Re-Purposing

Don’t get me wrong. I love green salads, especially when I can get locally-grown lettuces that weren’t trucked, shipped or flown in from the Emerald City or some other faraway place where things are always green. It’s just that I know there are a lot of those salads in my not-too-distant future. I don’t want to overdose before I even get there.

And, so, I did something else with my leftover Coconut Lime Dressing. It doesn’t take much to imagine a salad dressing as a sauce for your greens and therefore a good candidate for saucing other things. Like warm noodles.

Oh, did this lunch make me happy! I cooked some spaghetti, tossed it with cilantro, scallions, a little chile pepper and sunflower seeds. The Coconut Lime Dressing was a perfect partner to these ingredients. In fact, I think I liked it even more in this dish than I did on a salad. The heat from the noodles allowed some lime and herb aroma to perfume the whole experience. I love cilantro, so its inclusion was a given and the chile pepper gave it all a great punch of spice. And there’s something almost magical about the combination of roasted, salted sunflower seeds and this Coconut Lime Dressing. (I’d bet peanuts would be good, too.)

When I finished preparing this dish, which I had intended to be lunch just for me, I thought it looked like an awfully big single serving. In the interest of full disclosure, I, erm, ate the whole thing. Also, since I’m nearly hopeless with chopsticks and this was somewhat of a “working lunch,” I gave them up early and ate my noodles and re-purposed dressing with a trusty, multi-purpose fork.

Warm Noodles with Cilantro and Coconut Lime Dressing

¼ pound dry spaghetti or other long noodles
salt (for boiling noodles)
½ cup chopped cilantro
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 small chile pepper (or ½ larger pepper), seeded and cut into thin strips
2-3 tablespoons roasted salted sunflower seeds
¼ cup Coconut Lime Dressing

1. Cook the spaghetti or other noodles in boiling salted water until they reach desired tenderness. I like them softer than al dente for this dish. Drain the noodles and return them to the pan off the heat.

2. Add the cilantro, scallions, chile pepper and sunflower seeds and toss together. Add the Coconut Lime Dressing and toss well to coat.

Makes 1-2 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Noodles with Cilantro, Green Onions and Peanuts; Noodle Bowl with Spicy Greens

One year ago: Lentil Barley Burgers

Two years ago: Penne with Chicken Sausage, Olives and Walnut Sauce

Dressing for Spring

As the air gets warmer, the sun comes out and the grass starts growing, I usually start to think about the seasonal shift in my wardrobe: switching sweaters for blouses, unearthing skirts and open-toed shoes, deciding whether I’m optimistic enough to bring out a pair of shorts or two. This only gets a little of my attention, however, as I am much more concerned with what I’m going to put on my spring salad greens.

That’s right, the locally-grown salad greens are in! My home-town food co-op carries a tender, delicate mix of sweet, slightly bitter, and tantalizingly tart baby greens that have been grown nearby (presumably in hot houses or cold frames). This beautiful bounty beats the pants off of anything being trucked in from the Emerald City, or wherever green things come from in the winter. They deserve to be specially treated. Gloppy, phony, over-processed bottled dressings need not apply.

About the time the greens came to my attention, a spicy coconut and lime salad dressing recipe in Martha Stewart Living magazine (April 2011) also grabbed my notice. As a great lover of coconut, I was excited to try it. I didn’t, however, want it to overwhelm my delicate salad greens, so I toned down the spice a bit by adding less chile. I used light coconut milk, because that’s what I keep in the cupboard, and made a few other minor tweaks.

The result was fabulous! The flavor of the dressing is very lime-forward, but its taming by the creamy, lightly sweet coconut milk keeps it from being lip-puckering. There’s just a bit of heat from the chile pepper (you could use more or retain some seeds if you want it spicier), and the other ingredients, which can be quite assertive (mint and scallion) or cloying (coconut milk) don’t seem to be trying to compete. (In fact, the coconut taste is very subtle. My husband might actually eat this!) Overall, the result is a peaceful, mellow melding of scents and flavors and not a war of harsh and bitter individuals.

The dressing went beautifully with the salad I prepared, which included thin-sliced celery, scallions, a few mint leaves and roasted, salted sunflower seeds in addition to the baby greens. It’s definitely a creamy dressing, but it isn’t heavy like buttermilk, sour cream, or mayonnaise-based dressings that might have crushed the delicate little lettuces. (Those heavier dressings will have their day when the bigger, more mature lettuces come along in a couple months.) This was definitely a very attractive ensemble (I particularly recommend accessorizing with sunflower seeds) and I am perfectly confident that at least my salads will be well-dressed for spring.

Coconut Lime Dressing
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living magazine

Grate the lime zest (preferably with a microplane grater) before squeezing the lime. It’s extremely difficult if you do it afterwards.

½ cup light coconut milk
2 tablespoons canola oil (or other neutral oil)
½ teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon minced chile pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1 scallion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
½ teaspoon salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk together until well-combined. Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes about ¾ cup.


Another recipe like this one: Buttermilk Herb Salad Dressing

One year ago: Pasta with Cauliflower and Cashew Sauce

All to Myself

If I want to have something tasty form my kitchen all to myself, I just have to put coconut in it. Around here, stirring the flaky white stuff is equivalent to the childish action of spitting on food to claim it as your own. With a few exceptions (known as safety coconut) Harry won’t eat it, and that’s that.

And so, when there was part of a can of coconut milk left over from making Pasta with Cauliflower and Cashew Sauce (a safety coconut recipe), I jumped at the opportunity to combine it with some of the secret stash of sweetened flaked coconut I keep in the freezer and make something I wouldn’t have to share. I had a relatively calorie-light muffin recipe with coconut milk and dried cranberries that I had fattened up by adding flaked coconut. I thought I’d try it with frozen cranberries in place of the dried, since I had two packages in the freezer from last fall. I also decided to test the connection between muffins and quick bread loaves by baking the batter in a loaf pan instead of individual muffin cups.

It all worked well and deliciously. The juicy tartness of the cranberries contrasts nicely with the sweet and chewy coconut flakes that fill every bite and the soft, almost cake-like crumb, which is fragrant with coconut milk. The slices are a bit delicate, at least more delicate than a muffin, but I don’t care. No one’s going to see me eat them alongside a nice cup of cocoa (with perhaps a dash of adult beverage for medicinal purposes) on an evening that I have all to myself.

Coconut Cranberry Quick Bread
Adapted from Cooking Light January/February 2005

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup light coconut milk
1 tsp grated lemon rind
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw if frozen)
1 cup coconut

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a whisk until well combined.

2. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg with a whisk. Whisk in the melted butter, then add the coconut milk, lemon zest and vanilla and whisk until well combined

3. Make an indentation in the center of the flour mixture. Pour in the egg mixture and stir until just moist. Gently stir in the cranberries and coconut.

3. Oil an 8-inch bread pan or spray it well with cooking spray. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

4. Bake at 400 F for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out without any wet batter clinging to it. Remove bread from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. The bread may stick where cranberries have oozed out and baked to the side. Run a knife along these areas before attempting to remove the bread from the pan.


Makes 1 8-inch loaf

Recipes like this one: Zucchini Buttermilk Bread with Pecans, Pumpkin Oatmeal Quick Bread with Dates and Pecans

One year ago: Apricot Almond Cookies with White Chocolate

Is it Safe?

Cashews are a big favorite in this household. I add them to pasta dishes and curries and we eat them all alone as a snack pretty regularly. That’s why I knew that the idea of a sauce with a cashew butter base, which I came across in several respectable sources, was going to go over pretty well, as long as I didn’t mess it up too badly.

The most promising method involved pureeing cashew butter with coconut milk to make a creamy sauce that I thought I’d toss with pasta and some of the large leftover head of cauliflower hanging around the refrigerator waiting for another chance to make Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas and Olives. The bad news is that Harry hates coconut. The good news is that he will eat what he calls “safety coconut” which is usually a flavorful dish, such as a spicy curry, that contains a small amount of coconut milk. The even better news is that he trusts me to judge when something I make will be “safe” enough for him to eat.

And so, starting with raw cashews, I roasted, pureed (it was quite a pleasure to just sniff the cashews as I was grinding them in the food processor), seasoned and blended with a small amount of light coconut milk. I tasted, decided it was safe, added some more coconut milk, tasted again, and decided it was still safe. I kept the spice blend simple to save time (it was one of those busy nights when Harry stops home for dinner before teaching a night class), and sliced the cauliflower instead of separating it into florets. Not only did the cauliflower cook faster this way, but it was easier to eat tossed with the fettuccine.

Often, when a sauce for noodles is thick like this one, tradition demands that you set aside some of the pasta cooking water and use it to thin out the sauce while tossing it with the pasta. Unfortunately, I usually forget to save some of the water when dumping the cooked pasta into a colander in the sink. When you’re forgetful like me, plain water will do, or, in this case, a little more coconut milk might work as well. I’ve found, however, that with a sauce prepared in the food processor, there’s always a bit of goodness sticking to the sides and bottom of the processor bowl. So, I take a bit of warm water and swish it around to dissolve some of that sauce that would otherwise be wasted and use the resulting slurry to thin the sauce. Fewer good ingredients get washed down the drain and I’m rescued from my forgetfulness. (This works well with Pesto, also.)

This dish was delicious if somewhat sweet for a main dish, and quite rich. The cauliflower helped tame both of those characteristics, but I was very satisfied with a pretty small portion (perhaps about 1 cup). Harry liked it too, declaring it not only safe, but also very good (and I didn’t even have to apply dental torture to get that answer). He didn’t quite rave over it the way he does with Beef and Guinness Pot Pie or Spaghetti Pie or Pumpkin Pie (methinks the man likes pie), but he liked it and I liked it and that all works for me.

Pasta with Cauliflower and Cashew Sauce
You may be able to use unsalted roasted cashews and skip the roasting step, but I have not tried this myself.

Sliced cauliflower rather than florets cooks fast and works well with the pasta.

1 cup raw cashews (about 5 ounces)
1 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt, plus additional if needed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon honey
½ cup light coconut milk, well stirred, divided
8 ounces uncooked fettuccine
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
3 cups sliced cauliflower, cut into about 2-inch pieces (about ½ a large head)
¼ cup water, plus more as needed

cilantro leaves for garnish, optional

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Place the cashews on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 F about 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the pan to cool.

2. Combine the salt, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. When the cashews are cool enough to handle, place them in the bowl of a food processor. Process until just beginning to form a coarse paste. (This could take a few minutes.) Add the honey and process until the cashew butter can be pressed together and resembles a dry peanut butter in texture.

Add about ½ of the spice mixture and ¼ cup coconut milk. Process until a smooth paste forms. Add the remaining ¼ cup coconut milk and process until the mixture is very smooth.

4. Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine in plenty of boiling salted water until done to your liking (I prefer al dente). Drain the pasta and set aside. Rinse or wipe any excess starch out of the pasta-cooking pot and return to the stove.

5. Pour the canola oil into the pot and heat over medium heat. Add the cauliflower and sauté until beginning to become tender and browning on the edges.



Add the remaining spice mixture. Saute about 30 seconds more. Add ¼ cup water. Cover and steam the cauliflower 3 minutes or until tender.

6. Remove the cover and reduce the heat to low. Add the pasta and cashew butter mixture. Stir or toss to combine well, adding more water, preferably mixed with the remains of the sauce sticking in the food processor, if the sauce is too thick. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Garnish with cilantro if desired.

Makes about 4 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Penne with Chicken Sausage, Olives and Walnut Sauce