Ackee and Salt Fish: The National Dish of Jamaica

I am now a proud madrina of a Jamaixican little boy.  Given that my Godson is half Jamaican, I figured that I better learn how to cook Jamaican food.  So, my comadre, introduced me to Ackee - a fruit I had never heard of before.  One day she also made the Ackee and Saltfish and I had the opportunity to taste it.  This is definitely NOT Paleo given the salt content of the "saltfish."  So, just a warning for those who need to or want to reduce their salt intake.

Typically this dish is served with roast breadfruit, fried dumplings, bread, boiled yam, and boiled green bananas.  I do intend to try the boiled green bananas and also plan to make a gluten free Jamaican bread.  My comadre also says that many people just eat it with something like flour tortillas Mexicans use.  I have made this twice and so far, I just eat it over a bed of greens and love it this way.  Atzin really likes it this way as well.  He is not too crazy about fish, but he does like this dish.

1 can of Ackee or 12 pods of fresh ackee.
(Good luck finding fresh ackee unless you live in Jamaica.  You will probably have to use the canned.  I found two places in Chicago where you can get it.

Jamaican Market on the South Side

Old World Market on the North Side

You can always get it online four double the price because of shipping:
Ackee on Amazon

1/2 pound of Salftish (codfish) also called bacalao (this is fairly common and I was able to find it at my local market).
Spray of olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 stalks of scallion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 tsp Scotch bonnet pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp black pepper

1. Soak saltfish in cold water for about 1 hour.
2. If you are using fresh ackees, boil in water for about 15-20 minutes.  If you are using canned, don't worry about this step.
3. Drain water from soaked saltfish, add fresh water and cook for 10 minutes.  Drain thoroughly.
4. Drain water from cooked ackee throughly
5. De-bone and flake saltfish and remove scales where necessary.  (I just bought it already scaled and de-boned so I didn't have to do this).
6. In a saucepan, spray the olive oil and saute onion, garlic, scallion, tomato, scotch bonnet pepper, and bell pepper.
7. Add flaked saltfish to sauteed seasoning and cook on low flame for 3 minutes.  Toss lightly.
8. Add drained ackee.
9. Sprinkle with black pepper.
10. Toss all ingredients lightly, cover and allow to stand over low heat for about 2-3 minutes.

Kiwi Asparagus Smoothie

Well, I have a series of green smoothies that I make.  Usually made with kale or spinach.  Last week, I bought a big bag of Asparagus at Costco.  When, I do this, then I figure out all the ways I can incorporate that vegetable into my meals.  So, here was one way to use the asparagus.

4 medium kiwis
4 asparagus spears (remove tough end)
1 cup honeydew melon
1 TBS flax seed (this is optional, but I like to add a source of fat to all my smoothies to aid in absorption of all the wonderful vitamins and minerals you are getting from your raw fruits and veggies).
1 cup almond milk unsweetened
5-6 ice cubes

As it is above, it makes 2 tall glasses of smoothie.

6 WW points per serving

(Variations: you can add water instead of almond milk, but I had this as my morning smoothie, so I wanted the extra nutrition and texture of the almond milk).

German Chocolate Cake

Source: Elana's Pantry

"Mindfulness has to do above all with attention and awareness, which are universal human qualities....Mediation is the process by which we go about deepening our attention and awareness, refining them, and putting them into practice in our lives" (Kabat Zinn, 1994, p. xvii).

Baking for me today was a mindfulness practice.  Every step of the process, I was aware of me, my breathing, how my belly feels; I was in my body and I was very focused on each step of making this cake.  The result shows that I was definitely rewarded for remembering to breath, be in the moment, and enjoy this process.  When I cook or bake, I am often rushing, trying to just get things done, taking shortcuts, not practicing awareness.  That's why I typically bake cookies or muffins.  They are easy, fast, and really hard to mess up.  When you bake a cake though, you can't really do that; not if you want to have a beautiful, perfect cake.  You have to have the patience to wait for each step to take place; let the frosting sit for the full 45 minutes in the freezer, let the cake completely cool, etc. etc.  So, obviously even though I love making cakes, I don't do it often.  This time, I let each step sort of unfold.  Well, I just wanted to share what an amazing, peaceful process my cake making was today.  Now I will share the recipe.

This week I am exploring cake making.  Later this week I plan to start experimenting with some raw and vegan recipes and I have a raw vegan carrot cake in the plan.  Today, I made the German Chocolate Cake for Rolando's belated birthday.  I told him, now you better say that this cake is better than ANY cake ANY other woman, including your mother, has made for you.

Cake
3/4 cup flour, sifted
1/2 cup cacao powder
1 tsp celtic sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
10 eggs
1 cup grapeseed oil
1 1/2 cups agave
1 TBS vanilla extract

1.  In a small bowl, combine flour, cacao, salt, and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, blend eggs, oil, agave, and vanilla
3. Add dry ingredients into large bowl and continue to blend
4. Oil 2 9 inch round cake pans and dust with coconut flour
5. Pour batter into pans and bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes (This is what the recipe says, but I baked it at 325 for about 45 minutes.  I find that when I use coconut flour 350 degrees tends to burn the outside of the cake while the middle is not fully cooked.  So, I use a slightly longer time with a slightly lower temperature.  You will have to see what works in your oven.  I'm not sure if it's particular to my oven or if this is just what happens with coconut flour.  I just want you to be aware and watch closely the first time you make something with coconut flour.  If you notice that the edges are getting too brown while the middle is still really gooey, try a lower temperature for a longer time.)
6. Remove from oven, allow to cool completely then remove from pans.

Coconut Pecan Filling
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup agave nectar
pinch celtic sea salt
5 tsp arrowroot powder
1 TBS water
1 1/4 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 unsweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped

1. In a medium saucepan, heat coconut milk, agave, and salt, simmer for 10 minutes
2. In a small bowl, combine arrowroot and water to form a smooth paste
3. Pour arrowroot mixture into saucepan
4. Whisk the contents of saucepan vigorously and bring to a boil, briefly
5. Remove pot from heat and very gradually blend in coconut oil
6. Place pot in freezer for 30-40 minutes, until frosting solidifies and turns white
7. Remove from freezer and blend again, until fluffy, then stir in shredded coconut and pecans.
8. Spread frosting over cake and serve

Vegan Chocolate Frosting
1 cup chocolate chunks
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
2 TBS agave nectar
1 TBS vanilla extract
pince of celtic sea salt

1. In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and grapeseed oil
2. Sit in agave, vanilla and salt
3. Place frosting in freezer for 15 minutes to cool
4. Remove from freezer and whip frosting with a hand blender until it is thick and fluffy

Assembly
1. After the cakes have cooked completely, remove them from the pans and place one on a pretty serving plate or platter
2. Spread the Coconut Pecan Filling on top of the first layer cake
3. Place the second cake on top of the first
4. Spread the top and side of Chocolate Frosting
5. Cover the top of the cake with the remaining Pecan Coconut Filling
6. Serve

Serves 12

Here is the completed cake.

 Here is the first layer with the pecan coconut filling.

Indian Lamb Stew

Source: Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple.

This was sooooo good.  This is the first time I made this.  I needed a change and had not made anything lamb for months.  This will also make a lot of leftovers.  So we will probably have a few meals with this and assorted vegetables.  My plan was to make Paleo rice to go along with this with Indian spices, but I didn't have time, so I just steamed some asparagus to go along with this as a side dish.  It was perfect.

2 cinnamon sticks, whole
4 lbs of boneless leg of lamb (I bought this at Costco.  They are supposed to have the grass fed, but I couldn't find it).
1 medium onion, chopped
4 medium carrots, chopped
1 TBS cumin
1 TBS coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBS fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp dried ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced

1. Place the cinnamon sticks on the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Place the lamb in the slow cooker on top of the cinnamon sticks (I cut the fat off the top as much as I could.  I sliced the leg of lamb into about 3-4 oz chops.  This worked well, then I spread them in two layers in the slow cooker on top of the cinnamon sticks).

3. chop the onion and carrots, and place them on top of the lamb in the slow cooker.

4. Mince the garlic and ginger, and add them to slow cooker.  I sprinkled them on top of the lamb chops.

5. Add the remaining spices.

6. Cover and cook on low for eight hours or on high for 4 hours.

I loved this!  It was easy and delicious.

This has 4 WW points per serving (based on a 4 oz serving).

Paleo Meatloaf

This is one of my favorite EASY recipes.  It was nice to have this after the tedious tamale making.  This morning, I put this together and left it in the fridge so that all Atzin has to do when he gets home is put it in the oven to bake.

2 lb. of the Trader Joe's extra lean ground beef (96% lean)
2 medium onions
4 garlic cloves
1 bag of Trader Joe's frozen roasted peppers
1/2 cup of cilantro
1/2 cup parsley
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
3 large eggs
2 TBS olive oil

Now note this is not truly Paleo because I am not using grass fed beef and I am adding 1 tsp of salt - but hey, if we wanted to truly be Paleo we would have to go out there and cook on a fire and start our fire by rubbing sticks together or something.  Anyway, this is a great recipe if you are a beef eater.  And it is only 2 WW pts per serving.  How can you beat that if you are trying to lose weight.

Mince the onion and garlic.  Combine everything in a large mixing bowl.  Then, transfer it to a baking dish.  I lightly spray the baking dish with olive oil spray.  Put it in the oven at 375 degrees or so. It bakes in like 45 minutes.

This is a great recipe.  Even people that do not like meatloaf like this recipe.

Spicy Pumpkin Chai Delight

This smoothie is adapted from 31 Perfect Fitness Smoothies.  This is intended to be an energy booster, so a good morning or pre-workout smoothie.

I made this one for Atzin this morning and the ABC Smoothie for me and Rolando.  This turned out delicious and I think I will make it for him several times this week.  I was a bit skeptical about how the combination of spices would taste and whether it would be "too much."  But it was delicious and he gave it a thumbs up!

1 scoop of Vanilla protein powder
1 cup brewed chai tea
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 TBS of agave or honey depending on desired sweetness
5-7 ice cubes.

This made a very generous serving.  His protein shake container was filled to rim.

ABC Smoothie

This smoothie is from a book called "Crazy About Kale."  I love to prepare this for Atzin in the morning.  The first time I made it though, I worried he wouldn't like it because it is not sweet and I added a sweetener - Don't do that!! The sweetener ruins the flavor.  This is a green smoothie and is delicious and NOT intended to be sweet.  I suppose if you do want it a bit more sweet, you might consider adding a banana.  I added Stevia that time and the flavor doesn't work.  Actually, I have doubled the amount of banana and it does turn out really good.  I think that makes just sweet enough for those who want a sweeter taste.  Atzin though told me he doesn't need his smoothies to be sweet, so that was good news to me.

1 cup fresh spinach
1/2 cup kale (I use the big bag of frozen Kale from Costco that I keep in the fridge for kale smoothies.  I also do use fresh kale).
1/4 of an avocado
1/2 large banana
1/2 cup water (A variation I use here is adding more almond milk instead of water.  That's up to you).
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 - 1 cup of ice cubes or more depending on how you like it.

I have also added a bit of protein powder in the past.  This morning, I just made it like this.

This makes one large glass of smoothie.  You can make it and split it with someone for a smaller glass or have the whole thing to your self!

About 5 WW points for the full glass.