Curry Peanut Soup

Better-Than-Restaurant Soup!

I got a recipe for Curry Peanut Soup from my sister, which is a new favourite in their household.  An easy to make, delicious soup.  The first time I made it, I followed the recipe and had delicious soup for the week to bring to work.  This weekend, I made it again and decided to change it up a little bit.  Partly because I was missing some ingredients and I also wanted to add some heat to it.

When my man took his first bite, he melted a bit and said: "This soup is better than at the restaurant!" I can tell you that here in Calgary, Alberta, the days are getting increasingly colder.  We've already had a couple spells of snow, and this soup hits all the right buttons to make you feel warm and cozy.  It's easily adaptable to different diets and as usual, will make some suggestions at the bottom of this post.

Here's my take on this delicious, gluten-free soup!

curry peanut soup

2 tablespoons Bragg's Soy Seasoning (you can use soy sauce if not following specific diet)
1 onion, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, diced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 lb small shrimp, cleaned and deveined
5 medium roma tomatoes, chopped roughly and pureed in food processor with skin on
1 cup coconut milk
3 cups water
2 cups chickpeas, cooked (or 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons green curry paste
2 tablespoons peanut butter 
1 tablespoon fish sauce

1. Heat 1/2 cup water and soy seasoning in a large pot
2. Add onion and sweet potatoes.  Cook for 5 minutes over high heat, stir occasionally.
3. Add carrot, celery and pepper.  Cover and cook 3 minutes, stir occasionally.
4. Add shrimp and tomato sauce and cook until white, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in coconut milk, water, chickpeas and cilantro
6. In a small bowl, mix peanut butter with 1/3 cup water, fish sauce and curry paste with a fork.  Add to soup.
7. Mix well, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Candida: replace raw shrimp with cooked chicken or meat of choice.  Find curry paste with only acceptable ingredients.  I found one in the ethnic section at Superstore with no added sugars.  Also use almond butter instead of peanut butter and omit fish sauce (you might need to add a little salt).

Paleo: Omit chickpeas and soy sauce (use oil for frying instead of water/soy sauce mix)

Vegetarian: use firm tofu instead of shrimp.

Candida: use almond butter instead of peanut butter

Note: this soup was ready from start to finish in 30 minutes.  If you have fresh tomatoes, don't skip this step, it's so worth it!  If you don't have fresh, use 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes.  But I tell you, the taste is so much better if you crush your own!

Fish Tacos

Beautiful fish tacos, thanks Mathieu!

Mathieu's biggest catch yet!

Our last outing of the summer and we decided to go fishing for two days.  We went to Cow Lake, near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta with Grandpa and his boat.  Isn't that exactly what kids' memories are made of?  We spent many hours on the water, fishing, snacking or just taking in the warm sunny breaks and talking about things.  After our first day, grandpa had caught the only "keeper", an 11 lbs northern pike!  We went to my husband's cousin's house who has a beautiful family with two children, aged 8 and 5.  Perfect for our 7 and 4 year olds!  The kids had fun playing while grandpa put together his famous fish fry.  I wish I had a picture of that!  We had some catch-of-the-day with french fries, a perfect meal after a hard day of fishing.

Day # 2, Mathieu, our 7 year old son caught his first northern pike!  He was very apprehensive about bringing that 7 lbs fish in, but he did it and was very proud of himself afterwards, as were we.  And to top off his achievement, we made some delicious fish tacos with the 2 lbs of meat we got from it!  I swear he walked in to his first day of school the next day just a little taller! :)

fish tacos
2 lbs northern pike (or type of white fish i.e. walleye, tilapia, sole)
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
7 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 jalapeños, seeds included (I used 1 so it wouldn't be too hot for the kids but prefer it with 2)
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped 
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 avocados, sliced (or if already made, use homemade guacamole)

1. Heat oil in large frying pan to medium-high
2. Cook onions and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add fish, cook for about 4 minutes on first side.  Then turn and cook until it flakes easily, another couple minutes.
4. Flake the fish and add the jalapeños, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper.  
5. Cook for another 5-10 minutes.
6. Serve on lettuce leaf or tortilla of your choice (or lettuce leaves for paleo diet)
7. Thank son for a great catch!

      Serves 4-8 (depends if serving with lettuce or tortillas:  I had mine with lettuce and ate more of the          

      fish mixture than my husband who had his with corn tortillas.)

Salmon Cakes

A few days ago, I made a dressed salmon for dinner and had lots of leftover cooked salmon.  These salmon cakes were delicious and moist!  The secret to a moist salmon cake is to not overcook the fish initially.  

salmon cakes

2 1/2 cups salmon, cooked

2      cups potatoes, mashed

1/2   cup   celery, diced

3 tablespoons scallions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon

coconut oil for frying

salad dressing

2 tablespoon lemon juice

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix by hand.  Avoid over-mixing as you want to keep nice bite-size chunks of salmon in the mixture. 
2. Form into 1/2 inch thick patties
3. In a large skillet on medium heat, warm 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
4. Cook patties approximately 5 minutes per side until golden brown and put on paper towel. Perfect meal when served with a lemon wedge and a side salad!

     Makes 16 cakes - serves 4

Salad dressing note:  I like to buy a bag of lemons and juice them all at the same time.  I then make tablespoon-sized ice cubes that I store in a freezer bag.  When it comes time to make the dressing, I simply put the olive oil in a small cup and drop in the lemon juice ice cube!