Last weekend, we set out to my brother-in-law’s house with dinner in hand. We were going to do a simple sparerib BBQ already dry-rubbed by Costco and basted with our jarred BBQ sauce.
For sides, I prepared a few cold salads and made carrot cake for dessert. The real hit was the carrot cake, which turrned out moist, sweet with just a hint of coconut. We couldn’t even wait for the cake to cool properly before frosting and eating it, but in the end it as a delicious ooey gooey treat!
Tropical Carrot Cake *adapted from Cook’s Country Best Coutry Recipes
INGREDIENTS
- 2 8oz cans crushed pineapple
- A Few tablespoons of cornstarch
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 TBS baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 pound peeled carrots
- 1 c sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 1/4 c sugar
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 c vegetable oil
- 1/2-3/4 c shopped walnuts
INSTRUCTIONS
Place pineapple in a saucepan with a few tablespoons and corn starch. Bring to a boil and allow to thicken to the consistency of thin pudding. Ensure that cornstarch is cooked. Take off heat and allow to cool in fridge. In the meanwhile, prepare the cake.
Preheat oven at 350 degrees, set rack in the middle
Whisk dry ingredients (not nuts) together in a large bowl, set side.
Process carrots until finely grated, set aside in a medium bowl big enough to hold the wet ingredients.
Process white sugar and coconut until the coconut is finely chopped Add the brown sugar and eggs and process until smooth. While the machine is on, add oil slowly. (This step can be done by hand)
Transfer the sugar mixture to the carrot bowl. Add about 3/4 cups of the pineapple and stir till combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Add nuts and fold until well combined and no streaks of flour remains.
Pour batter into a prepared 9X13 glass pan and bake for about 40-50 minutes.
Let cool completely, frost with cream cheese frosting (Recipe below) and top with toasted coconut.
Cream Cheese Frosting and Coconut Topping
- 8 oz softened low-fat cream cheese
- 4 TBSP softened butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- Remaining pineapple from cake recipe
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
INSTRUCTIONS
Beat cream cheese, butter, pineapple and salt till well inccorporated. Add sugar in 2-3 batches. Add sugar to taste
Toast coconut in a dry non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown and fragrant, about 5-7 minutes. Keep a close eye, it can burn very quickly! Turn off heat and allow to cool before sprinkling of frosted cake
Quinoa Tabbouleh
INGREDIENTS
- 1 c uncooked quinoa
- 1 1/4 c water
- 1 English cucumber, diced into 1/4 inch cubes
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 c olive oil
- 1 TBSP lemon juice
- 2/3 c chopped parsley
- 1/2 c chopped mint
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Bring water to a boil, add quinoa and a pinch of salt and stir. Cover and allow to cook until quinoa has absorbed the water, about 10 minutes). Alow to stand, fluff.
Whisk lemon juiec olive oil and herbs to make the vinaigrette. Season to tasted.
Add 1/3 of the vinaigrette to slightly warm quinoa and mix thoroughly. Allow to cool.
When ready to serve, add tomato, cucumber and remaining vinaigrette. Season to taste.
Apple-Broccoli Slaw
INGREDIENTS
- 1 granny smith apple cut into matchsticks to match the broccoli slaw
- 12 ox broccoli saw mix
- 1 carrots cut into matchsticks to math the broccoli slaw
- Handfull of dried cranberried
- Small handfull of slivered almonds
- 1/2 c low-fat mayo
- 2 TBSP sour cream
- 2 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 TBSP white sugar
Nesting On A Hill 