Rice

Spring Wild Mushroom & Pea Ragout

Photo by recipe author

Creamy, delicious and comforting without being heavy, this dish is perfect for early spring when you want something fresh and light, yet still comforting and satisfying. The combination of sweet, brightly colored peas, flavorful, hearty mushrooms and onions with the tender, delicate and distinctive Forbidden rice and a hint of sweet coconut is a visually pleasing, heavenly smelling, delicious tasting treat for all the senses!

Servings: 4-8
Preparation Time: 30 min

1 onion, thinly sliced and cut into 1 inch strips
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 cup white wine
1-2 tablespoons coconut cream concentrate
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 oz mixed wild mushrooms, sliced
4 oz baby bello or white mushrooms, sliced or chopped
1/4 teaspoon thyme
3/4 cup milk, cream or coconut milk*
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
sea salt & fresh cracked pepper
1 cup Forbidden or Red heirloom rice, prepared to package directions

1/2 lb sautéed ground beef or bison may be added if desired to make this meal even more hearty and nourishing, although it is wonderful the way it is.

In a preheated cast iron skillet, sauté onion with coconut oil and salt until softened and translucent. Add wine and stir until absorbed. Stir in coconut cream. Add garlic and mushrooms, season with salt, pepper and thyme, sautéing until mushrooms are mostly cooked through. Slowly add milk a bit at a time while stirring. Stir in peas, heat through, season with salt and plenty of pepper to taste.

Serve over rice for a visually pleasing and satisfying main dish or combine with the rice for a wonderful side dish.

Recipe submitted by Lydia, Salem, VA

*Use 1 teaspoon of coconut cream concentrate for every 6-8 oz of water for coconut cream milk. Mix together and use as directed or make homemade coconut milk.

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Roast Chicken with Coconut Oil

Prepared by Sarah Shilhavy, Photo by Jeremiah Shilhavy

Roasting a chicken is easier then you think (if you’ve never made one before). The recipe I have for you today is simple, but it makes one really tasty chicken.

The key is in the basting and roasting. The recipe starts off on high heat, but after a few minutes it comes down to allow the chicken to roast slowly, locking the juices in and resulting in a moist, tender, juicy chicken. Depending on how large the chicken is this will take 1-2 hours to roast, or more. The oven will have something to say about it too.

Basting the bird during the roasting helps it stay moist throughout, especially in the white meat area, as that tends to cook quicker and dry out faster. At first you’ll only have the oil and butter to baste the chicken with, but after about 15-20 minutes or so the chicken will start oozing drippings, perfect for basting back on.

And about the oils, am I sure that’s not too much? YES! It’s not. I like it that way. You will too. The butter and oil infuses so much buttery flavor into the chicken, as well as making the skin turn a crisp, golden brown. Watch the video. You’ll see.

If you want to, cube a few potatoes and roast them with the chicken.

If you want to make gravy though, don’t add potatoes. Potatoes are extremely greedy and gulp all the drippings down. They won’t spare you very much in the way of drippings, if any at all.

So what are you waiting for? Check the video out for a step by step tutorial and make this for your next dinner, along with a side of rice, popovers, or potatoes. I’d do the popovers. They’re perfect for soaking up any extra gravy.

Enjoy!

Sarah:)

Roast Chicken with Coconut Oil

1 whole chicken
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 small yellow onion, quartered
1 stalk celery
4 garlic cloves, cut in half
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup chicken stock or water (or combination)
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the giblets and wash the chicken in warm to hot tap water and dry thoroughly. Liberally season the cavity with salt and pepper. Stuff with the onion, celery, and garlic.

Brush melted butter and coconut oil all over chicken and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place in a roasting pan or a 9×13 glass baking pan.

Roast for 11 minutes at 425 degrees F. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and baste the chicken. Roast for 1 hour or until juices run clear when pricked between the leg and thigh. Baste chicken with pan juices every 10-15 minutes or so, but stop basting around the last 10 minutes. You can increase the temperature to 375 degrees F during the last 1/2 hour or so if you need to “hurry” it up.

Pour pan juices into a small saucepan and add chicken stock or water. Adjust richness by adding more or less stock/water. Make a slurry by adding the corn starch to the water and whisk into the gravy to reach the desired consistency. Add more if needed. Add more stock if needed and whisk and boil until gravy has thickened. Serve with the roasted chicken.

Recipe courtesy Sarah Shilhavy

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Wheat Free Coconut Pancakes

Photo by recipe author

Servings: Yields 5 palm-sized pancakes or 10 silver dollar-sized pancakes
Preparation Time: 10 minutes

1 banana
1 small apple (or 1/4 c applesauce)
1 tablespoons flax seeds
1/4 cup nut milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
2 tablespoons Tropical Traditions coconut oil
2 tablespoons Tropical Traditions coconut flour (or the flour of your liking; wheat, almond, rice, etc.)
1/3 cup rolled oats
Pinch cinnamon (and/or nutmeg)
Dash vanilla extract

Optional Add-In’s :

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup more water or nut milk only if the batter looks too dry/thick.

Blend first 4 ingredients in a blender. Let this sit for 10 minutes or so while you’re getting the rest of the ingredients together. It will give the flax seeds time to gel, thereby producing an egg-like effect. The apple and banana help with this, too.

Add remaining ingredients and optional add-ins if desired and mix well.

After you have blended the ingredients, fry up the pancakes using 2 tablespoons coconut oil to fry with, about 4 minutes on the first side. Flip over and add 2 more tablespoons coconut oil and fry for 3 minutes or until done.

Recipe submitted by Averie, Phoenix, AZ

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Chili-Coconut Crusted Shrimp

Photo by recipe author

Servings: 2-4
Preparation Time: 15

This Chile-Coconut Crusted Shrimp is a terrific appetizer or can be served with a bowl of rice and stir-fried vegetables as a main course.

24 large shrimp or prawns
About 1/4 cup dried Thai Chilies
1 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1/2 cup flour
Salt to taste
1 egg
water
2-3 tablespoons coconut oil

Peel the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Rinse and pat dry.

Place chilies in a spice grinder and grind into a fine powder. In a shallow bowl, mix shredded coconut, flour, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the chili powder.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Whisk the egg in a bowl with a little bit of water. Dip each shrimp in the egg mixture and coat it lightly with the chili-coconut mixture.

Fry for about two minutes on one side and another minute on the other side, or until golden brown and crispy.

Recipe submitted by Natasha, Fairfax, VA

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Coconut Banana Ginger Brown Rice Pudding with Raisins

Prepared by Sarah Shilhavy, Photo by Jeremiah Shilhavy

Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 10 minutes

This Brown Rice pudding is sweetened with banana, crystallized ginger, and raisins. Perfect for breakfast or dessert!

4 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon ground cardamom, or whole cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1/3 cup shredded coconut
2 overripe bananas, chopped
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 cup coconut milk* or regular whole milk

Place cooked rice in a pot. Add water, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon, raisins, ginger, and shredded coconut. Turn heat to medium, make sure to stir constantly.

Once the mixture has come to a simmer, add in the bananas and stir so they become liquefied in the mixture. Keep stirring! Add in the coconut oil.

Once the mixture has absorbed all or most of the water, add the milk. Keep stirring! When the rice has become mushy and absorbed a lot of the coconut milk and has a pudding like thickness to it, your rice pudding is done! Add more milk if/as needed to adjust texture and consistency. Delicious!

Recipe submitted by Emily, Philadelphia, PA

*Use 1 teaspoon of coconut cream concentrate for every 6-8 oz of water for coconut cream milk. Mix together and use as directed or make homemade coconut milk.

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Gluten Free Coconut Dishpan Cookies

Prepared by Sarah Shilhavy, Photo by Jeremiah Shilhavy

1 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup coconut oil, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dried, unsweetened flaked coconut
1 cup corn flakes cereal
1 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts of choice
1 cup rolled oats (Optional – leave out for gluten free)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy with an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Slowly add oil and mix until oil is well incorporated. Beat vanilla extract and eggs in until well incorporated.

Mix flour and baking soda together and stir into butter mixture just until combined. Combine remaining ingredients and add to dough, mixing just until incorporated.

Using a small cookie scoop drop tablespoonful sized cookie dough balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet spacing about 1 inch apart (they won’t spread much). Bake in preheated oven for 7-12 minutes, just until lightly browned.

You can also freeze individual balls of cookie dough and freeze for later baking. To bake simply place frozen cookie dough onto sheet (there’s no need to defrost) and bake as directed (adding a few minutes to cook time).

*Gluten Free Flour Mix

2 cups plus 4 teaspoons brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum

Mix together until very well blended and use as directed.

Submitted by Sarah Shilhavy

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Salmon Coconut Mayonnaise Salad

Prepared by Marianita Shilhavy, Photo by Jeremiah Shilhavy

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4-5

1 tablespoon coconut oil, as needed
1/2 medium size onion, finely chopped
2 6 oz cans Alaskan salmon, flaked
2 stalks celery- thinly sliced
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
2 tablespoon coconut mayonnaise, more or less to taste
Italian parsley
Fresh squeezed lemon juice

Heat coconut oil in a pan. Sauté onion until opaque and add salmon, celery, pepper and salt. Sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in mayonnaise.

Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with Italian parsley and lemon juice. Serve with salad, rice, as a sandwich filling, etc.

Enjoy

Recipe courtesy Marianita Shilhavy

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Curried Lamb Meatballs

Prepared by Sarah Shilhavy using grass-fed ground lamb.
Photo by Jeremiah Shilhavy

Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

2 yellow onions
2 pounds ground lamb
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt to taste
Virgin Coconut Oil, as needed
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons red wine
14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes OR 2-3 fresh tomatoes, diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon garam masalla (optional)

Finely chop one yellow onion and mix it into the lamb. Add the ground cumin, egg and salt to taste (about 2 teaspoons). Mix together well. Set aside.

Prepare the sauce:

Chop the second onion. Heat some oil in a large soup pot. Cook the chopped onion for a few minutes until it turns golden – do not let it brown.

Add curry powder, lower heat and add half the wine and the tomatoes. Let the sauce bubble on low heat until the oil rises to the surface.

While the sauce is simmering, form the meat into 1 ½” meatballs. Handle the meat as little as possible.

Carefully add the meatballs to the pot. Add remaining wine and the whole garlic cloves. Cover and simmer. Add a bit of salt to the sauce if needed.

When the meatballs are half cooked, add the ground coriander.

When finished cooking, turn off heat and sprinkle a half tablespoon of garram masalla over the top of the stew. Cover and let sit for a while, at least 15 minutes.

Serve with basmati rice and mango chutney.

Recipe submitted by Simi, Los Angeles, CA

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