Recipe of the Week

Contributed by member, Jennifer Meegan.

I was feeling a bit desperate and uninspired tonight....so decided on the heels of making the chocolate coconut cupcakes that I'd throw something together using coconut and whatever I could scrounge in my fridge/pantry. This resulted in this coconut mango salmon dish and this coconut garlic green bean dish. The salmon in particular was deelish.

Jen's Baked Coco-Mint-Mango Salmon

1 wild salmon fillet (whatever size fits your family)
3/4 cup cream (from a cow) or coconut milk/cream
4-5 heaping tablespoons coconut cream/meat (I used the Tropical Traditions brand. You can also use freshly opened coconut)
2 tablespoons garam masala (I make my own: http://www.ochef.com/r75.htm)
1 ripe mango, sliced into bite-sized chunks
a few fresh mint leaves, chopped
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350
Place salmon in baking dish
Pour cream and place coconut cream/meat, garam masala, mango, chopped mint leaves, in baking dish over salmon
Stir gently and pour cream mixture over top of salmon
Salt to taste
Cook for about 25-30 minutes depending on how well you like your salmon done and the caliber of your oven. I recommend "basting" the salmon with the sauce at least two or three times while it's baking.
You could probably eat this with rice to get the most out of the sauce

Jen's Coconut-Garlic Green Beans2 tablespoons coconut oil
1-2 lbs fresh green beans
garlic powder or fresh minced garlic (about 2 teaspoons)
handful of unsweetened coconut flakes
salt

Place oil in skillet and put on medium heat
Place green beans in skillet and cover, cook for about 10-15 minutes until beans are crisp and bright green
Throw in coconut flakes and garlic, toss and recover, cook for about 5 more minutes
Salt to taste, toss, remove from burner, and enjoy!

Kid-Conscious Recipe of the Week

Here is a great gluten-free and healthy recipe for Mothers' Day Brunch, courtesy of Danielle Hunt.  Whip them up tonight and freeze/refrigerate them so that your kids can just pop them in the oven tomorrow while you sleep in. 

Buttermilk Currant Scones

1 cup sweet white sorghum flour
1 cup almond meal
½ cup tapioca flour
½ cup cornstarch
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup currants ( sub anything you want even  GF choc chips!)
several pinches of turbinado sugar

Combine all the dry ingredients together and stir them well. Sift them into a large bowl. Set aside.

Cut the butter into small pieces, dropping the pieces into the flour mixture as you cut. The pieces should be no larger than your thumbnail. Once you have cut all the butter, combine the butter pieces and dry ingredients with a pastry fork (or your fingers). Once they are all blended well, and the mixture feels like bread crumbs, then you are done.

Combine the buttermilk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid in. Slowly, stir the liquid in a counter-clockwise pattern, from the center out, until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the wet. When everything feels combined for the first time, stop. Add the currants.

Put the dough into the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours. This is important.

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Take the scone dough out of the refrigerator. Divide the dough in half with your hands, and then divide it again, until you have a ball about the size of the palm of your hand. Flatten the ball, slightly, and shape it into a scone-like shape. (That might mean something different to each person.) Sprinkle the top with a bit of turbinado sugar, and put that scone onto parchment paper (or silicone mat) on top of the baking sheet. Repeat until you have finished with all the dough.

Slide the baking sheet into the heated oven and bake the scones for fifteen to eighteen minutes. (In our oven, it was more like eighteen.) The scones are done when you can put in a toothpick and have it come out clean, as well as when the top is warm and browned. Allow the scones to cool for about five minutes. Serve immediately.

Makes about eight scones.