Mmmmm….Alaskan Black Cod is one of my favourite kinds of fish. To me, it tastes like butter- just decadent and rich! I’ve only really had it in a miso based sauce before, so when I saw this recipe for it using a red coconut curry sauce (looove coconut curry!), I knew I had to make it.

Alaskan Black Cod in Thai Red Coconut Curry (adapted from here)

• 2 tablespoons butter (preferably from grass-fed cows)
• 1 medium sweet onion, cut into quarters lengthwise, then sliced crosswise
• 1 small red or green bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
• 1 14 ounce can coconut milk (unsweetened), shaken well
• 1 1/2- 3 tablespoons red curry paste (start with 1 1/2 tbsp, but taste-test and adjust accordingly- you may need more depending on the brand used)
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1-2 teaspoons coconut palm sugar, to taste (optional)
• 4 dried kaffir lime leaves
•  2 or 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup roasted cashews (optional)
• 1 to 1/2 pounds wild-caught cod fillets (I used 1 large fillet)
• sea salt

Here is a great use for butternut squash (my fav!). It’s a lovely curried soup and it’s so easy to make. I served this for my friends when they came over for a “Fall Dinner” and they asked me if it was from a package because they thought it was too good. What a great compliment!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup (adapted from The Everyday Vegan)

• 1 large butternut squash, cooked (6-7 cups)
• 1 large yam, cooked
• 1 cup carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup sweet white onion, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• 1 tsp Madras curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1- 1 1/2 cups of water
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 F and bake squash and yams for 55-60 minutes (until soft when pierced). Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle. Prepare other ingredients while squash and yams are baking and cooling. Once cooled, slice squash and peel from flesh. Slice yam.

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery, sea salt, and pepper. Cover and cook for a few minutes. Add some water or stock if necessary. Stir in garlic, ginger, curry powder, coriander, and cinnamon. Cover and cook for another 4-5 minutes, until onions soften. Add vegetable stock, 1 cup of water, squash and yam. Puree soup in blender or food processor until smooth. Add extra water depending on desired thickness. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for ten minutes. Season to taste.

This makes a lot of soup, but I like to put it in single-serving sized containers and freeze it. Yum!

Ooh, and I finally got my copy of Foodies of the World in the mail. Check it out!! Excuse the crappy pictures…I took them with my cell phone!

These potatoes taste exactly like a samosa. I’m not a huge potato eater (yams on the otherhand, I adore!) but I really did enjoy these, and it was great to not have to worry about making a dough like you would for a samosa. Same great flavour, though!

Sorry for the slowdown in posts (this has been sitting in my drafts folder for a long time now!), but I am in Whistler, like I said before. I’ll be home very soon, though (with a review on a fantastic restaurant I went to).

In the mean time…this is what most of the weekend looked like- plenty of birthday fun

Samosa Stuffed Baked Potatoes (adapted from Veganomicon)

• 4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed, baked, cooled (to bake a potato, preheat the oven to 400 F, poke the potato with a fork several times, bake for about an hour until easily pierced with a fork)
• 1/4 unsweetened soy milk
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp fresh ginger
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Slice the baked potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides, leaving about 1/4 inch of potato in the skin. Be careful, so you don’t break the skin! Mash the scooped out potato with the soymilk and set the skin aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mustard and coriander seeds and heat for a minute or two until they start to pop. Add the onions and carrots and saute for 7-10 minutes until the onions begin to brown.

Add the garlic and ginger and saute for a minute. Add the cumin, turmeric, and salt, along with a splash of water. Stir well, then add the potatoes mixing well. Add a little more water if it looks to dry. Cook until the potatoes are heated through. Add the lemon juice to taste, and stir.

Brush the insides of the potato skins with a little bit of olive oil. Scoop the filling into the skins. Line a baking sheet with the stuffed potatoes and bake for 20 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro, and enjoy with Mango Chutney.

Mango Chutney (adapted from Veganomicon)

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tsp dried chili
• 1 large mango, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 2 tbsp unrefined sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp curry powder

Preheat a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the oil, garlic, ginger, and chili to the pan. Saute for 1 minute. Add the mango, sugar, water and turn up to medium. Cover and cook for 3 minutes, until boiling. Add the red wine vinegar and curry powder and cook for another minute, uncovered. Chill until ready to use.

One of my all-time favourite foods is butternut squash. I love it simply roasted in olive oil with some pepper and lots of sea salt! I got through a lot of squash throughout the fall and winter. While attending a local summer market that is held every couple of weeks, I found a vendor selling delicious thai sauces. Man, was he ever generous with the samples!!! I ended up buying a Sesame BBQ sauce and a Yellow Coconut Curry sauce, and my boyfriend bought one of our favourites- Green Coconut Curry Sauce. We ate the Sesame BBQ sauce over stir fried vegetables and tofu and it was wonderful. I had a butternut squash to use up and at the suggestion of the vendor, I tried the Yellow Curry sauce over it. It was DIVINE. The sauce had a nice kick to it and all the flavour from the roasted squash went perfectly- yet exotically with it. The sauces come from Thai Princess and they are available on Granville Island in Vancouver, or at Whole Foods in Vancouver. I really recommend picking some of their sauces up if you are in the area- they can be frozen for up to six months and are perfect for days when you are short on time around dinner.

Roasted Butternut Squash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel squash and cut up in small cubes, place on parchment-lined tray

Drizzle with olive oil and season with pepper and salt.

Cook for 40-45 minutes until squash is nicely carmelized. Toss once or twice throughout the process.

If you have a sauce, warm it up on the stove and pour over squash. Enjoy!!

One of my favourite memories from Thailand was when my boyfriend and I (as well as a bunch of other people) were feeding a group of monkeys on a beach. All of a sudden, one of the monkeys went running across the little river and climbed right up my leg and onto my HEAD! I absolutely adore animals so while I should have been scared, I was so excited! After getting plenty of peanut shells and banana in my hair (ick!!), he was coaxed back onto the ground.

Looks like I have some explaining to do- it’s been a long time since my last post! I’m not even sure why…maybe it’s just that it’s summer. It’s not that I was lacking motivation, perhaps I was too motivated. I think I was trying too hard to make food for the blog. I decided I would stop trying and let the ideas come to me- and they did. I was so excited when I felt like stepping into the kitchen again. I knew I wanted to use the Cookbook of the Month ‘Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day’. I made a Light Whole Wheat dough because it’s very versatile and can be used in many different recipes in the book. I’ve felt like Indian food lately and so I thought to try making naan bread. The process is so easy- just roll out the dough and pop it into a frying pan, wait wait wait, flip, wait wait wait, eat. Almost like making a pancake! I needed something to accompany the naan and I decided to try a hummus that I’ve been wanting to try for a long time now- Dreena Burton’s Curried Chickpea Hummus. This little appetizer or snack tasted AMAZING. My mom and I finished a whole naan in a matter of seconds! With a dash of coarse salt and a big dip of hummus, I would serve this sensation to anyone!

If you are interested in making bread (of any kind), I urge you to pick up Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day for some fabulous recipes like this light whole wheat naan bread! I’ve included my adapted version of the curried hummus for you to try. I do recommend naan with it (store-bought or homemade) or pappadums which are Indian lentil crackers.

Curried Chickpea Hummus (Adapted from Eat, Drink, Be Vegan)

• 2 cups canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp honey
• 1 big garlic clove
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/8 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• pepper (to taste)
• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 4-5 tbsp water (for thinning to desired consistancy)
• 3-4 tbsp raisins or currants

Mix all ingredients except water and raisins in a food processor. Add water tablespoon by tablespoon until desired consistancy is reached. Pulse in rasins. Enjoy!

Oh! I almost forgot- I have decided to start cooking school 6 weeks early and my first class is today. I’m super excited but I’m also freaking out, this is definitely something completely new and it’s extra weird because I haven’t been to school in over a year now. My holistic nutrition is taken through correspondance (and is almost complete, I might add!) so it’s time for me to get back the grind and hopefully learn A LOT and have some fun!!