Coconut Seafood Stew

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If cioppino and tom kha were to have a love child, this would be it.  

Cioppino originated in San Francisco, considered an Italian-American dish, and is a combination of fish from the Pacific Ocean with fresh tomatoes in a wine sauce. Typically this includes clams, scallops, Dungeness crab, squid and mussels. It actually started as a "catch of the day" stew made out on fishing boats. The tomato wine sauce is slow cooked and has the most amazing depth of flavor, which transfers to the fish. Just when you thought this couldn't get any better, it is best served with a crusty piece of bread to soak up every last drop of that delicious sauce.  

Tom Kha Kai is a coconut chicken soup originating in Thailand. This soup typically combines coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, Thai chili peppers, mushrooms, chicken, fish sauce and lime juice into a dreamy, silky soup. If you've never had it you must try it as it is one of my absolute favorite soups.

Now you are probably thinking, how on earth would someone think to combine these two soups? Well, you see, I live in San Francisco and I'm also traveling to Thailand in just 2 months. I've got Thai food on the brain! I was in the mood for cioppino, but since I'm sensitive to tomatoes I didn't think it was a good idea to eat a dish based with tomatoes. Enter the idea for a coconut based soup!

I took the best aspects of each soup and combined them into one amazingly flavorful seafood stew. Coconut milk, lime juice and mushrooms from the Tom Kha married with the seafood, fish stock and wine sauce from the Ciopinno. This doesn't necessarily mimic the traditional flavor of either dish - instead this takes on a unique and delicious flavor all on its own!

Coconut Seafood Stew

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 cups white wine
• 1 can light coconut milk (13.5 oz)
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1-8 oz bottle clam juice  
• 2 cups water
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/2 lb shrimp, uncooked, peeled and deveined  
• 1 lb pacific cod (or other firm white fish), cut into 1 in. pieces
• 1 lb mussels, blue or black mussels, scrubbed
• 1 lb clams, hard-shelled such as littlenecks, scrubbed

For garnish:

• Cilantro
• Toasted French or sourdough bread

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, add onions and olive oil. Cook while stirring often until onions are softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic, oregano, bay leaf and salt. Stir and continue to cook for another minute until garlic is golden and fragrant.
3. Add wine, stir and increase heat to high bringing the pot to a boil. Once it begins to boil, reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes to reduce the wine.
4. Add coconut milk and lime juice and stir to incorporate. Add mushrooms, clam juice and water and bring to a boil again. Once reached, reduce to a simmer and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes. 
5. Add clams and mussels to the simmering broth, cover pot, and allow to steam for 1-15 minutes. You want to ensure all clams and mussels have time to open - discard any that do not. 
6. Remove lid and add cod and shrimp. Return cover and allow cook until fish is opaque - about 5 minutes.
7. Divide fish and broth among bowls, top with chopped cilantro and serve with toasted bread.

Nutritional Information (1 serving):

253 calories - 33g Protein, 10g Carbohydrates, 9g Fat

Roasted Cauliflower & Piquillo Pepper Soup

Last week I received a text from my mom, with a photo very similar to the one above, that read:

"OK so if you want a guest blog item...cream of roasted cauliflower, parsnip and piquillo pepper soup!"

YUM. I immediately reply back, asking for the recipe ASAP. Her response was no surprise to me.

"Well you know me..." and she proceeded to tell me her process and the ingredients, but of course didn't measure anything out. 

This is exactly how I learned how to cook. Doing everything on the fly, tasting along the way, and then creating a dish that was delicious...but I could never tell you how exactly it all came together. 

Starting My Engineered Nutrition has helped me combat this problem and I've gotten much better at my recipe documentation. I'd best describe this soup as roasted and smokey, having a texture similar to potato soup. However, unlike potato soup which is thick, heavy and usually high in fat, this soup is creamy yet light and low in both carbs and fat! So without further ado, here is Dorinda Gunther's recipe (with measurements and interpretation by yours truly) for Roasted Cauliflower and Piquillo Pepper soup.

Roasted Cauliflower & Piquillo Pepper Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes 

Servings: 6 cups

Ingredients

• 2 medium parsnips
• 1 small head of cauliflower
• 1 1/4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt (I used BACON SALT I found at a local spice shop, Kosher salt will also work here)
• 2 tsp garlic, chopped
• 3 roasted piquillo peppers (these come in a jar in the grocery aisle with the pickled condiments), chopped
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• Optional: additional pureed piquillo peppers to garnish soup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Loosely chop parsnips and cauliflower into large pieces and toss with 3/4 tbsp olive oil and salt. Spread evenly in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast for about 25 minutes or until vegetables have turned golden brown. 

2. In a large soup pot over medium high heat, sauté garlic in remaining olive oil for 1 minute. Add cauliflower, parsnips, piquillo peppers, cumin and pepper. Stir in chicken stock and bring mixture to a boil. Once at a boil, cover pot and reduce heat to a simmer for 15 minutes. 

3. Once the soup has reduced down, carefully blend mixture until pureed (or reaches your desired consistency). This can be done in a blender, food processor or with a hand-held immersion blender. I used my blender and scooped the soup cup by cup from the pot to the blender. 

4. Return soup to pot and mix in coconut milk. No need to turn on heat for this step. Soup is now complete! I also topped my soup with a spoonful of additional purée of the remaining jar of piquillo peppers.

Nutritional info (1 serving)

160 Calories - 5 g Protein, 17 g Carbs, 8 g Fat

Patriotic Pops

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Happy 4th of July!  I hope everyone's plans for the holiday include lots of delicious eats! I've traded my cold and foggy San Francisco weather for hot and humid Cincinnati for the weekend, meaning a cold and refreshing treat was a perfect compliment to our BBQ. 

These take a bit of planning ahead but I promise they are worth it! Red, white and blue popsicles made from fresh raspberry purée, a thin layer of coconut milk and topped of with a blackberry purée. Skip the artificial flavoring and food dye and make these for your cook out! 

Cheers!  

Patriotic Pops

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Freeze Time: 4 hours 

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh raspberries 
• 1 cup fresh blackberries 
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk
• 1/2 cup simple syrup (to make boil 1 part sugar & 2 parts water, cool before using)
• 1 lime
• 1 Popsicle mold or 8 paper cups and Popsicle sticks  

Directions

1. Purée raspberries with 2 tbsp simple syrup and juice of 1/2 lime. Pour first layer of popsicle into mold and set popsicle sticks. Put in freezer for 45 min to allow for first layer to set.
2. Whip 1 cup coconut milk with 2 tbsp simple syrup just to incorporate the two ingredients. Remove popsicles from freezer and pour thin layer of coconut milk on top of the raspberry layer. Return to freezer for another 45 min. 
3. Repeat step 1 with blackberries for the last layer of the popsicles. Return to the freezer to allow all layers to set for another 2.5 hours.  

Happy Fourth of July! 

Coconut Cream of Asparagus Soup

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Annnd we're back! Sorry for the gap in posting, I had the brilliant idea to leave on vacation for 2 weeks and move immediately after I was back. I managed to pack and move within a 3 day time period - thank goodness for movers! Now I am finally getting settled AND I have a kitchen that I can call my very own...which means plenty more delicious creations to come!

I'm the type of person who will go out to eat at a restaurant, order a dish I end up loving, and decide that I can make the exact same dish at home. This recently happened at a restaurant called Reverb here in San Francisco. I had the Asparagus Soup, which had a lemon coconut ice cream with grilled asparagus. I loved the flavor profile and made a note to create my own recipe with these same flavors.

My recipe isn't exactly the same, as I didn't include the lemon coconut ice cream. I did, however, use coconut as the cream base to the soup as opposed to using heavy cream like most cream based soups. 

While the name suggests that this is a heavy, creamy soup it is actually quite the opposite. The base of the soup is asparagus and chicken broth, with just 1/3 cup of coconut milk added to the entire recipe, along with plenty of fresh squeezed lemon juice.

This soup is ridiculously easy to make. There are only 7 ingredients and the most challenging task is sautéing onions and asparagus. The recipe makes quite a bit of soup, but it freezes nicely. You can have this hot out of the pot or you can chill the soup and enjoy on a hot summer day!  

Coconut Cream of Asparagus Soup

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 7 cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp butter
• 6 cups asparagus, chopped (2 bundles)
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/3 cup coconut milk (full fat, shake can before opening)
• Juice of 1 lemon

Directions

1. Sauté  onion and butter in a large pot over medium high heat until onions begin to soften, 5 minutes.
2. Add asparagus and salt and continue to sauté for another 3 minutes.
3. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once at a full boil, cover pot with lid and reduce heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes. 
4. Once soup has cooked down, transfer in batches from main pot to blender and blend until liquified. Be VERY CAREFUL at this step! The soup will be extremely hot. I also advise that you have a good, powerful blender and make sure it is large enough to handle all of the soup. If it isn't - blend in batches.
5. Transfer soup back to pot and stir in lemon juice and coconut milk to combine.

Nutritional info (1 serving, approximately 1 cup)

97 Calories - 3 g Protein, 9 g Carbs, 5.5 g Fat