Well, first things first. KC of Little Homestead in the Desert invited me to be part of her "In Her Shoes" series. It's up today! Thank you KC! Do go take a peek, she asked some really fun questions. Also, if you've never visited KC, you should. She's sweet, creative, shares great recipes and her girls are completely adorable.

———————————————————————————————-

So when I said I was going to make grilled zucchini or chocolate cake with those first zucchinis…. you knew which one was going to win, right? 

The cake. Yes. Of course.

 

 

I don't think cake has any healing powers for a foggy brain and coughing mama. But it does for the soul. You could be having a really rotten day and someone could say, "here, have a piece of cake." And it would instantly be better. Especially if it is chocolate.

Yesterday morning I took this cake out of the oven to cool and Sophia wandered into the kitchen and said "oooh, mama what is that smell?"

"Chocolate zucchini cake." I told her.

"Mmmmm. Are you going to put frosting on it?" she asked.

"No." I told her. She looked disappointed.

Next my very hungry grumpy little one came in. He was wailing about no lunch, it was 12:25 after all. He was famished. He looked at the cake and said, "That looks awful. What is it?"

"It's cake, chocolate zucchini cake." I told him.

"Why is there no frosting?" he grumbled.

Clearly my youngest children like their frosting. But it gets better.

When Joe came home from work and was eating his second piece he said to me, "This is so delicious, and I think it would be even better with some sort of chocolate peanut butter frosting."

I made a dramatic scream like I saw a scary bug. 

"You people and your frosting!" I yelled.

He looked rather surprised. So I told him how my day had gone. This made him laugh.

But back the cake. It's a moist cake made with whole wheat pastry flour and is barely sweetened. Think deep dark chocolate. It's delicious. And it does not need frosting.

But you can make that choice on your own. If you do frost it, don't be surprised to see at least three of my family members on your front porch. If Sam were home, he'd surely have voted for frosting as well.

 

 

Chocolate & Zucchini Cake

(adapted from this recipe) 

 

1/2  cup sucanat (or brown sugar)

1/4  cup strong coffee (you can sub water if necessary)

1  tsp vanilla extract

 

1  3/4  cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2  cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1  tsp baking soda

1/2  tsp baking powder

1/2  tsp sea salt

 

2  cups unpeeled grated zucchini (about two small-ish ones)

1/2  cup olive oil or melted coconut oil

3  eggs

1/2  cup good quality bittersweet chocolate chips, lightly chopped

 

preheat oven to 350

add sucanat & coffee (or water) & vanilla to a bowl, mix & set aside (you can skip this if you are using brown sugar)

using coconut oil or butter or olive oil, grease a baking dish (coconut oil is my favorite for this) I used a 10×14 pan, because that is what I have. an 8×10 would have resulted in a taller cake. round would be lovely too.

measure dry ingredients into a bowl & set aside.

grate zucchini, toss in with sucanat, mix. add eggs & oil, mix again.

chop the chocolate chips.

mix the dry stuff with the wet stuff until just barely mixed together.

gently stir in the chocolate chip chips.

taste the batter, if it isn't sweet enough, you can add another 1/4 cup of sucanat/sugar.

spread/pour evenly into the pan.

bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

about 30 minutes for me.

enjoy!

 

So it was inevitable, after all, that I get Luke's crud.

I am currently craving sinus clearing spices of any kind and drinking green tea by the gallon. GALLON. Unfortunately it is one of those colds that quietly fills your lungs with gunk and is all ready in full swing before you even get a sore throat. Dang.

I plan to share some KCWC sewing with you over the weekend when I'm done with my sewing frenzy, but for now, let's talk about turmeric. Have you ever seen fresh turmeric? I hadn't before last week. I found it at the health food store when I happened to be in town on a Tuesday. This happens to be the very best day to be there because they have freshly stocked the produce section for the week. Explains the slim pickings on my usual Monday visits. Anyhow… this is what it looks like….

 

 

Sort of like skinny ginger root. And even though it goes for about $14 a pound, this nice sized piece was under $2. I only used half of it in my soup. I can live with that. I found some good info on fresh turmeric here. It's essential in curry. It's got a sweet mild heat sort of similar to ginger. It looks like a carrot on the inside and grates up really nicely. It doesn't get woody and stringy like ginger root. It boosts the immune system, aids digestion, and has anti-inflammatory properties. Plus, it's a pretty color. I really like it.

 

 

 

And since I think spices and vegetables and onions and garlic are all good medicine for a chest cold. I turned it in to soup. It was delicious.

See….

 

 

I think soup is always one of those things that should be made with a loose recipe and whatever you have hanging around in your kitchen. It's especially good for the purple-ish thing you bought that you thought was a yam, but upon peeling it found it to be white?! Whatever, into the soup pot it goes. (does anyone know what kind of potato that was?)

So here you go, a loose recipe for mild curry veggie soup.

 

3 sweet potatoes (cooked until tender in just enough water to cover them)

2 onions

3 cloves garlic

2×3 inch piece of ginger, grated

2×1 piece of turmeric, grated 

1 quart veggie or bone broth (stock)

1 large bunch chopped greens (I used chard)

3 cups cooked white beans (I used baby lima beans)

1/2 c almond or peanut butter (I used almond)

 

saute the onions in a splash of coconut or olive oil in a large soup pot, when tender and translucent add the garlic, ginger & turmeric. stir & smell the lovely aroma.

pour in the potatoes with their water & add the quart of stock.

add the beans & chopped greens and cook until beans are just wilted. (medium-low heat)

use a bit of water or some of the broth from the soup to thin the nut butter, then stir it into the soup.

season with a bit of salt & crushed red pepper.

you can certainly add some dried spices to amp up the curry flavor, but is deliciously simple just as it is.

this feeds five people a hearty dinner (with a loaf of crusty bread or over rice) + a light lunch the next day

 

 

enjoy~