Hawaiian Chicken Stir-Fry

Hawaiian Chicken Stir-Fry

Coconut and pineapple ... are there any flavors that say "Hawaii" to you more than those?  As you may have gathered from my post about eating while on vacation, we have just returned from the Hawaiian islands, and boy do I have some great recipes to share with you!

One of my favorite souvenirs is a cookbook that compiles the best recipes from the most popular Hawaiian cookbooks.  Amazingly, there are a substantial number of entries that are food-allergy friendly, and addition of local flavors makes familiar dishes seem fresh again.

This simple and quick stir fry resembles a curry, but it is much milder.  The addition of pineapple gives it a delicious zing, the coconut milk makes everything rich and smooth, and there is enough sauce to completely saturate the rice, making this a real comfort food.  While I won't be able to cook local Hawaiian fish or vegetables now that I'm home, I can certainly bring back the memory of the islands with this easy dish!

The method is simple; just mix everything in the combinations described, and in 20 minutes you have a wonderful dinner.  If you are using brown rice, don't forget to start it early, as that will typically take 50 minutes to cook.

Hawaiian Chicken Stir-Fry with Pineapple and Coconut

1 package boneless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup water
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste
1 cup diced pineapple
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup unsalted cashew nuts (optional)
1/2 cup chopped parsley (optional)

In a large pan, cook onion in coconut oil over medium heat for five minutes, or until golden.  Add garlic, ginger and spices, and cook, stirring, for 3 - 4 minutes.  Stir in diced chicken, water, salt and lemon juice, and simmer on low for 6 - 7 minutes.  Stir in pineapple and simmer another 3 - 4 minutes.  Stir in coconut milk and cook for 1 more minute.  Serve over rice with cashew and parsley as a garnish.  Makes 5 servings.

Originally published in "Burst of Flavor: The Fine Art of Cooking with Spices" by Kusuma Cooray, and republished in "Best of the Best from Hawaii Cookbook" by Barbara Moseley and Gwen McKee.  

Shared with the Homestead Barn Hop at the Prairie Homestead and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and the Hearth and Soul Hop with Premeditated Leftovers and Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist and Allergy Free Wednesday at The Tasty Alternative and Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet.

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love ... 4/27/12

==== LUNCHBOX LOVE #31 ====

Welcome to our weekly Friday feature, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love!  This link party is specifically for your dishes that will travel well in a lunchbox, and if they're free of some (or all) of the top eight food allergens, that's even better :)  We all need some inspiration when it comes time to fill that lunchbox week after week!

What did you pack for lunch this week?

Food Allergies on Vacation

View from the western shore of Oahu

Traveling away from home can produce some of the most stressful food allergy situations.  What will you eat?  Where will you find it?  Can you bring your own food?  How will you carry it all?  What will happen if you find yourself without food?

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Hawaii ... we enjoyed more than our fair share of sun, sand, volcanoes.... and stomach aches.  And headaches, and rashes, and did I mention bloating?  If you are reading this site you are well familiar with these types of symptoms.  Yes, we ate things we were allergic to and paid the price.

Luckily, none of us have anaphylactic allergies, so our troubles were temporary, but they impacted our vacation nonetheless.  My original plan to bring food was scuttled by the long distance, limits on luggage, and restrictions on carrying food into Hawaii (no fruits allowed, etc.).  Plus, rice cakes don't travel well :(

Not having visited Hawaii before, I didn't have a good sense of what we'd find in the food stores.  As it turned out, finding food stores at all was difficult.  The area where we were staying was strictly a resort, and featured absolutely zero places to purchase groceries.  Luckily, we had rented a car, but our tourist-y path through the island unwittingly took us away from civilization.  If I was more familiar with the location, I'm sure I could have more efficiently found food stores, but as a newbie, I wandered much too far afield.

Regrettably, our hotel did not offer any types of gluten free starches at all, despite the fact that there were several restaurants.  We thought it would be relatively simple to avoid dairy, but soy was tough to identify, as was corn (cornstarch, etc).  Hidden allergens became our downfall, as the "hang loose" attitude rubbed off on us and we tried to choose appropriate foods without carefully inquiring about the ingredients.

What do you do when you're on vacation and you need to find foods without allergens?  I wish there were more websites out there like www.allergyfreemouse.com, which lays out the safe path through the Disney parks for the food-allergic.  Does anyone know of any?

Looking forward to hearing your stories and tips!

Shared with Pennywise Platter at the Nourishing Gourmet and Allergy Free Wednesday at the Tasty Alternative.

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love ... 4/20/12

=== Lunchbox Love #30 ===

Welcome to our weekly Friday feature, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love!  This link party is specifically for your dishes that will travel well in a lunchbox, and if they're free of some (or all) of the top eight food allergens, that's even better :)  We all need some inspiration when it comes time to fill that lunchbox week after week!

What did you pack for lunch this week?

Ham & Potato Soup (GF, DF, Egg Free)

Easter Leftovers Soup

Looking for something fun to do with your leftover ham?  This rich and buttery soup (made without dairy) will hit the spot.  The tiny new potatoes get so creamy when they're cooked, the ham adds just the right amount of saltiness, and the parsley keeps the broth from getting boring.  The addition of coconut oil mimics the fat that butter would have brought to the table, and it will make your kitchen will smell delicious as well!

Ham & Potato Soup

3 cups veggie broth (or chicken broth)
2 cups rice milk
2 Tbsp coconut oil
2 cups diced ham
3 cups red new potatoes, halved or quartered
1/2 cup diced onion (or 1 Tbsp dried minced onion)
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.  Serve warm.

Shared with Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet and Whole Food Wednesday at Beyond the Peel and Allergy Free Friday with Cybele Pascal. 

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love ... 4/13/12

==== Lunchbox Love #29 ====

Welcome to our weekly Friday feature, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love!  This link party is specifically for your dishes that will travel well in a lunchbox, and if they're free of some (or all) of the top eight food allergens, that's even better :)  We all need some inspiration when it comes time to fill that lunchbox week after week!

What did you pack for lunch this week?

Greek/Armenian Honey Cakes (GF, DF, egg free)

Greek/Armenian Honey Cakes

Many Greek families remember fondly the Finikia cookies their grandmothers would make at Easter time.  Also known as Honey Cakes, there is a similar sweet treat in the Armenian tradition.  

This holiday, we were fortunate to be the recipients of a wonderful batch of allergy-free honey cookies, made by the lovely Anahid O. without dairy or eggs.  With an easy substitution of gluten-free flour, these can be made GF as well.  The mildly sweet flavor and cake-like consistency will keep you coming back for more!  Thank you so much to Anahid for sharing her recipe.

Greek/Armenian Honey CakesYield: 20 to 25 cakes

Cake Ingredients:

4 ½ cups gluten-free flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups olive oil
½ cup sugar 
3/4 cup orange juice
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cardamom
dash salt


Filling Ingredients:

1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon


Cake Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift flour with baking powder and baking soda; set aside.

2. In a large bowl beat olive oil and sugar; stir in orange juice, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt until well combined.

3. Gradually add flour mixture to oil mixture, mixing well until a soft dough has formed.

4. Cover bowl and let rest about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

5. In the meantime, prepare the walnut-cinnamon filling ingredients and set aside.

6. After 20 minutes, shape dough into walnut-sized balls, then flattening each.

7. Place ½ tsp walnut-cinnamon filling mixture in center of each.

8. Enclose the filling with the dough, pressing to seal.

9. Place on ungreased baking sheet; bake about 20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Cool.

**********************************************
Syrup Ingredients:

½ cup sugar
1 cup honey
½ cup water
2 tsp lemon juice
1 small cinnamon stick

Syrup Directions:

In a medium pot, combine all syrup ingredients and bring to a boil, skimming any foam that comes to the surface. Cook about 5 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick; allow to cool a bit.

************************************************
Assembling Instructions:

Dip each cooled honey cake in warm syrup briefly and allowing excess to drip off. Place into a cupcake liner and set on serving platter.

***************************************************
Topping Ingredients:

1 cup ground walnuts
½ tsp ground cinnamon
dash ground cardamom

Topping Directions:

Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on each honey cake before serving.




Shared with Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and the Hearth and Soul Hop at Premeditated Leftovers and Whole Food Wednesday at Beyond the Peel and Allergy Free Wednesday at The Tasty Alternative and Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist and Made From Scratch MOnday at Living with Food Allergies and Pennywise Platter at the Nourishing Gourmet.

Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love ... 4/6/12

Welcome to our weekly Friday feature, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love!  This link party is specifically for your dishes that will travel well in a lunchbox, and if they're free of some (or all) of the top eight food allergens, that's even better :)  We all need some inspiration when it comes time to fill that lunchbox week after week!

What did you pack for lunch this week?

Roasted Boneless Chicken and Potatoes Nicoise

Roasted Chicken & Potatoes Nicoise

Chicken and potatoes ... it's basic, but it works.  In Nice, France, a typical combination of flavors includes tomatoes, garlic, capers and olives.  Toss your basic chicken and potatoes with these yummy French ingredients and your everyday dinner becomes something special!  I added some lemon to brighten up the flavor, and some bacon to make things even more interesting.

Roasted Boneless Chicken and Potatoes Nicoise

1 package boneless chicken breasts or tenderloins
5 yukon potatoes, quartered (skin on)
1 lemon
1 large tomato or 1 pt small tomatoes or 1 cup oil cured tomatoes
1/2 cup black olives
4 pieces bacon, cut in 1" bits
2 Tbsp dried parsley
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp capers
olive oil as needed (or your favorite oil)
salt and pepper to taste

If using chicken breasts, cut into strips or wedges.  Season with salt and pepper, and sear in your favorite oil on both sides.  Transfer to large casserole dish and pour in any extra oil from the pan.  Cook the bacon about halfway in the same pan as you seared the chicken.  Transfer to the casserole dish.  Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the chicken and bacon.

Add the rest of the ingredients, toss, and add a bit more olive oil if the mixture seems dry.  Season with salt and pepper.  Roast at 400 degrees for about 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Shared with Made From Scratch Monday at Living With Food Allergies and Melt in Your Mouth Monday at Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms and Hunk of Meat Monday at Beyer Beware and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and the Hearth and Soul Hop at Premeditated Leftovers and Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager and Traditional Tuesday at Cooking Traditional Foods and Kids in the Kitchen at Young Living Oil Lady and Allergy Free Wednesday. and Whole Food Wednesday at Beyond the Peel and Gluten Free Wednesday at the Gluten Free Homemaker and Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet.