Coconut Crazy

I went a little crazy for coconut this weekend. I made curried vegetables from Simple Vegetarian Pleasures (Jeanne Lemlin), Pumpkin Pear Bisque with coconut milk (Hip Kosher by Ronnie Fein), and I made basmati rice with toasted coconut and almonds and lime (also Simple Vegetarian Pleasures). 

I changed the rice recipe around a bit, leaving out the onion and adding in some tumeric for color. Basically, you soak the rice for a half hour before cooking it. Then you toast 2 Tablespoons sliced almonds until light gold in a saucepan with coconut oil. Add 2 Tablespoons dessicated coconut (unsweetened) and continue toasting until coconut and nuts are golden brown. Add juice of half a lime and a 1/4 teaspoon of cardomom. Toss with rice. For a golden color, heat some turmeric (1/4 teaspoon) with more coconut oil and toss with rice until the rice is evenly colored.

The curried vegetables is just a chopped yam, two chopped red potatoes, 3 cups of shredded cabbage (I used coleslaw mix), peas, an onion, some garlic, a little ginger, curry powder, cumin, cardomon, cinnamon, a couple to chopped tomatoes, and a can of coconut milk.

I also made the Thai noodle and green bean salad from Simple Vegetarian Pleasures. But, no coconut in that recipe. (Although I was tempted to make the curried coconut noodles from that book, which are really, really good).

I have to actually buy the Jeanne Lemlin book instead of just taking it out of the library. I have made half the recipes in the book, and they are all great. I own dozens and dozens of cookbooks and this book (which I don’t own) is one of my favorites. Crazy, right?

Tags: dairy-free, jeanne lemlin, kosher, parve, rice, vegan, vegetarian