Cooking with Coconut Oil {Book Review}

What better thing to get me blogging again than a local blogger friend publishing her very first cook book?!

Elizabeth Nyland, also known as the lady behind the popular food blog Guilty Kitchen, has put her expertise on Paleo eating down on paper in her new cook book Cooking with Coconut Oil.  She shows us how versatile coconut oil can be with this crazy cool little book just jam packed with recipes for everything from breakfasts to decadent desserts.

I was sent a copy by the publisher on the day the book was released and by that night I had actually read most of the book cover to cover.  I had expected to find maybe 20-25 recipes, but turns out there’s more than 75 and each one is accompanied by one or more of Elizabeth’s beautiful photos.  I busted out my sticky notes and started marking pages for recipes I wanted to try right away!

In the interest of keeping it simple for this review, my bf and picked out a few recipes for a cohesive Sunday dinner.  We chose something from the appetizer section, something from entrees, and something from side dishes.  I had my eye on her Chocolate, Coconut, Avocado and Lime Pie as well, but in the end I was bit too lazy to pull that off that weekend.  :)  Soon though, I promise!

Beet and Cauliflower Hummus

Paleo peeps don’t eat legumes, so obviously this is an alternative to actual hummus since no chick peas were harmed in the making of this dip.  But the inclusion of tahini sends it down that Middle Eastern path.

I choose this recipe because bf and I both love ourselves some roasted beets.  So much so that you would think I’d be good at cooking beets, but I have to admit I undercooked mine.  I followed Elizabeth’s recipe directions exactly, but I should have tested the doneness of my beets as they probably needed another 20 minutes in the oven.

Needless to say I had some trouble getting them to grind down in the food processor, but in the end we had a yummy dip that we would definitely make again!  We served it up with veggies to keep it Paleo for the review, but admittedly we ate the leftovers the next day on crispy crackers and loved it even more that way. :)

Hassleback Sweet Potatoes {Yams}

Liz says it herself “these are really just fancy baked sweet potatoes, [but] the extra steps taken to create the Hassleback effect makes them extra fun for parties…”

I’ve been seeing Hassleback potatoes on Pinterest for ages now but I guess it took seeing it in sweet potato form for me to do it.  I used Elizabeth’s handy trick of placing chopsticks along side the potato to make sure I didn’t cut right through when slicing…works like a hot damn.

Again, I undercooked these bad boys so I’m going to blame bf’s oven.  Just make sure you test yours for doneness because mine needed more time than the recipe suggested.

The final product was indeed beautiful and tasty though!  And I had fun brushing the coconut oil into all of the nooks and crannies.

Grilled {Skirt} Steak with Chimichurri

Chimichurri is another one of those recipes I’ve bumped into a thousand times but never got around to making.  As I flipped through the book I gravitated right to this recipe and knew it’s what was for dinner.

We’d be better off making this one during the Summer when our own home grown herbs are in season, but I managed to find everything I needed at our local supermarket.  Nothing beats a bag of fresh herbs, any time of year!

This year bf bought shares in a locally raised, organic, free range, grass fed cow so his freezer has beef-a-plenty (seriously, you want a good burger…get organic grass fed ground beef!).  Oddly we didn’t have a skirt steak so we opted to broil up a huge sirloin steak instead.

It paired perfectly with the spicy, herbacious chimichurri and Hasslebacks.  It would be safe to say we’d eat this again.  And again.  That sauce?  We’d put that sh!t on everything! ;)

In fact, we liked the sauce so much I asked Liz if I could share it with you.  So you lucky bums, here’s a teaser from her book:

Chimichurri recipe from Cooking with Coconut Oil {Elizabeth Nyland}

• 1 cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, packed
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, packed
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano, packed
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, packed
• 4 green onions or scallions, green part only
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• juice of 1 lemon at room temperature
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• sea salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Place everything in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  Set aside if you’re using it right away, or keep covered in the fridge if using later.  Coconut oil does solidify when chilled so bring the chimichurri back to room temperature before using.

All of the recipes in Cooking with Coconut Oil are gluten-free, grain-free, Paleo and Primal diet friendly, and include coconut oil and sometimes coconut flour.  Elizabeth explains about the benefits of coconut oil, how to chose coconut oil, and what the Paleo lifestyle is really all about.  In addition to being some yummy recipe reading there’s a little education in there too. 

I’m happy to have this recipe book in my arsenal and look forward to cooking more with coconut oil. Keep up with Elizabeth on her blog, as she has another book in the works… Cooking with Avocados is coming soon!

Blueberry-Yogurt Freezer Pie

Yet another Pinterest find.  A pie that ANYONE can make!  No baking required.  If you can stir and you have room in your freezer, you can make this!  Four ingredients really can’t lead you astray.

Frozen Blueberry Coconut Yogurt Pie from She Wears Many Hats.

The mistake I made was stirring the blueberries into the yogurt instead of spreading them on top.  Ah well!  Still tasted the same I’m sure!

I followed the ingredients for this pie as written for this first attempt, but I already have visions of switching out the vanilla yogurt for lemon or pineapple.  And switching up the berries for strawberries or blackberries.  Can’t you just taste it?!

I found this version a wee bit too tart…freezing yogurt isn’t the same as frozen yogurt.  You definitely know you are eating yogurt.  Next time I’ll add a wee bit of something sweet…honey or the like.  Or use a sweeter yogurt.

Aside from that though, this is a recipe worth keeping on hand for a easy and delicious warm weather dessert. 

Pinteresting Breakfast Cookies

I have made a handful of things I’ve discovered on Pinterest.  Some with fairly great success, some with utter failure.  Such is the way it goes when trusting instructions found randomly on the internet.

So when I came across this easy-sounding breakfast cookie recipe I wasn’t entirely sure how it would go.  I mean, no sugar…no flour…no butter…what kind of cookies were these?!  But since I had all of the ingredients on hand, including exactly three frozen overripe bananas, I decided to give it go.

And they worked!

Instead of just raisins, I reduced the oats a little bit and added coconut and sunflower seeds…just to make the flavours a little more interesting…but I kept the ratios of wet to dry the same.  Going forward it will be easy to mix up the add-ins with whatever I happen to have in the cupboard at the time. 

These are definitely not a sweet cookie.  The sweetness comes only from the bananas so be prepared when you take your first bite.  More like a dense banana oatmeal muffin, minus the 250 grams of fat.

Michael loves them.  He’s stockpiling bananas just to get them overripe so I’ll make another batch. 

Breakfast Cookies (adapted from Wisebread.com)

yields 13 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 mashed overripe bananas
• 1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 cup UVAB (or milk of your choice)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 2 heaping tablespoons unsalted sunflower seeds
• generous sprinkle of cinnamon
• scant pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together until moist throughout.  Scoop into individual cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Bake 18-20 minutes until bottoms begin to brown.  Let cool on tray 5 minutes.  Finish cooling on counter or rack.
4. Store in an airtight container or zipper bag in the refrigerator.

According to MyFitnessPal this version comes out to about 145 calories per cookie.

Eggvocado

Well colour me trendy but I just had to hop on the latest craze in healthy eating blogville.  Avocados in our egg salad! 

Just last week I was perusing the last couple of issues of Self magazine when I came across a list of superfoods which included eggs and avocados.  Since I’m always looking for something super to include in my day to day meal planning I was happy to see these two ingredients side by side.

Turns out there are lots of recipes out there for this but I kept it simple and went along [mostly] with mix included in Self magazine.  I thought for sure that I would really miss my beloved mayonnaise in there but I was proven wrong.  Who knew?!!  Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich.

By removing a couple of yolks and the mayo there’s lots of calorie room for the half an avocado.  The addition of Dijon (I used grainy) keeps the flavours familiar to what I’m used to in my egg salad, and the fresh cilantro really works here.  (I think basil would be nice too).  I opted to stick with green onion instead of adding jalapeño to the mix but might try the pepper next time.  You know, living on the wild side!

I like to stretch my lunch out like a 20 minute snackfest so instead of a sandwich I piled the eggvocado salad high on pita crackers with tomato wedges.  A little extra sprinkle of salt brought it all home.

Later I may have cleaned the bowl with my finger.  Another delicious perk of working from home where no one can see me.

Two mucky thumbs up.

Cooking with Nettles

Yesterday I mentioned how I just recently learned that ‘stinging nettles’ and ‘nettles’ are the same thing!  Sometimes I wonder if I get out enough.

Last Summer I spent the majority of our dog walks trying to avoid those stinging nettles that have near taken over the loop where we walk on the weekends.  Little did I know we could have been picking those bad boys and bringing them home for dinner.  It’s a field full of free greens!

For those of you that are wondering…nettles do indeed sting!  You have to cook them to get rid of the sting so make sure you are armed with good rubber gloves right from the time you go picking, through the cleaning process, and even until you are done cooking.  No one wants an itchy, irritated cook.

But once you’ve boiled or steamed away the sting go ahead and work with these in the same way you might work with spinach, chard or kale.  I didn’t love them just steamed but mixed into the sauce of our chicken paprika they were pretty good!  I’ve heard tell of nettles making a wonderful quiche addition, or a fabulous pesto, and of course they are wildly popular for making a nutrient rich tea. 

As soon as I had this nettle epiphany my mind raced back to Heidi Fink’s blog.  I knew I had seen a nettle recipe there around this time last year and immediately went looking for it.  Sure enough, there it was.

Wild Nettle-kopita! 

I armed myself with a fresh bag of wild stinging nettle tops (don’t bother with the leaves and stalk when picking…it’s just more work to deal with when prepping and the flavour is really in the tender top bits anyway), some baby spinach, leeks, feta and filo pastry.  I got the TV onto the latest Canucks playoff game and got to work.

Aside from dirtying more dishes than I would like, these came together rather easily.  I appreciated that Heidi gives really detailed instructions, including tips to keep your filo from drying out and driving you crazy.  :)  The only changes I made were to use regular feta instead of sheep’s milk and I couldn’t get my hands on fresh thyme so I used dried.

I set up my rolling station on my dining table, used a pizza cutter to make the filo strips, and discovered that browned butter works as a delicious (albeit accidental) glue for these sturdy yet delicate pies.

I am super pleased with how these turned out!  They are big, toasty, and full of healthy, green deliciousness.  My original plan was to serve a couple with a nice fresh tomato and feta salad, but honestly once they cooled I just stood at the counter and snacked away on one.  And then another.

They reheat perfectly in the oven, freeze nicely, and clock in at only around 275 calories each according to MyFitnessPal.  Even if you don’t have wild nettles in your neck of the woods, making these with all spinach or a mix of your other favourite greens would be a good idea.

ρήμ. απολαμβάνω, χαίρομαι (Enjoy!)

Treats for my Sweetie

The first thing my darling sweetie gave me for Valentine’s Day was his cold.  How thoughtful!

Yeah.  I spent my day making best friends with a box of Kleenex and popping Tylenol Cold pills.  Tres sexy let me tell ya!

Thank goodness we actually planned to have our romantic dinner this Saturday anyway since weeknights are such a hassle for us.  So glad I didn’t have to cancel due to sickness!

But he did arrive at my door bearing a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and box of chocolates.  I can’t smell them but they sure brightened my day!

(That’s a lot of exclamation points for a sickypants like me.  Woah now!)

I was so glad to receive his lunchtime text that he planned to stop by here after work because the thought of having to get cleaned up to deliver his Valentine’s treats to his office was almost more than I could handle.  “Hello coworkers, how’s about some germs with your heart shaped cookies?”  Ew.

Instead I loaded up on meds, put on some real pants, braided my hair and crossed my fingers that Chocolate Cherry Kiss Cookies would keep him from looking at my sick face and ruining the romance.

Michael likes cherries and cherry flavoured things so when my first plan didn’t work out I happened upon this recipe I was sure it was the perfect treatie for my sweetie.  They came together rather easily and afforded me the opportunity to buy huge pile of chocolate kisses. 

This may have been the first time I’ve ever actually purchased maraschino cherries…I generally only consume them when served in a fruity cocktail. 

These cookies ended up not being quite what I’d hoped…too much like shortbread and dry in the mouth…but they still taste good and now Michael has extras to share with his coworkers.

Which is good because if he managed to give me a cold for Valentine’s Day I’m certain a few of his work friends probably got the cooties too.  He can now retain his office favour with cookie bribery.  See, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

How was your V-Day?  Anyone else spend the evening cuddling the cat and hoping not to run out of Kleenex?

Last Hurrah

Just like most everyone else I am quite happy to abandon the treat parade that rolled through my life for the last couple of weeks and get back to a cookie-free lifestyle.  I actually started making salads last week and have been enjoying every bite of every crunchy piece of lettuce, carrot and radish.  But…

Yep, but.

…I promised Michael a lemony treat over the holidays and I never got it done.  And since I hate broken promises I had to follow through, even if the holiday baking season is actually over.

I rationalized that this past Monday was still part of the holidays since we had the day off work in lieu of New Years Day…that totally counts!

The Citrus Curd Tarts I threw together turned out to be just the right thing!  Michael’s been asking me to use up a pack of frozen tart shells some family member left in his freezer months ago, and I’ve been looking for an excuse to make Guilty Kitchen’s Citrus Curd ever since I first read the recipe. 

Added bonus:  Michael is actually friends with Elizabeth and her husband.  Small world.  :)

I had hoped to make the curd using Meyer lemons, but of course the day I went shopping for them I couldn’t get my hands on any.  So I went with the original recipe of lemons and limes and it was a huge hit.  Creamy, tart, tangy and oh so deeeeelish.

Baker’s note:  Do NOT bake the curd.  Bake the shells, then fill with the pre-made curd.  Top with whipping cream if desired, then chow down.

Turns out making curd isn’t all that hard.  Who knew?  It’s just finding a use for all those leftover egg whites that’s making my head hurt.  But if that’s the worst of it then I think we’ll be tackling this recipe again…and maybe again.  The variations are pretty much endless.

Oh, and what’s that?  Ah yes.  An excellent way to use up that leftover Christmas cranberry sauce.  Do it!  Then get back to that bigass salad.