So simple, this is hardly a recipe...
I was hungry and needed something in a hurry for lunch, luckily I had some fresh pasta, which takes a few minutes to cook. So, without much fore-thought, I just put together a simple sauce for the pasta based on what was close at hand. I loved the combination of lemon and greens.
I didn't add much cheese to keep it light. The cheese can be omitted entirely, just add an extra virgin olive oil that is green and fruity.
1/2 pound fresh pasta
big glug of olive oil
a large shallot, finely minced
a bunch of rainbow chard, de-ribbed and chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
red pepper flake
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 oz soft goat cheese
Put a large pot of water on high heat and bring to a simmer, turn the heat down a bit, but keep it simmering so the water is ready when you want to pop in the pasta. (be sure to add a nice bit of salt to water before adding the pasta)
Heat olive oil in a large saute pan, add shallot and cook, stirring for a few minutes. Add chopped chard, salt, pepper, and red pepper flake - stir from the bottom several times.
Meanwhile add the fresh pasta to the simmering water and cook, stirring for about 3 minutes (or follow package directions).
As the chard just begins to cook down and lose a bit of it's structure, add the lemon juice and turn off the heat. Add the goat cheese in small pieces, stir into the mixture.
Drain pasta when its cooked (it will be cooked when its soft, but still has a bit of a 'bite' to it). Add the drained pasta to the sauce and stir to incorporate.
Options:
- use any pasta you like (corn, quinoa, kamut, etc.)
- a chopped tomato would be nice, add at the end, so it is fresh, not cooked
- if using dried pasta, get the water boiling and add the pasta. the sauce will probably be ready and waiting for the pasta to finish cooking
- add whatever veggies you like, roasted veggies would be especially nice
- add some fresh herbs, basil would be wonderful
I started out with a recipe for Black Pepper Chicken with Mango that I saw in the New York Times - but when the sauce started coming together, it wasn't very interesting. So, I started adding spices to make it more curry-like. I also added coconut butter (see note at the end of this post). The coconut butter added an incredible richness that's hard to describe - but it was so yummy! If you don't have coconut butter, coconut milk can be substituted.
Spicy Cashews:
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or olive oil)
1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
Chicken:
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil)
1.5 - 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
2 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon finely minced ginger (I use a microplane)
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoon coconut butter (* see Note below)
2 medium sized mangoes, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
half a bunch cilantro, chopped
prepared brown basmati rice
Prepare Spicy Cashews: Heat about 1 tablespoon of the coconut oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add palm sugar, teaspoon pepper, cayenne, salt to the oil and stir, add cashews. Cook nuts until golden, about 2 - 3 minutes. Spoon nuts into a bowl and set aside.
Wipe out the pan with a paper towel. Return the pan to medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoon coconut oil and allow to heat for a minute. Add chicken (use a big enough pan so that the chicken fits all in one layer). Add sea salt, pepper, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, and cayenne and stir to cover the chicken. Cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is golden brown and nearly cooked through (10 - 12 minutes). Add rum, ginger, garlic, and scallions, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until rum is nearly evaporated, about a minute.
Add stock and coconut butter stir to incorporate, then simmer for a few minutes. Add mango, vinegar, and cilantro. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Serve over brown basmati rice.
Options:
- substitute extra-firm tofu for the chicken, cut into large cubes
- use 1/2 cup coconut milk instead of coconut butter
*Note: coconut butter is a very new product for me. Recommended by my friend Vasudha. I used Artisana brand, made from 100% certified organic coconut, with no preservatives or other additives. It is made from the whole coconut, not just oil. You will find coconut butter in the grocery stores with all of the other nut butters.
Coconut butter is solid below about 80 degrees - set the jar in a bowl of hot tap water to soften. Stir the contents of the jar and then dip the yummy goodness out with a spoon. Add just a tablespoon at a time, to see if you like it.
These cookies were inspired by a recipe on Amy Greene's blog, Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free this morning, 'Quinoa Raisin Cookies' - I veganized the recipe by removing the egg, the dairy, cut down the sugar, used my own mix of flours, and used walnuts and cranberries in place of the raisins. They taste so good! David came home and said, "I don't like cranberries!", (okay, at my age, its difficult to keep track of everything several people do not like, can't have, are allergic to... I need to start writing this stuff down), but after eating several of these cookies, he proclaimed that they were very good. Too bad, I was secretly hoping to eat them all myself.
Flax Meal Slurry:
2 tablespoons golden flax meal
3 tablespoons coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup earth balance buttery spread (or butter) room temperature
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar * (see note below)
1 - 2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons coconut milk (or water)
Dry Ingredients:
1/3 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/3 cup blanched almond flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup quinoa flakes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries (not sugar sweetened)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 sheet trays with parchment paper.
Mix the ingredients for the flax meal slurry in a small bowl and set aside to thicken for a few minutes.
In a large bowl (or bowl of your stand mixer), cream the butter until light, add the coconut palm sugar and mix well. Add thickened flax meal slurry, vanilla and 2 tablespoons coconut milk.
In a small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add to the butter mixture and mix until well combined. Add quinoa flakes, walnuts, and cranberries.
Use a small scoop to drop cookies onto parchment lined sheet tray (the cookies do not need much space between them, they do not spread much). Bake for 12 - 14 minutes (mine baked for exactly 14 minutes), until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges (do not over bake). Let cookies cool for about 5 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack.
My cookies were about 1 1/2 inches in size when baked and the recipe make 30 cookies.
Options:
- substitute raisins (or any kind of dried fruit) or chocolate chips for the cranberries
- use whatever nuts your like
- substitute gluten-free oatmeal for the quinoa flakes
- substitute 1 egg for the flax meal slurry
- if you do not have the flours I used, try 2/3 cup of any whole grain gluten-free flour (e.g. brown rice, millet, garbanzo bean/fava bean, quinoa, teff etc.), and 1/3 cup of some kind of starch (e.g. arrowroot, cornstarch, potato starch)
- and, if you want to try this with a purchased flour mix (such as Pamela's, or Bob's Red Mill) - I bet it would taste great
*Note: coconut palm sugar (sometimes referred to as palm sugar) is very lightly processed, low glycemic index (35 GI - which is comparable to agave), and high in minerals. This sugar is traditionally used in south Asian cooking. It has a wonderful taste, similar to brown sugar. Its becoming widely available. (just for reference, the GI for table sugar is 80)
