Thai Soup

Yum. I've been obsessed over this Thai soup for over a week now. I've tried making it before, but I think I was over thinking it. Some galangal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galangal) in it would be nice, but who knew Shallots would work well! Try this soup, and I am SURE you will not be disappointed.

You will need:

Shallots (2)

1 bunch cilantro

1 large shallot, small dice

fresh ginger, less than 1 inch, but get a larger piece and use if for other dishes and tea

1 can coconut milk or cream

3 cups of veggie broth

1 teaspoon thai roasted pepper paste (by Thai Kitchen)

2 tablespoons shoyu or tamari

1 lime, zested, juice reserved

Juice of one lemon

1 block of cubed and lightly pan fried tofu

1 cup large chopped cabbage

1 yellow or red bell pepper (or mix of yellow and red), sliced

1 cup of white button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, chopped into large chunks

1 yukon potato, cubed

In a heavy pot, splash 2 tablespoons of peanut oil. Add shallots and onion. Saute for 2 minutes, and add mushrooms and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently on medium high. Add coconut milk, broth, chili paste, and ginger. Stir well, and allow to simmer. Steam the cabbage, and potato in a steam basket until just tender, and them to the soup along with the bell pepper slices. Allow soup to marry for 10 minutes, and then add the lime zest, and juice, as well as the lemon juice and about 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro. Stir and serve hot. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

Once I was out of coconut milk, so I sauteed the veggies in coconut butter on LOW, and added some unsweetened soy milk. It worked, as a matter of fact it fooled my soy hating husband.

The Desserts Cooking Class was awesome!

Hello! Last night Erik and I did a cooking class on 'healthier' desserts. As you might assume, it was fun due to the sugar consumption and smell of warm baked goods to excite everyone. My hope is that everyone was excited about cooking with some alternative sweeteners like brown rice syrup, agave, maple syrup, coconut sugar, and stevia. We live off these desserts at my house, and they make me feel more balanced. We even made some raw holiday date balls that impressed most folks. My absolute favorite is the vegan chocolate truffles.

Cooking in The Ozarks

Happy sunny December day to you! I've been cooking and brewing up some ideas. I am going to start blogging....yeah, me and everyone else you know, right? Just because the voices in my head sound good to me, doesn't mean I should start writing it down.... But, we will see how this goes.

Tomorrow is my holiday desserts cooking class where I will be hanging out and teaching some interestingly interested folks about 'healthier' desserts. Sharing my love for cooking and eating whole foods in my home town has been exciting, and a little stressful. Someone will always think your crazy and not like you. But, most people think I'm crazy, but still like me....I think. Follow me for an update on how the class goes!