coconut milk Archives - Healthy Green Kitchen

Steel-Cut Oats with Coconut and Pomegranate

Pacific Foods makes a variety of non-dairy beverages and they recently sent me some of their new organic coconut milks.

I’ve only ever purchased coconut milk in cans before, and I use those cans for soups and other recipes where I am looking for a creamy product with really distinct coconut taste. Pacific’s coconut milk is entirely different. It tastes light, mildly sweet (it’s sweetened with coconut water only), and quite hydrating/refreshing. It contains notable amounts of vitamin b12, vitamin D, and potassium, as well.

I’ve been playing around with different oatmeal recipes lately, and decided to try cooking my steel-cut oats in Pacific’s Original Coconut Milk instead of water or regular milk. I like how the coconut milk imparted a subtle sweetness to the cooked oatmeal. I portioned out the steel-cut oats cooked with coconut milk and added pomegranate seeds, toasted walnuts, plain yogurt, and a little unsweetened coconut as a garnish, then drizzled some pomegranate molasses on top to finish. So good!

Never in my life did I imagine that at 44 years old I would:

1. wear a singlet in public
2. lift weights in front of judges and a crowd of people

But last weekend I did just that when I competed in my first powerlifting meet.

And I had a awesome day, you guys! I lifted well and I had a really great time. I very much look forward to doing it again. I’ll try to write more about the experience when I’ve had a little more time to process “all the feels”.

Now let’s talk about this Thai Chicken Curry recipe. It comes from The Real Food Cookbook: Traditional Dishes for Modern Cooks by Nina Planck. I received an advanced reading copy of this cookbook from the publisher a few months back, and I have tried a bunch of the recipes since then. In addition to this Thai Chicken Curry, my favorite recipes so far have been the Caesar Salad, the Ricotta Pesto, and the Fermented Ginger Ale. The Downy Vanilla Cheesecake is also terrific!

I really like Nina’s writing. I enjoyed her book Real Food: What to Eat and Why(2008) very much, and was excited when I heard she was writing a cookbook. The great thing is this cookbook is not preachy or pretentious, and it’s filled with exactly the type of food that I like and want to eat: food that’s nourishing and immensely satisfying, without being fussy. You don’t have to go to the ends of the earth to find the ingredients needed to make the food in this book :)

My son proclaimed this his favorite Thai dish that I have cooked, and since I use Thai flavors a fair amount, I think that says a lot. FYI cold leftovers are quite wonderful!

I lift weights and/or do CrossFit most weekday mornings. I like to get some nourishing carbohydrates into my belly before I head to the gym: I just love this recipe for Chai Pumpkin Oatmeal.

This oatmeal is a wonderful autumn breakfast no matter what your morning routine is like; it comes from my friend Shelley Alexander‘s book Deliciously Holistic.

Shelley is a holistic chef. She specializes in preparing healthy foods that nourish, strengthen, and energize, and her cookbook contains more than 150 recipes that are as yummy as they are good for you. I have an extra copy of the book to give away…more details on that at the end of this post.

I have met some truly incredible people in the four years since I started blogging: one of them is my friend Melissa Lanz. I first encountered Melissa “virtually” in an online food writing class over a year ago, and in that class, I learned that Melissa is a very talented writer. I’ve since met her in person and know her to be a brilliant businesswomen, as well as a very beautiful person, both inside and out.

Melissa is the founder of The Fresh 20, a meal planning service that focuses on helping busy families eat well, at home, together. The Fresh 20 philosophy revolves around shopping for 20 fresh, seasonal ingredients that you can use to make 5 easy, healthy weeknight meals. Her system can help you not just eat better, but save time, money, and reduce waste, too.

Like I said, Melissa is brilliant. And now she’s also the author of a cookbook!

The Fresh 20: 20-Ingredient Meal Plans for Health and Happiness 5 Nights a Week is a companion to Melissa’s online business, but it’s a fabulous cookbook on its own. She sent me a copy to review and I can’t say enough good things about it: the recipes are great and it is beautifully photographed by her husband, Trent Lanz.

I shopped for and cooked a week’s worth of meals as per the book’s instructions back in June and they were all terrific: this Coconut Curry-Style Fish Soup was one of them.

If you’ve been reading my site for a while, you probably know that I am crazy for soup, and that soups made with coconut milk are a particular favorite of mine. I’ve now happily added this one to my repertoire. I added a handful of minced Thai basil and a minced hot chile pepper (both from my garden) to the recipe to spice it up a bit and found that it’s wonderful both hot and cold, so give it a go even if the weather in your neck of the woods doesn’t necessarily have you thinking about soup yet.

I loved this soup topped with some kimchi, and you can serve it with Asian hot sauce, too, if you like. I recommend giving this recipe for homemade sriracha a try.

A couple of days ago, I woke with that sort of tell-tale throat tickle and overall sense of malaise that just makes you want to stay in bed all day. It was a Saturday so fortunately I was able to rest a lot, but given the numerous nasty colds–and the terrible flu–that are going around, I was also proactive that day about taking steps to try to avoid getting sicker. The next morning I felt better, and today I feel even better still, so in addition to the recipe for a terrific immune-boosting soup, I’d like to share with you what I do when I feel like I am starting to come down with any sort of winter “bug”.

Without fail, whenever I feel under the weather, I make something very similar to this Coconut Milk Soup with Wild Salmon and Kale. Homemade stock (made from bones) and coconut milk both contain anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties so I love to combine them for the broth. Adding fresh ginger, chile peppers, and nutrient-dense organic greens and pumpkin or winter squash “ups” the healing potential here even further; I also included wild salmon so this soup contains high quality protein as well as omega-3s. Keep in mind that the omega-3 fatty acids are necessary for proper functioning of the immune system and should be a regular part of your everyday diet…not just when you get sick.

Steel-Cut Oats with Coconut and Pomegranate

A New Experience, Thai Chicken Curry, + Saturday Shares

Chai Pumpkin Oatmeal

Praise for The Fresh 20 and Coconut Curry-Style Fish Soup

Coconut Milk Soup with Wild Salmon and Kale (plus My Favorite Cold and Flu Remedies)