Thai Green Curry Zucchini & Noodle Soup: Full of Flavor & Color for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I was looking for a soup with Asian ingredients and flavors this week from one of the chefs we have cooked with at I Heart Cooking Clubs and found this Thai Zucchini Soup from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks Blog. I love how Heidi combines different ingredients and she is as much of a soup topping fan as I am, so I knew I had to make it.

Heidi says that this soup was destined to be a chilled and pureed Thai curry soup but instead, for a few different reasons, she opted to keep it brothy. I'm glad that she did because brothy was what I was craving. Heidi used a scoop of brown rice as her base in the soup bowl, but I wanted rice noodles (sometimes you just feel the need for noodles). Heidi topped her soup with basil oil, roasted cherry tomatoes, pickled shallots, and toasted nuts and seeds, while I went with pan-roasted baby tomatoes (quicker & doesn't require the oven), chopped peanuts, and fresh chives, cilantro, and Thai basil. 

A big bowl of this satisfying vegan noodle soup made for a delicious lunch. My changes to Heidi's recipe (mainly to make extra broth) are in red below.

Thai Green Curry Zucchini & Noodle Soup
Slightly Adapted from Heidi Swanson via 101Cookbooks.com
(Serves 4)

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 cup sliced shallots or onion (I used 1 large Maui sweet onion)
(I added 5 kaffir limes leaves, torn)
1-2 Tbsp green curry paste, or to taste (I used 3 Tbsp of Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste)
1 can coconut milk (full fat)
6 medium zucchini, loosely chopped (about 5 cups)
1 cup water, plus more if needed (I used 2 cups light veggie broth)
juice of one lime (I used the juice 2 limes)
cooked brown rice, or other grain, or noodles of choice (I used rice noodles)

Topping ideas: basil oil, roasted cherry tomatoes, toasted nuts/seeds, quick pickled shallots, lots of lime, fresh herbs (coriander, basil) (I used pan-roasted cherry tomatoes, chopped roasted peanuts, and fresh cilantro, chives, and Thai basil, coarsely chopped, and lime wedges)

Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stir in the onions and a couple generous pinches of salt, and sauté until soft. Stir in the green curry paste along with a dollop of cream from the top of the coconut milk and the kaffir lime leaves. Stir well, and sauté for another minute or so, until fragrant. 

Stir in the zucchini and sauté, being careful not to brown, until the zucchini is tender 5-7 minutes, or so. Add the remaining coconut milk and the water or broth, let everything come up to a simmer, and remove from heat. Season the soup with the juice of lime, and salt to taste. It's all about balance here, and the soup should be brothy with strong coconut-lime flavor. 

Serve over a scoop of brown rice, topped with any (or all!) of the toppings suggested, or experiment with your own ideas.

Notes/Results: This soup was delicious and hit all of the cravings I was having for curry. lime, broth, and noodles. I ate a huge bowl and practically licked it clean, and I am excited to have the leftovers later (keeping the noodles separate until serving). It is a good combination of flavors and texture with the noodles and topping. It had the right level of heat for me--enough to feel it in the back of my throat but not too fiery to be able to taste all of the flavor. If you like a spicier soup, add more curry paste to the broth or serve chili paste or Sriracha on the side. I kept it simple with just the zucchini and onion in terms of veggies but you could certainly add your favorites and/or add protein like chicken, shrimp, or tofu, if desired. Really good, quick and easy to make, I will happily make it again. 

I'm linking this soup up to I Heart Cooking Clubs for June's Monthly Dish/Ingredient Challenge: Asian Dishes. You can see what everyone made by checking out the picture links on the post. 

  
We have a few delicious dishes waiting this week in the Souper Sundays kitchen--let's have a look!

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog shared Weight Watchers 1 Smart Point Soup and said, "I started Weight Watchers ( again) last week, so I'm being more conscious of quantity, calories, and carbs. ( I had gained some weight during April and May when it was cold, rainy, and dreary). ... was looking to see what I could make that  was only 1 Weight Watcher smart point- and this is it!This amazing soup fills me up. has fiber, vitamins, and minerals and is a totally satisfying comfort soup ! Of course it is naturally gluten free which is just the way I like my recipes. It is my version of Chinese egg drop soup. ( I've included a vegan version too)"
 

Claudia of Honey From Rock made Split Pea with Fresh Corn Soup inspired by a book (The Bertie Project by Alexander McCall Smith) and said, "I'd like to serve Bertie this soup, one his Granny might have made for him while Irene was away on her trip.  He wants to go live with his Granny, however there's nothing she can really do about that.  ... The contrast of fresh corn with mushy peas is wonderful.  Perfectly delish and quite comforting if I do say so, especially when accompanied by some freshly baked bread and a good slathering of butter."

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen made a unique pasta salad and said, "This Miso Tomato
with Roasted Garlic and Shichimi Tograshi is inspired by a Miso Tomato Soup recipe I saw a couple of years ago. I still intend to make the Miso Tomato Soup with homegrown tomatoes, or even tinned cherry tomatoes, but at the weekend I was inspired to mess with it a little and make a thick sauce for pasta salad."  

Mahalo to everyone who joined in this week! 

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you.

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week. Happy Father's Day!
 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "Among the Lesser Gods" by Margo Catts, Served with a Recipe for a Watermelon Milkshake (+ a Book Giveaway!)

Happy Tuesday! I'm excited to be a stop on the TLC Book Tour for Among the Lesser Gods, a novel by Margo Catts. Accompanying my review is a recipe for a cooling, perfect for summer (non-dairy) Watermelon Milkshake inspired by my reading and there is a chance to enter to win a copy of the book at the bottom of the post.

Publisher's Blurb:

“Tragedy and blessing. Leave them alone long enough, and it gets real hard to tell them apart.”
 
Elena Alvarez is living a cursed life. From the deadly fire she accidentally set as a child, to her mother’s abandonment, and now to an unwanted pregnancy, she knows better than most that small actions can have terrible consequences. Driven to the high mountains surrounding Leadville, Colorado by her latest bad decision, she’s intent on putting off the future. Perhaps there she can just hide in her grandmother’s isolated cabin and wait for something—anything—to make her next choice for her.
 
Instead, she is confronted by reflections of her own troubles wherever she turns—the recent widower and his two children adrift in a changed world, Elena’s own mysterious family history, and the interwoven lives within the town itself. Bit by bit, Elena begins to question her understanding of cause and effect, reexamining the tragedies she’s held on to and the wounds she’s refused to let heal.

But when the children go missing, Elena’s fragile new peace is shattered. It’s only at the prospect of fresh loss and blame that she will discover the truth of the terrible burdens we take upon ourselves, the way tragedy and redemption are inevitably intertwined—and how curses can sometimes lead to blessings, however disguised.

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Arcade Publishing (May 9, 2017)

My Review:

Among the Lesser Gods takes place in 1978, set mostly in the mountains of Colorado--although the writing makes it seem rather timeless--except for the absence of cell phones and other small things, it could just as easily be set in current day. The writing is gorgeous--I love when a place comes to life through words, and I found myself almost seeing the town of Leadville and its surrounding beauty as I read Margo Catts's descriptions. The characters are well-drawn--flawed, but easy to root for. Although I wasn't immediately drawn to Elena at the start of the book, as her story unfolded I found myself liking her more and more and enjoying watching her grow as she began to find empathy and understanding for others and even for herself. Her grandmother, Tuah, was my favorite character with her caring and her wise words, like: "Not making a decision is a decision too. And I'm not saying you made a wrong one. But you did make one." We don't get to know the other characters quite as much, but I enjoyed the family Elena cares for and the friends she makes within the town.

I think we all have things that we wish we had done differently and that make us  wonder if we had made a different choice or taken another action, would things have been been better for us or for those we may have impacted? Whether those things happened when we were children, or when we were old enough to know better, and regardless of whether they are small or bigger, more tragic actions, I know very few people who don't have regrets or guilt. Among the Lesser Gods is ultimately about finding forgiveness and healing and it connected with me, touched my heart, and made me think. Once I was into the story, I found it hard to put down and I was sorry to see it end--it was a pleasure to read. This is the author's debut novel and I look forward to reading more from her.

 

Author Notes: Margo Catts grew up in Los Angeles and has since lived in Utah, Indiana, and Colorado. After raising three children in the U.S., she and her husband moved to Saudi Arabia, where her Foreign Girl blog was well known in the expat community. Originally a freelance editor for textbooks and magazines, she has also done freelance writing for business, technical, and advertising clients, all the while working on her fiction. She is a contributing author to Once Upon an Expat. Among the Lesser Gods is her first novel. She now lives in Denver, Colorado.

You can connect with Margo on her website, Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram


Food Inspiration:

There was a fair amount of food to be found in Among the Lesser Gods. Mentions included: burritos, pancakes with nopales syrup, a western cheeseburger and a plain single with onion rings and a Dino's Dessert Pie, lobster, fruit, meat and a gallon of milk, oatmeal, pancakes, sandwiches, cherries, spinach, cereal (Cheerios, Cap'n Crunch and Frosted Flakes), pretzels, peanuts, Fritos, pizza and cheese, eggs and sausage. There was a tuna fish sandwich on white bread, crackers, a greenish banana and store-bought cookies for lunch, eggs in a hole, ham sandwiches and chips, tortilla chips and salsa, sloppy joes, butter and sugar sandwiches with chips, Ding Dongs, a spaghetti dinner, barbecued chicken with baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad and fruit salad, s'mores, ice cream with chocolate syrup, goulash and mixed greens for a salad, lemon cookies and funnel cake, stroganoff and a strawberry milkshake.

Since it's been warm and humid here, I had my dish picked from the beginning of the book where Elena is remembering road trips to Colorado and the food that saved the mostly silent trips with her father. "Harvey's served fresh fruit shakes made with watermelon and cantaloupe and peaches, ice cream, and cold milk, and we would sit at a white table, our hands wrapped around the sweating cups, icing our throats and shivering while we looked out the window at the heat waves rising off the car." 

How good does that sound on a warm summer day?! On her solo trip back, Elena has a blackberry shake but it was the watermelon that stuck in my mind and I happened to buy a mini watermelon over the weekend. Because a lot of dairy doesn't agree with my asthma and allergies, I kept my shake vegan--but no less delicious.

Watermelon Milkshake (Vegan) 
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Makes 2 Servings)

3 cups watermelon cubes (de-seeded), frozen at least 3 hours
about 1 1/2 cups non-dairy vanilla ice cream
1 cup non-dairy milk
1 Tbsp agave (or sweetener of choice), or to taste
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, or to taste

Place the frozen watermelon cubes, ice cream and milk into a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and add agave and lemon juice to taste and blend for another 30 seconds.

Pour into glasses and serve.

Notes/Results: This shake is cool, creamy, and sweet, but not too sweet. The watermelon flavor is there but not overpowering mixed in with the vanilla ice cream and milk. The watermelon I had could have been a bit sweeter so I added some agave syrup, but if your watermelon is very sweet, you might not need it. I think the lemon juice pulls out the flavors and I recommend it. I kept mine non-dairy with coconut milk ice cream and unsweetened coconut milk but you could certainly use dairy. I was torn between cantaloupe and watermelon so I plan on buying a cantaloupe and trying it too. It totally hit the spot on a humid day. I  would happily make this again.

I'm linking this post up to the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Note: A review copy and a giveaway copy of "Among the Lesser Gods" was provided to me by the publisher, Arcade, and TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.

***Book Giveaway***

  
The publisher is generously providing a copy of Among the Lesser Gods to give away (U.S./Canada addresses only, please) here at Kahakai Kitchen.

To enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway below, leave a comment (Because I like to read them!) ;-) telling me your favorite flavor of milkshake or your favorite summer fruit. 

There are a couple of other optional ways to get more entries to win: 1) Tweet about this giveaway or 2) follow me on Twitter (@DebinHawaii) and/or Author Margo Catts (@MargoCatts), and/or Publisher Arcade (@arcadepub) on Twitter. (Note: You can still get extra entries even if you already follow me, the author, or publisher on Twitter.)

Deadline for entry is 12:00 AM (HST) Thursday, June 22nd.
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway  
Good Luck!
 

Italian Vegetable Fagioli with Toasted Couscous: Light for Summer and for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I've said before that a big part of my soup love or what draws me to a recipe is a creative topping or stir-in. It can take a basic soup and make it into something really special. I saw this soup in a recipe email from Real Simple magazine and was intrigued with the toasted couscous that tops at simple Italian veggie and bean soup. I've used couscous (both regular and Israeli or pearl) in soups before but have not taken the step of toasting the couscous and using it as a topping. I eat soup all-year-round of course but this one is light and brothy and perfect for summer.

Real Simple says, "Sure, summer has its cold sparkling gazpachos, but why do most soups have to belong to winter? This soup is fresh and flavorful, full of exciting textures, colors, and depth. A cool step we’d like to draw your attention to is toasting the couscous before cooking it. You do it in the same skillet you end up cooking it in, so you don’t have to dirty another dish. The step adds a ton of nutty flavor and a bit of crunch to a grain that might otherwise get lost among the heart veggies."

I made a few small changes to the recipe--mainly doubling it and adding more veggies--noted in red below. 

Italian Vegetable Fagioli with Toasted Couscous 
Slightly Adapted from RealSimple.com, Recipe by Karen Rankin
(Serves 4)

3 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 large yellow squash, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
(I added 1 large zucchini, chopped)
(I added 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped)

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

1 tsp fennel seeds

3 cups vegetable broth

1 (15-oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14.5-oz) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes

1/3 cup couscous 

1/2 cup basil leaves

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high. Add squash, onion, salt, and fennel seeds and cook, stirring often, until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add broth, beans, and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast couscous in a medium skillet over medium-high until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add 3/4 cup boiling water; cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork. Transfer to a bowl and wipe skillet clean.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in skillet over medium-high. Add couscous and cook, stirring often, until crisp, about 5 minutes.

Top with toasted couscous and basil.

Notes/Results: This is a great, simple soup that becomes even better with the addition of the toasted couscous. I added zucchini and yellow bell pepper and I meant to add fennel but I forgot to get it out of the fridge and then add it to the soup pot. Oh, well, it was still tasty. The couscous should be called double-toasted--since you toast it before cooking it and then again afterward and it's worth it. It adds good texture and a a nutty flavor that makes the soup sing. I'll be borrowing the idea for other soups. This soup is satisfying without being heavy and makes the most of summer veggies--I would happily make it again.
 

We have a few delicious dishes waiting this week in the Souper Sundays kitchen--let's have a look!

 
Debra of Eliot's Eats shared this Lentil Salad with Sauteed Vegetables and Feta adapted from Simple Foods by Alice Waters and said, "Her recipes are written in the older style where directions are given in between the ingredients in paragraph form: “Sort and rinse 1 cup lentils.  Cover with water….Toss the lentils with 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, salt and pepper…” ... I love that you can adapt this dish to what is in season and what is in your pantry.  I decided to use the mirepoix based version but I also added in some feta."

 
Tina of Squirrel Head Manor made White Bean & Spinach Soup and said, "Soup can be loved no matter what the weather is like - hot or cold, soup is a healthy and often inexpensive option for a quick lunch. This white bean, spinach and tomato soup was made a while back and I just forgot to share it. Taking soup for lunch is an easy and healthy option, even tastier if you have fresh bread to bring long.  This one was made from pantry items on hand, getting creative when you don't want to go shopping."

  
Here at Kahakai Kitchen, I made open-faced sandwiches of Lemony Zucchini on Toasted Naan Bread, from a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe. I had a crazy week and wanted something really quick and easy but still delicious on Friday night. These totally fit the bill with a glass of white wine. Perfect for summer.

Mahalo to Debra and Tina for joining in this week! 

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you.

On your entry post (on your blog):

• please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
• you are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

 
Have a happy, healthy week!
 

Lemony Zucchini on Toasted Bread: Simple For Summer

When you have 'had a week' and just need something simple to make, you can't beat toast with a really delicious topping. I had some whole wheat naan bread, a few small, local zucchini, and this simple recipe for Lemony Zucchini on Toast from River Cottage Every Day by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. In a short amount of time, it and a glass of crisp white wine had me transitioning into the weekend.

Lemony Zucchini on Toasted Bread
Slightly Adapted from River Cottage Every Day
(Serves 2)

3 to 4 zucchini, about 1 lb total
2 Tbsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 small garlic clove, crushed (I used a large clove)
1/4 tsp fresh thyme leaves (I used about 1 tsp)
grated zest of 1/2 lemon, plus 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 thick slices of bread (I used whole wheat naan)
10 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
extra-virgin olive oil to finish

Slice the courgettes into thin discs. Heat the oil in a largish frying pan, add the courgettes with a large pinch of salt and sauté over a medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until their moisture evaporates and they are just beginning to brown a little.
 
Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook for another minute or so, until a little softer and a little more colored. Stir in the lemon zest and juice. Season with a few grinds of pepper and some more salt.
 
Toast the bread. Remove the courgettes from the heat and add the basil. Tip the courgette mixture with all its juices over the toast, trickle on a little olive oil and tuck in.

Notes/Results: The combination of lemon, garlic, thyme and basil is classic and delicious and it really livens up the mild zucchini. In the end, I would probably prefer a good crusty bread to soak up all the juices but the whole wheat naan made it almost pizza-like and there is nothing wrong with that. I'm happy to add this one to my zucchini recipe roster. 

Linking up to I Heart Cooking Clubs where this week's theme is Fresh From the Field--Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipes with fresh, seasonal and local ingredients. You can see what everyone made by checking out the picture links on the post.
 

 
I am also linking this open-faced sandwich up to Souper Sundays, hosted here at Kahakai Kitchen. Each Sunday we feature delicious soups, salads, and sandwiches from friends around the blogosphere--please join in if you have any to share. Here's this week's post and linkup.

Happy Aloha Friday!
 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of the Novel "White Fur" by Jardine Libaire, Served with a Recipe for Strawberry-Peach Chia Seed Jam (& a Giveaway!)

I'm excited to be today's stop for the TLC Book Tour of the novel, White Fur by Jardine Libaire. Along with my book review, I'm offering up a recipe for easy and delicious Strawberry-Peach Chia Seed Jam--spread on toasted English muffins, inspired by my reading. There's also a chance to enter win a copy of the novel for yourself at the end of the post.  Happy Tuesday!

Publisher's Blurb:

A stunning star-crossed love story set against the glitz and grit of 1980s New York City

When Elise Perez meets Jamey Hyde on a desolate winter afternoon, fate implodes, and neither of their lives will ever be the same. Although they are next-door neighbors in New Haven, they come from different worlds. Elise grew up in public housing without a father and didn’t graduate from high school; Jamey is a junior at Yale, heir to a private investment bank fortune and beholden to high family expectations. Nevertheless, the attraction is instant, and what starts out as sexual obsession turns into something greater, stranger, and impossible to ignore.

The unlikely couple moves to Manhattan in hopes of forging an adult life together, but Jamey’s family intervenes in desperation, and the consequences of staying together are suddenly severe. And when a night out with old friends takes a shocking turn, Jamey and Elise find themselves fighting not just for their love, but also for their lives.
 
White Fur follows these indelible characters on their wild race through Newport mansions and downtown NYC nightspots, SoHo bars and WASP-establishment yacht clubs, through bedrooms and hospital rooms, as they explore, love, play, and suffer. Jardine Libaire combines the electricity of Less Than Zero with the timeless intensity of Romeo and Juliet in this searing, gorgeously written novel that perfectly captures the ferocity of young love.

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Hogarth (May 30, 2017)

My Review:

White Fur was a journey for me--I wasn't quite sure what I had gotten into and whether I was going to enjoy it. It took me a while to get into the actual story, even longer to care about the main characters, their romance, and how things might turn out, but Jardine Libaire's visceral writing pulled me along like a strong current until I was caught up in this wild, whirling book and didn't want to put it down. Starting with the first page--set in a motel room in June of 1987 with Elise holding a gun pressed to Jamey's chest and him asking "Don't you love me?"--you know that it is going to be a crazy ride, then it heads to January 1986 when these two young people meet in Connecticut and learn how they got to that motel room eighteen months later. Most of the book takes place in New York City in 1986 and the writing sets a wild and gritty tone full of excess and dark passion. New York in the 80s--the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes almost becomes a character itself and was my favorite part of the book. Neither Jamey or Elise were easy people to like or connect with--she is tough, raw and defiant, from the wrong side of the tracks and quickly sets her sights on Jamey. He is rich, spoiled, and self-destructive and seems to want Elise because of just how much his family and friends will disapprove of her, and of him. These aren't people I would want to hang out with, but they are compelling and hard to look away from. If you are looking for a simply written story of sweet love, White Fur isn't for you, but if you want an edgy, gritty romance that pounds off the pages with messy emotion, it's a book worth reading.

-----

Author Notes: Jardine Libaire is a graduate of Skidmore College and the University of Michigan MFA program, where she was a winner of the Hopwood Award. White Fur is her second novel for adults. She lives in Austin, Texas.

You can connect with Jardine via her website, Facebook, or Twitter.


-----

Food Inspiration:

I was surprised at how much food was in White Fur. I had about four pages of notes of the food mentioned by the time the book was done that included New York restaurant food like pizza, sushi, chop suey, and Chinese food, escargots, potage aux pommes, oysters, steak tartare, New York strip, prime rib, lobster, salmon, filet mignon, profiteroles, Indian food, duck lo mein, dumplings, rack of lamb, iles flottantes, cabbage soup, lemon tarts, grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburger pitas, a cheeseburger, and a turkey club with fries. Like Jamey and Elise, the food ranged from rich and expensive to more common and inexpensive like a Balducci's order of French goat cheese, fresh squeezed juice, English muffins, lemon curd, rib-eyes, champagne grapes, fresh pasta from Italy, Perrier, romaine salad, shrimp with cocktail sauce, bagel and capers, contrasting with McDonald's Hamburger Helper, Christmas nachos with red and green peppers, Cheez-Whiz, bacon, egg 'n' cheese, macaroni and cheese, Pringles, hot dogs and Dr. Pepper. There was plenty of alcohol and a Puerto Rican feast of yellow rice, pork shoulder, green sofrito, and caramelized plantains.

For my book-inspired dish I was pulled towards strawberries that were mentioned a few times, in different ways--in a "story about strawberries and a sunburn," in strawberry ice cream, wrapped in an Air India napkin, and on the "English muffins toasted with cheap strawberry jam" that Elise eats with the Pakistani cabdrivers who hang out at a deli she likes. I got a sudden craving for English muffins with strawberry jam and decided to make some chia seed jam rather than use the cheap stuff. ;-) I added the peach to mix things up a bit and because I though it might give the jam a more salmon-ish color like the gorgeous cover.

Chia seeds are my favorite way to make jam as they thicken it without pectin and excess sugar. I have made and posted several varieties of chia seed jam on the blog--you can check them out by clicking on the jams/preserves tag on my sidebar.

Strawberry-Peach Chia Jam
By Deb, Kahakai Kitchen
(Makes about 4 cups of Jam)

3 cups strawberries, fresh (or frozen, thawed), chopped
3 peaches fresh, (or frozen, thawed) peeled, pitted and chopped
2 Tbsp honey or sweetener of choice, or to taste
juice of one lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
4 heaping Tbsp chia seeds

Place strawberries and peaches in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Simmer about 10-15 minutes, stirring and as the fruit softens, use the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher to smash it against the sides of the pan to break them down, leaving some chunks as desired. (I like plenty of chunks.) 

Once fruit is broken down to the consistency you want, remove from the heat and stir in the honey, lemon juice, extract, and chia seeds until thoroughly combined. Leave jam to cool to room temperature and thicken/set. Once jam is room temperature, transfer to a jar or airtight container and refrigerate. 

Store jam, tightly covered, for up to 3 weeks in the fridge. 

I used this jam on toasted English Muffins, spread with a bit of butter. It is also good mixed into yogurt with granola, used in a PB&J sandwich, stirred into or as a topping for vanilla ice cream or rice pudding, or mixed into a cocktail. A great way to welcome summer.

Notes/Results: This is a happy little jam for summer-perfectly sweet and so tasty. The strawberry is the predominant flavor but the peach is there in the background, rounding out things out. As you can probably see from the photos, I like a very chunky jam especially for sandwiches or as a topping as getting those little bites of fruit are one of life''s little pleasures.  English muffin perfectly toasted, a little bit of real butter spread on top and this jam and you are set for a snack or breakfast. I have some pecan butter from the natural foods store that I am going to pair it with next. I would happily make it again.

I'm linking this post up to the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Note: A review copy of "White Fur" was provided to me by the publisher, Hogarth, and TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.

***Book Giveaway***

  
The publisher is generously providing a copy of White Fur to give away (U.S./Canada addresses only, please) here at Kahakai Kitchen.

To enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway below, leave a comment (Because I like to read them!) ;-) telling me your favorite flavor of jam or favorite summer fruit. 

There are a couple of other optional ways to get more entries to win: 1) Tweet about this giveaway or 2) follow me on Twitter (@DebinHawaii) and/or Author Jardine Libaire (@Jardineraven), and/or Publisher Hogarth (@HogarthBooks) on Twitter. (Note: You can still get extra entries even if you already follow me, the author, or publisher on Twitter.)

Deadline for entry is 12:00 AM (HST) Thursday, June 15th.
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good Luck!