Soup and Salmon

My sugar/cacao free cleanse successfully continues, and I'm still surprised at how easy it's been. Sometimes I wonder how it would have been, had I adopted this way of eating years ago. I could have preventing some serious overdosing on sweet things, that's for sure! Better late than never though.

I'm having fun playing with new recipes, although most often I eat the same things every day. My morning plain yogurt followed by breaky of salad with wild meat or 2 eggs with veggies - then the reverse for lunch. Last week I made a fabulous moose meat lasagna, with eggplant and zucchini for the noodles, organic tomato sauce, veggies (zucchini, onion, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach), and raw white cheddar cheese on top. I think I could eat it every day.

I've also made a few more recipes from Nourishing Traditions. My friend Nancy, and I have started doing weekly dinner dates where we choose new recipes to try, (often from the book) and it's been a lot of fun. We've made spicy moose patties, spaghetti squash casserole, broccoli timbales, roasted veggies, and almond dill crusted pickerel.

I was in the mood for a silky, hot, buttery soup last week and this smooth butternut squash soup was born... the coconut milk in this recipe and a bit of shredded coconut on the salmon below are the extent of the sugar I've eaten, so I guess I have ingested a little bit - but very minor overal.

Butternut Coconut Ginger Soup

1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped ginger, or more
1-2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium/large butternut squash (peeled and chopped)
1-2 stalks celery
6 cups water or stock
1 can coconut milk

In a large pot, saute the onion in the oil until translucent.
Add the garlic, ginger, curry paste, coriander, and salt. Saute for another few minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients except for the coconut milk, bring to a boil and the simmer until the squash is soft.
Add the coconut milk and puree the soup in batches in a blender or food processor.
Thin with a bit of water if the soup is too thick.

Another day I made some Coconut Crusted Wild Salmon with Cilantro Jalapeno Yogurt Sauce which was inspired by a salmon recipe in a new book that my bestie, Lauren, got me for Christmas called The Earthbound Cook. It's a great book with heaps of recipes using whole foods. While the author served the fish with a sweet chile sauce, I went in a different direction with a creamy herbed sauce with a touch of heat.

Coconut Crusted Salmon with Cilantro Jalapeno Yogurt Sauce

Coconut Crusted Salmon
Double or half the coating according to how many pieces of salmon you want to make.

Juice of 1-2 limes
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup finely chopped macadamia nuts
Sprinkling of Himalayan salt and black pepper
Salmon fillets

Brush or pour a little lime juice over each fillet.
Toss the coconut, nuts, salt and pepper together in a shallow bowl.
Press the top of each fillet in the coated and place coconut side up on baking sheets.
Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through to your liking.

Cilantro Jalapeno Yogurt Sauce
I didn't do any measurements for this sauce, so just add according to your taste.

Plain yogurt
Chopped cilantro
Minced jalapeno, to taste
Squirt of lime juice
Pinch of salt

Stir ingredients together. Serve over the fish.

Dilly Salmon Salad

I cooked extra salmon and turned it into a delicious salmon salad the next day. I love it on salads, on cucumber slices, and in celery sticks!
Add large chunks of cooked salmon to a food processor, along with lemon juice, fresh or dried dill, green onion, olive oil, salt, pepper, and apple cider vinegar, and blend until smooth.

Coming up... Moose Bourguignon!