Red Thai curry, sticky rice, red peppers, carrots, and onions, roasted in coconut oil

Roasting the veggies in coconut oil brings out their sweetness.
Serves 4

Chicken
In a large baking dish, place and pour over:
     7-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
     Trader Joe's red Thai curry sauce
     1 cup coconut cream
Let sit in the fridge a few minutes or hours, per your schedule.

Rice
Begin cooking the rice per package instructions. I like Botan brand rice, which says to wash the rice, then soak 15 min, bring to a boil and simmer 20 min, then let sit 10 min; so that's 45 min all told.

Veggies
Chop into medium-sized pieces and place in a roasting pan:
     3 red peppers (I like to start skin-side up, then make sure they're all turned over in the next step.)
Chop into skinny pieces and place in another roasting pan:
     8 carrots
     1 red onion
Toss the veggies with:
     2 T coconut oil
     sprinkle of salt

Cook
Heat oven to 375 deg F. Put the racks at 1/3 and 2/3 up from the bottom. Put the chicken dish on the top rack, and put the veggies roasting pans on the bottom rack. It's ok to stack one slightly over the other, if needed.

Set a timer for 30 minutes for the chicken, and another timer for 10 minutes for the veggies.

After 10 min, use a spatula, also called a turner, to scrape the veggies off the bottom of the pan and stir them around. Flip red peppers to skin-side down, if you care to be so careful.

After 10 min more, repeat. Check for doneness: they should be tender and slightly browned, which indicates caramelization, and the sweetness is being brought out.

Serve
Plate the rice in the middle, then place the chicken and sauce partially over the rice, and the veggies around. Garnish with:
     Cilantro or basil

Rockfish in Coconut-Cream, Lime Sauce, w/ Sesame Spinach, Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, Couscous-Grains

Serves about 4 people

Ingredients:

Rockfish, pan fried

               Rockfish filets, 1.5 lbs, cut into about 12  3x3-inch pieces

               Flour, ½ cup

               Salt, 1 t, and pepper 1/4 t

Coconut-cream, Lime, and Butter sauce

               Coconut cream, ½ cup (can from Trader Joe’s)

               Juice of 2 limes

               Butter, ½ stick = ¼ cup

               Salt, ½ t

Fresh spinach cooked in sesame

Spinach, one big bag, prewashed

               Sesame oil

Sesame seeds

               Soy sauce, one packet or about 2 teaspoons

Couscous-grain blend

               Couscous-grain blend, half bag (Trader Joe’s)

               Water or chicken broth, 1.75 cups

               Butter, 2 T

Slow-roasted cherry tomatoes

               Cherry tomatoes, one carton

Directions:

These are done simultaneously to end at about the same time.

Heat oven to 300 deg F.

Tomatoes. Cook in roasting pan, pierce each one, put in oven. Every 7 min, scrape them off the bottom and mix them around. Cook about 20-30 min total, until wrinkled.

Sauce. Squeeze 2 limes into a microwave safe container, like a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Heat for a min. Add coconut cream and salt and stir to blend. Heat 2 min at a time, until sauce reduces to about ½ or 1/3. Add half stick butter, cut into 1-T pieces, stir to blend, should have a thick consistency.

Couscous-grain blend. Cook per bag instructions, takes about 10 min.

Spinach. In medium-sized, thick pot, heat avocado oil over high heat, dump in a bag of fresh spinach, put on the lid. After 2 min, turn the spinach leaves around and over to heat other side of the pile. After 2 min more, they should be shrunk down, moisture released, and steaming. Add drizzle of sesame oil and generous shakes of sesame seeds. Cook until tender, a few more min, stirring every so often. Remove lid to let liquid evaporate, then turn off heat and cover with lid to keep hot.

Fish. Rinse the fish fillets, and cut them into about 12 3x3-inch pieces. Lay on paper towel to dry. On a plate, mix together the flour, salt, and pepper. Heat oil in heavy skillet. Dredge half of the fish pieces in the flour mixture and place in the skillet, cook a few minutes on one side, then turn to cook the other side. Lay pieces on a plate. Scrape out crumbs in the pan, add a bit more oil, let it heat up, then repeat the steps to cook the rest of the fish. Should be light golden brown.

To serve:

Plate the grain-couscous blend in the center, and lay the tomatoes, spinach, and fish around it. Pour sauce over fish. Garnish with black olives if desired.

Banana Bread w/Dried Cherries, Pecans, and Marmalade

Makes one loaf; adapted from the Joy of Cooking recipe for quick banana bread

Have all ingredients at about 70 deg F. Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

Sift together:

               1 ¾ cups flour (sifted all purpose, or blended with whole wheat, to taste)

               2 ¼ t baking powder

               ½ t salt

               2 T pumpkin spice blend, or 1 T cinnamon, 1 t ginger, ½ t nutmeg, 1 t all-spice, ½ t cloves

Blend until creamy:

               1/3 cup shortening or butter

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup orange marmalade

Beat in:

               3 beaten eggs

               1 to 1 ¼ cup ripe banana pulp

Add the sifted dry ingredients in 3 additions to the sugar mixture. Beat until smooth after each addition. Fold in:

               1/2 cup chopped dried cherries

               1/2 cup pecans

Do not overbeat between each addition. Fold in:

               12 oz bag chocolate chips, plus chopped up chocolate bar in larger pieces

Pour batter into a loaf pans lined with parchment paper. On top of each loaf, sprinkle to cover in a single layer:

1/3 cup brown sugar

¼ stick (1/8^th cup) butter, cut into pieces

Bake for about an hour, until a butter knife inserted in the center pulls out clean. Cool in pan a few minutes, then turn out onto rack to finish cooling before slicing.

Pumpkin Bread w/Chocolate Chips and Pecan Topping

Makes two loaves; adapted from the Joy of Cooking recipe for quick pumpkin bread

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

Sift together:

               2 ¼ cups flour (sifted all purpose, or blended with whole wheat, to taste)

               ½ t baking powder

               1 ½ t baking soda

               1 ½ t salt

               2 T pumpkin spice blend, or 1 T cinnamon, 1 t ginger, ½ t nutmeg, 1 t all-spice, ½ t cloves

In a large bowl, beat until light and fluffy:

               1 ¼ cup white sugar

               ¾ cup brown sugar

               1 T molasses

               3 eggs

               ½ cup butter (room temperature)

Add and beat in:

               1 15-oz  cooked or canned pumpkin

Now add the sifted dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with:

               ½ can evaporated milk

               ½ t vanilla

Do not overbeat between each addition. Fold in:

               12 oz bag chocolate chips, plus chopped up chocolate bar in larger pieces

Pour batter into 2 loaf pans lined with parchment paper. On top of each loaf, sprinkle to cover in a single layer:

½ cup pecan halves

¾ cup sugar

¼ stick (1/8^th cup) butter, cut into pieces

Bake for about an hour, until a butter knife inserted in the center pulls out clean of dough, with perhaps a smear of melted chocolate.

Serving tip: Heating a slice for about 18 sec in the microwave melts the chocolate nicely!