Summer Comfort

It feels like ages since I last blogged. Sorry I was MIA for awhile. Mom had hip replacement surgery (everyone reacts to this and says "oh, no" but it was planned and overall a VERY good thing) and we ended up inventing a new inside joke. "Surgery is fun".   This just really and all inclusive phrase to help us keep a positive attitude with all the twists and turns that are included when you or a loved one undergoes major surgery. None of us were prepared for it no matter how much we "tried" to. Everything is great now but the process to get us here was quite the adventure. I am also very fortunate to have this time to share and reconnect with family.
I made mom a recovery cake a day or two before she was able to go home to help cheer her up.  She did NOT like being stuck in the hospital. I used a friend's Roll Cake recipe to make this cake and garnished it with strawberries, powdered cocao and a drizzle of raw honey. Inside and on top is fresh (organic) whipped cream (mom's fav).

During this process the health food nut when into major comfort food cravings. Here's what I came up with, because I still have to eat healthy.
First I was craving hashbrowns like my dad used to make when we were kids. Crispy, salty and greasy on the outside and a little soft on the inside. I wasn't feelin' potatoes though so I made parsnip ones instead and nicknamed them Parsnip Pancakes. 2 weeks later whole foods had them on sale. Great minds must think alike!

I remembered how dad used to make hash browns and saw some Potato Latkes in the Whole Foods and made up my own recipe. Super simple (though a little bit time consuming if you don't have a food processor). First I gathered up the ingredients:

• 3 parsnips (look and taste like carrots if you've never had them)
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion (any size, type. I used a medium yellow)
• 2 stalks celery

Grate all (I used food processor but it's just as easy to grate by hand just takes a bit more time)

 Here's a close up. The yellow you see is actually carrots. My favorite (inexpensive and organic) market  had rainbow carrots on sale including yellow and purple. I only had yellow left so I used that.

 Take half of the grated mixture and process (you can skip this step if you do not have a food processor. I just to this to avoid adding bread crumbs, you can do bread crumbs instead if you want. If you skip it it's more challenging for it to bind so let them cook a little longer before flipping and use a plate or if you eat eggs make it into a "hash" and add two or three scrambled eggs

Add a little oil to the pan ( I used olive oil, extra virgin) and cook on one side without flipping until golden brown. I use the little outside pieces that stick out to tell when it's ready to be flipped. They'll turn golden or crisp up when ready. Use a plate to flip by placing it over the pan (should fit snug) and just turn over. Then slide it from the plate back into the pan.

After this I wanted Fried food, which really surprised me.  So I found a way to make bread crumbs I wouldn't feel guilty about (or regret... I'm gluten conscious but not gluten free and had been eating my fair share of gluten). I took sprouted wheat bread and toasted it, broke it up and put it in the food processor.

Step 1

Step 2 ( had to regroup here. The larger chunks you see weren't toasted enough and too soft to break down so I had to take them out and re toast)

Step 3 (after broken down you can add your favorite seasonings. I made this a few times. first I made it simple with salt and pepper, the next time I did the same but also added some italian seasonings, play around with some of your favorites and see what you come up with).

This was a simple Spinach Pan Fried Fish Salad, literally. I used Annie's Organic (lite) honey mustard dressing and was too hungry/tired to fuss about details.

 Here's a fancier version!

 This is my new favorite salad with Papaya and an orange dressing. I use orange flavored cod liver oil (seriously tastes just like oranges with out the sweetness) a little olive oil and a little of whatever prepared or store bought dressing i'm into. I think the one I used was Annie's Lemon herb, not sure...

And for desert, Coconut Mousse Parfait. I made it around fourth of July and it's red white and blue. I layered pureed fruit (blueberries and a dash of orange juice and cinnamon), soaked gojiberry puree (in spring water, just to cover then puree in own juice that it makes) and coconut mousse (this one is far more complicated. I used irish moss gel (i'll provide the recipe if you're interested), canned organic coconut milk (with no additives except for guar gum) vanilla beans (2, scraped) and a dash of agave.

A far more simple version would be a pudding or yogurt parfait, if you eat dairy. You can layer it with fruit, granola, berries and cookies or whatever sounds good to you! This is actually my mom's new favorite sweet treat.