Vegan Tom Yum

YUM, YUM, YUMMY!!!
I came home after working 9 hours, to Christian making this for me. It is one of the most flavorful dishes I have ever had! Every bite is "mmmm..."

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 5-6 cups vegetable stock
  
• 1-2 stalks lemongrass , minced
• 3 whole kaffir lime leaves (available fresh or frozen at Asian food stores)
• 1-2 red chilies, sliced, OR 1/2 tsp. dried crushed chili, OR 1-2 tsp. chili sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 thumb-size piece ginger, sliced into thin matchstick-like pieces
• 1 cup fresh mushrooms (I used shiitake), sliced
• 2 cups baby bok choy, leaves separated or chopped if large, OR broccoli
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tsp. organic raw brown sugar
• 3-4 Tbsp. tamari
  
• 1 Tbsp. fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 cup fresh basil + 1/3 cup fresh coriander/cilantro, roughly chopped

Preparation:

1. Pour stock into a soup pot. If making the stock from cubes or powder, be sure to make it strong (if it tastes good on its own, it will make for a better Tom yum soup!). Now add the prepared lemongrass, plus the lime leaves, chili, garlic, and ginger. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, or until broth is very fragrant.
2. Add the mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5-8 minutes, or until mushrooms are soft.
3. Add the bok choy and cherry tomatoes. Gently simmer 1-2 more minutes (bok choy should remain on the crisp side).
4. Reduce heat to low and add the coconut milk, sugar, soy sauce, and lime juice.
5. Do a taste-test, adding more chili or chili sauce if not spicy enough. If not salty enough, add more soy sauce or a little more stock cube/powder or salt. Add 1 more tsp. sugar if too sour. If too salty or sweet, add another squeeze of lime juice.
6. To serve, ladle soup into bowls, over rice, with fresh basil and cilantro sprinkled over. Enjoy!

Thai Tofu Coconut Curry

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry shredded baking-type coconut, unsweetened
*1 package firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes (omit if tofu is too much for your diet)
1+ 3/4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 to 2/3 can coconut milk
6 lime leaves (purchase frozen at Asian/Chinese food stores)
1/2 cooking onion, diced or roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic,minced
2 thumb-size pieces ginger, thinly sliced into matchstick-like pieces
1-3 tsp. [vegetarian] Thai chili sauce OR 1/2 to 1 tsp. dried crushed chili or cayenne pepper, to taste
3 Tbsp. vegetarian fish sauce (or regular fish sauce if non-vegetarian) - OR substitute **gluten-free tamari sauce
juice of 1/2 lime
1 small sweet potato or yam, peeled and cubed
1 cup cauliflower, cut into florets
generous handful fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced or left whole if small
1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and chopped into bite-size pieces
approx. 1 cup snow peas, left whole or cut in half
handful cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
optional: approx. 1 cup eggplant chopped into bite-size pieces or slices
2 Tbsp. olive oil for stir-frying
Preparation:

Place shredded coconut in a dry wok or large frying pan over medium heat. Stir continuously until the coconut is nicely toasted. Place toasted coconut into a bowl to cool.
Replace wok or frying pan on the stove. Add 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil plus the onion, garlic, and ginger. Stir-fry 1-2 minutes, or until onion begins to soften and the garlic is fragrant.
Turn heat up to high. Add Tofu, cook for 5 min. Add stock plus lime leaves, chili sauce, and most of the toasted coconut (reserve 1 to 1+1/2 Tbsp. for garnish). Stir everything together.
Add the sweet potato (or yam) and cauliflower. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer 2-3 minutes.
Add the mushrooms, eggplant (if using), and tofu, stirring to incorporate. Cover and simmer 2 more minutes.
Add the bell pepper, snow peas, and tomaotes, and simmer 2-3 minutes, or until snow peas have softened but are still bright green.
Turn heat down to low and add the coconut milk plus the [veg] fish sauce or soy sauce, stirring to dissolve. Add up to 2/3 of the can of coconut milk or more, depending on how creamy or how much sauce you want with your curry.
Remove from heat and do a taste-test for salt and spice, adding more [veg.] fish sauce, Tamari or salt. Add more chili if you prefer it spicer.
To serve, scoop the curry onto individual plates or into serving bowls. Top with fresh coriander and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted coconut. Accompany with plenty of Thai jasmine rice.
ENJOY!
*Tofu is soy, in this form it is OK, once in a while. Just watch how you feel afterwords.
**Tamari sauce is a purer form of say sauce, this too should be ok in small, once in awhile doses.

Salmon

Although there is no recipe for this particular entree (right from the freezer). Just wanted to throw something easy and very healthy in here for the days that you just don't have time to cook. For those who are on the endo diet, or ones similar, fish high in omega fatty acids are very important for our diet, anyone's for that matter. Eating salmon and fresh tuna no more than once a week (due to mercury scare) will benefit us greatly. So easy to prepare and the whole family is excited (my kids rave when this is made)! And if you are lucky to have leftovers - perfect over a fresh bed of lettuce for lunch!
The Brand is Morey's Marinated Wild Alaskan Salmon, freezer section at Costco.
Just follow baking directions on back.
Serve over brown rice, mangoes (or any fruit) and a nice salad.