Thai Crab and Mango Salad with Lime Pineapple Jalapeño Mint Dressing

Dungeness Crab fresh out of the Pacific Ocean in a Thai style salad. Fresh mango, cucumber, basil, cilantro, mint, avocado, carrots, green onions, and mixed greens. For the dressing I blended pineapple, jalapeño, mint and lime.

No oils, no dairy, no gluten. Paleo. Local.



Ingredients:

- 2 or 3 fresh whole Dungeness Crabs
- 2 mangos
- 1 or 2 cucumber
- 1/2 cup basil
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1/2 cup mint
- 3 scallions, green parts only
- 3 carrots, finely julienned
- 1/2 pineapple cut and blended
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- Mixed greens or 2 bunches of watercress
- Sriracha
- 1/2 cup fish sauce









Start with the carrots since they will need to marinate for about an hour. Chop or julienne. Mix the fish sause and sriracha in a bowl and add carrots. Set aside and get to the dressing next.



In a VitaMix blend the pineapple, 2 tablespoons of fresh mint and the fresh lime juice. Place this mix into a bowl and add the scallions (green onions) and fish sauce.



Place this in the fridge to settle.



After cooking your crab for about 10 minutes, clean it. If you need instructions on how to do this, please check out How to Cook and Clean a Crab.



Chop the greens and the mango and mix in a very large bowl.




Now you can drain the carrots from their bath and place them in the bowl of mixed greens. NOTE: Toss the carrot bath mix. You do not need or want that in your salad.

Drizzle the pineapple dressing on the mixed greens and toss until evenly distributed.



Do not add the crab to this large mixing bowl. Plate the mixed greens and top with fresh crab.



Garnish with the avocado and left over cucumber and serve cold.

Chickpea Coconut Curry on Black Forbidden Rice

Tomato Chickpea Coconut Curry on Black Forbidden Rice a dish inspired by The New Vegan Cookbook: Innovative Vegetarian Recipes Free of Dairy, Eggs, and Cholesterol by Lorna Sass. The book is easy to follow with simple directions and colourful photos. I do not eat eggplant, so I changed the presentation by deleting the roasted eggplant and substituting black rice.

Short-Cut Vegan: Great Taste in No Time by Sass, Lorna J. [Paperback] (Google Affiliate Ad)



Soak chickpeas for at least 8 hours before cooking, but never soak longer than 24 hours. I typically soak them in the morning before leaving for the day.



Once hydrated, cook chickpeas for about 55 minutes on medium/high heat. To save time, you can purchase canned chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. I try not to eat food out of a can.

Some interesting information about Chickpeas:  high source of protein and fiber, one cup of cooked chickpeas contains 269 calories, low-glycemic and its the primary ingredient in hummus.



Instead of roasted eggplant, I've used black forbidden rice. I would also suggested using quinoa or brown rice. If you want to stick to the original recipe, you can find it here on cookstr.com.

Black forbidden rice is high in nutritional value and contains 18 amino acids, iron, zinc, copper, carotene, and several important vitamins which I can not recall at this time, but they are very important! Forbidden black rice turns the water its cooked in a deep purple color due to its high anthocyanin content, an antioxidant. I could go on and on about the health benifits of anthocyanin - water-soluble vacuolar pigments, but I'll let you read all about it here: The Possible Health Benefits of Anthocyanin Pigments and Polyphenolics by Ronald E. Wrolstad, Ph.D. Thanks Ron!

What's really important to me: a 1/4-cup serving of forbidden rice contains 160 calories, it's gluten free, non-GMO, and I like the color.



Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 3 tablespoons brown mustard seeds
- 2 cups of diced tomatoes with liquid or one 20 ounce can
- 2 cups coarsely chopped white onions
- 1/2 cup dried, unsweetened, grated coconut or more (you can not use sweetened...no!)
- 3 1/2 tablespoons mild curry powder - Merwanjee Poonjianjee & Sons
- 1 teaspoon or more of Cayenne
- Sriracha as needed (I like it hot)
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil

Tools:

- Deep heavy saucepan with cover

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Heat pan, add oil and add mustard seeds. Cover and cook for 30 seconds on high heat or until you hear the seeds 'pop'. Once you hear the seeds popping, turn stove off and keep covered until popping stops.



Turn heat to medium/high and add the white onions. Stirring frequently. Add oil if needed. Cook for 5 minutes.



Now add curry powder and stir for 30 seconds



Add the rest of the stuff; tomatoes, chickpeas, coconut, and cayenne to taste. Also salt and pepper is you wish



Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes or less while stirring frequently. If the mix starts to stick, add water.



While all this is happening, cook the grain of your choice. Quinoa, brown rice or black forbidden rice



Plate and eat. boun appetito

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great F (Google Affiliate Ad)

You can also see my photos here:

Pomegranate Dark Chocolate Clusters

Are you looking for something healthy and sweet for Valentine’s Day? Dark Chocolate and Pomegranates make the perfect pair for a heart-healthy month!



Pomegranate seeds are full of B vitamins, potassium, and folic acid. They’re also a great vegan source of iron. Read more: Superfood: 10 Delicious Pomegranate Recipes



The above photo shows Lindt 85% cocoa bar as well as the TCHO.  However, the two chocolate company I prefer are TCHO and Guittard. Both located in the San Francisco Bay area.

TCHO is located in San Francisco at Pier 17 in San Francisco, on the Embarcadero. They have public tours that run twice daily, 7 days a week. The tour is free and accommodate up to 29 people.

Guittard is located in Burlingame, California (about 10 minutes outside of San Francisco proper). It has a start to finish chocolate making process on their site.

Adding small amounts of this dark chocolate to your diet can lead to appetite control, reduced stress, heart health and liver protection. Read more: 75% Dark Chocolate Health Benefits



Start one or two hours before you want to actually eat the Pomegranate Dark Chocolate Clusters. You'll need to let the pomegranates dry for at least an hour after you soak them. Do not use wet or damp pomegranates.




The best way to break away arils from the membrane is in a bowl with cold water. Keep the pomegranate submerged in water while breaking them apart. It will save you on the clean-up time. Side note: Do not wear anything white while making this recipe.



I don't have a double boiler, so I use a cast iron pot on low heat and stir continuously until chocolate is smooth. I use a mini silicone spoon spatulas or a spoonulas. I purchased a set of four at William-Sonoma for about 20 dollars. A must have in ones arsenal of cooking weapons.




After an hour, see if the pomegranates are dry.




1. In a candy size cup or mini cupcake liners, drop a spoon full of dark melted chocolate
2. Layer with pomegranate
3. Repeat one more time



I added a little coconut as a topper



Ingredients:
- 1 pomegranate cut into quarters
- 1 or 2 bars of dark chocolate
- Handfull coconut

Gluten Free Option for Chocolate: Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, Gluten, Dairy, and Soy Free, Mini Chips, 10-Ounce Bags

Cool information from the Guittard Chocolate Company in Burlingame, CA 94010
Cacao, pronounced 'ka-KOW', is the raw, agricultural ingredient used to make chocolate. It is grown in various parts of the world along the Equator, where humid temperatures and jungle-like surroundings provide ideal conditions for growing this colorful fruit. In shades of red, orange, yellow and green, cacao pods sprout from the trunks of cacao trees, and cacao beans (seeds actually) are found inside the pods where a delicate, sweet, fruity pulp surrounds the cacao bean cotyledons (which later become nibs). Cacao pods are harvested throughout the year as they reach optimal ripeness, mainly from October though May.




Blogging about food requires several photo sessions - after a couple of different tries I was able to get a few good photos. It's fun to eat the mistakes!



What is Valentine's Day?

Amaranth with Apricots and Walnuts in Coconut Milk

Amaranth with Apricots, Walnuts, and Flax Seed in Coconut Milk is what's for breakfast!

Amaranth is a grain comparable to rice or maize and is unusually high in protein according to the ECHO.  I was reading on Wikipedia that at one point this grain was banded by the conquistadores (Spanish and Portuguese soldiers) upon their conquest of the Aztec nation. The outlaw grain is gluten free and at one point considered a weed.



Bring 1 cup of water to a boil, then add 1/2 cup amaranth grain. Cook for about 30 minutes or until water evaporates.

Once the amaranth is cooked, add:
-- 2 Apricots chopped into bite-size pieces
-- 2 or 3 tablespoons of coconut milk
-- Chopped walnuts
-- Flax seeds
Stir on medium-low heart for about 1 minute.

Bobs Red Mill 21126 Organic Amaranth Flour (Google Affiliate Ad)



A perfect way to start your day with a healthy Gluten Free, Soy Free, Daily Free,  and Vegan breakfast

Thai Kitchen 18910 Coconut Ginger Soup (Google Affiliate Ad)



If you want to add meat to your diet, you can grill up some organic gluten free chicken sausages.

Ingredients:
-- 2 Apricots
-- 3 tablespoons Organic coconut milk
-- 1 tablespoon Flax Seed
-- 1/2 cup Amaranth grain
-- Handfull of Walnuts

Roasted Pineapple Ginger Black Cod Fillet On A Tuesday Night

On my lovely cracked Italian ceramic square dish, I present to you: Roasted pineapple ginger black cod with saute kale salad and a side of brown rice. Boun appitito a tutti!!

We finally got some much needed snow in the Sierra Nevada / Lake Tahoe mountains the last couple of days and it's been really cold here in San Francisco as well. Brrr! What to do on a cold Tuesday night. Cook some damn good fish.


Roasted Pineapple Ginger Black Cod Fish on a mid winter night.

With so many of us getting colds or getting sick, adding ginger to our daily diet is a great way to boost the immune system naturally and fight those evil germs and colds.



What you will need:

-- 1/2 pound of the Black Cod (Sable) fillet, wild; $24.00 a pound at Whole Foods
-- Fresh whole pineapple organic
-- Ginger organic
-- Olive Oil

Tools:

-- Staub Rouge Oval Gratin Dish
-- Potato peeler for the ginger
-- Sharp hollow ground knife or santoku (Zwilling J.A. Henckels or Wusthof)
-- Pineapple Corer or slicer (I do not have one)
-- Pre-heat the oven to about 350 degrees


Cut the fresh, whole pineapple.

With a knife, cut the top and bottom off the pineapple. Then cut the sink off the sides. If you have a pineapple corer, use that to get the hard core out of the center of the pineapple. If you don't have one, no worries. Use your knife to cut around the core. By the way, you can eat the core of a pineapple. It's a little hard, but perfectly good to eat.

Snack on the pineapple as you continue to cook, I do. There are lots of health benefits from eating pineapple... such as anti-inflammatory and digestive benefits.



Cut the pineapple into bit size 1/4 inch thick pieces.  I use my Thai soup take-away container to store the unused pieces of pineapple.



In my Staub oval gratin dish, I drizzle a small amount of olive oil to start. Then, cover the bottom of the dish with the 1/4 inch thick pineapple. This doesn't have to be/look perfect, but you want the bottom of the dish completely covered.



Use a potato peeler to peel the skin off the ginger. Slice the ginger into thin pieces and place on top of the black cod.  I use about one tablespoon of ginger (that is a guess) or enough to sprinkle on top of the fillet. If you love the flavor of ginger, place some under the fish with the pineapple and let the flavors mix.



Black Cod, Sablefish or Alaska Black Cod is known for contain up to 50percent more Omega 3 fats (EPA and DHA) than salmon. I've read that it's also referred to as 'butterfish' - just like butter baby! This site is full of awesome information: www.escoffier.com

Place the cod on top of the sliced pineapple and add the ginger atop the cod.



Depending on your oven, cook the cod for about 30 minutes on 350/375 or until the ginger looks toasted. I cooked my fish well-done and it was still 'melt in your mouth' buttery.



You can make a couple of side dishes while waiting on the fish to cook. Tonight I was in the mood for a cup of brown rice and sauted kale with carrot and kalamata olives.


Ohhh...my lovely cracked Italian ceramic square dish. How I love you!

How to make the Saute Kale next week!

I'm off to ski Squaw in some powder!!! Yay for snow!