with other flavors is nice.

 We've made Tom Kha Ghai a couple of times. We've finally tailored it to our tastes and food restrictions.  It's nice and light and honestly I could just drink the broth and be happy.

To make 6 or so servings you need:
6 cups broth,
1 stalk lemongrass bruised and chopped into 2" pieces
3 kaffir lime leaves, torn
4" ginger peeled and sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 T siracha or red curry
1 can light coconut milk
baby corn, cut into 1" pieces
water chestnuts, sliced
sugar snap peas, cut into 1/2-1" pieces
broccoli, small florets
cremini mushrooms, sliced
carrots, thinly sliced
fresh lime wedges

1. In a pot simmer broth, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, and onion for 30 minutes then strain and discard the solids.
2. Add the coconut milk and chili sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. For softer vegetables, add those for the last few minutes, or pour the broth over vegetables in a bowl for firmer vegetables.
4. Serve with a squeeze of lime

Citrus Chocolate Pear Pavlova

Honey cooked pears, drizzled with a dark chocolate and orange glaze, crunchy almonds, and slightly tangy cream all in a marshmellow-y meringue nest. While DH's birthday cake was rich and delicious, I wanted something a little more complex for my quarter-century birthday.My favorite part was the meringue but then one cookie that I loved growing was what we called "Norwegian Kisses" (according to the internet, properly called "Pikekyss") so that's really not surprising. 

I have no idea how to make this vegan. The filling can be used as a light cake topping or even on pancakes or oatmeal for a vegan dessert. Might be nice on an angel cake. We ended up eating a 1/4 of this the night I made it and then crumbled the rest up for icebox cake. I think quartering it would be an excellent non-traditional Valentine's Day dessert (add some raspberries if you really want red in there.) The cream, keeping with the rest of the pile, is not your traditional lightly sweetened whipped cream. We took a lightly sweetened cream and cut it with Greek yogurt for some tang. DH was a little skeptical but he came around. I suppose you could just stick with the lightly sweetened cream if you really don't want the yogurt.

Note, this is not a quick dessert. But you can let it cool in the oven overnight/during the day if you are planning a party. The toppings keep in the fridge so you can prepare this the night before, clean up the dishes and just let them warm up to room temp while eating dinner. 

Snickerdoodle Granola

 I could have sworn I posted a granola recipe before, but I can't find it, of course. I had a craving for snickerdoodles and baked apples the other night, but being that DH and I are trying to get back on track with healthier habits (cold weather+ a lot of food holidays+ constant trade off of illness = lazy couple) that wasn't such a great idea. Instead I tossed a chopped apple in the skillet I used to make this with a little bit more cinnamon and made this recipe. A much better decision.

Like my oatmeal, this is a good basic granola. Add some cocoa powder for Mexican hot chocolate oatmeal, add more dried fruit for a trail mix granola, candied  ginger and dried carrot and pineapple for a carrot cake granola (I do have a thing for a good carrot cake.)

You Need:
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 T coconut oil
1 T honey or agave
4 T brown sugar
1 flax egg (or hen's egg)
2 C rolled oats
1/2 C pecans, chopped
1 t salt
1.5 T cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 300 F and line a baking sheet with foil
2. Heat together the vanilla, oil, and sweeteners until the oil is melted and a syrup forms
3. While that is melting, thoroughly mix together the dry ingrediants.
4. Toss all ingrediants, minus the egg together until thoroughly coated
5. Mix in remaining egg and spread mixture on baking sheet
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the oats are crisp and toasted
7. Let cool for at least 10 minutes to allow some clumps to form. Toss in 1/2 C dried cranberries, if desired
8. Store in an airtight container, it will keep for at least two weeks.

Breakfast Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Yogurt Icing

I have a soft spot for carrot cake. Growing up I worked at my lesson barn and on Saturdays we would have a pot luck and the barn owner would make her carrot cake. At the time I didn't like pineapple or raisins but like many other things, my preferences changed (up until a year ago I hated pineapple, so another vote for taste buds changing as we age.)

I wanted a smaller snack so made this thin cake. For a more substantial cake, just double the cake ingredients and add five minutes to the bake time. We made this for church along with Oh She Glows' Banana Oat Cake and both were very well received. We simply cut each in half to make two layers each. and served them on one cake carrier.

Breakfast Cake:
1 C whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t ginger
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t all spice
1/4 salt
2 T water
2 T oil
2 T yogurt, unflavored, unsweetened
1/4 C brown sugar, or equivalent
1.5 T ground flax in 4 T lukewarm water
1 heaping C carrots, shredded (we used 2 carrots)
1/4 C walnuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 C golden raisin
1/4 C pineapple, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease/flour a round cake pan, preferably one with a removable bottom. Serving it as a pie would work as well
2. Beat together the yogurt, oil, water, and sugar until smooth
3. Add in the spices, powder, salt, flax egg, and flour and beat until smooth
4. Fold in the remaining ingredients and pour into the prepared pan
5. Bake for 30 minutes, until a tester in the center comes out in.
6. Cool in the pan until the pan is warm but not hot to the touch and carefully remove the cake. Serve hot or cold, but definitely top with the icing

For the Icing:
1 C yogurt
1.5 T maple syrup
1 T cinnamon
pinch ginger

Beat together until smooth, adjust to taste. I wanted it mildly sweet but you might want it sweeter.

To store: Cover tightly with cling wrap. It can sit in the fridge up to two days but it's best fresh. 

Honey Siracha (Cauliflower) Wings

DH was really really excited about this recipe. It eliminates everything about chicken wings I can't handle: fried coating and the chicken itself. It doesn't help that we never found a chicken wing source here before my food restrictions increased. There was some skepticism on Facebook but these were a really big success. Aside from kind of missing the texture of chicken (we were a bone-in kind of people, not boneless wings) DH didn't have any complaints. I made it a little spicy for me but we quickly polished off a whole head of cauliflower (and quickly paid for it with stuffed bellies, I might recommend Bean-o before and peppermint tea after, and some sort of ant-acid.)

DH had them on a bed of carrot matchsticks and celery chunks. I had them on a salad with thin celery half-moons and carrot shreds. We did find a "zero calorie" ranch-like dressing but can't 100% endorse it since it didn't fulfill the burn-cutting quality you want a wing dip to have. If you have no issues with milk or milk derivatives, just buy what ever you prefer - buttermilk ranch, blue cheese, whichever. There are number of dairy-free recipes out there on the internet, if you want to try that instead. 

Note, this is not your traditional buffalo wing sauce. I'm not a fan of the flavor of vinegar-based buffalo sauce but again you can find a recipe out there if you really want or just buy Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wings Sauce. I like the sweetness to cut the spice. Maple syrup would a good substitute for the honey if you so desire.

Pad Thai Summer Rolls

 Summer rolls take me back to college. One of our default after church lunches was at Clay Pot, by the time we moved DH had been going there for something like 8 years. Part of the lunch special was starting with goi cuon ga with a peanut dipping sauce. I usually followed it with a chicken clay pot (I'm not a huge pho fan) but DH would get the lemongrass chicken, extra spicy.

These rolls are pretty much a full meal, maybe could fit in more vegetables but otherwise, fairly balanced. If you want to include the spread in the rolls or not is up to you, we found it less messy but we ate them right away. If you plan on waiting a little while you might want to thin it out and use it as a dipping sauce so it doesn't overly soften the wrappers.

White Bean and Mushroom Soup

This is my take on SkinnyTaste's Tuscan White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup. Developed the flavor a bit more to fit Zoe's Kitchen's Braised Beans which I have an unhealthy love for (seriously, I need to just get a to go thing of it instead of getting those unnecessary extras like salad or veggie kabobs -which are good but not as good.)  I'm seriously considering using thermos-type tumblers to make my own to-go soups for work and at the barn (need to remember to check to see if there's a microwave in the lounge.)

Seasoned Kale Chips and Knockoff Whataburger Spicy Ketchup

 After a failed soup left us with a giant bunch of kale, I felt the need to use it up. What better way then trying my hand at kale chips? Now I've never actually had kale chips - homemade or store bought before this adventure so I went in with zero expectations other wanting to use up the green leafy thing taking up the entire bottom shelf of the fridge. I'd say it was a success. DH likes it because it serves as a decent vehicle for ketchup.

I didn't like the spice level with the spicy ketchup (seriously, try it with the kale) but DH wanted more of a bite. It's been reflected in the recipe. DH isn't going back to Texas anytime soon and can't justify the 19+ for ketchup so he came up with a basic knockoff. Whatburger ketchup is noticeably sweeter than Heinz since they use sugar and HFCS. I think honey might be a nice use instead of sugar but that's up to you.

Festive Shredded Kale Salad

Made this for a lighter option at the church party. It went over really well- as long as I didn't mention at first what leafy green was in the salad until after they tried it.  It's nicely balanced to serve as a main course if you're so inclined. Sliced radish might nice in here, something crunchy. The favorite part seemed to be the dressing. It's a nice all around dressing so it can used on most salads, I would think.

I would definitely eat this the day of. I tried to have leftovers for dinner the next night when DH went to the church's chili cook-off but the garlic was too pungent. If you really like garlic, go for it but even I have my limit and I think garlic bread is the best thing ever (as long as there's no cheese.) I think baking the pecan crumbles into a crouton might be nice, or it might be overkill. That's an experiment for another day.

Christmas Explosion Parfait: Flourless Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Candy Cane Buttercream

DH asked for that offshoot trail and called it "the road less traveled". He then said I couldn't repeat it at the party, so I'm doing so here, sorry hun. The trees look less awkward in real life, I promise.

I'm sorry, this is not what people want to see at the beginning of a new year with new diets and everything but oh well.

Because of the craziness around Christmas at our church, our Sunday School had an After-Christmas Christmas Party. Because it was after the new year, I balanced out this nonsense with a salad I'll post later. This is ovo-vegetarian, gluten intolerant, and gluten-free friendly. If you use egg beaters instead of the yolks in the cake, it could be low cholesterol too but I can't guarantee how it'll work. I'm not entirely clear on the chemistry there. I'm not sure if there is a vegan alternative that could work, sorry.

This was supposed to be a yule log but the cake cracked horrible. So instead I layered it in a parfait and decorated it with squat little meringue trees and chocolate bark field stone pathway. Not as pretty but still tastes good. You can try to roll the cake up to cool then unroll, ice, and reroll but no guarantee that it will work. Instead crumble or slice to layer with icing in a serving bowl. I may actually use it with a lighter frosting for my mom's birthday.

Overnight Oatmeal Pancakes (with a dark chocolate orange variation)

My aunt and uncle gave DH and I a new griddle for Christmas, for which I am very appreciative. Our old was a wedding gift for DH's parents... 30 years ago. It smelled, the coating was coming off, it took up valuable real estate in our kitchen, it just needed to go. My aunt got us a stove-top version that takes up just one burner, the right size for two people.

To break it in, I wanted oatmeal pancakes. But not just any oatmeal pancakes, I had a craving for one of the chocolate oranges but with less of a calorie load and more orange. DH wasn't sure of the orange with the syrup, I would try honey if you're the kind who think that orange and maple don't go together.