Coconut Oil: Recipes For Real Life by Lucy Bee

Many of you will be aware of Lucy Bee's raw, organic and fairtrade coconut oil and she has now added fairtrade salt, cacao, cinnamon, lucuma, maca and turmeric powder to the range. These carefully sourced ingredients make appearances in many of the recipes in this excellent book. Lucy is a coeliac herself and so all the recipes are gluten free and apart from the occasional use of yogurt, they are dairy free too.

The aim of the book is to make natural and healthy eating simple, tasty and 'real' - recipes that you probably already have the ingredients for but used in a different, more inventive way. There are also tips for living a more healthy lifestyle in a tone that is gentle nudge in the right direction rather than preachy and unrealistic.

Healthy eating is definitely easier with the help of the recipes in Coconut Oil: Recipes For Real Life. With the emphasis on everyday cooking and natural ingredients, there are countless recipes that you can imagine quickly becoming part of your repertoire. From juices and smoothies to brunch and wraps, to soups and curries, to salads and dips, there is a bit of everything. Not to mention some lovely puddings and sweet treats. Most of the recipes have lovely full page colour photos, the homemade feel of the dishes encouraging you to have a go. Marking the recipes I intend to try would be pointless as there are so many that inspire me. I am expecting this book to become ingredient splattered very soon.

Check out www.lucybee.co for more information about Lucy Bee products as well as recipes, lifestyle, health, beauty and Lucy's blog. Coconut Oil: Recipes for Real Life by Lucy Bee is published by Quadrille, £15

You can also buy the book here from Amazon.

Lucy's Recipes

Fish Tacos with Coconut Lime Cream
Corn, egg, gluten, lactose, milk, nut, peanut, sesame, soya & wheat free

Twice-Baked Carrot Fries
Corn, egg, gluten, lactose, milk, nightshade, nut, peanut, soya & wheat free

Salted Caramel Fudge
Corn, egg, gluten, lactose, milk, nightshade, peanut, sesame, soya & wheat free

Fish Tacos with Coconut Lime Cream

On paper this might look a bit more challenging but it’s actually surprisingly simple to make and delicious to eat. A word of warning with this one though, it can get a bit messy to eat so not an ideal first-date dinner!

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 500g / 1lb 1oz haddock fillet
• 4 garlic cloves, 2 chopped and 2 crushed
  
• Juice of 1 lime
  
• ¾ tsp ground cumin
  
• ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
  
• Lucy Bee Himalayan salt and ground black pepper
  
• 1 tbsp Lucy Bee coconut oil
  
• 100g / 3 ½ oz onions, chopped
  
• 1 x 400g tin /1 2/3 cup black (turtle) beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 30g / 1oz coconut butter (optional)
  
• 150ml / ½ cup plus 2 tbsp water
  
• ½ x 400g tin / 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
  

For the Coconut Lime Cream

• Juice of ½ - 1 lime
  
• 160ml tin / 2/3 cup coconut cream
  
• 120ml / ½ cup water

To Serve

• Gluten-free wraps or tortillas
  
• Little gem lettuce
  
• Chopped avocado
  
• Chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
  
• Shredded red cabbage

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
2. Mix the chopped garlic, lime juice, ¼ tsp cumin and chilli flakes in a dish, add the fish and leave to marinate for 15–20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, for the black bean sauce, melt the coconut oil in a deep frying pan or saucepan, add the onions and saute for 5 minutes or until translucent, then add the crushed garlic and saute for a further minute.
4. Add the black (turtle) beans, coconut butter if using, water, chopped tomatoes, ½ tsp cumin and paprika and bring to the boil.
5. Once the sauce begins to bubble, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. While the black bean sauce is simmering, put the lime juice, coconut cream, water and a pinch of salt in a bowl and mix together well.
7. Transfer the fish and marinade to a baking tray, add salt and pepper to taste and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
8. Once cooked, shred the fish into a dish and place all the serving ingredients in separate dishes, for everyone to help themselves and build their own wrap.

Turkey Chilli with Cacao Powder

This might sound an odd combination at first but believe me it is sooo good! The cacao adds a wonderful richness to the sauce and I even like this cold the following day.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Lucy Bee coconut oil
  
• 2 onions, finely chopped
  
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  
• 2–3 carrots, peeled and grated
  
• 500g / 1lb 1 oz turkey mince
  
• 3 tsp cumin seeds
  
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
  
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
  
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes (or 1 tsp if you are feeling brave!)
  
• 1 x 400g tin / 2 cups chopped tomatoes
  
• 1 tbsp tomato puree (paste)
  
• 1 tbsp Lucy Bee cacao powder
  
• 1 x 400g tin / 1 2/3 cups black (turtle) beans, drained and rinsed
  
• Handful of coriander (cilantro), chopped
  
• Lucy Bee Himalayan salt and ground black pepper
  
• Greek yoghurt, to serve

Method

1. Melt the coconut oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat.
2. Add the onions and saute for 2 minutes or until soft, stirring every now and then.
3. Add the garlic and carrots and continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the turkey mince and, using a wooden spoon, break up any large lumps.
5. Cook for 5 minutes before adding the cumin seeds, smoked paprika, coriander seeds and chilli flakes.
6. Make sure everything is thoroughly mixed, then add the tomatoes, tomato puree (paste), cacao powder and black (turtle) beans and stir everything together.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down so the mixture is simmering, cover and cook for 30–40 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the pan, and adding a little water if the mixture seems to be drying out.
8. Sprinkle with the chopped coriander (cilantro) and serve with Greek yoghurt.

Twice-Baked Carrot Fries

This might sound an odd combination at first but believe me it is sooo good! The cacao adds a wonderful richness to the sauce and I even like this cold the following day.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunky chips
  
• 2 tbsp Lucy Bee coconut oil, melted
  
• 1 tbsp gram flour or gluten-free plain (all-purpose) flour
  
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  
• Lucy Bee Himalayan salt and ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
2. Put the carrots into a large baking tray with the melted coconut oil and toss in the oil to coat the carrots all over.
3. Spread out in an even layer and bake in the oven for 10 minutes to soften.
4. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sesame seeds and some seasoning.
5. Take the tray out of the oven and sprinkle the flour mixture over the carrots, turning them to make sure they are all coated.
6. Leave to stand for 10 minutes, allowing the flour to set onto the carrots and cool slightly, and increase the oven temperature to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
7. Put the carrots back in the oven and bake for a further 25–30 minutes, until crisp.

Salted Caramel Fudge

Caramel isn’t the friendliest of things for the waistline and if you’re lactose or dairy intolerant then it’s usually a no-no. So after playing around with some of my most used ingredients I ended up with a pretty good fudge, if I do say so myself. Thank me later!

Makes about 32 small pieces

Ingredients

• 240g/8 ½ oz smooth cashew butter, or nut butter of your choice
  
• 40g/1 ½ oz Lucy Bee coconut oil, melted
  
• 6 tbsp maple syrup
  
• ½ tsp Lucy Bee Himalayan salt
  
• 1 tsp Lucy Bee lucuma powder

For the chocolate sauce

• 30g / 1 oz Lucy Bee coconut oil, melted
  
• 2 tbsp honey
  
• ½ tsp Lucy Bee Himalayan salt (optional)
  
• 2 tbsp Lucy Bee cacao powder

Method

1. Line a small baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Blend together the cashew butter, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, salt and lucuma in a food processor.
3. Spread the mixture evenly onto the tray and place in the freezer for 1 hour.
4. Put all the ingredients for the chocolate sauce into a mixing bowl, mix together well then set aside until your fudge has hardened.
5. If your sauce is too runny, you can leave it in the fridge for a few minutes to harden slightly.
6. Cut the frozen fudge into small squares, then drizzle over the chocolate sauce. Keep in the fridge – if there are any left-over!

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