Seriöösimpiä aiheita ja inspiraatioita odotellessa jaan kanssanne suosikkitapani nauttia parasta pähkinää, tuota apinain ulottuvilla olevaa jookosta. Aivan aluksi haluan muistuttaa, että kookostuotteissa on eroja. Kannattaa suosia mahdollisuuksien  mukaan luomua ja lisäaineetonta, ja aivan erikseen haluan varoittaa Wok’n'Roll-sarjan tuotteista: älä haaskaa rahaasi näihin vihertäviin kookosmaitoihin, joissa on erikoinen sivumaku.

Cocco bello cocco!

Kaupan kautta

1. Aroy-D-kookosmaidot (mm. Vii voanista: 2,5dl, 5dl ja litran pahvitetroissa)
2. CocoVin kylmäpuristettu kookosöljy (myynnissä mm. Keho.netissä, jossa JUURI NYT KAIKKI -50%! Shopitishop.)
3. Creamed Coconut (jännä tuote, kookosrasvan ja -kerman välimuoto, herkullista sellaisenaan, ainakin Ekolo, Ruohonjuuri ja Punnitse ja säästä myyvät)
4. Kookosjauho, joko Tropicain tai Ölmühle Sollingin (Ekolo/Ruohonjuuri)
5. Luomukookoslastut Ekolosta (tai valmispussitettuina Punnitse ja säästästä)
6. …lisäksi Karan kookoskerma on helt okej, samoin omaan makuuni Rainbown sinisessä pahvitetrassa myytävä
7. Lihansyöjä lämpenee myös tuoreelle nuorelle kookokselle, jonka sisältö on tarkoitus juoda. Tämä on myös tuotteistettu by Dr Antonio Martins, joka myy Coco Juicea, “Pure organic coconut wateria” maustettuna ja au naturel. Lihansyöjä digaa.

Kaakao ja kookos 2-gethör 4-eva!

Temppu ja miten se tehdään

1. Creamed Coconut maistuu sellaisenaan: pilko ja murskaa lasipurkkiin, säilytä jääkaapissa ja käy niblaamassa kun himo iskee.
2. Kookosöljy  maistuu sellaisenaan lusikalla suoraan, varsinkin jos samaan aikaan syö myös kookosjauhoa. Olen outo, tiedän.
3. Kookoslastut menevät sellaisenaan, pähkinöiden ja/tai kuivahedelmien kanssa, raakasuklaassa tai ihan missä ja miten vaan. Valitettavasti ovat silloin tällöin Ekolon laarista loppu.
4. Aroy-d:n kookosmaito käy salaatinkastikkeeksi: pilko vihanneksia, suikaloi joukkoon prodea (vaikka katkarapuja, ei tarvitse suikaloidakaan), mausta suolalla ja pippurilla ja lorauta päälle reilusti kookosmaitoa. Avot.
5. Sama kuin edelliseen pätee soseutettuihin vihanneksiin. Tee “vihannessose” ja sekoita siihen hyvät prodet, mausta. Lorauta päälle reilu kookosmaitosilmä. Perkeleen hyvää. Lisää tarvittaessa.
6. Valmista pikapaleojädeä: kohmeisia marjoja blenderiin tai sauvalla murskaksi, sekaan reilusti kookosmaitoa tai -kermaa. Makeuta hivenellä vaniljasteviaa (tai soseutetulla banaanilla tai vaikka SOKERILLA /evil/).
7. Paleopannacotta. Ei voi mennä pieleen.
8. Kookoskermaa, marjoja, pähkinöitä ja gojia/rusinaa/tms. makeaksi. Tyrnikin tykkäis.
9. Kaikenlaiset curry-kastikkeet suorastaan huutavat kookosmaitoa. Samon Tom Kha Gai.
10. Kookosöljy on sulaa kultaa raakasuklaassa ja vaikka raaka-brownieissa eli rawnieissa. Jaakko H. voi kertoa lisää tuosta kaakaosta.
11. Kookosöljy on myös erinomainen lisäaineeton ihorasva. Kasvoihin en sitä käytä, sillä omien kasvojeni iho ei tunnu öljyä sietävän, mutta muutoin koko kroppa saa kuuman kokonats-käsittelyn aina suihkun jälkeen. Lickin’ good.

Ja hei, jos et vielä kuunnellut, mitä asiaa Jaakolla on, tee se nyt.

These babies are meant for the paleo population that tends to lean towards the sweeter side of life every now and then… Not too often, just often enough to savour the unique taste of sweet. Aaaaah. The inspiration for these first ones came from Rawmazing.com, even though I didn’t (and don’t and won’t) have the patience to prepare them like actual truffles.

But you, feel free to make them sweeties as perfect as you will! This would of course mean forming the filling into small balls, freezing them for an hour and then carefully dipping them (in a toothpick) into melted raw chocolate. Sounds awful lot of work to me. But it might be worth it? See food, you see.

Anyway, I cut all the corners possible and they STILL tasted divine. It’s no brain surgery preparing truffles!

Mindful Mint Truffles

Filling

• 1 dl of cashews (soaked in water for three hours, pour the water away)
• 1 dl of desiccated coconut
• a little water
• few drops of mint extract
• (vanilla stevia if you want to sweeten it – if I remember correctly, I didn’t use any)

Blend the soaked cashews and add the coconut. Add enough water to get the blender going and the stuff forming into a ball. Spice it up with the mint! Set in a silicone icecube mold, one teaspoon per each hole. Refridgerate it to prepare the raw chocolate.

Raw Chocolate

• organic coconut oil
• organic cocoa butter
• organic raw cocoa powder
• a little quality salt
• some vanilla stevia

Melt the coconut oil and the cocoa butter. Mix in the other ingredients and add stevia and salt to your liking. Pour in the icecube mold over the bits of filling and set to fridge to settle. Once they’re cooled down, you have the most rawmazing mint truffles to indulge with.

This next one is the oldest trick in the paleo (dessert) cookbook but just to remind you: it’s still fabulous! The soft strawberry taste of this creamy delight brings me back to the days of my childhood. In my family we had this special treat when we would eat vanilla icecream together with some heated mushed strawberries (mom had mushed them in the summertime and they’d been heated to melt them from the freezer). That and my mom’s chocolate sauce with vanilla icecream are THEE BEST THINGS I know. Or knew. Paleo change things… Hmmpf.

Strawberry Icecream

• frozen strawberries
• coconut milk
• vanilla stevia

Take the berries out a few minutes before making this to let them melt just an inch from their ice cold state. Once they’re ready to be blended without breaking the blender, blend them into a powder like consistency. Add coconut milk until you get the desired consistency. Add stevia and taste to adjust the sweetness. You may freeze this but it’s better refridgerated, at least in my opinion. Not too hard but soft and cold and… Delicious! Just like icecream.

It’s not EXACTLY paleo to even try preparing ice cream but since I’m not following EXACTLY paleo diet but more eating based on all the knowledge on what’s best for humans for their health (and longevity and performance, thanks Robb!) such as butter and some dark chocolate and red wine combined with the ancestral diet I just gave it a go. And it turned out delish! I haven’t had real ice cream in so long that I say: this is JUST like ice cream! Go nuts on the sugar festival!

Chunky Monkey goes paleo

• 1 ripe fair trade banana
• 4 dl of coconut cream
• 1 pod of vanilla bean
• 2 organic eggs
• (cinnamon)

Peel the banana and put in in the blender together with coconut cream and eggs. Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Add some cinnamon if you like; I thought it made all the difference. Blend until thoroughly  mixed. Move into a large dish and set it it the freezer. After an hour or more start visiting your ice cream every now and then to mix it up: scrape the icy bits and mix them with the still softer mass. This will make the consistency more airy and icecreamy. Eat when the level of stickiness suits you. Garnish with nuts or seeds or fresh pineapple fried in butter! Or just eat plain.

Sweeter Shade of Pale (this one was too sweet for me but it may suit you)

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 dl coconut cream
• 1 organic egg
• 1 vanilla pod

Prepare as above. Eat away!

Awwwhh, this was good! Continuing on the raw side of life this also turned to be not just paleo and low carb but vegan as well. So it really suits everyone doesn’t it? Here’s just the basic idea, you may vary the vegetables and season it with chili or garlic or peppers or oregano. Still, it’s a perfect dish for the hottest day of the summer that’ll also please you delicate tummy being easy to digest.

Monkey Mush

• generous amount of chinese cabbage
• some broccoli florets
• a tomato
• a junk of courgette (aka zucchini)
• 2 stalks of celery
• coconut milk
• quality salt

Chop the veggies a bit and mush them in a blender. Pour in some nice coconut milk to make it more like a stew or even a soup if you like. Spice it up with salt and whateva! Tasty as hell and filling, thanks to the coconut.

I just had a wonderful weekend at my friend’s mom and dad’s summer house. As you may guess we also ate some brilliant food: self grown courgettes, freshly smoked salmon, strawberries, Asian fish stew and my friends also ate Maija’s freshly baked bread that at least smelled awfully good and cosy. And besides all this we also had some cauliflower salad that’s my friend’s family’s innovation. Yep, I think it’s an innovation; sort of a marinated and sort of a salad but better than each alone.

I made this already on Sunday to try it out myself and it turned out as good as it should. Also Meat Eater liked it tho he preferred onion over cauliflower.

The Kiikala Cauliflower

• a cauliflower or two
• onion (preferably spring onion but red onion and other will do)
• balsamico
• good quality olive or other oil

Tear the florets from the cauliflower into a big bowl. Chop the onion/onions and add. Splash some generous amount of oil and add balsamico. Use maybe a third compered to the amount of oil. Mix well and let sit in the fridge as long as you can hold it. Works after couple of hours but is ultimate after one night. A brilliant side for fish, meat or to season a salad. And you can prepare a bigger amount and eat it several days in a row… If it’ll keep.

And once again, a billion thanks to all the girls! It was priceless. <3 Wanna do it AGAIN!

This is goood. Very sour, acidic, tasty, gets your juices flowing! And totally (awesome!) raw. Suits a paleo person well indeed. Easy to prepare, inspiration from Okriina in Vegaanikahvila. Cheers, mate!

Raw Rhubarb Mess

• 0,5 litres or 7 or so stacks of rhubarb
• cinnamon, cardamom
• a pinch of salt
• a splur of coconut milk
• a little water
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds
• vanilla stevia

Remove the “bad” ends from the rhubarb stalks, you may also peel them if you like, I didn’t. Chop them up in the blender, blend until rough. Add a little water and some more coconut milk, season. Mix again and move into a bowl. Add the chia seeds and mix again, let it in the fridge until a gelé has formed (not too much, unless you prefer it: you may also need to add some more chia). Serve with coconut milk or organic whole fat cream. Can’t be bad?

A year ago thee green smoothie was a steady friend of mine as a breakfast. I wouldn’t have skipped it for anything! But since, things have changed and I rarely blend anything. I’m not a big fan of liquid food; not because I wouldn’t like it but because I believe most of the time whole food should be kept whole. Anyway, I dug up my blender and did some SOUP today! And a dessert as well. Tasted as good as ever and filled me nicely together with the nori rolls and offered some needed variation.

Raw Tomato Soup (or “stew” – not so liquidy)

•  2 ripe tomatoes
• a piece of cucumber
• 2 celery stalks (with the leaves!)
• 1 glove of garlic
• salt, pepper
• herb mixture

Cut everything up and put them in the blender, let the blender do what it does best! Garnish with some sprouted beans.

Nori Rolls

• nori sheets
• kale
• sauerkraut
• carrots

Place the kale leaves (remove the thickest stems) on the nori as shown on the picture, add sauerkraut and sliced carrot. Roll baby! Eat away.

These brilliant transparent emerald treasures are kale chips! I know, don’t they look and sound appealing? No? I can assure they are delish! Crispy and salty and tasty. Filled with… stuff. You know, the healthy stuff. The GREEN stuff! So if you don’t wanna put it into a blender to make a green smoothie or eat it as a salad, try this. I have a food dryer but a normal oven will do as well. Inspiration from the lovely blog Appelsiineja hunajaa.

Kale Chips

• 2 bunches of kale
• extra virgin olive oil
• quality salt
• paprika (grounded dried one, what is it called? Capsicum? The red stuff anyway.)
• lemon juice

Tear the leaves and remove the thickest parts of the stems. Make a mixture out of a generous amount of EVOO, salt, spices and lemon juice. Mix it in the leaves thoroughly! Every leaf should have its share. Let marinade in the fridge for while and then let them dry in a dryer, several hours in 40 degrees worked. Tasty.

Again the applause go for Aletheia for figuring out this one: how to get some sour cream while following paleo to go with some veggie chips, cold-smoked salmon or taco wraps (in a lettuce, naturally). Well, it’s easy. The taste isn’t quite as the original but serves as a dip brilliantly! Tested with some… err… potato chips *withdraws to a corner to do some SHAME time*

Sour Cream for Paleo People

• two handfuls of cashew nuts (soaked)
• one handful of organic sauerkraut
• dash of lemon juice
• salt, pepper
• dried or fresh dill

Let cashews soak in water for at least a half an hour. Pour away the water and put the cashews and sauerkraut in a blender. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, mix. Add dill and check the taste. I had to add some water to make it mix well but didn’t ruin anything, made it a bit more moist.

If you’ll try this and come up with some awesome ideas to utilize it, please share!

Pesto. That’s one thing you wouldn’t want to miss out because of a (healthy) diet. And luckily, you don’t have to! Just omit the pasta.

[Nigella would be poetic in her words about this gleaming green pesto.]

Paleo Pesto

• a bunch of fresh basilicum (may as well use the thai version, hint of aniseed in the taste)
• (at least) 3 Tbsps pine nuts
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 Tbsp of nutritional yeast (for the cheesy taste!)
• loads of good quality organic extra virgin olive oil
• salt

Rip off the leaves from the poor basilicum like a decent gatherer and stuff them into blender. Add pine nuts, garlic, salt and olive oil. Let blend and add olive oil until the consistency is creamy and soluble enough. You may also want to add some pine nuts, trust your taste. Nutritional yeast isn’t gonna ruin your batch by it’s absence, but I sincerely recommend it: the nutty, cheesy, salty taste really makes up for parmiggiano in other foods as well.

Mix pesto with veggies, meat or just eat it with a spoon! Goes with nearly everything and suits the non-paleo friends as well.