Coconut Rice Pudding

Coconut rice (arborio) and pistachio pudding with cinnamoan, pinch of ginger, pinch of salt, coconut milk, condensed milk, a little bit of sugar.
Topped with strawberries, blueberries, and a little sugar

Some Combinations

Sandwiches

*Apricot jam/jelly and Sunflower Butter

*Grilled Pepper Jack cheese and Apricot jam/jelly 

Cookies

*Almond Butter and dried cherries

*Cashew Butter and dried apricots with apricot jelly center

Toast toppings

*Apricot jelly\jam and strawberries

Salads

*Dragon fruit, avocado, grapes with EVOO, S&P, and lemon juice

*Beets, peaches, arugula, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese, coconut oil, agave nectar, S&P, and champagne vinegar

Eggplant & Goat Cheese Pasta

Very simple recipe....

Ingredients:
-2 eggplants, cut in half, salted to drain out the bitterness on paper towels
-about 8 oz of goat cheese, room temperature
-4 cloves of garlic
-short pasta
-handful of walnuts
-a couple of pinches of chopped parsley

Method:
Roast eggplants and garlic (still in their skins) after seasoning with salt, pepper and EVOO in a 400° oven for about 40 minutes. While they cool down enough to touch, put goat cheese and about 2 cups of pasta water in the blender. Peel the garlic out of their skins and scoop the eggplants out from their skins into the blender. Puree until mixed well. Add in walnuts and parsley and puree until well mixed. Season to taste. Add more pasta water if thick. After you drain the pasta, put it back in the pasta pot and add in the sauce to stir all together. Serve with parmesan cheese.

Strawberry & Almond Smoothie

About a cup of Strawberries (quartered)
about 2 to 3 handfuls of sliced almonds
about 2 cups of french vanilla yogurt
A squirt or two of honey
2 handfuls of ice
A pinch of salt

Blend in blender until smooth

Stella McCartney's Summer Coleslaw

Prep time: 15 mins
Ready time: 15 mins

Ingredients
2 medium-large carrots
½ small white cabbage
handful trimmed mangetout
6 spring onions
handful trimmed radishes
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
2 tablespoons roughly chopped toasted hazelnuts
2 tablespoons freshly chopped flatleaf parsley
½ lemon, juice
3 tablespoons hazelnut oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
cress, to serve
mustard, to serve

Method
Peel and coarsely grate 2 medium-large carrots into a large mixing bowl.

Finely shred ½ small white cabbage and a handful of trimmed mangetout and add to the bowl.

Finely slice 6 spring onions and a handful of trimmed radishes, and add along with 1 tablespoon poppy seeds,
2 tablespoons roughly chopped toasted hazelnuts and 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flatleaf parsley.

In a separate small bowl whisk together the juice of ½ lemon and 3 tablespoons hazelnut oil and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pour over the coleslaw and gently mix together. Spoon the salad into a serving bowl and scatter over mustard and cress to serve.

Roasted Beets

Roasted beets, goat cheese, sour cream, honey and toasted pine nuts

Fruity Nutty Yogurt

Canistel (eggfruit), calamondin jelly, nutmeg, honey, plain yogurt and walnuts 

Asian Style Salad

Salad- daikon, carrots, red pepper, snap peas and peanuts

Dressing- a dollop of peanut butter, rice vinegar, honey, ground ginger, Chinese 5-spice, soy sauce, a squirt of lime juice, pepper and vegetable oil

Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

-About 12 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped 

-half to entire stick of butter  

-cinnamon (eyeball, about a tablespoon or two)

-nutmeg (eyeball, about a tablespoon or two)

-ground ginger (eyeball but less than cinnamon and nutmeg)

-2 and a 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

-salt and pepper  

-about a cup of candied pecans, grind to crumbs

-jumbo marshmallows  

Method:

Preheat oven to 400°

Boil the sweet potatoes until tender and drain

While sweet potatoes are in the colander, using the same pot- preferably a Dutch oven- melt the butter and add the spices and add the sweet potatoes. Add in the vanilla almond milk and start mashing away (if your pot is overflowing, use the mixer but be careful, it'll be hot). 

Pour the mixture in a casserole dish (or remain in the pot). On top, add the candied pecans and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Add the jumbo marshmallows and using the boiler and a watchful eye, for a minute or two until lightly browned on top

Serve

To serve a smaller crowd, cut the measurements in half 

My Pistachio & Mint Pesto

I was munching on pistachios one day (breaking into the shells for the nut) and an idea hit me: I can make this into a pesto! But with what and for what I had to think about it. Sure enough, I thought mint would be good and it would go great with lamb. However, a member in my household doesn't like lamb but loves seafood (yet I'm not a seafood fan myself) and so I decided on shrimp- it's one of the only 2 types of seafood I can tolerate.

My Pistachio-Mint Pesto
-about a cup of un-shelled pistachios, toasted
-about 2 cups of mint
-1 or 2 cloves of garlic
-about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of EVOO
-salt and pepper*
*go easy on the salt, especially if you have salted pistachios. Taste it to be sure if it's right for you
I marinated my lamb (and shrimp) in the pesto for a couple of hours- mainly in the refrigerator- before grilling it.
mix it in the Cuisinart or blender

I like to serve this dish along with cous-cous 

My Ultimate Caprese Pasta

There are several recipes and variety of this dish- it's classic Italian flavors: tomatoes, basil, mozzarella with pasta. However I decided to kinda twist it up to make it my own. 

I made the classic basil pesto with some twists to the ingredients without changing the recipe: 
-about 2 cups of basil
-instead of about 2 cloves of garlic, I used two heads of garlic (it sounds A LOT, doesn't it?) and roasted it in a 425 degree oven for 40 minutes in wrapped foil. That helps mellow that sharp bitter (yet yummy- I love garlic but it can be very strong and overpowering). Let cool before handling it for the pesto.
-toasted 1/3 of pine nuts
-salt & pepper
-blend everything well in a blender or Cuisinart while streaming in about 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil.
-stop blending to add 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese before blending again until mixed in well

As for the tomatoes
-10 (you can do 12) of plum tomatoes, ends cut off, cut in half and seeded and scoop out the pulp. In a bowl, salt and pepper the tomatoes with EVOO and mix around with your hands so coated evenly. Set in a single layer on a baking sheet (lined with aluminium foil) cut side up and roast in the 425 degree oven (after you roast the garlic) for 35 minutes. After out of the oven, cut the tomatoes in quaters before adding to the bowl for the pasta dish
*while the tomatoes are roasting, that's when I make the pesto together

Mini mozzarella balls
option to cut in half. If you can't find mini mozzarella balls, you can buy a ball and cut it to bite size pieces

Penne pasta
reserve about a cup of pasta water to help thin out the basil pesto if necessary if too thick

In a serving bowl, mix together the penne pasta, basil pesto and roasted tomatoes. Add the mini mozzarella to stir it in the last minute before serving

(explanation regarding the below tags of this post- tomato is technically a fruit, which is why fruit is listed instead of being under vegetables)

Raspberry Sherbet with Pistachios

Pattie Boyd's Paradise Chews

1/4 pound softened butter or margerine

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Mix the ingredients and press into the bottom of a greased 8-inch baking pan. Bake at 375' for 12-15 minutes. remove from oven and lower temperature to 275'.

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated coconut

1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the ingredients and spread evenly over the first layer. It is not neccesary for this to be cool. return to the oven at 275' and bake for 25-30 minutes. 

Source: Mary Frampton & Friends Rock & Roll Recipes 1980

Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Garlic

with toasted pine nuts

served with basil-garlic butter bread topped with parm. cheese 

 

note: technically tomatoes are a fruit, so therefore in the "tag/labels" just below, I put down fruit as well as vegetable as it's often mixed with other veggies

Walnut Chicken with Gorgonzola-Dried Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients (I eyeball everything):
-boneless chicken cutlets
-about 2-4 cups of walnuts
-panko bread crumbs, about same amount as walnuts
-vegetable oil
-S&P
-palmful/tablespoon of dried sage
-pinch of paprika
-flour for dredging & rue
-3 eggs
-about half stick of butter
-heavy cream
-gorgonzola cheese
-nutmeg
-handful and a half of dried cranberries

Walnut-crusted Chicken:
In a frying pan, fill a good inch of vegetable oil and set on medium heat
Put the walnuts in the food processor and turn them into crumbs. Combine them with panko in a bowl and start the breading station steps-
3 bowls for 1-flour (mixed with S&P, paprika, and dried sage), 2- 3 eggs whisked, and 3- walnut-panko breading
once the oil is hot enough, start frying for about 5-10 minutes- depending the thickness of the cutlet/breast. Work in batches if needed
Heat the oven to 350° and set a cooling rack in a cookie sheet to place the cooked chicken to keep them warm while cooking other batches and cooked through. If all done, have paper towels ready to drain the oil and let them rest for a few minutes

Gorgonzola-Dried Cranberry Sauce:
In a medium sauce pan, make a rue with butter, flour, and about a cup of heavy cream. Add gorgonzola cheese and whisk till melted. If it's too thick, add more heavy cream. Add in little salt, average pint of pepper, pinches of nutmeg and dried sage, and dried cranberries.