Chocolate Brazil Nut Ice Cream

Made by Deanne for March 2011 Meeting.

Adapted from I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude by Terces Engelhart with Orchid

2 cups Brazil Nuts
4 cups fresh water
3/4 cup packed pitted dates ( I didn't use this much. Add slowly and taste as you go)
2 tablespoons lecithi
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 inch of vanilla bean
6 tablespoons raw chocolate powder ( I used about 3 or 4 tablespoons)

Puree Brazil nuts with water in your vitamix.
Strain milk and reserve pulp for other projects.
Add to the blender (rinse first) milk, dates, lecithin, vanilla, salt and chocolate powder and blend.

Put in an icecream maker.

If you don't have an icecream maker, freeze the mixture and eat when almost solid (it will take a few, maybe several hours).

Vanilla variation: omit chocolate powder, but it wasn't as much a hit at the potluck as the chocolate was.

Live Coconut Cream Pie

Made by Deanne at the March 2011 Potluck

Adapted from I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude by Terces Engelhart with Orchid

For the Crust:

2 1/2 cups dry coconut flakes
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
Heaping 1/4 cup well-packed, finely chopped dates ( I used about 1 cup or more of dates and didn't bother to chop them. Just put them in the food processor with some coconut flakes.

For the Filling:

1/4 cups coconut milk
3/4 cup coconut meat
(milk and meat from a fresh young coconut. I used 3 coconuts to make a slightly larger dish for the group. I used all the meat but not all the milk. I added the milk bit by bit with consideration for the consistency I was after)
Heaping 3/4 cup well-packed, finely chopped dates ( this makes it rather sweet. I didn't use this much)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 pinches salt
3 tablespoons of liquid lecithin (from health food store)
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons raw scented coconut butter (oil)

Garnish: 3/4 cup dry coconut flakes

To Make the Crust:

Add coconut flakes, salt and vanilla to your food processor. Add dates slowly until the date crust sticks together. Press into a greased (coconut oil) 9 inch pie pan.

To Make the Filling:

Blend Coconut milk, meat, dates, vanilla and salt until smooth. Add lecithin and coconut butter (oil) and blend till smooth.
Pour over the crust, sprinkle with dry coconut flakes and set in the fridge or freezer for one hour before serving.

Idy's Kabocha squash and lentil stew

Prepared by Idy Keeler for March gathering

This dish is a Filipino-Indian Fusion. I ate the Filipino version all my life and have always loved it. http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/2008/02/ginataang-kalabasa-at-sitaw-filipino.html

The Filipino “Squash and long green beans with coconut milk “ usually calls for meat like pork, shrimp, chicken, and has seasonings like fish sauce and fish paste. It's tastes so good but we don't use fish sauce and fish paste anymore nor shrimp and pork. I've learned to make it vegetarian and I don't miss the meat taste. Indians have one of the most tasty , hearty high protein vegetarian cuisine that I know of, and they do combine a lot of beans with vegetables. That's where the lentils come in. The lentils give it a thicker texture and complement the sweetness of the kabocha squash. Green beans is the other alternative to lentils.

A lot of times, I add half a pound of grass fed ground beef when I saute the garlic and onions. It is not necessary though. The vegetarian version is just as tasty. We eat this dish over rice or as a savory crepe filling. For a crepe filling, I like adding grassfed beef and no lentils. Everything else stays the same. Then I mash half of the squash into the soup and serve this as a sauce over the crepe, then sprinkle freshly grated parmegiano regiano cheese on top. So yummy this way. They served something similar at Cafe Mason in San Francisco. It was their house specialty – Kabocha squash crepes. They cooked it though in cream. Coconut milk to me is more flavorful and a great dairy alternative so this is what I use.

Ingredients:

1 kabocha squash ( peeled and chopped in one inch slices); this is my favorite squash!

1 pound of lentils or 2 cups long green beans

1 to 2 cups of baby spinach leaves (optional )

1 onion, diced

I/2 head of garlic & Knob of ginger ( peeled and pounded in a mortar and pestle )

a couple Fresh green chilies ( chopped ) - optional

10 fresh curry leaves ( available at Indian store ) - optional

2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp. Turmeric powder

Sea salt and pepper to taste

1 16-oz can coconut milk

Directions:

Cook squash and lentils, a few bay leaves together in a cast iron ceramic pot till done.

In another pot, saute garlic, onion, chilies, ginger , curry leaves, cumin, and turmeric till cooked. Add this to the the pot of cooked squash and lentils and mix well. Add coconut milk and pepper and simmer for another 10 minutes. If using long green beans , add it with the coconut milk. Season liberally with salt and pepper to taste. When green beans are crisp tender, add spinach and turn heat off . Serve hot with brown rice.

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping by Janine

4 large or 6 medium organic sweet potatoes thinly sliced
2 organic Fuji apples
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup organic orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup raw honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:
1/4 cup cold pressed coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut sugar crystals
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray a 2 quart casserole dish with non-stick olive oil spray.
2. Mix the sliced sweet potatoes and apples with the coconut milk, orange juice, vanilla, coconut sugar crystals, maple syrup, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Pour into prepared casserole dish.
3. Mix the topping ingredients together until well-combined. Spread or sprinkle over the casserole and bake for 45 minutes or until hot throughout.
   

Heart Healthy Granola

This was from the January Potluck

Submitted by Ashley Eyre

Heart Healthy Granola

3 cups rolled oats 1/3 cup wehat germ

1/3 cup large seeds (sunflower or pumpkin or a little of both)

1/3 cup small seeds (sesame or flax or mix)

1/3 cup chopped almonds

1/3 cup brown sugar (I used coconut crystals and a tad of molasses)

1 tsp of cinnamon (i used a little more)

pinch of salt

1/3 cup canola oil (I used coconut oil)

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl (oats through salt). Combine honey, oil and vanilla. Pour over dry ingredients. Mix well. Spread evenly on a cooking sheet and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Chana chaat or Black garbanzo salad

From February potluck


submitted by Idy



Below is the link to the recipe for the salad I brought. I added cucumber, corn, and fresh mangoes to mine, and instead of potatoes, I put in fried crispy yellow mungbeans as garnish. Using potatoes is the usual version and tastes great, but I already put potatoes in the Green Pulao that I brought, so didn't want to use potatoes again here. You can get the chaat masala at the Indian store.

http://enjoyindianfood.blogspot.com/2009/01/chana-chaat.html

Green Pulao Recipe

from February Potluck

submitted by Idy


Here is the recipe for the rice recipe I brought. I just left out the red bell pepper so it would be a green pulao:


http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/01/20/vegetable-rice-pulav/