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Coconuts of Wakefulness

Hey friends!

How is your week going so far? Today’s post is all about coconuts! Why do they get so much hype these days anyways?

The young Thai coconut will be our focus, which looks quite different from the mature brown coconuts that typically come to mind. The young Thai coconut has a green covering when harvested, but usually when purchasing them at the store, this covering has been removed to reveal a white husk with a pointy top:

Source

Fun Coconut Facts:

  • Coconut water is one of the highest natural sources of electrolytes.
  • Coconut water chemically resembles human plasma so much that in times of war, it has been used as such in emergencies!
  • Coconuts are immune system enhancing foods, as they have antifungal, antiviral, and antimicrobial properties.
  • The medium chain fatty acids that are found in coconut flesh are more readily used for energy than other types of saturated fat. Thus it is believed they are able to boost sluggish metabolism.
  • Coconut fat in its myriad forms is thought to help balance blood sugar, which is particularly useful for people with hypoglycemia.
  • Coconuts aid your HDL or good cholesterol, which in turn helps to stabilize your hormones.
  • Coconuts are fantastic for your skin and hair…you can use extra virgin coconut oil topically and/or ingest it to experience its beautifying effects.
  • Coconut oil is really The Oil you should use for cooking, as it is stable at much higher temperatures than other oils, thus you can rest assured you won’t be consuming trans fatty acids every time you sauté or roast.

Source

You’ve probably all seen coconut water for sale at the end of your Bikram yoga classes or near the checkout line at Whole Foods, which can be refreshing in a pinch. However, unless the the manufacturer specifies otherwise on the label, most bottled brands pasteurize the water, which significantly reduces the health benefits you were probably wanting in the first place! If you do find an unpasteurized version with all the beautifying enzymes intact, it’s probably ridiculously expensive. Fret not! You can purchase young Thai coconuts at a fraction of the cost in Asian markets and natural food stores. When selecting a coconut, choose one that is not cracked or moldy on the outside. If you open it up and find that the water has a reddish tint, then unfortunately you have come across a rancid coconut. Toss it. (That has only happened to me once).

So, I made you a video so you can open them up without fear!

Follow me to YouTube.

Finally, try this delicious and simple recipe that uses young Thai coconut flesh to make a luxurious tropical pie…

Raw Mango Chiffon Tart with a Pistachio Lime Tarragon Crust

20 minutes, plus time to set

Make one 10 inch pie, but seriously, don’t put it in a pie plate…put it in a regular tart shell or mini tart shells and it will hold up much better!

If you only have a few mini tart shells, you can put the remaining crust and filling in containers and quickly assemble as needed. The crust also makes an excellent Larabar and the filling is really delicious on its own!

For the crust:

  • 2 c shelled raw pistachios
  • 1 c shredded coconut (the small flakes, not the bigger strips)
  • 1/2 c fresh dates, pitted
  • 3 tbsp finely minced fresh tarragon leaves
  • zest and juice of one lime
  • 1/4 tsp Celtic sea salt

For the filling:

  • 4 champagne mangoes, peeled, de-stoned, and cut into large dice
  • flesh of one young Thai coconut
  • 1/4 c coconut water, or filtered tap water
  • 1 c raw cashews, soaked for a minimum of one hour, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 c Irish moss paste (learn how to make it here)
  • 2 fresh dates, pitted

First, in a perfectly dry food processor bowl, pulverize the pistachios until they are a fine powder. Add the remaining crust ingredients, and process until thoroughly combined. Using your fingers, press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan(s).

In a high speed blender, combine all filling ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour the filling into the shells and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour to set. Serve and enjoy!

Some thoughts for the day:

“In the garden of gentle sanity. may you be bombarded with coconuts of wakefulness.” -Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

I adore that quote. Instead of viewing the coconuts that fall on our heads during life as something to fear, we would be better served to view them as opportunities to wake up! Having the rug pulled out from under us, normally results in falling face first into the ground, wondering why the Universe is out to get us today. What if instead we leaned into the discomfort of uncertainty, and allowed ourselves to understand the reality of our circumstances? Being swept up by emotional responses and black and white thinking robs us of our ability to see situations with the clarity that may enable us to come up with our best course of action. (or non-action, as the case may be).

Are you a fan of coconuts? Either in the literal or metaphorical sense :)

xo


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Ridiculous Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Hey friends!

Have you finished your Christmas shopping? Today Steve and I bought our gifts for each other at Lululemon. I am super excited about my pima cotton shirts to wear at the bakery. It’s really hard not to look like a flour-coated zombie at 5 AM, so having something to wear that is both functional and nice-looking is much appreciated! Incidentally, it appears WordPress emailed that link to all my subscribers for some unknown reason. I’m sorry for the spam! :(

A couple evenings ago, I made the most ridiculous oatmeal. While it’s not low-fat, it’s a great dessert-y breakfast for a special occasion, or for any day that needs a good dose of maple and cinnamon infused goodness. What’s even better is that you can do all the work the night before, and roll out of bed just in time to luxuriate in what is probably my favorite bowl of oats yet. If you don’t have a slow cooker, or crockpot as we say in the South, using the stove top would work just fine. Just so you know, steel cuts oats do take about four times longer to cook on the stove than rolled oats, but I think the texture is well-worth the wait!

Ridiculous Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Inspired by Oh She Glows

Serves 2-3 Hungry Oatmeal Enthusiasts

  • 1 c steel cut oats
  • 1/2 c golden raisins
  • 2-3 grated carrots
  • 1 15 oz can coconut milk (I used full fat)
  • 1-2 c water (depending on how thick or runny you like your oatmeal)
  • 1/4 c maple syrup
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, plus the seeds scraped out
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • pinch allspice
  • pinch cloves
  • pinch Celtic sea salt
  • chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts, to your degree of nutty-ness

The night before, place all ingredients except for the chopped nuts in a slow cooker set on low. Go to bed, then wake up to glorious creamy oats. Remove cinnamon stick and vanilla bean. Serve with chopped nuts or any extras you desire-perhaps a splash of almond milk to cool it down.

Enjoy!

P.S., I have a new exciting camera that I will be figuring out in the next weeks/months/years. I can’t wait. Thanks, Dad!


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Raw Noodles plus Awesome (“Peanut”) Sauce

Good evening! How was your day?

Apartment Update: I signed my part of the lease this morning! We get the keys on Tuesday when they have Steve’s signature and we’ll be good to go. I can’t wait to start moving. :) Check out my non-food related post from yesterday if you missed it!

The rest of my day was filled with some favorite tasty things:

  • 1/2 oats
  • 1 c homemade pumpkin seed milk
  • sprinkly of cinnamon
  • drizzle of yacon
  • drizzle of Udo’s 3-6-9 oil (awesome stuff)
  • black sesame seeds
  • 1/2 banana sliced
  • Greenmarket strawberries

Perfect for the stressful morning. I was so terribly nervous on the train ride over that something was going to go wrong, but fortunately, all possible crises were averted!

Here are some leftover greens from Peacefood yesterday with a little balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Have you ever tried the strawberry/balsamic combination? It’s definitely one of my favorites, up there with grapefruit plus avocado. :)

After my gig late last night, I had to run into Whole Foods Columbus Circle to pick up bananas, but I was happy to come across this unusual suspect:

I have only used baby Thai coconuts once previously in an incorrect manner. The culprit recipe called for coconut flesh for a chilled cucumber soup, so I had purchased one, but the soup turned out terribly. I think it probably needed the flesh of a mature coconut since it did not specify. Thus I was deterred from buying young coconuts for a long, long time. They are also not usually stocked where I shop for groceries, so naturally I was very pleased to see them and that they were not as expensive as what I assumed.

I used Ani Phyo’s quiet-ish method for cracking one open. Here is a good action shot courtesy of my roommate Anna who is currently doing a cleanse! Yay for her!


Okay, I was exaggerating a little. Haha. I’m sure it looks dangerous.

What you do is cut the fibrous top part off with a very sharp knife, then tap the exposed crown with heel of the knife until it cracks open. Next…

Use whatever glass you feel is appropriate to enjoy the fresh coconut water full of electrolytes while you whip up the following…

Creamy, garlicky, spicy-sweet, and perfect. This sauce is love at first bite.

Raw Noodles and Awesome/”Peanut” Sauce

Serves 2

15 minutes

Sauce:

  • 1/3 c raw, unsalted almond butter
  • the flesh of one young coconut (about 1/2 c)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 jalapeno pepper, with or without seeds…try it without seeds first, then see if you need more for your personal spice needs. Wear gloves and don’t touch your eyes!
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
  • juice of 1 lime, plus zest, if desired
  • 1 tbsp tamari or nama-shoyu
  • filtered water to reach desired texture

Drop everything in your blender. Blend it until smooth and pour over your choice of the following if you can restrain yourself from licking it all off the spatula…

  • 2 zucchini, spiralized (new spiralizer came today, yay!)
  • kelp noodles
  • a favorite cooked noodle-buckwheat soba would be great, I’m sure
  • finely sliced veggies of your choice-carrots, cucumber, bean sprouts, raw or lightly steamed broccoli…whatever you have on hand will be awesome!!
  • Any combination of the above that you find exciting! The sauce is enough for two people.

For optional garnishes:

  • chopped fresh cilantro
  • red chili flakes
  • finely sliced scallions
  • sprinkle of sesame seeds

What a perfect way to end an overwhelmingly amazing day!


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Soba with Sweet Potato Curry Sauce

Oh man. I done good with this one. Haha. This is incredibly rich, but most importantly it combines a lot of my favorite ingredients: sweet potatoes, coconut curry sauce, stir fried broccoli, and 100% buckwheat soba noodles. You can have it all in one bowl! The recipe can also be varied according to your spice level preferences. I made the basic recipe pretty mild so that Steve wouldn’t kill me, but I drowned drizzled mine in some hot sauce. Even without the added spice, I still couldn’t stop licking the spoon when I was mixing it all up!

Soba with Sweet Potato Curry Sauce

Inspired by Isa and Jenna

Serves 4

20 minutes if your sweet potatoes are already cooked…maybe plan ahead and bake them the day before and you’ll have dinner on the table in no time!

  • 1 8 oz package buckwheat soba (GF if you use 100% buckwheat)
  • 1 medium-sized sweet potato, already cooked if possible, otherwise just put it (or several, if you want to use them for other meals) pierced a few times with fork, wrapped in aluminum foil, in the oven preheated to 400 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour. Try putting them on a baking sheet if you have issues with them dripping and catching fire on the bottom of the oven like I have!
  • coconut oil for stir frying
  • 1 large bunch of broccoli, florets chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 small onion, any color would be good, cut into thin slices
  • 1 large or 2 small bell peppers, use your favorite colors, sliced into thin strips
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, grated
  • 1/2 tsp (or more to taste) red pepper flakes
  • 1-2 tsp curry powder (again to taste, depending on the type of powder you have)
  • 2 tsp agave nectar
  • 1 tbsp tamari
  • 1 c coconut milk (I used the full fat version and it was gooooood)
  • Celtic sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper

First, put your sweet potato in the oven if you haven’t got it cooked just yet. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook your soba noodles according to package directions.

In the meantime, preheat an oiled (with coconut oil, if you have it) cast iron skillet over medium. First sprinkle them with a little Celtic sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then cook your bell pepper and onion slices for 2-3 minutes. You still want them to have a little bit of crunch. Add the broccoli to the pan, adding more oil if necessary, as well as another dash of salt and pepper. Cook the broccoli for no more than five minutes, stirring occasionally. Once it’s finished, add it to the mixing bowl as well. By this time, your noodles are probably cooked, so after you give them a quick rinse of cool water in a colander, add them to the mixing bowl with the veggies and give it a good stir. You may want to cover the bowl with a lid or a baking sheet to keep it warm.

Now, bring the same cast iron pan to medium low with another touch of coconut oil if it has begun to dry up. Add your garlic, ginger, agave, tamari, curry powder, and chili flakes and let this mixture cook for a minute or two. It burns easily, so keep stirring. Now, add your coconut milk and simmer for 3-4 minutes. If you haven’t done so already, remove the skins from the sweet potato, then place it in your blender. Once the sauce is done simmering, add it to the sweet potatoes in the blender. Blend until smooth, opening the portal on the lid over once and a while to prevent death via blender explosion. Now, get excited because you’re going to add that sauce to the mixing bowl full of veggies and noodles. Mix it thoroughly and serve with your favorite spicy condiment. Enjoy!

Have a great day!

What are some of your favorite ingredients? Have you found any ways to get them all in one recipe?

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