This is my play off of the Indian Butter Chicken, or Makhani Curry. It still uses all of the fragrant Indian herbs you find in most curries, but has a sweet buttery flavor. I have seen various iterations of this recipe, most of which use ghee or peanut oil. I like to use coconut oil to give it that rich flavor and healthy fats. This recipe calls only for green lentils, but if you want more protein you can also add 1 can of chickpeas.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of dried green lentils
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 tbs fresh ginger minced
• 1 tsp fresh garlic minced
• 2 tbs turmeric
• 3 tbs cumin
• 3-5 tbs curry powder (to taste) *can also subsitute with just cumin and clove
• 3-4 cups cauliflower
• ​1 can organic chickpeas
• 1 tbs of olive oil
• 2-3 tbs coconut oil
• 3-4 tbs of tomato paste
• Salt (to taste)

Directions/Prep:

1. Wash Lentils with three changes of water and drain.
2. Boil lentils in a pot for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. In a separate pan, saute onions in olive oil. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin and curry powder and saute for a few minutes longer.
4. Add cauliflower and saute for 10 minutes, until fully incorporated with spices.
5. Add the lentils, chickpeas coconut oil and remaining curry powder/spices to taste.
6. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Just as you Turn off heat, add chard. (I like to add the leafy the greens at the end so they are not over cooked. Keep covered, for another 5 minutes before serving.
7. Serve with brown rice, quinoa or on its own.

Why I made this: I made this for a friend who wanted a smoothie with her favorite things: pineapple, orange, strawberries. I was also looking for excuses to add a flax seed-based smoothie to my collection. You can never get too many omega-3s :-).
Typically, when I add flax seed to a smoothie, the flavor profiles of the fruit and veggies change, which I am not a fan of. So I ended up adding banana here, as I find that flax seed and banana compliment each other very well.

Why you should try it: If you like coconuts, bananas or pina coladas, you'll like this smoothie blend! This is a good fruity smoothie, great for your skin, with lots vitamin C, flax seed and coconut for those super foods. Hope you enjoy my Kamilla COCO special smoothie :-)

Coconut Citrus Smoothie (Pineapple, Coconut, Strawberries, Banana, Orange and Flax seed)
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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of pineapple
• 1 banana
• 1/4 cup strawberries
• 1/2 an orange
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup of dry coconut (shredded)
• 2 tablespoons of flaxseed
• 1 cup of coconut water
• Serving: One 16oz smoothie

Turmeric has gotten a lot of the rage on all the health blogs and magazines, but for a good reason. It has strong anti-inflammatory properties to help reduce inflammation in the body. You can find typically find turmeric (curcuma) in a lot of Indian dishes (curries or soups), but now, almost any juice bar has a turmeric juice or lemonade. I am big fan of turmeric ; it's spicy, very flagrant and always makes be feel better after I have eaten foods that don't agree with me, or that I shouldn't be eating. I hate to jump on the bandwagon here, but I can't help myself. Next to cardamom, turmeric is my favorite spice, so its only makes sense to add a turmeric smoothie to my collection!

Despite the recent attention to turmeric, the claims of any holistic remedy can be debated and you should always do your research first. But I am huge fan, largely because of what I have learned and I have witnessed first hand.

TRUE STORY: When I was in the 7th grade, my family and I were eating out at an Indian restaurant in Phoenix, AZ. After dinner, we were hanging in the parking lot waiting for my Dad to wrap up his conversation with the owner--yes, my father was always the last person to leave a place and spark up a 30 minute conversation with a stranger on the way out.

We had one of those old-school vans with the sliding doors (not like the fancy upgraded vans with the automatic door controls, this was the 90s' people :-).
I was standing outside the van, waiting for my dad and giving him the 'c'mon daddy lets go evil eye,' when suddenly, here comes the van door, sliding swiftly and crushing my hand!! Yes, my brother wasn't looking and slammed my hand in the door. It took a while to get it out and while it was incredibly painful, as any preteen would do, I made a HUGE, dramatic scene in the parking lot, more than what was warranted... I mean, it was just 3 days away from Volleyball tryouts and now my season was ruined!!

The owner of the restaurant came over with my dad, handed me some ice and told me to stop "worrying sweetheart, just have your mom make a turmeric paste, wrap it with a wet cloth and you'll be fine." And so, my mother did just that when we got back to Tucson. Long story short, I wrapped my hand religiously with that ikcy, orangey paste for the next few days. AND JUST like MAGIC, the swelling went down in 2 days. My hand was yellow and orange for a bit, but Volleyball try outs went well. I made the team again that year, and my older brother didn't feel so bad after that. At the time, I didn't really care to know what was in that "magic-orange paste," or why it worked. All I knew was that it worked and things were back to normal. #lifeofamiddleschooler. I actually completely forgot about this story until a few years ago when I came across turmeric again in some health magazine. And then it clicked, and I fully understood just how powerful this herb was.