Dad’s Peppered Beef Marinade

This recipe was my Dad’s pride and joy.  In 80 years of cooking he never found a marinade he liked better.  I often make this truly out-of-the-ordinary roast for company and holidays, but we do it on smaller cuts of beef year-round!  It’s DELICIOUS!  You grilling fanatics MUST try this recipe sometime!  This is truly my all-time favorite beef marinade as well and has been since I was in high school over 40 years ago.  We invariably have this recipe for Christmas dinner, because we are usually turkey’ed out by then.  This recipe makes enough marinade for an 8 lb. boneless rib roast, which will (after shrinkage) serve 10 nice servings, with some leftover for the most delicious cold roast beef sandwiches you ever had.  I do not recommend reheating this meat, as the meat and marinade loose some of their impact on reheating.   But it makes the best cold roast beef sandwiches you ever ate!  🙂

Once I realized this marinade could just as easily be used on smaller cuts of beef, we enjoy it much more often now.  I have used it for rib roast (shown top above), lean boneless chuck roasts, sirloin of varying sizes (shown above) and individual ribeye steaks.  It’s also good on wild game you want to do on the grill.  It’s a truly unique flavor when cooked over charcoal (not so good oven-cooked though).  It is Atkins friendly (just not Induction friendly, because of the wine).  Leaving out the wine just isn’t an option for this recipe, so wait until the Atkins OWL (Ongoing Weight Loss) phase to enjoy this wonderful dish.  I guarantee, this is so good you’ll be fighting over who gets the two end slices, just like at my house.  🙂  

MARINADE INGREDIENTS: (remember, it is not all consumed)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. paprika

1/8 c. low-sodium soy sauce (1/4 c. if you can tolerate the sodium, I don’t though)

¼-½ c. dry red wine (burgundy or claret work nicely but any dry red will do)

1 T. tomato paste

1½ T. coarse ground black pepper (or enough to entirely coat your meat thickly)

DIRECTIONS:  Pound the coarse ground black pepper over all surfaces of an 8 rib roast (or sirloin, or chuck roast) using the butt of your palm or the smooth side of a meat cleaver. Use less pepper if doing a smaller piece of meat. Place meat in glass dish. I drizzle marinate every half hour (as often as you can remember to stop and do it) most of a day (minimum 6 hours). Most efficient way to marinate without disturbing pepper coating is to use a basting brush. Do not touch the meat with your brush, or you’ll wipe all the pepper off! Hold it over the meat and let it drip off the brush. When surface is soaked, put in refrigerator to marinate between “bastings”.  I baste hourly until cooking time.

COOKING:

This recipe really is not good cooked inside in your oven. Not sure why, but it just isn’t.  It seems it is the marriage of the marinade with charcoal smoke that makes this recipe taste divine.  You need to grill the 8 lb. rib roast for about 2 hours over medium coals (using a rotary spit if you own one).  If you don’t have one, like me, just turn the meat every half hour to sear all surfaces nicely. Best if not cooked past medium to medium rare stage.  I take mine off when my meat thermometer reads 120º degrees and set it on my cutting board for another 10 minutes to “rest”.  A piece of meat this large will continue to climb to around 130º while resting. That’s usually a nice pink medium-rare inside.

If doing sirloin or chuck roast (around 3-4 lb.) grill about 20 minutes on a side for medium-rare. This marinade really does a nice job of tenderizing a chuck or sirloin roast.  Cook rib steaks just like you usually would to your desired doneness.

This recipe always gets the WOWS when I serve it.  Hope you folks will try it! I think you’ll find you won’t be sorry you did! The outside slices are so good we always fight over them at home.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:

The marinade is discarded when you cook the meat.  No further basting should be done while cooking as there is now raw meat juice in the marinade.   Calculating how much marinade is consumed is difficult.  It would also be impossible for me to know how many servings you are able to get out of your roast.  So I’m providing the totals for the entire batch of marinade and you will have to see how much it makes and how much is left in the pan before discarding to determine roughly how much is staying on the meat and thus consumed by how many people you are serving.   Most of the sauce goes down the drain, to be perfectly honest, so you’re getting mostly sodium from the soy sauce and a few carbs from the wine and tomato paste that cling to the surface of the meat (a little more if you get the end slices).  The figures below DO NOT INCLUDE THE MEAT.

The entire batch of marinade has:

131 cals, 0.7 g. fat, 18 g. carbs, 4.6 g. fiber, 15.4 NET CARBS (entire batch), 5.5 g. protein, 1070 mg. sodium

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Peppered Bacon-Cheese Bread

I saw a Paleo Bread recipe on Elena’s Pantry blog and finally did get around to trying something similar.  But of course, I tweaked it up front, a permanent addiction of mine.  I added 3 flavor ingredients that produced a delightfully tasty breakfast or snack bread.  Hubby and I both liked this new creation.  I eliminated the honey in the original recipe, as I didn’t want any sweetness to the bread.  I eliminated the salt, as cheese and bacon have plenty in them.  Otherwise, the basic batter was the same as hers.  Adding the peppered bacon and cheese makes this memorable.  This bread is not suitable until you reach the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins OWL carb-re-introduction phase.   It is suitable for Primal diners, if you eat occasional cheese.   Omit the cheese to make this suitable for Paleo.  This batter cooks up nicely as biscuits or muffins, as the crust is particularly nice on this bread.  Muffins or biscuits will only take about 15-20 minutes to cook however.

You’ll find many more delicious bread recipes in our Low Carbing Among Friends cookbooks, a series by Jennifer Eloff and other talented low-carb kitchen gurus.  You can order them from Amazon or direct .

INGREDIENTS:

1½ c. almond flour

2 T. coconut flour

¼ c. golden flax meal

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

1 c. grated cheese

4 oz. lean bacon, chopped (preferably peppered bacon)

¼ tsp. coarse black pepper (or just use Wright’s peppered bacon)

5 eggs, beaten

2 T. coconut oil, melted

2 T. olive oil

1 T. cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease a loaf pan and set aside.  I used a NON-standard sized loaf pan that is 4½” wide, 2½” deep and 12″ long.

Baked in an abnormal-size loaf pan 4½” x 3″ x  12″ (Italian import)

Measure all dry ingredients and cheese into a medium measuring bowl, stir and set aside.  Chop bacon and brown in skillet with black pepper shaken all over it (I didn’t measure the pepper, but I’d guess about ¼ tsp. total).  When bacon is done, set aside to drain/cool on paper towels a few minutes.  While it cools, add all liquid ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to blend.  Add cooked bacon and stir one last time to blend bacon evenly throughout batter.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape batter into non-stick, greased or parchment lined loaf pan and pop into preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.  Ovens vary, so check with toothpick test.  Remove and cool in pan a few minutes.  Run sharp knife around edges to loosen and tip out onto a cutting board. Slice into 10 servings and serve warm.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 10 large slices, each contains:

293.6 cals, 26g fat, 6.16 g carbs, 3.18 g fiber, 2.88g NET CARBS, 11.24 g protein, 481 mg sodium

Strawberry Chocolate Torte

I’m not a big sweets eater, as many of my readers and forum acquaintances know by now.  But my husband is, so I fix him low-carb treats for special occasions otherwise he WILL go buy the awful flour/sugar laden versions at the bakery.  This dessert I created for his Valentine’s Day treat some years back and thought I’d share it today since there’s never a bad time for a good chocolate cake.  

The basic chocolate cake batter in this recipe is actually not my recipe.  My inspirational recipe was posted by a wonderful cook on LowCarbFriends forums named Gwen, known there as “The Chicken Lady” as she lives on a farm.  This cake is a testimonial to her incredible cooking skills. I love this cake and have made it more than one time now.  I can’t say that about many low-carb chocolate cakes I’ve tried.   Despite it looking sinfully rich, it was very light.   I have made no changes to her original chocolate cake recipe.  🙂

I did bake my cake in ONE 9″ round cake (wax-paper lined) cake pan that is unusually deep (2½”) and the cake rose nearly to the top!  It would bake OK in two standard shallow 9″ cake pans also, but reduce the cooking time if you make that pan change.  You’ll have more trouble slicing it into 4 layers, and might prefer to just do a two-layer final cake instead of three.  Or you could bake the cake in a wax-paper lined stew pot/Dutch oven.  That has worked for me many a time.  This dessert is not suitable until the berries rung of the Atkins OWL carb reintroduction ladder.  Due to the artificial sweeteners and dairy, this dessert is not be suitable for Paleo-Primal followers without considerable modification.

VARIATION:  Substitute raspberries for the strawberries.

This cake is fairly carb pricey, but if you can’t afford the carbs, you could cut it into 12 pieces.  That’s a wee bit better.  This should be considered a very special occasion treat because it IS so carb pricey.  Be sure if substituting other than liquid sweeteners, to add in those carbs!

CHICKEN LADY’S CHOCOLATE CAKE INGREDIENTS: 

4 c. almond flour
liquid sweetener to equal 2 c. sugar
½ c. granular erythritol (or equivalent sweetener of choice to equal 1/3 cup of sugar)
4 pkts. stevia (or equivalent for 8 tsp. sugar)  
½ c. cup cocoa powder
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/3 c. butter or coconut oil, melted
4 eggs, beaten
1 c. sour cream

MY FROSTING & FILLING INGREDIENTS:

2½ c. heavy cream, whipped

1/16-1/8 tsp. glucomannan powder, dusted over cream as you whip it (optional, to help firm up)

14 oz. frozen whole strawberries, thawed and drained of juice, chopped

1 c. fresh strawberries, chopped or 1 c. more frozen berries (or use all fresh berries)

Sweetener of choice to taste

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º.   Mix and beat the wet cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl.   If your almond flour isn’t room temperature, make it so and press out any lumps.  Measure and add in all dry ingredients to the bowl and stir well. Line your cake pan(s) with waxed paper or parchment.  Grease the sides of the pan(s) well.  Pour batter into pan spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Tap pan on counter to eliminate air pockets and pop into 350º oven.  Bake for about 60 minutes if using one, very deep pan like I did.  If using two 1″ x 9″ round cake pans, they will cook much faster, in about 25-30 minutes or so.   Toothpick test the center.  It should come out clean and dry when the the cake is done.  Completely cool before attempting to tip cake out onto a board to cut it into layers.  This cake can also be made in a rectangular 9 x 13″ pan, cut in half and each half then sliced laterally to form 4 layers (reserve 1 layer for another use as you only need 3 layers for this cake).  All sorts of possibilities with that cake size.

While cake is in the oven, make the frosting:  Whip the cream until thick.  Run the berries through a food processor (or chop coarsely) for a few seconds.  Fold the berries into the whipped cream. Dust the pinch of glucomannan powder over the mixture slowly, folding after each addition, until all of it has been incorporated.  Taste for sweetness and add your favorite sweetener to taste.  Chill frosting until cake is totally cool.

Next cut the cake layers:  I sliced the completely cooled cake very carefully with a long-bladed knife, using a piece of cardboard covered with foil to gently slide each layer onto to set aside while I filled/frosted the final creation.  This cake has a firm texture and is not as crumbly as some almond flour cakes.  All good, but you still need to be careful, as even firm cakes can break.

Place about 1¼ c. of the frosting on the bottom layer of the cake.  Spread evenly with a rubber spatula, going almost to the edges.  Place the second layer of cake gently on the top and press slightly.  Put another 1¼ c. frosting on this layer and spread it out evenly.  Place the top cake layer on the stack, press slightly and spread all remaining frosting on the top and sides. OPTIONAL GARNISH:  Decorate the top of your cake with fresh strawberry slices, a few strawberry leaves  or perhaps a sliced and “fanned out” single strawberry at the center.  Chill in the refrigerator with plastic wrap on top until ready to cut and serve.

This cake was simply DELICIOUS and I will definitely be making it again!   My thanks to The Chicken Lady for her wonderful chocolate cake recipe.  It truly made my Valentines treat a success!

CONFESSION TIME:  The reason I used both frozen and fresh berries in the topping is I only had one 14 oz. bag of the frozen diced unsweetened berries in my freezer.  I thought that would make enough frosting.  But 1½ c. cream and those berries didn’t make enough frosting to frost the sides of the cake!  So I had to whip up a little more frosting real quick with another cup of cream and berries, so the last batch of frosting had to be made with the few fresh berries I had on hand.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 10 servings, using the sweeteners specified, each serving contains:

632 cals, 57.8 g fat, 20.4 g carbs, 7.05 g fiber, 13.35 g NET CARBS, 15.2 g protein, 521 mg sodium

Almond Butter Cookies

These tasty treats come out kind of chewy and are still like that after they cool off.  I got this base batter idea from the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the Honeyvillegrain Blanched Almond flour bag.  I made some drastic changes to their basic dough, however.  They used all almond flour in their recipe and I’ve added some ingredients I find improve low-carb baked goods.  I’m very pleased with the chewy texture of these cookies and will likely use this cookie dough as a base dough for many variations in the future.  So far I have done variations with fresh cherry, pineapple and pecan, dried prune , currant-spice, pumpkin, and chia-chai .  All have been delicious.  If you’re tired of cake-y or dry/brittle cookies and are wanting a low carb cookie that is moist and chewy, this one you really need to try!  They really deliver!  They also freeze well and are even chewier when eaten right out of the freezer, if you’re into very chewy cookies!!  These are not suitable until the nuts and seeds rung of the Atkins Phase 2 OWL carb reintroduction ladder.

DO NOT SUBSTITUTE OTHER SWEETENERS FOR THE SUGAR-FREE HONEY IN THESE OR THEY WILL NOT COME OUT CHEWY!  I tried that already.  Real honey works, but will also jack up the carbs considerably!

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. almond flour

½ c. coconut flour

1 T. oat fiber (substitute gluten-free oat flour for gluten-free version)

1 tsp. glucomannan powder (konjac powder)

1/8 tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking soda

½ c. coconut oil (or softened butter)

2 T. almond butter

1 T. vanilla extract

½ c. granular Splenda

1 T. erythritol

1 egg, beaten

¼ c. sugar-free imitation honey (no substitutions, unless it’s REAL honey)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  In a large mixing bowl stir the almond butter and oil together until smooth.  Beat in the egg, vanilla and imitation honey.    Measure in all dry ingredients on top and stir well to form a smooth dough.   If your dough seems very dry or stiff (coconut flours vary), add in ½ beaten egg. Roll dough into 1″ balls and place them onto parchment lined baking sheet.  Leave 1″ space between cookies.  Press balls down slightly flat and pop pan into preheated oven.  Top with chopped, sliced almonds if desired, but this really doesn’t impact flavor, just the look.  Bake for about 7 minutes.  Do not over brown these cookies or texture will be drier and less chewy.  Remove from oven and cool on the pan a few minutes before removing with a spatula.  These are delicate while hot but “firm up” nicely when they cool. Store in an airtight container.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 28 cookies, each contains:

105.5 cals, 9.1g fat, 4.12g carbs, 2.07g fiber, 2.05g NET CARBS, 2g protein, 48.2 mg sodium

HOMEMADE IMITATION HONEY: If you really don’t feel like running to the store for ready-made sugar-free honey, but also don’t want to use all real honey because of the carbs, I have a homemade recipe you might want to try.  Boil for 2-3 minutes: ¼ c. erythritol, 2 T. + 1 tsp. real honey and 1 pkt. stevia (or Splenda).  Cool (thickens as it cools) and put in airtight jar.  Added note:  If it crystalizes over time, just soften in the microwave on DEFROST for 1  minute or plunge into a pot of slow simmering warm water a minute or so before stirring and using.

Blackberry Ice Cream

I created a delicious low-carb blackberry ice cream some time ago I think you’ll love!  Our tree trimmer doing a job for us today pointed out my wild blackberries were setting fruit (which I had not yet noticed), so I think I’ll make a batch with the bag of mixed berries in my freezer. 

I would start out with 1 cup berries and taste as you go.  They vary so much in tartness/sweetness it’s difficult to know how many to add to desserts.  The taste-as-you-go approach is safest when it comes to blackberries.  My husband ate two servings with the full 2 cups of berries, but I’ll have to back off next time, most likely.  He just loved this recipe!  He’s a real ice cream connoisseur, so I consider that compliment  🙂  This recipe is naturally not suitable until the berries rung of the Atkins Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) phase of the program.  If you don’t have the blueberry or blackberry syrup, you could sub in DaVinci Vanilla or French Vanilla and just omit the vanilla extract.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. blackberries, frozen, unsweetened (Do Not Defrost!)

1¼ c. heavy cream

1/8 tsp. vanilla

4 T. sugar-free blackberry or syrup

12-16 drops liquid Splenda (or your favorite sweetener to taste)

2 tsp. food grade glycerine (optional, but keeps it a bit softer)

¼ c. powdered erythritol  (or reduce granular to a powder in processor)

DIRECTIONS:  Place erythritol in bowl of food processor.   Add all remaining ingredients and pulse until berries are broken up and mixture is fairly smooth.  Scrape out into dishes for a soft serve gelato.  Freeze for 30 minutes for a firmer ice cream.  ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

282 calories, 27.7 g  fat, 8.25 g  carbs, 1.9 g  fiber, 6.35 g  NET CARBS, 1.98 g protein

 

Best Banana Bread

Although I’ve said many times I’m not a BIG sweets eater, my husband is.  So I bake maybe one thing a week, enjoy one serving and he eats the rest.  That’s the way it was even before I started low-carbing.  This banana bread was one of the first sweets recipes I tried in 2009 when this journey began.  It came out so good, I still make it often.  I’m going to share those dessert recipes this week that I keep coming back to……favorites.  Although not always the spectacular, showy desserts, they are the ones I bake again and again.  That says something to me.  

To give credit where it is due, the basic batter that inspired this creation was a  recipe at Sugar Free Low Carb Recipes which no longer appears to exist when I Google it.   Hmm.   Anyway, I changed it up by adding vanilla, sweetener, baking powder and glucomannan powder.  I believe the smooth texture on my result is attributable to the glucomannan and makes this the perfect foundation for a wide variety of sweet bread possibilities.  

My first experiment with this batter was this banana bread recipe.  A slice only has 3.74 g net carbs using bananas!  The texture of this batter is amazing and the bread is ever so moist.  The basic batter made with only extract as flavoring has 1.08 g. net carbs (cut into 18 slices), so conceivably you could add any variety of fruits, dried fruits, nuts and flavorings for an endless variety of breakfast/dessert sweet breads.  Be sure to recalculate to include anything  you add and recalculate your new per-serving numbers, because the numbers below only reflect the basic batter and 2 mashed bananas.  This is suitable for Atkins OWL or above and I believe for Paleo-Primal adherence as well.

This recipe appears in Vol. 5 of Jennifer Eloff’s cookbook series Low Carbing Among Friends.  These books are a compilation of fantastic recipes from well-known low-carb cooking gurus on the internet.  Even Chef George Stella has participated in Jennifer’s cookbook venture. They make a wonderful addition to any low-carb cook’s library.  You can order copies at Amazon or here: http://amongfriends.us/order.php

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 c. coconut flour

2/3 c. almond flour

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 T. glucomannan powder

1 tsp. baking powder

Sweetener equivalent for ½ c. sugar 

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

3 T. coconut oil, melted

½ tsp. vanilla

8 eggs, beaten

2 mashed bananas

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease a loaf pan with a bit of coconut oil or butter.  I use an odd-size loaf pan 4″x 2½x 10″ that allows me to get 18 smaller slices from my loaf.  Using a standard loaf pan, you may only get 9 slices and have to cut them in half to get the carb values shown below for each of my 18 slices.  Mix dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl. In a larger bowl, beat or whip all wet ingredients.  Add the dry items to the wet and whip with a whisk or electric mixer until smooth. Fold in your desired fruit, nuts or flavorings and stir well.    Spoon batter into greased pan, level with a spoon and bake at 350º for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into center comes out dry/clean.  Cool a bit, slice into 18 servings (or 9 cut in halves) and serve warm.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 18 servings, each contains: (2 bananas calculated in below, but no nuts)

141 calories, 12 g  fat, 5.61 g  carbs, 1.87 g  fiber, 3.74 g  NET CARBS, 4.24 g  protein, 90 mg sodium

Jack Snacks

I’l bet you folks just starting your low-carb diet wonder what YOU can snack on when the rest of the family is enjoying verboten foods.  Well this recipe, if you can call it a recipe, is one solution.  It’s suitable for Atkins Induction Phase, Keto diets and even Primal followers that eat occasional cheese.  Takes just minutes to make and bake!  After 14+ years running this blog, this is now my #1 recipe in popularity, having garnered well over 30,000,000 Facebook fans in 2015 alone.  That blows even my Lebanese Baked Chicken right out of the water. 🙂

If you seed the jalapeno, like I did, these are not all that hot (I don’t like real hot/spicy) for the spicy-adverse members of your household.  Leave the seeds in if you like to spice things up!  These are delicious and so low-cal/low-carb you could eat the entire batch if you were so inclined!  The hubs and I split this batch equally and we both loved these!  Now, to be quite honest, I’ve also just melted plain old pepper-jack cheese before, but these really are better for some reason.  Maybe the cheese is better; maybe the fresh pepper is just better.  All I know is these are much better than just melting pepperjack cheese!  🙂  Some have asked, and if you try to save some and reheat, you better really watch them closely, as they are inclined to burn when reheated.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1 medium fresh jalapeno, sliced real thin

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Place a sheet of parchment paper on a metal cookie sheet.  DO NOT use a silicone/silpat sheet, waxed paper or foil (unless it’s the special non-stick foil) to bake these or they will not cook properly.  Using a tablespoon, scoop up 1 T. of cheese and make a small pile on the parchment.  Press it slightly flat.  Repeat 15 more times. Place a slice of jalapeno on top of each pile.  Pop into 350º oven for about 10-12 minutes.  I would recommend browning them a wee bit more than shown in the photo for a firmer snack to serve at parties.  These are somewhat pliable if under browned. Allow them to completely cool and fully firm up before removing from the pan for best results. 🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 16, each contains:

25.5 cals, 2.13 g fat, 0.10g carbs, 0.02g fiber, 0.08g NET CARBS, 1.63g protein, 60 mg sodium

Einkorn Sausage-Cheese Balls

As I have mentioned before, I’m not much of a snacks eater being on a one-meal-a-day regimen these days.  But when I do want a snack, it must be easily prepared with always-on-hand ingredients.  I’m not making a trip to the grocery store for my snacks, in other words.

This is an ever-popular party appetizer that never goes out of favor with your guests.  I have another Sausage Cheese Ball recipe on my website that rings in at only 1 net carb per ball but I like this one a bit better because it’s a little easier to put together.  It features my convenient homemade Einkorn Low-Carb Bake Mix (similar to Bisquick and Carbquik).  Even with the bake mix, these only have 1.76 net carbs per ball!  Not bad for the convenience of just 3 ingredients.   These are not suitable until the grains rung of the carb re-introduction ladder of Atkins Phase 2 OWL.  They are OK for Keto diets if you can fit them into your daily carb limits.

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. breakfast sausage (I used my homemade breakfast sausage recipe)

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

2 c. my Einkorn Bake Mix  (For gluten-free version, use Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix or another GF mix of your choice)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º. Mix the above ingredients in a medium bowl with your hands as you would a meatloaf mixture.  When thoroughly blended, form into 30 1″ balls and place on non-stick baking sheet or one lined with parchment or silicone sheet for ease of clean-up. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove to paper towels to drain off any excess grease (mine had none actually).  Serve warm and ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 30  1″ balls, each sausage ball contains:

95 calories, 7.81 g  fat, 2.4 g  carbs, 0.64 g fiber, 1.76 g  NET CARBS, 4.82 g  protein, 81 mg sodium

Flax Crackers

My very first low-carb crackers.  Flax itself carries a sodium load and I rarely have to add salt to anything made with flax.  Texture on these is very good:  brittle, crunchy and crisp, especially the browner crackers that bake around the outer edges of the pan. But even those in the center of the pan were pretty crisp.

Each time I bake these, I try some new seasoning in them.  I think rosemary/onion may be my favorite.  Those are so good!  I’m very pleased these will stay crisp all week long just in a ziploc bag on the counter!  Re-toast them a bit in the oven if yours do not stay crisp.  

The ratio of flax and almond meal in these is JUST RIGHT!  This is my go-to cracker recipe when I’m really watching carbs tightly.  My non-low-carb husband likes these as well!  These crackers, excellent with cheese, butter, soup or whatever, are suitable most Keto plans, Paleo, Primal and of course, Atkins followers, once you reach the OWL (on-going Weight Loss) phase ‘nuts and seeds’ reintroduction level.

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. almond flour

1 c. flax meal (I use a 50:50 mixture of dark and golden)

2 tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. optional seasoning of your choice (see ideas below)

2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 eggs, beaten (or 3 egg whites if you prefer a crisper cracker)

VARIATIONS:  Any herb(s) you like along with onion and garlic powder, any combination of grated cheeses with or without onion/garlic powders, rosemary and onion powder, coarse black pepper, Everything Bagel spice, sliced toasted shallots, just onion powder, just garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne, onion powder and smoky chipotle powder, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Cajun seasoning.  Get creative!    

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a sided sheet pan with parchment.  Mine is 11½ x 17″.  Measure all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  With a fork, beat in the two eggs and olive oil until the mixture is moist throughout.  Crumble the dough evenly over the parchment lined pan.  Then, using plastic gloves or baggies on your hands press the dough evenly into the pan, trying to achieve the same thickness throughout.  If you have a straight sided glass, you can even roll the dough out for a smoother surface, but this isn’t really necessary.  This will take you a few minutes. Score into 48 crackers (8 x 6) with a straight edge knife.  Pop into preheated oven and bake for 15-16 minutes.  They will brown around the edges of the pan faster and you may have to remove outer crackers as they bake.  Don’t over brown as flax products can get a burned taste real fast if over-browned.  Cool and break apart along score lines.  When thoroughly cool, store in ziploc plastic bag at room temperature in your pantry.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 48 crackers, each cracker contains:

33.2 cals, 2.84 g fat, 1.37 g carbs, 0.93 g fiber, 0.44 g NET CARBS, 1.1 g protein, 15.2 mg sodium

Black Pepper Crackers

Early on in my low-carb journey I came across a pizza crust by Brittany Angell on RealSustenance.com that intrigued me.   Her sight and domain appear to have since shut down.  After making her recipe, I decided it was more cracker like than pizza dough like.  It was too thin and brittle for my taste……….definitely more like a cracker.   I adapted the pizza crust recipe to create what has become the BEST cracker recipe for me in my 14+ years of low-carbing.  I’m making crackers today, so I thought I’d share it with my readers once again.

This cracker is so good, I’ve now made this recipe probably 50 times or more in 14 years.  Since the predominant flavor is black pepper, I’m going to change their name to Black Pepper Crackers now.   These are delicious by themselves, with butter, toppings, dips or cheese!  Even my non-low-carb husband likes these!  I think the crisping magic here are the arrowroot and oat fiber, so I don’t recommend omitting or substituting for those two ingredients lest you end up with a totally different textured cracker than mine.

Let me say up front, my method for making the crackers does not read at all like the original recipe, but it sure produces a crisp cracker that STAYS crisp for days and days!   I changed amounts of come ingredients, added a couple things and definitely spiced them up a bit!  Those changes and additions are noted below in blue, including the oven temperature.  I also added a bit of oat fiber for a flour-y flavor, crunch and fiber.

This recipe is not suitable for Induction due to the oat fiber and arrowroot flour.  It isn’t suitable for Primal-Paleo unless you omit the oat fiber and cheese.  This is a really BIG recipe that makes two full sheet pans of 48 crackers each.  Half the recipe if you do not want that many (tasting them will change your mind next time 🙂 ).  That said, they do keep well and stay crisp in a loose-lidded ceramic canister on my counter for 2 weeks or so.  That’s much better than any of my other cracker recipes keep for me.

You can also make round crackers that are slightly thicker but just as crisp (a bit more trouble & time consuming).  Using 1 level tsp. dough per round cracker, I only got 66 round crackers.  I show numbers below for the round version also.

Round version made in silicone muffin molds/liners

VARIATION:   Omit the black pepper and add 1-2 T. of my 8-Seed Spice blend instead.

INGREDIENTS:

3 c. lightly packed almond flour (weighed out it was 11 oz. (311.8 grams)

4 T. arrowroot flour/powder

2/3 c. flax meal (I use a 50:50 mix of dark & golden)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sea salt

1 T. onion powder

2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

2 T. oat fiber  (omit for gluten-free version)

¼ c. grated Parmesan Cheese

3/4 c. warm tap water

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:  Line two large sheet pans (mine are 11½ x 17) with parchment.  I use plastic gloves to press crackers into my pans, or sometimes I cut a third piece or parchment, lay it on top and roll out the dough that way, using my gloved fingers to finish off the edges evenly.  The key is to get the cracker dough thin and even in the pan.  Thicker areas  don’t cook well; thinner areas will burn quickly.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Stir the warm water and olive oil together in a small glass to mix well.  Measure out all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.   Stir well with a fork.  Add the water-oil mixture to the dry ingredients and blend with the fork to form a solid ball of dough.  I form the dough right in the bowl into in a log shape and cut in half to divide it equally.  Crumble half the mixture onto each parchment-lined pan.  Roll the dough or, wearing plastic gloves, press the dough in the first pan evenly and all the way to the edges.  It will be very thin, and I always think it isn’t going to make it, but half the dough WILL reach the edge of the pan.  I like to roll the surface with a straight-sided glass I own.  If rolling with a rolling pin or straight glass, cover crumbles with parchment and roll as evenly as possible all the way to the edges of the pan.  You’ll likely have to finish the edges with your fingers (use a piece of plastic wrap if need be).  With a large chef’s knife, score the rolled dough into rows of crackers 6 x 8 (48 crackers).  Repeat this process with the second pan of crackers.

Although a lot more trouble and time-consuming, to make round crackers for parties, I use silicone muffin pans or silicone cupcake liners.  You can also use paper liners in a metal muffin pan.  Measure 1 level teaspoon of dough into each mold and press down evenly with a your fingers (I use plastic glove to do this to avoid dough sticking to me). Set silicone muffin pans and/or molds onto metal sheet pans for support. Pop the pans into the preheated 350º oven and bake for for about 20-22 minutes.  Ovens vary, so start watching them at 18 minutes.  Do not over brown!  I recommend removing those around the edges as soon as they begin to brown and those on the outside are inclined to burn. When all have browned, remove, cool 1-2 minutes, re-score with the chef’s knife and then let them cool completely before eating.  These are not tasty hot in my opinion.  The flavor develops when they have cooled.

Break apart and enjoy plain, with butter, cheese spreads (I’m addicted to them with chive & onion cream cheese) or your favorite hard cheeses or salami!  Store remainders in a plastic zip bag or any canister of your choosing.  I just use a ceramic cookie jar on my counter.  These stay crisp for around 2 weeks.  Mine get eaten within 2 weeks, so I honestly don’t know if they would keep longer or not.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 96 square crackers, each cracker contains:

28.4 calories, 2.38 g  fat, 1.32 g  carbs, 0.68 g  fiber, 0.64 g  NET CARBS, 0.97 g  protein, 37 mg sodium

NOTE:  If you make round crackers pressed into silicone muffin molds/cups you will only get 66 crackers, using 1 level tsp. dough per cracker.  Each round crackers will contain 41.3 calories, 3.46 g  fat, 1.91 g  carbs, 0.98 g  fiber, 0.93 g  net carbs, 1.41 g protein and 54 mg sodium

Chipotle-Lime “Sweet Potatoes”

I clipped a recipe out of the Houston Post many years ago, but I have low-carbed it using pumpkin and subbing in maple extract for the brown sugar in the original recipe, so that I can now have these as often as I wish.  I was not very fond of sweet potatoes when I was growing up.  Everyone puts orange juice and orange peel in them and I just didn’t like that flavor combination much.  I ate them only baked into pies, cakes and muffins.  But ever since finding this particular recipe, I just love them and can’t get enough of these!  I bake this recipe OFTEN, and with a wide variety of meats and seafood!

This is NOT your granny’s sweet potatoes!  Chipotle peppers are highly smoked jalapenos and taste nothing like green jalapeno peppers, in my opinion.  They, in combination with the lime zest, add a most unique “twist” to the ever-popular vegetable during the holidays. 

My brother was an Executive Chef at one time and just raved about this dish when I served it to him!  He went on to serve it often to his own dinner guests in Seattle, where he lived, saying he always got the same reaction about this dish.  FANTASTIC!  It has become tradition in our house at the holidays when fresh pumpkin is so plentiful.  When I can’t get fresh pumpkin, I have been known to use butternut squash in this recipe in a pinch, but in all honesty, it’s not quite as good.  This recipe does not work well with acorn squash, as I tried that one time and didn’t care for it at all.

I find this dish is particularly tasty with baked, fried or grilled seafood, grilled meat, especially wild game, Texas BBQ and of course that Christmas or Thanksgiving turkey or ham.  The flavor combination of lime, smoky chipotles and maple extract (¼ c. very high carb packed brown sugar in the original recipe) is a real winner!  To make this dish Atkins Induction acceptable, I have substituted 100% fresh cooked pumpkin flesh for the sweet potatoes.  Could hardly tell a difference, other than the color is more golden than orange, thus the addition of red food coloring to correct color aesthetics.  Absolutely DO NOT SUBSTITUTE CANNED PUMPKIN or you are going to be extremely disappointed.  Just not the same dish.  Once you reach the starchy veggie rung of OWL and can afford a few more carbs,  I would recommend using just 1½ lb. pumpkin and adding 1 lb. cooked, mashed sweet potato (2 medium) for both flavor, color and a much creamier texture.  You will of course need to adjust nutritional info if you make that change as my numbers are for pumpkin only.

This dish does not freeze well with pumpkin in it (the original with real sweet potatoes froze very nicely).  As a matter of fact, in my opinion, pumpkin flesh does not freeze well in many dishes, as its water separates out in the bottom of your baking pan upon thawing.  That can really ruin the texture and appearance of some dishes for me.  No matter if you try to drain that water off, it just seems to keep bleeding out more water!  Totally spoils it for me, so I never freeze pumpkin, EVER. Pumpkin baked goods, on the other hand, freeze beautifully.  Go figure!

This recipe appears in Vol. 1 of Jennifer Eloff’s latest cookbook series, LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS.   I hope you’ll click the link to their Facebook page and take a look at a sampling of the recipes that await you in these cookbooks.  Any hostess would be proud to serve the recipes shared by these very talented chefs…..some of the best on the web, including George Stella!  You can order the entire set or individual volumes at Amazon or here:  http://amongfriends.us/order.php

INGREDIENTS:

2½ lb. cooked fresh pumpkin (DO NOT USE CANNED PUMPKIN)

½ c. heavy cream

4 T. butter

¼ tsp. salt

2 T. fresh lime juice

zest of 1 large lime (2 if they are small)

½ c. granular Splenda

1 tsp. maple extract (or 2 T. sugar-free maple syrup)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1-2 chipotle peppers (canned, in adobo sauce) seeded, rinsed & chopped

few drops red food coloring to achieve orange color of sweet potatoes (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Remove stem and cut a small 4-4½ lb. pumpkin in half.  Remove seeds (you can roast them for snacks) and turn cut side down into baking pan.  Fill pan with 1″ water and bake pumpkin at 350º until tender when fork is stuck into it (about 45 minutes).  Remove and cool enough to handle.  Scoop/scrape  the pumpkin flesh out of skin/shell and weigh. Should yield about 2-2½ lb. flesh.  (freeze any overage for future use).  Whip pumpkin with electric mixer or food processor to get it as smooth as possible.  Add all remaining ingredients except chipotle peppers. For the holidays or very special occasions, I will bake 2 medium sweet potatoes, scoop out flesh, mash and add also for richer flavor, but I don’t do this for everyday consumption as it ups the carbs.  I have not included the sweet potatoes in the numbers below.

These little chipotle peppers (smoked jalapenos) are very HOT, so special handling is recommended.  Either wear plastic gloves (homemade  “sandwich bag gloves” will do) or be sure you wash your hands well after handling.  Take 1 chipotle pepper (about 1½” long) out of the can.  Rinse, and remove seeds and ribs with a knife.  Finely mash/chop the pepper almost into a puree on a flat wooden board.  Add to pumpkin mixture, stir well and taste to see if this is hot enough for you.  You don’t want to get this dish too hot, but a little tingle on the tongue is what you’re looking for.

If you want even more smoky taste or a hotter dish, carefully repeat, adding only ½ pepper at a time, re-tasting after each addition.   If you add pepper in stages like this, you won’t ever ruin the whole batch getting it too hot (I did one time).  Never forget that not everyone at your dinner table or social occasion will like things as hot/spicy as you may.

Stir well and pour into buttered ceramic/glass baking dish.  Sprinkle with a dash more cinnamon and bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  8 Servings, each contains: (does not include sweet potatoes added on special occasions)

114 cals, 7.6g fat. 12g carbs, 4g fiber, 8g net carbs, 2 g  protein, 121 mg. sodium

Green Bean Casserole

This is as close to the classic, ever-popular holiday green bean casserole as I’ve been able to achieve as a low-carb alternative.  My husband liked it so much, he said “This one is your best version of this to date!” and dipped up seconds.   So I’ll be making this version from now on, it would appear.

I owe many thanks to Jennifer Eloff for her inspirational recipe:  Casserole Topping, to which I made a few additions.  I finally got around to trying it, Jen, and it really does work with cheese and bake mix!  I had visions of it sinking down into the bean mixture during baking, but it didn’t sink at all!  I added even more crunch with the addition of crushed pork rinds, which I couldn’t taste as such in the final dish.  🙂

I also used her Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup for this dish, which I adore for so many things.  If you haven’t tried it yet, you simply MUST!    This delicious recipe is not suitable until you have gotten to Atkins Pre-Maintenance or Maintenance because of the grain in the bake mix.  Sub in coconut flour in the mix if you avoid grains.

INGREDIENTS:

3 c. frozen green beans, regular or French style

½ recipe Jennifer Eloff’s low-carb  Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

1  can (6-oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained (about ½ c.)

Dab olive oil to grease dish

1 recipe crumble topping (see below)

CRUMBLE TOPPING:

½ c. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1/3 c. Jennifer Eloff’s Splendid Low Carb Bake Mix

2 T. cold unsalted butter

10 medium pork rinds

1 T. toasted, dehydrated (or fresh) shallots (or red onion)

¼ tsp. my Cajun Seafood Spice Blend

1 T. hemp hearts (optional, adds a nutty flavor)

DIRECTIONS: Lightly oil a 2-qt. baking dish.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Place defrosted beans (uncooked), soup and mushrooms in a large bowl and toss well to coat.  Scrape the mixture into your lightly oiled baking dish.

To make topping, toss all ingredients but shallots or red onion into a food processor or blender and pulse a few times to make a crumbly mixture.  Sprinkle topping over the green bean mixture.  Sprinkle over shallots/onion and pop into 350º oven for about 20 minutes for French-style beans, 30 minutes for regular cut beans until golden brown on top.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 5 servings, each contains:

237 cals, 18.3g fat, 9.52g carbs, 3.32g fiber, 6.2g NET CARBS, 10.3g protein, 294 mg sodium

Smoked Gouda Cauliflower

I thought I’d focus on holiday vegetable recipes today to wrap up my “it’s-not-a-boring-diet ” recipe extravaganza.  This recipe has proven to be one of the most popular ones on my website.  It was a real hit with my brother, at one time an executive chef at Top-of-the-Mark in San Francisco.  My husband just loves it!  It also has hundreds of thousands of fans on Facebook (I used to post there) so I thought I should definitely include it today.  It’s one of my all-time favorite cauliflower creation! 

Smoked Gouda doesn’t melt in dry heat easily, but if shredded, it usually melts acceptable when surrounded by moist heat, above and below.  In this dish, it takes an ordinary cheesy cauliflower casserole and transforms it into the sublime.  The Smoked Gouda truly sets this one apart from all the other cauliflower casseroles you have tasted.  It’s Atkins Induction friendly, too! 

I buy my Smoked Gouda at Sam’s Club and have discovered, not all stores carry quality Smoked Gouda.  The brand I bought in San Antonio at my mother’s grocery store was just awful….totally tasteless. This recipe appears in Volume 1 of Low Carbing Among Friends by best-selling author Jennifer Eloff and other talented chefs, including George Stella!  There are 5 volumes already released and two more due out soon!  More info on their Facebook page linked above.   You can order our cookbooks here or at Amazon.com.  These cookbooks are filled with easy, gluten-free, tasty low-carb creations by a group of very creative cooks. You’re going to WANT your very own set of these cookbooks, folks.  They are currently on sale at the lowest price ever, so get yours TODAY!

INGREDIENTS: 1 medium-large head cauliflower

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 oz. smoked Gouda cheese, grated or shredded

¼ tsp. coarse black pepper

chopped chives or green onion to garnish

DIRECTIONS: Cut up cauliflower into manageable pieces and boil or steam until tender.  Drain off any water and mash the chunks up slightly with a fork (do not puree, however).   Stir in softened cream cheese until it is melted and blended well.  Grease glass casserole dish and spoon half the cauliflower mixture in.  Sprinkle with half the grated smoked Gouda (I do not recommend using slices for this.  Grate it to facilitate melting).  Spoon remaining cauliflower into dish and top with rest of Gouda cheese.   Sprinkle with just a dash of salt and pepper if desired, but cheese has a lot of sodium.  If you are sodium sensitive, I wouldn’t add ANY salt.   Sometimes I add some chopped chives or green onion to the top, but this is not in the nutritional info below.  Bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Serves 6, each serving contains:  (you may get 8 servings, lowering carbs even more)

190 cals, 15.22g fat, 6.17g carbs, 2.4g fiber, 3.77g NET CARBS, 8.77g protein, 312 mg  sodium

Spaghetti Squash Parmesan with Bacon

This side dish is simply delicious, considering how little is in it!  The bacon and onion really GO together in this one!  It’s so good it had over 200,000 Facebook fans over time back in the day I posted there.  If you don’t overcook the squash and are careful when removing the threads, you can serve this right in the shell for its own “bowl” for festive occasions!   One reader suggests roasting the squash traditionally in the oven for added flavor if you have the time.  This one is definitely a must try.  This is suitable for all phases of Atkins and other Keto diets.

INGREDIENTS:

½ large spaghetti squash (yields about 4-5 c.)

4 slices bacon, chopped fine

3 oz. chopped onion

1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Dash salt

¼ tsp. pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Cut a large spaghetti squash in half.  Remove seeds with a spoon and discard them. Place one half of the squash face down in glass baking dish, reserving the second half for some other use.  Surround with with ½” water and microwave 13-15 minutes.  Drain off water, invert, remove/discard seeds (or feed to the birds in your yard 🙂 ) and fork out the threads into the same dish.  If you prefer to roast your squash:  after you cut and seed the squash, add 2 cups water (1/2 inch deep) to a ceramic casserole dish; add squash face up and place in a 375º F oven for 45 minutes.  Then cover for 10 minutes with foil.  Fork out the threads onto a plate. Meanwhile, in a non-stick skillet, brown bacon bits and onion until bacon is done and onion is tender.   Sprinkle salt, pepper and Parmesan on top of squash.  Then spoon into the empty squash shell.  Spread onion/bacon mixture evenly on top.  Microwave 5 minutes on high, or bake in oven at 350º for 20 more minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION: Makes 4 servings each containing:

107 cals, 6.7 g fat, 4.8 g carbs, 0.8 g fiber, 4 g NET CARBS, 7.1 g protein, 429 mg sodium

Broccoli and Mushrooms

Broccoli and mushrooms just seem to go together for me.  Love that combination flavor.  This particular creation is a variation on a theme:  a broccoli dip a friend of many years served at get togethers.  When making the dip, I use chopped broccoli as fine as she chopped hers.  For this side dish, I leave it in small flowerets.   There was no cheese in her dip, just the mushroom soup.  Mine instead is made with a delicious homemade low-carb version of the canned classic condensed mushroom soup.  It came out delicious!  Just as good as her dip, maybe even better with my addition of cheese!  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets but not acceptable for Primal or Paleo.

VARIATIONS:  Add 1 c. cooked leftover chicken or 1 cup cooked shrimp for a complete meal.  Substitute fresh or cooked frozen green beans for the broccoli.  Use Smoked Gouda cheese instead of the Monterey Jack.

INGREDIENTS:

½ bunch broccoli, stems and flowerets cut into medium chunks (about 3 cups)

1 oz. onion, chopped

6 large mushrooms, sliced (or a 4-oz can sliced mushrooms, drained)

1 T. olive oil

½ recipe Jennifer Eloff’s low-carb Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

½ c. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

¼ c. heavy cream

Dash black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Lightly grease a medium casserole or vegetable dish and set aside. Make a recipe of the mushroom soup.  You will only use half of it for this recipe.  The remaining soup should be reserved for some other use.  It will keep a week in the refrigerator.  Chop and steam the broccoli over water or in your microwave just until tender crisp.  Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet and brown the onion and mushrooms until nearly tender.   Turn off heat.    Toss the broccoli into the skillet and toss lightly.  Stir the cream into the soup mixture and blend well.   Spoon it over the broccoli-mushroom mixture, add the cheese and stir gently with a spoon to mix. Sprinkle with black pepper and bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 4 servings, each contains: (does not include optional meat)

215.5 cals, 18.35g fat, 7g carbs, 2.22g fiber, 4.78g NET CARBS, 6.45g protein, 348 mg sodium

Spicy Zucchini Cakes

Sometimes I like to turn my vegetables into croquettes!  That way I can introduce whatever seasonings into the mixture I want before searing them off to create a flavorful browned surface.  I created these with zucchini, but have done similar things with broccoli.  I have even made croquettes of my calabacita recipe (omitting the cheese).   Anything I think I can form into the right thickness of batter, well it’s highly likely I’ve tried to turn it into croquettes over the years.  What can I say?  I love fried food like so many of us do.  🙂

I created these to serve with baked ham, but have since learned they are pretty good with all meats.   I even varied these once for a complete lunch. by adding 2 oz. tuna to them (which was quite good).  These are so delicious for so little effort and ready in no time!  This would therefore be a good recipe for your busy week nights.  Over 100,000 people on Facebook thought so when I posted this recipe debuted there on our ‘Low Carbing Among Friends’ page.

These lovelies are not suitable for Atkins Induction unless you use an Induction-friendly One Minute Muffin for the breadcrumbs instead of the biscuit listed.  They are a go for Keto, Paleo and Primal eating plans if you use plan-suitable bread and skip the hot sauce (use more cayenne instead).

INGREDIENTS: 

15 oz. grated zucchini (3 small zucchini)

1½ oz. onion, grated fine

2 eggs, beaten

1 plan suitable biscuit or piece of bread, crumbled (or ½ c. crushed pork rinds)

Dash of salt

Dash each black pepper and cayenne pepper

2 tsp. Sriracha chile sauce (or plan-suitable hot sauce)

1 T. oil of your choice

DIRECTIONS:  Grate the zucchini over a clean kitchen towel.  Lightly salt with the dash of salt and let it sit there while you work.  The salt will draw out the water from the zucchini while you are mixing everything else.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs.  Grate the onion into the eggs and add the black pepper, Sriracha sauce and bread crumbs (or crushed pork rinds, if using).    Stir to mix well.

Roll the zucchini in the towel so you can wring/squeeze out any remaining water over your sink.  Open towel over the bowl and scrape the zucchini into the egg mixture.  Stir well with a spoon.

Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet over high heat.  Using a ¼-cup as a scooper, scoop ¼ cup mixture into the hot oil and let it spread a bit so it is flat.  Cook until first side is golden brown.  Do not disturb these excessively as they are cooking.  When the first side is brown, flip with a spatula and cook the other side to a golden brown.  Remove to a paper towel to drain excess grease.  Transfer to serving platter and serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 9 cakes, each contains: (will vary slightly with your choice of bread or crumbs)

68.4 cals, 5.46 g fat, 2.58 g carbs, 0.78 g fiber, 1.8 g NET CARBS, 3.55 g protein, 70 mg sodium

Okra Fritters

Sometimes I’m too lazy to cook individual coated and fried okra.  I find fritters so much easier.  This little experiment came out quite tasty!  In fact, they are so good, I had trouble stopping eating them.  No matter how low the carbs, too many will still do you in.  Just being honest, letting you know portion control on these is difficult.

This recipe, however, is not suitable until you reach the grains rung of the Phase 2 OWL (Ongoing Weight Loss) carb re-introduction ladder.  Those still on Induction might try subbing flax meal for the bake mixes and then it would be suitable for Induction.  I RARELY deep fry (mostly oven fry now), as I don’t like using oil this way, but I will occasionally make these when I get a craving for them.

My Oven-Fried Okra is good, but just not as easy as making these little lovelies.  🙂  If you prefer, you can use all CarbQuik or all Jennifer’s bake mix.  Your call on that one.  I just like the synergy the two mixes combined bring to the final result.

You can have many more tasty low-carb recipes like this one at your fingertips with your very own copy of the team’s cookbooks.  See a sampling of the recipes in store for you: LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS.  Order any of our cookbooks at Amazon or here: http://amongfriends.us/order.php

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. frozen sliced okra, coarsely chopped even smaller

2 oz. onion, finely minced

1 T. Jennifer Eloff’s Gluten-Free Bake Mix

1 T. CarbQuik bake mix (or 1 T. more Jen Eloff’s GF bake mix for gluten-free version)

1 egg

2 T. heavy cream

Pinch each of salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper

2 c. frying oil of your choice

DIRECTIONS:   Thaw, drain, and chop okra.  Place in mixing bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and stir well.  Heat oil to VERY hot and drop batter by soup spoons into fat.  Allow to fully brown before attempting to flip to second side or these will fall apart on you.  When both sides are nicely browned, remove and drain on paper towels.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes twelve 2″ fritters, each contains:

25 cals, 1.67 g fat, 2.09 g carbs, 0.73 g fiber, 1.36g NET CARBS, 1.34 g protein, 24 mg sodium

Oven-Fried Summer Squash

This dish has become one of the most popular recipes on my website with over 100,000 fans now.  It is super easy to make and super good!  We Americans just seem to love fried foods……the crunchier the better.  I think that love affair started out with onion rings and just evolved into a “frying makes everything better” craze.

My recipe here requires no standing over a skillet of hot, popping grease either!  This came out so good, it was impossible to refrain from seconds!  🙂  This recipe works with yellow squash, Italian zucchini or the Mexican calaba squash that looks like a paler green zucchini.  Some call it Mexican zucchini.  Calaba has less water content than its darker green “cousin” and is very nice for baking because of this quality.  The flesh inside is a yellower color than Italian zucchini, but I don’t detect the flavor different from the darker green variety of zucchini.  The inside gets fully cooked in 20 minutes without par-boiling first.

The pork rinds make this crunchy on the outside and will sure “scratch that itch” for crunchy food.  This dish is Atkins Induction friendly.  It’s nice to know that I have tested this coating on a variety of other vegetables as well:  eggplant, okra, onion rings and even chicken fried steak!  Put your experimenting hat on and have fun!

DO NOT USE A SILICONE SHEET OR PARCHMENT when baking this squash or it will get soggy and sweat on the bottom (I already tried that out.).  Bake these slices directly on non-stick or lightly oiled metal pan. 

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz. zucchini, calaba (its cousin) or yellow squash

2 oz. pork rinds, plain, finely crushed

1/3 tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend

6 T. my Homemade Mayonnaise

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 450º.  Crush rinds and add spice blend on a paper plate or saucer and mix well.  Dip out mayo onto another paper plate or saucer.  Cut stems and bottom tip off squash and cut into ¼” slices lengthwise.  Lay the squash slices on paper towels.  After 15 minutes or so, blot off all water they bleed with dry paper towels. When they are no longer bleeding their water, holding the very tip of each piece with one  hand, with a basting brush in your other hand, baste both sides of the squash slices with a coating of mayo.  Set brush down and  with your now free hand, sprinkle rinds on both sides of the squash and then place on a non-stick sheet pan.  Repeat for each piece.  I’ll tell ya up front, if you just dip these babies down into the rinds, more will stick on, but you ARE going to run out of rinds before you’ve coated all the squash.  Been there; done that;  🙂   So trust me on this one…….just sprinkle it onto each side, letting the excess fall back into the plate and you should have enough for the entire batch.  Place each coated piece of squash on a lightly oiled metal pan. Pop into a 450º oven for 20 minutes or until nice and brown.  No need to turn during baking as the bottoms get nicely browned where they touch the pan. ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

245.3 cals, 21.3g fat, 4.18g carbs, 1.25g fiber, 2.93g NET CARBS, 10.8g protein, 250 mg. sodium

Einkorn Fluffy Cheddar Biscuits

As a southern girl, I’ve always thought of biscuits as a breakfast food………..that is until I ate at my first Red Lobster restaurant, that is.  They have turned the biscuit notion upside down on its head with their melt-in-your-mouth Cheddar Bay Biscuits®.  These cheddar-filled biscuits are incredibly light, fluffy and ALMOST as melt-in-your-mouth.  Although not quite as good as their famous cousin, they are a very good imitation in my opinion! 

I have slightly changed these since originally publishing, to replace CarbQuik with Einkorn flour.  This change is an incredible improvement.  They were not gluten-free before; they are still not gluten-free.  But they are plenty rich, and buttery in their own right……..so much so, they don’t NEED butter!  They are not the slightest bit dense, crumbly or dry like so many low-carb biscuits.  And they are just cheesy enough to remind me of Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits® in taste, especially with the optional butter/herb topping.  These are not suitable until the grains rung of OWL due to the bake mixes.  These kept just fine in plastic in the fridge for a week.  Rewarm at 300º, slice and add a patty of cooked sausage sandwiched in them for wonderful Sausage Cheese Biscuits!  That is sheer heaven for me!  🙂

INGREDIENTS: 

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 eggs, beaten

½ c. Jennifer Eloff Gluten-Free bake mix

¼ c.+2T. Einkorn all-purpose flour (substitute more of Jennifer’s bake mix for 100% gluten free version)

1 T. Parmesan cheese

1 c. grated Cheddar cheese

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

pinch garlic or onion powder

1 T. melted butter to baste tops (optional)

Light sprinkle of garlic powder and Italian seasonings for a Cheddar Bay Biscuit stand-in!  (optional)  

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.   Soften cream cheese in a mixing bowl.  Add and beat in the dry ingredients.  Add beaten eggs and stir well.  Add grated cheeses.  Stir again to blend.  Spoon out onto greased or non-stick pans into 10 equal mounds.  If you want the small, tall shape of Red Lobster’s biscuits, bake in 10 regular size muffin cups.  These will spread a bit during cooking, but this makes them suitable for sandwich bun use as well.  Bake at 350º for about 13-14 minutes or until browned to your liking.  Do not over brown or they will dry out.   At 10 minutes cooking, baste with 1 T. melted butter.  If you want to be flavored like those at Red Lobster, add a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.  Finish cooking 2-4 minutes.  Enjoy!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 10, each contains (does not include butter/herb topping):

150 cals, 11.7g fat, 5.5g carbs, 3g fiber, 2.5g NET CARBS, 6.4g protein, 211 mg sodium

 

ALL-STAR RECIPES, Biscuits, BREAD, EINKORN FLOUR RECIPES, EINKORN FLOUR RECIPES

Einkorn RWS Biscuits

I just whipped up a batch of these this morning.  They’re my go-to recipe now.  These biscuits are the ones I’m most proud of in 14 years of low-carb biscuit experimentation.  Being a southern girl, I just have to have some good biscuits a couple times a month.  My trials of low-carb biscuit recipes I found around the internet have so often come out overly dry, hard as a rock, crumbled up on my plate, tasted like baking powder, were too cheesy, too coconut tasting…….in other words, disappointing.

Well, I finally achieved a biscuit that even my husband says tastes and has the mouthfeel of a real flour biscuit.  Soft, and with no funny tastes.  🙂   One added note:  using mozzarella in lieu of the Monterey Jack cheese in these will make the cheese flavor come through more, just to let you know.  I definitely prefer the jack cheese taste here as it is more neutral tasting.    

Einkorn flour is ground from an ancient strain of wheat that is not genetically modified like most modern wheat.  I think the Einkorn and the Resistant Wheat Starch (RWS) are what make this recipe stand out amongst all my others.  I order my RWS from Netrition.com and the Einkorn flour direct from Jovial Foods website.  These biscuits are not suitable until you near goal weight as there is real flour in them, so wait until Pre-Maintenance phase of Atkins to enjoy these.  

If you prefer not eating wheat at all, you will want to try instead my Peggy’s Fluffy Biscuits.  

INGREDIENTS:  (all available at Netrition.com and elsewhere on the internet)

2 c. my homemade Einkorn Bake Mix

½ c. Monterey Jack Cheese (or mozzarella), shredded

2 large eggs, beaten

4 T. resistant wheat starch (or ¼ c. more bake mix if unavailable)

¼ c. cream (or milk)

about ¼ c. water, added last and slowly

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Place parchment or a silicone sheet on 13×15 baking pan and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, measure out 2 c. my bake mix.  Though it helps to let the mix come to room temp, you still need to rework shortening lumps with a fork until the mix is again the texture of cornmeal.  Add all remaining ingredients but the water and stir well.  Add water slowly but only enough to form a thick dough.  Let dough sit on counter 2-3 minutes to set up a bit. 

Dip up 7 equal portions (about ½ c. batter each).  With floured hands, form into balls and set them on pan spaced evenly.  Slightly press to a height of 1″  (will be around 2″ diameter).  Pop pan into 350º oven for 15-17 minutes or until dry to touch in center and lightly browned on surface.  These rise up nicely.   🙂  Serve hot with butter and your favorite jam.  Leftovers should keep nicely for a week in your refrigerator in a zippered plastic bag or for a month in the freezer.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 7 biscuits.  Each one contains:

283 calories, 23.11 g  fat, 11.82 g  carbs,  4.62 g  fiber, 7.2 g  NET CARBS, 12.11 g  protein, 190 mg sodium

Fluffy Biscuits

These are one of the lightest, fluffiest biscuits I’ve ever made!  My husband will tell you, I’ve been trying to find a good biscuit recipe for the entire time I’ve been married!!!  All were poor results for both of us.  Who would have thought the best would end up being a low-carb recipe?!  🙂  Although they don’t shine a light to those made by Frank Williamson at Galveston’s Professional Bldg. cafeteria (my benchmark of melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk biscuits).  These are pretty darn good considering their ingredients are non-traditional.

My inspiration was Jennifer Eloff’s focaccia bread recipe, which I tweaked a bit.  I just made my batter into drop biscuits and man were these ever good!  They are not suitable until the grains rung of OWL because of my CarbQuik addition.  If you use all Jennifer’s Gluten-Free bake mix they would be suitable once you get to Atkins Phase 2 OWL nuts & seeds rung of the carb re-introduction ladder.  This change would also make them gluten-free.

VARIATION:  Substitute cheddar cheese for the Parmesan & Monterey Jack cheeses, brush tops with butter and sprinkle on a pinch of garlic powder/herbs, and these transform into Red Lobster-style Cheddar Bay Biscuits!

INGREDIENTS:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

½ c. Jennifer Eloff Gluten-Free bake mix

¼ c. CarbQuik  or one of my own low-carb bake mixes (use ¼ c. more Jennifer’s mix for gluten-free)

1 T. Parmesan Cheese, grated

½ c. Monterrey Jack Cheese, grated

½ tsp. each baking powder and baking soda

dash salt

1 T. olive oil

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Soften cream cheese and beat in the eggs.  Add all remaining ingredients and beat well.  Dip onto parchment lined baking sheet, forming 9 large drop biscuits.   Pop into preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes or until nicely browned.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 9 large biscuits, each containing:

134.5 cals, 11.9 g fat, 4.04 g carbs, 2.04 g fiber, 2g NET CARBS, 7.56 g protein, 199 mg sodium

Peggy’s Original Dumplings

For those who miss Chicken and Dumplings, here ya go!  Only took me 4 years to develop these since requested of me by Dano, a member of the Atkins forums at one time! This one’s for you Dano!  Besides, I just have to have me some Chicken and Dumplings once in awhile.  It’s a Southern U.S. thing.  What can I say?  🙂

When you can’t have flour, it’s really really hard to make dumplings that will hold together during cooking. I’ve used almond flour, coconut flour, flax meal and a variety of alternate flours.  You name it and I’ve probably tried that alternate flour to make a dumpling.  This is no easy low-carb feat.  I wanted a similar taste and similar mouth feel as the dumplings I made before my low-carbing days.  All attempts thus far have been mediocre, at best.

Somewhere on the net a year or so ago, on some forum (probably Low Carb Friends, but not sure), someone mentioned they made dumplings with glucomannan powder.  Not being at all familiar with this product, I ordered some from Netrition.com and began to experiment.  Its gel-like, fibrous qualities when wet lend themselves to a dumpling, providing structure and texture.  It is also useful for thickening gravies, sauces and puddings.  I’ve even found a tad of this stuff enhances low-carb cake, cookie and bread baking results, both in volume and texture.  I’d love to give credit to my inspiration on this recipe, but I must admit I failed to write down the name of the person who’s ingenious idea this really was.  But I’m thankful they triggered off some experimentation that has paid off!

If you’re not familiar with glucomannan powder, it comes from the Konjac tuber, and is used to make shirataki noodles seen in Asian menus.   It can be used as a binding agent in some recipes.  It is virtually a zero carb food, in that the fiber content is so high, it virtually negates the few carbs it contains as fiber is indigestible and passes right out of the system with zero blood sugar impact.   Most importantly, glucomannan adds the structure and elasticity needed for dumplings and noodles.  So I began experimenting.

I’m getting more comfortable using this tricky ingredient and have finally come up with a “dumpling” that feels and almost tastes like my dumplings of old.  This will now be my go-to dumpling recipe.  As you can see in the pic above, they hold together nicely during very gentle simmering (unlike all previous attempts), and the glucomannan powder also slightly releases in to the broth to thicken it as well!  NICE!

For you “experimenters”  under no circumstances, increase the oat fiber!!  I did one time and they came out just awful, hard as a rock, plus they did not absorb any flavor from the chicken broth because of the density.  Trust me, you DON’T want to go there!  This balance of ingredients it really pretty special and all attempts to “improve” them have just not turned out as good.

The batch of Chicken and Dumplings shown above was the best batch I’ve had in 4 years!  My husband gave these dumplings two thumbs up today, and he’s pretty picky about faux foods.  They don’t have much taste, but instead pick up the flavor of whatever broth or sauce they are simmered in.  The carb count for these dumplings is simply amazing!  Guilt free dumplings at last!!

The recipe posted elsewhere on my site for chicken and dumplings is good, don’t get me wrong.  But you have to bake the rolls separately for that recipe.   With this dumpling recipe, I can stir the ingredients together, drop them into the broth, and the dumplings are simmering immediately!  Much easier!  And you regular readers know I’m really into EASY cooking.

These dumplings formed smaller work nicely in  soups and I have made them into small, oblong shapes for marvelous gnocchi served in rich cream sauces.  Some more adventurous cooks at Low Carb Friends forums are even using pasta extruders and coming up with all kinds of noodle shapes for this dough!  But I don’t own an extruder and probably wouldn’t go to that much trouble anyway.  Just being honest.  I’m a lazy cook. 🙂

These dumplings are not suitable until the grains rung of the Atkins OWL carb re-introduction ladder due to the oat fiber, but omitting it is just not an option for these to cook right.   I’m very proud to have developed a dumpling recipe that many who have tried freely admit fills void in their low-carb lifestyles.  🙂

My Lobster Linguine recipe is the first time I tried rolling and cutting it into noodles and the final dish was quite good.

This recipe isn’t 100% gluten-free due to the oat fiber, which CANNOT be omitted or subbed out with anything except perhaps my suggestion below.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1½ T. glucomannan powder (Konjac powder)

1½ T. oat fiber (For gluten-free version, try substituting oat flour ground from 100% gluten-free oats, but I’m not making any promises that will work.  It might work.    Carbs will be only a tad higher.)

1/8 tsp. salt

¼ c. +2 T. water

1 extra large or jumbo egg, beaten

VARIATION:  Add 1-2 T. finely chopped parsley to the dry ingredients

DIRECTIONS:   Beat the egg in a small bowl with a fork.  Add the water and beat until well blended.  On a paper plate or in another bowl, mix the dry ingredients well.  Slowly sprinkle the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring with a fork or whisk.  Switching to a rubber spatula, stir and begin to fold the slowly thickening mixture over and over itself until it is a contiguous batter and eventually turns into a thick, almost dry dough.  I let mine sit by the stove 2-3 minutes.  Then, using a teaspoon, dip 3/4″-1″ dollops of the dough into your palm.  This step is important:  roll them gently in your palms into a ball shape.  I set the balls on my counter or a silicone sheet until all are made.  If you just drop them directly into the broth from the spoon without rolling, they tend to fall apart in the broth during cooking.  Or using your hands, roll the dough into ropes on plastic wrap and cut into short lengths for gnocchi, if that’s your pleasure.

I recommend removing the cooked chicken and vegetables to a platter before adding the dumplings to cook.  This allows ample room for the dumplings to rise and swell up without beating each other.  Have your soup/broth boiling.  Drop the round dumplings/gnocchi into slowly simmering broth and immediately turn fire medium-low so it will only gently simmer.  This is IMPORTANT, as you don’t want to “rough up” these delicate babies.  Cover with tight lid.  From the time you cover the pot, set timer for exactly 10 minutes for dumplings (8 minutes for smaller gnocchi).   DO NOT LIFT THE LID or disturb the pot during cooking.  After 10 minutes  (8 minutes for smaller gnocchi), lift the lid and VOILA!!  They’re done!  You may have to thicken the stock further depending on your personal preference, but the dumplings themselves usually take care of thickening, as some of the glucomannan in then sloughs off into the broth, thickening it right up.   Place chicken and veggies back into pot and serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 12 medium-large 1½” dumplings (24 gnocchi), each contains:  (halve the numbers for each gnocchi)

7.17 calories, 0.49 g  fat, 1.38 g  carbs, 1.29 g  fiber, 0.1 g  NET CARBS, 0.61 g  protein, 55 mg sodium

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

 

This popular all-American sandwich everyone knows how to make already!  So why in the heck would I be posting a “recipe” for a grilled cheese sandwich!!!?  Well………………sadly, most low-carb breads (made with alternate flours) simply do not toast well.  A low-carber must resign oneself to this slowly learned fact  along their journey.  Alternate flours just won’t get (or stay) toasty!!!  I’ve tried and tried, but I, too, have not reached grilled-cheese Nirvana……………………… until now.

This bread recipe toasts better  than any other low-carb bread I’ve tried to grill/toast in many years of low-carbing and bread experiments.   Not sure which ingredient is facilitating the crisping up, but I suspect it’s the oat fiber.  Whatever, I am VERY glad  it seems to toast quite nicely.  This grilled cheese sandwich is reminiscent of the ones you grew up on.

Don’t go off on me on my nutritional numbers.  I have checked and rechecked them several times since my original posting and they ARE correct.  We just have to accept it folks, low-carb breads (and cheese) are high in fat AND calories!!  I mean it IS cheese, butter and bread, after all.  How could it NOT be high in calories?  Do the math on your preferred food tracker and you’ll see these numbers are correct.   🙂

You can bake this in any microwaveable square container.  I bake this bread in a 5″ square glass dish I bought expressly for single-slice bread baking.  I have not tried baking this bread in a conventional oven, but suspect it would need 350º for around 10-15 minutes or so to properly cook.  One recipe can be sliced laterally into two thinner slices of bread after cooling.  That is what is shown above, creating 1 sandwich. his recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets.  It is not suitable for Primal-Paleo lifestyles.

INGREDIENTS:

¼ c. + 1T. golden flax meal

1 T. butter + 1T more for grilling

2 T. sour cream

1 egg, beaten

½ tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. oat fiber (for gluten-free, must be made from 100% gluten-free oats)

Pinch salt

1 slice American Deluxe cheese

DIRECTIONS:   Melt 1 T. of the butter in microwave in a small mixing bowl.  Add beaten egg and sour cream. Add all dry ingredients and stir well.  Dip or scrape batter into a 5″ square microwaveable container and microwave on HI for 70 seconds or until dry to touch in center. Cool a minute and tip out onto cutting board.  Laterally slice as evenly as possible with a long knife.  Melt a little butter on non-stick griddle and baste one side of each slice of bread.  Place one slice on griddle, buttered side down.  Add 1 slice of your preferred cheese (I use American or Swiss) and top with second slice of bread, buttered side up.  Brown well on both sides.  The browner it is the crisper it will get.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 1 sandwich which contains:

617 cals, 56.1g fat, 17.7g carbs, 13.2g fiber, 4.5g NET CARBS, 19g protein, 756 mg sodium

Oven-Fried Fish

I hate standing over a pan of hot, popping grease to do traditional deep frying.  But I do love me some fried fish.  There’s nothing more American than a back yard fish fry!  And fund raiser Southern fish fries are always well-attended.  Served with coleslaw and cornbread or hush puppies, people just can’t resist those fund raisers.   I often serve this fish with my Curried Hush Puppies.

This has been one of the most popular recipes on my site, with hundreds of thousands of Facebook fans when I was posting there.  It’s very tasty and well worth a try if you’re a fried fish fan.  It takes the coating used on my Jicama Fries to a new level!  I haven’t found a good coating for shrimp yet, but this one is great for fish! I didn’t find it did shrimp so well the one time I tried this on shrimp. It didn’t crisp up very well on shrimp for some strange reason.  Will have to keep experimenting there.

Unlike every coating I’ve tried doing with flax meal, this recipe really came out crunchy!  Even the bottoms of the filets were crispy and browned nicely!   That is accomplished using only a metal baking sheet when oven-frying!  This coating also works well with cut-up chicken.  Best of all, this recipe is Atkins Induction friendly!

Though I mention tilapia and swai below, cod or whitefish (any mild fish) will work nicely here as well.  If you don’t want to make up the homemade mayo for this, I have, in a hurry, just used jar mayo, but it will take much more as it is thicker.   Though I have not tried it yet, it has been reported by my blog readers that this fish, when leftover, reheats nicely in the microwave and STILL STAYS CRUNCHY!   It of course, will reheat just fine in the oven or an air fryer, too.  To be quite honest, I never have any leftover to test that out.  🙂

We just LOVE fish done this way, even my husband, who is not a fried fish fan.  🙂

INGREDIENTS:

30 oz. (six 5-oz. pc.)mild fish filets (catfish, tilapia, swai, cod, whitefish, or flounder)

6 T. homemade mayo

3 oz. crushed plain pork rinds

½ tsp.  Seafood Spice Blend

1 T. olive oil

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 450º.  Rub a metal baking sheet (preferably non-stick) with olive oil.  DO NOT USE A GLASS/CERAMIC PAN OR SILICONE PAN LINER OR THESE WILL NOT BROWN PROPERLY.  Been there; done that.  Trust me on this one, use a metal pan.

Crush pork rinds and place in shallow bowl.  Add spice blend and stir well.  If you like things real spicy, you might want to increase the spice blend a bit or add more cayenne.  Most important step here:  Pat surfaces of fish dry with a paper towel. Then brush each fish filet on both sides with a tablespoon of mayonnaise.   You want to be sure not to miss any spots.  There doesn’t have to be a LOT of mayo, but the entire surface must be moistened with it for the coating to adhere.  If you substitute a commercial mayo, you will have more difficulty getting good coverage, as it is so thick.

Holding the filets up (one at a time) by the tips, between your index finger and thumb in one hand, and with your other hand, spoon the coating over each filet on both sides to coat well. I find if you just dip them into a plate full of the coating, the first two get coated nicely and you run out of coating before all are coated!  That’s ever so annoying!  When all are coated, lay each filet onto your oiled pan.   Place in hot 450º oven and bake for about 20 minutes total or until done and crispy on top.   There’s actually no need to turn the filets over during cooking as the bottoms get even browner than the tops!  For more even browning, you could turn them at the 10 minute mark if you wish.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 6 servings, each contains:

364 cals, 22.9 g  fat, 0.43 g  carbs, 0 g  fiber, 0.43 g  NET CARBS, 41.4 g  protein, 338 mg. sodium

Jicama “Fries”

Man, who eats a hamburger without some fries?  But low-carbers don’t eat potatoes!  Oh My!  Whatever shall I do?

I tried these on a whim early on in my low-carb journey and they were truly  FANTASTIC!  Best of all, you don’t have to stand over a skillet of hot grease popping on you!  The Seafood Spice blend in the coating takes away the sweet edge jicama has, without dominating the final fries.  So don’t side-step this part of the recipe.  It’s essential for the best results.  Other spices and blends could be substituted in if you prefer.  The coating really browned nicely and stayed crispy even as the fries cooled off!  Even my picky hubby gave these a thumbs up, and at first, he wasn’t even going to taste them!  These are Atkins Induction friendly, too!

Many low-carbers swear by turnip fries, but I find they don’t get crisp enough for my liking.  Eggplant fries will get crisp enough, but the center is too slippery to taste anything like classic pommes frites (French fries).  Jicama sort of tastes like potatoes……..especially when fried hard, so I thought my experiment worthwhile.  In fact, many people call the Mexican potatoes!  I’ve even made breakfast hash browns and potato cakes (latkes) out of jicama with success!  Don’t poo-poo these until you’ve given them a try for a potato substitute.  Only thing they won’t do is get soft simmered in soups.  Although some say freezing peeled jicama before using in soups will allow them to soften up, I have not tried that personally.  For soups, I tend to use diced daikon white radish or turnips for a potato substitute.

Some of you may be tempted to take a shortcut and use spicy/BBQ pork rinds and omitting the seasoning blend in the recipe.  Please don’t forget flavored pork rinds are laden with sugar and sometimes modified food starch as well……not acceptable ingredients for us low-carbers.  So don’t sabotage your diet efforts with such a shortcut.  Read the ingredients listed on the packaging if you don’t believe me.  In fact, as a matter of routine, low-carbers should ALWAYS read ingredients listings, for ALL processed food packages.  It’s the only way to get the WHOLE picture of what you are or are not putting in your mouth.  Trust me, the net carb count just isn’t the whole picture when it comes to food!  The math works, but the ingredients sabotage you.

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. jicama, peeled and cut into fries

What a Jicama looks like

2 T. homemade mayo

2 oz. plain pork rinds, crushed

1/2 tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend

Oil to coat baking pan if not using non-stick sheet pan

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450º.  Cut jicama and place in bowl.  Brush well with mayonnaise, making certain you haven’t missed any spots. You want total coverage for the pork rinds to adhere to.  Crush the pork rinds in processor/blender.  Add spice blend to crushed pork rinds in a small bowl.  Now drop mayo-coated jicama (a few at a time) into the seasoned rinds and shake to coat well.   Place directly on oiled or non-stick baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes until tops are nicely browned.  I like to turn them mid-baking for more even baking, but that is not necessary.  Bottoms will be even browner than the tops!  A word of experience, DO NOT BAKE THESE ON SILICONE SHEETS, as they will not brown and crisp up properly on the bottom.  I found this out the hard way.

VARIATION:   Substitute turnip for the fries.  Brown them a bit more than shown for crisper turnip fries as turnips have more moisture in them.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 4 servings each contains:

165 Cals, 11.4 g fat, 5.50 g carbs, 2.78 g fiber, 2.22 g NET CARBS, 11.2 g protein, 276 g  sodium

Southern Fried Chicken

It doesn’t get much more American than fried chicken!  Some 4 years into my low-carb journey, my husband asked me “Can you make fried chicken low-carb?”  At first I said, I didn’t really think so because I can’t make it with real flour (key to the great flavor of fried chicken).   But not long after that, I decided I, too, wanted some fried chicken.  Decided to give it a try…….. What did I have to lose?   Haven’t been pleased with any of the low-carb fried chicken recipes I’ve found on the net that I’ve actually fried.  Decided I was going to have to put on my experimenting hat.  Although I hate standing over hot, popping grease, I will do so for fried chicken.

I wasn’t sure what to coat it with, but remembered reading a recipe somewhere on the web for a coating that used whey protein powder, so I decided that would be my foundation ingredient.  To that I added crushed pork rinds for crunch and a touch of oat fiber for a flour-y taste.  BINGO!  The resulting coating was the closest to my old high-carb flour coated chicken. I was astounded!  Although I didn’t make any cream gravy with the browned skillet bits, I tasted them and they would have made an excellent batch of gravy.  Had I made some mashed cauliflower, I sure would have made some cream gravy from the browned skillet bits.

I’m so pleased with this recipe we make it again and again!!  Great flavor!  Crispy!  Works in an air fryer, if sprayed with olive oil on the surface.  Until you try this one, you just won’t believe it tastes just like flour coated chicken!  A real keeper!!!  It’s great leftover, cold, too!!  Hubby said this was the best low-carb fried chicken I have cooked to date on my low-carb journey.  My heretofore popular Oven-Fried Chicken, although very good, is just not the same as classic skillet fried chicken, ya know what I mean?  Not like my Granny made, at least.  This new recipe IS like my Granny’s and Mom’s fried chicken!

As I can’t know how you cut up your chicken, or what size pieces you tend to eat, I can’t really provide nutritional stats for the entire final meat dish.  Instead, I am providing nutritional info for 1/10 of the coating, as it was just enough to coat 10 pieces of chicken: 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings and 4 pieces of breast as I cut them into halves to speed cooking time.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 c. plain whey protein

1 c. crushed pork rinds (about 2 oz.)

1 T. oat fiber (omit if on Induction or use certified oats ground into flour for gluten-free version)

1 tsp. my Seafood Spice blend (or other seasoning)

½ tsp. onion powder

½ c. Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp. coarse black pepper

2 large eggs

¼ c. heavy cream

¼ c. water

½-3/4″ deep hot oil (I used palm shortening I order in winter on-line)

DIRECTIONS:  Measure out and mix all dry ingredients in a paper bag by shaking well.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream and water together.  Toss in the pieces of cut up chicken into the egg wash and turn several times to well coat each piece.   Pick each piece of meat out of the bowl and drop into the bag of seasoned “flour” and when you have 3 pieces in the bag, holding the top closed, shake the bag to coat the chicken.  Don’t put more than 3 pieces into the bag at a time or they will not coat well.

Heat 3/4″ deep oil over high heat.  Place the pieces closely together.  If you’re creative, you can get an entire chicken in a 14″ skillet.  Lower heat to medium-high so larger pieces don’t over-brown before done. Repeat the coating process with the remaining pieces of chicken.  I was only able to fry 8 pieces of chicken in my largest skillet at a time, so I saved the wings for last as I knew they would cook quite fast.  Brown the chicken well on one side disturbing as little as possible.  Turn pieces of chicken over carefully to brown the second side.   When brown and done (about 30 minutes) remove to paper toweling to drain.  Finish cooking the remaining pieces if you were unable to get them all in your skillet.   Serve at once with your favorite sides.  I served mine with steamed cauliflower I topped with cheese and chives.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes enough coating for 10 pieces of chicken.  Numbers are for the coating only.  Be sure to add in the info for the chicken piece(s) you eat!  1/10 batch of the coating contains:

113.4 cals, 7.26g fat, 1.72g carbs, 0.53g fiber, 1.19g NET CARBS, 12.8g protein, 209 mg sodium

Asian Pork Patties with Dipping Sauce (dumplings optional)

Finally, a way I can at feel like I’m having delicious Pot Stickers on the table and EAT them with a clean conscience!  Since low carbers like me can’t have the dumplings they are traditionally wrapped in,  I’ve found a way to have this tasty dish without the traditional wrappers!   Instead, I make a batch of very small simmered dumplings that I make with glucomannan powder, sear separately from the meat bites and eat them alongside the meat and dipping sauce.  It’s almost like eating real steamed Chinese dumplings!!  So good!!  This dough is not very “rollable” else I would have tried to make my creation more like the original dumplings are formed in the traditional Chinese kitchen.   I may try introducing a little psyllium and see if they can be rolled, but in the meantime, this method of side-by-side works for us.

This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and other Keto diets.  To make these suitable for Primal-Paleo, do not use the peanut butter in the dipping sauce and use a plan-suitable vinegar  and coconut aminos for the soy sauce.

Shown with seared “Dumplings”

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. lean ground pork

1 beaten egg

2 jalapenos, seeded, ribs removed and minced fine

2 tsp. coconut aminos (or low-sodium soy sauce)

2 cloves, garlic, minced

2 T. olive oil (for frying)

1 recipe and a half of the dough for my here: Dumplings

DIPPING SAUCE:

2 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. creamy natural peanut butter (omit if on Atkins Induction)

2 T.  rice wine vinegar

1 tsp. ginger root, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. Sambal Oelek chili sauce (or Sriracha sauce)

2-3 drops liquid stevia or sucralose

1 T. low sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos)

1 T. finely minced green onion

2 T. water

VARIATION:  Add 1 tsp. peanut butter to the dipping sauce

DIRECTIONS:   If you wish to serve this dish with the dumplings on the side, prepare a recipe and a half of my glucomannan dumplings at the link above according to that recipe’s instructions, simmering them in plain water that is barely at a simmer.  Be sure to make them real tiny, about ½” is what I did, as they swell to about 3/4″ during simmering.  When they are done, brown the dumplings in a hot skillet you have oiled lightly.  Set the plate of dumplings aside for now.

Mix the dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix up the meat ingredients in a medium bowl with either a fork or your hands.  Heat the 2 T. olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Form into 10 patties (mine were about 1½ oz. each and about 2″ long).  Place the meat patties in the skillet and brown on both sides until golden brown, making sure pink juices are no longer coming out of the meat when slightly pressed with the edge of your spatula.  Turn off heat and dip them onto a serving platter in a circle.  Prepare dumplings per that recipe’s instructions.  When done, place those in the middle of the serving platter with the meat patties around the outside.  Pour the dipping sauce into 3 tiny bowls and place one at each person’s place setting.   Once on my plate, I forked 1 dumpling with a bite of meat, dipped into the sauce and shoved the two right into my mouth!  Pure heaven it was! I swear it tasted just like steamed and then seared pot stickers!  Must try to brown my little dumplings in a skillet next time!   Pic of the fried version shown above.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes ten 1½-oz. meat patties.  Each meat patty & sauce contains:  (includes 1/10th of the sauce).  NOTE:  The info below does NOT include the optional dumplings, but since they have negligible food value, I wouldn’t worry about them too much.  They are virtually pure fiber.  I get around 36-40 mini-dumplings out of the dumpling dough so 3 dumplings only have around 0.1 net carb (or less)!  Like I said, virtually negligible value:  167 cals, 14g fat, 1.11g carbs, 0.16g fiber, 0.95g NET CARBS, 8.7g protein

Mediterranean Meat Patties

Served on (Flour tortilla)

One can’t talk about Middle Eastern food without thinking of  meat wraps.  These I whipped up for lunch one day.  I was transported to all the Middle Eastern cafes I’d had wraps in in various places.  These wonderful little meat patties can be ready in just 15 minutes!  Grilling them, which is traditional, will of course take a little longer.  I most DEFINITELY liked the flavor and confess I can eat two of them they are so good.  I serve them typically with tzatziki yogurt sauce or my Shawarma mayo.  The flavor of the leftovers only  improves these!  This meat mixture would also make great meatballs added to Mediterranean casserole dishes with eggplant, tomatoes and feta. If you have some low-carb tortillas on hand, make the wrap shown above,  on the table in no time.  This recipe can be made with beef or lamb and is suitable for all phases of Atkins.  Primal-Paleo folks can eat this meat on a Greek salad or plan-suitable “wrapper”.  When used in wraps, my delicious tzatziki sauce is very good on these sandwiches, particularly with a little extra chopped parsley sprinkled on top!   Another great choice is some of my homemade Shawarma Mayo as the sauce reminds me of Shawarma sandwich wraps I’ve had in the past.  Click here for the recipe for my no-flour  tortilla wraps.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground beef or lamb (pork works for me, but pork is not eaten in the Middle East)

about 1/3 c. kale or spinach leaves

¼ c. parsley

1 oz. onion

1 clove garlic

½ jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine

¼ c. feta cheese, crumbled

Dash each salt, pepper & allspice

1/8 tsp. my salt-free Homemade Cavender’s Greek Seasoning

1 T. za’atar sauce

1 medium egg

DIRECTIONS:  Place all but the meat in a food processor or blender. Pulse until fine, but don’t reduce it to paste in texture.  You want it about like pesto sauce.  Place the meat in a bowl and with a rubber spatula, scrape the spice/herb mixture on the meat.  With a fork or your hands, blend it all together like you would a meatloaf mixture.  Form into 6 equal patties.  These are traditionally cooked over charcoal on your grill, but almost as good browned in non-stick or lightly oiled skillet on each side until meat in completely cooked.  Your choice. Serve at once with your favorite sides or veggies OR let it cool off a bit, slice the patties laterally so that each one will make a Mediterranean-style wrap sandwich butter-grilled on your favorite plan-suitable tortilla/pita type bread.  If you are using cold, leftover meat for a sandwich the next day, after slicing the patties, I would sear a couple seconds in a non-stick skillet to warm them slightly.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 patties, each contains:  (numbers are only for the meat)

240 cals, 19g fat, 1.65g carbs, 0.33g fiber, 1.32g NET CARBS, 15 g protein, 155 mg sodium

Lebanese Baked Chicken (Frarej)

This recipe has been one of my most popular Middle Eastern recipes therefore I would be remiss in not including it in our adventure through my Middle Eastern recipe collection.  It has garnered millions of Facebook fans where I once maintained a presence, during those years I was on the Low Carbing Among Friends team.  I no longer maintain a Facebook page or presence. 

Our dear friends in Dallas have taken us several times to a wonderful little Lebanese restaurant over in Ft. Worth named Hedary’s.  Family-operated for many years by a Lebanese family.  I can say their tabouleh  salad and kebabs are the best I’ve ever eaten.  So is their slow-roasted baked lemon chicken known as Frarej.  For those tables positioned close enough to do so, they used to serve their fresh-baked Lebanese bread all the way from behind the counter on long, paddled poles used to place them into and out of the ovens for cooking.   Don’t know if they still do that, but is sure was fun to watch!  Next time you’re in Ft. Worth, give Hedary’s a try! 

In the meantime…………………..experience their delicious baked chicken at home!  This Induction friendly version of their ever-popular lemony chicken dish is slightly changed, but just as yummy nonetheless.  The original dish has potato wedges, so I always substitute rutabaga or turnip wedges to keep the carbs reasonably low.  I did not include the root vegetables in the nutritional info below as I don’t always include them in the pan.  I tend to vary the vegetables I use based on what I have on hand.  So be sure to calculate the veggies you add (and consume) over and above what I consider to be the base recipe of onion, garlic and tomatoes.  If you have family that are not on Atkins, I would definitely use a few wedges of potato for those folks, as they soak up those tasty pan juices like a sponge and are sooooooo tasty.

My rendition is very close to the inspirational dish from Hedary’s, though the tomatoes are my personal addition.  I must confess, mine is good, but not QUITE as it is at Hedary’s.  Sigh.  I understand Hedary’s has left the original location and moved farther out in Ft. Worth somewhere.   This meal is easy to prepare and the oven basically does the work for you!  Gives a whole new meaning to Ron Popeel’s expression “Set it & forget it.” for a sheer heavenly, delicious dinner almost effortlessly.  🙂  Please follow directions closely as they are KEY to getting the best results.

INGREDIENTS:

4 T. olive oil

1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces, cutting breast in half (Do not remove skin or you will ruin this dish)

4 oz. onion cut into wedges (separate layers)

2 Roma tomatoes cut into wedges

6-10 cloves garlic, (leave half of them whole, mince the rest)

½ tsp. oregano

Juice of 1 lemon

Dash salt and pepper

OPTIONAL: Original dish had potato wedges and whole carrots roasted in the pan with the chicken.  The carrots are OK  but I’d substitute in pieces of rutabaga, turnip or daikon radish for the potato wedges to keep carbs down.

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 500º (therefore do NOT use a ceramic baking dish!).  Cut up chicken into separate pieces making 8 pieces in all.   I never use the back as I simmer that for broth to freeze for other purposes or it becomes dinner for my dogs.  🙂  Drizzle 1 T. of the olive oil on the bottom of a very large METAL baking/roasting pan (I use a 12 x 15 stainless steel metal pan).    If you don’t yet have a really large, good quality stainless steel roasting pan, I think it is one of the single most important investments you can make in your kitchen tools.  Place chicken skin side up  in the pan.  You don’t want any overlapping or crowding.  Do not use a glass/ceramic baking dish as it will break in a 500º oven.  

Crowding of this chicken and the veggies in the pan will result in deeper pan juices.  Deeper juices keeps chicken from crisping of the chicken, so use a really large pan.  Place tomato wedges around and in between chicken pieces.  Do the same with the onion pieces and add the garlic.  If using the root vegetables, cut them up and place them evenly around the chicken.  Squeeze the lemon over everything in the pan.  Drizzle remaining olive oil over the pan contents as well.   Lightly sprinkle some oregano or Greek seasoning over all (about 1/4-½ tsp, I don’t measure it).   Bake 30 minutes at 500º.  Baste with pan juices, lower heat to 350º and bake another 20 minutes or to internal temperature of 170º on a meat thermometer.   Baste with pan juices just before serving.  I like to place the juices in a gravy boat and have it on the table for basting the drier breast meat while eating.  If there are any juices leftover after the meal, I always freeze them and add them to the bottom of the next pan I make of this recipe (which is often!).  Each successive pan is therefore better than the last!  I like to serve this chicken dish with my Cucumber Mint Salad or my Tabouleh salad

NUTRITIONAL INFO: (does NOT include the optional vegetables).
Please note, these numbers are only approximate, because the actual counts will vary depending on which pieces of chicken and which roasted veggies you consume.

Serves 4, each 2-piece serving contains: (these numbers do not include the carrots or rutabaga)

447 cals, 30.4 g fat, 7.98 g carbs, 1.1 g fiber, 6.88 g NET CARBS, 34.8 g protein, 39 mg. sodium

Imam Bayildi (Stuffed Eggplant)

These tasty stuffed eggplant will fill you right up! If you’ve eaten Dolmades in Greece, it was a tasty meat/rice filled rolled grape leaf; in Iran, it is folded into a square box shape and they call them Dolmeh.   Stuffed peppers are called Dolmas in some Middle Eastern countries.  Whatever the specific name, whatever the country, these things have a lot of flavor layers to excite your palate.  My stuffed eggplant is yet another form of dolma seen in most Middle Eastern cooking.  I know they usually choose the slender oblong strain of eggplant for making Imam Bayildi in most parts of the Middle East, rather than the larger, fat eggplants we grow primarily in the U.S., shown above.  We use what we have on hand, right?   

This dish is actually quite easy to make.  It’s a little carb-y, but that’s because of the eggplant itself, not what’s in the stuffing.  No empty carb/calorie fillers in this recipe!  This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets if you can fit the carbs into your daily limits. It is also suitable for Primal and will even work for Paleo if you sub in chia gel or an extra egg for the ricotta or cream cheese.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. coconut oil

1  16-oz. whole eggplant, stemmed and cut in half lengthwise

10 oz. ground beef (or lamb)

2 oz. onion, chopped

¼ tsp. sea salt

Dash black pepper

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cumin

1 Roma tomato, seeded & chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T. fresh spearmint, chopped (or 1 tsp. dried mint)

Pinch crushed dried dill leaf

2 beaten eggs

1/4 c. ricotta or cream cheese (instead use chia gel or an extra egg for a Paleo version)

VARIATION:   Add just a few (1-2 T.) scissor-snipped raisins to the filling.

DIRECTIONS:  Melt the oil in a very large skillet over high heat.  Place eggplant in the pan cut-side down.  Brown the cut surface, pressing the eggplant halves down with your hand as they cook.  Cook them for about 10-15 minutes.  Remove them to a cutting board to cool a bit.

Add the meat to the skillet and brown over medium-high heat.  Add the onion toward the end of the browning process and cook until pretty tender.  Add the seasonings next.  Lower heat and simmer 5 minutes or so to let the spices mingle in the meat nicely.  Turn off heat.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Using a knife slice or scoop out most of the eggplant flesh from the halves, leaving about 1/2″ of the flesh intact on the skin for shell support during baking.  Place the two hollowed out shells in a baking pan.

Next, chop the scooped out eggplant flesh into ½” dice and add back into the meat mixture in the skillet.  If the eggplant is still opaque in places (likely it is not fully done), turn the fire on to medium and stir/simmer the meat-eggplant mixture until the eggplant is pretty tender.  Turn off heat.

Stir the beaten eggs into the ricotta and add to the meat mixture and mix well to bind and moisten the filling.  Spoon half the mixture into each eggplant shell.  Pop the pan into your preheated oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the shells appear to be fully cooked.  Pairs nicely with my Iranian Mint Cucumber Salad as shown.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes two large adult servings, each contains:

467 cals, 42 g fat, 19.85 g carbs, 9.25 g fiber, 10 g NET CARBS, 38.4 g protein, 499 mg sodium

Spinach Cheese Bread

As we continue on down the road of Italian foods, let me just say up front this recipe is NOT an authentic Italian recipe.   But I make it often to serve with Italian fare.  It came about one day when I was thinking about having pizza for lunch and didn’t really want a heavy, multi-topped iteration of that food dream.  So I decided to start out with a bread and add  some mozzarella cheese (which makes anything Italian to me) and to add just some frozen chopped spinach to the picture.  That’s it!  Boy, was the final bread ever good!  and just look how low-carb this one is!  Even my husband said “This is really, really good, Peggy!  Be sure to upload this onto the blog!”  And its delicate flavor would lend itself to just about any Italian dinner fare.  This is so easy to put together you simply must try this one!  You can enjoy this delicious treat once you have reached Atkins Phase 2 or are beyond that point in your weight loss journey.

INGREDIENTS:

½ c. almond flour

¼ c. whey protein powder, unflavored

¼ c. golden flax meal (or ¼ c. more whey protein)

1 tsp. baking powder

2 T. oat fiber (NOTE:  Not the same thing as carb-y oat bran!)

2 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 T. heavy cream

1 tsp. dry yeast, dissolved in 2 T. warm water

2 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 c. frozen chopped spinach (I did not thaw)

VARIATION:   Remove from oven before fully done, spread a few tablespoons Alfredo sauce and some more sprinkles of spinach on top.  Dust with Parmesan and pop back into oven for more of a true spinach pizza result.  (variation not figured in the nutritional numbers below)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  In a medium mixing bowl, measure out all dry ingredients but the yeast.  Stir well.  Dissolve the yeast in the 2 T. water.  Add to bowl with dry ingredients.  Add in the beaten eggs, cream, vinegar and softened cream cheese.  Beat the wet ingredients into the dry a few strokes.  Add the Jack or mozzy cheese shreds and un-defrosted spinach (break up clumps as you go) and stir to form a thick batter.  Line a 9″ x 12″ pan with parchment paper.  Spread batter evenly to fill the pan.  Pop into 350º oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned on top to your liking.  Is will be dry to the touch in the center when done.  Remove and cool a few minutes.   Cut into 12 pieces.  Let it cool down a few minutes or you will need a plate and fork to eat it, as it is so soft and fluffy.  It’s actually tastier and easier to handle in your hand as it begins to cool down.  Just a tip.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 12 servings, each contains:

154 cals, 12.3 g fat, 3.75 g carbs, 2.49 g fiber, 1.26 g NET CARBS, 9.5 g protein, 232 mg sodium

Eggplant al Pesto

This delicious Italian dish can be a side with meat or seafood, an entrée (with ground beef or Italian sausage  added) or even a bruschetta for spreading on toasted low-carb bread!  Very versatile, this recipe.  I make my own pesto sauce and usually have some spaghetti meat sauce in my freezer, so this dish is real easy to whip up most of the time.  Fresh basil often doesn’t agree with my stomach, but I’m here to tell you this was one of the very best eggplant dishes I’ve eaten in a LONG time!  I used just a hint of my pesto sauce.  This is one of those dishes that isn’t so pretty, but it makes up for this photographic flaw in flavor!  DELICIOUS!

This recipe is suitable for Atkins Induction and it freezes well, too!  It is a fairly small side dish recipe, so double the recipe for a large family.  This serves 4 as a side. With the addition of a layer of pre-browned ground beef or ground Italian sausage, this would make a delightful entrée for 2 people.  As an appetizer bruschetta spread, each 1-2 tablespoons (1/4 serving) would contain around 55 cals, 4g fat, 1.6 g carbs, 0.66g fiber, 1g NET CARBS, 1.3 g  protein, 18 mg sodium (not counting the toasted bread you use).

NOTE:  As an alternative preparation method, to cut fat grams you can toss the cubed eggplant in just 1 T. olive oil.  Then spread onto onto a silicone-lined or non-stick baking pan lightly oiled with olive oil.  Your call there.    

INGREDIENTS:  

8 oz. eggplant, peeled, sliced ¼” thick and then cut into smaller pieces about 1″ in size

3 T. olive oil  [see note in red above]

1 T. my pesto sauce

½ c. low carb spaghetti sauce

1 T. Parmesan cheese, grated

1/3 c. mozzarella cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  If sautéing eggplant, heat oil in non-stick skillet and sauté the eggplant, turning often with a spoon, until it is completely translucent (will be nearly done at this point).  If pre-baking your eggplant, lightly oil a pan and bake/broil the slices on a baking sheet at 350º about 10-20 minutes.  When nearly done, remove from heat.  Place the chopped eggplant in a small casserole-type baking dish (no need to grease the baking dish).  Dot the eggplant evenly with the spaghetti sauce first.  Then dot evenly with the pesto sauce.  Sprinkle on the Parmesan and finally spread the mozzarella evenly on top.  Pop into a 350º oven for about 20-30 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   As a vegetable dish, this serves 4.  As an entrée (8 oz. meat added) it serves 2 people.  Each side dish serving (no meat) contains:

214.5 cals, 18.5g fat, 6.3g carbs, 2.63g fiber, 3.67g NET CARBS, 7.08 g protein, 71 mg sodium

Zuppa Toscana

Having water on all 3 sides and that warm Mediterranean sunshine for gardening, you can imagine Italy would make some pretty incredible soups.  And they do!  Seafood chowders as well!  This soup I re-worked to be acceptable for my low-carb dietary plan, is similar to the Zuppa Toscana many of you have had at Olive Garden restaurants, but mine has diced cauliflower standing in for the potatoes in their soup.  

If I have some in the freezer, I use my Homemade Italian Sausage rather than Italian sausage from the store, as I find theirs to be excessively salty.  You just need to add oregano, fennel and garlic to ground pork really.  But you can certainly substitute in commercial Italian sausage if you prefer for convenience.  It will almost DOUBLE the sodium and increase carbs though.   Just be aware of that.  This soup is delicious and we both gave it a resounding thumbs up.  It will make the regular menu rounds at our house. 🙂

VARIATIONS:  Substitute 1/2 c. chopped parsley for the kale; substitute diced rutabaga or daikon for the cauliflower.

INGREDIENTS:

6 slices bacon, cut into 3/4″ bits

12 oz.  lean ground pork or Homemade Italian Sausage, coarsely broken up to 1/2″ chunks

2 oz. onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1½ c. coarsely chopped kale (about 3 leaves after stemming)

3 oz. cauliflower, diced to ½”-3/4″ pieces

1 oz. pimiento (half a 2 oz. jar)

3 large mushrooms, sliced or cut however you like

4 c. homemade chicken broth (32 oz.)

1 c. water

1 c. heavy cream

Dash black pepper

Dash crushed red pepper

3-4 drops Tobasco hot sauce

¼ tsp. dried oregano leaves

½ tsp. fennel seed, crushed

DIRECTIONS:  In a large Dutch oven or soup pot over high heat, cook the bacon.  Add the pork, onion and garlic and sauté until meat is no longer pink.  Lower heat to medium.  Add all remaining ingredients but the cream.  Simmer 5 minutes.  Add cream and simmer 5 more minutes.  Thicken with xanthan or gum if desired.   Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes six 1½ c. servings, each contains:

356 cals, 30.5g fat, 5.51g carbs, 1.08g fiber, 4.43g NET CARBS, 15.6g protein, 865 mg sodium

Chicken Scalopini

My father did a lot of flying over Italy (interdiction bombing missions) in World War II.  He developed quite a taste for Italian food while stationed in that area and this was one of his all-time favorites.  This was served often when I was growing up made with veal, which is traditional for this dish.  Since veal is no longer politically correct, it’s also super delicious made with chicken.  It’s such a simple dish to make and truly Atkins-friendly without a single modification.  It’s rich, but how I love this one!  Vermouth has a distinctive flavor, but if you don’t have it, you could use an equal amount of dry white wine instead.  This change will, however, greatly change the final flavor that makes this dish so special.  If you decide to spring for a bottle of vermouth, it is also delicious used in sauces for baked whole fish or fish filets.  This dish really delivers on flavor, so I hope you’ll try it.  If you omit the vermouth/wine, this is quite suitable during the initial Atkins Induction Phase.

INGREDIENTS:

4  4-oz skinless, boneless pieces chicken breast

1 ½ T. olive oil

8 oz. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

¼ c. chopped parsley

½ tsp. dried tarragon

1/3 c. heavy cream

3 T. dry vermouth or white wine (omit if on Induction)

Dash Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:  Pound chicken breasts between two pieces waxed paper until flattened to about ¼” thickness.  Lightly salt and pepper.  In a large non-stick skillet, heat 1 T. of the oil and sear chicken until lightly browned on both sides.  Just cook until done (no pink juice exuding).   Remove to a platter and cover with plate or foil to keep warm.

Add remaining olive oil to skillet and sauté mushrooms, stirring occasionally  until lightly browned and done, about 5 minutes.  Lower heat and add vermouth, cream, tarragon, parsley and deglaze any brown bits off bottom of pan.  Pour mushroom cream sauce over chicken.  Decorate with a sprig of parsley or a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Serves 4, each serving containing:

368 cals, 21.43 g fat, 4.25 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 3.25g NET CARBS, 36.88 g protein, 39 mg sodium

Gluten-Free Grain-Free Pizza Crust

You can’t celebrate Italian food without thinking first of pizza!  Although romans probably ate something more akin to a sheet of focaccia bread with 1-2 toppings on it.   But that idea certainly expanded over time to make pizza one of the most beloved Italian foods of all time!  And after many attempts at creating a good crust back when I started low-carbing in 2009, I had many fails in the beginning.  Finally a couple years later, I developed a crust using CarbQuik bake mix I liked OK, but it still wasn’t pizza nirvana for me or my husband.   

Then I developed my Gluten-Free Pizza crust and it took off in popularity.  That was my staple for quite awhile.  It was sturdy enough to support toppings and still would allow you to eat it with your hands.  Best of all, it had NO WHEAT or GRAIN in it!  That got the attention of lots of people who need gluten-free in their life.  I’m not personally gluten-sensitive, so I do eat foods with a very small amount of wheat in them (and use Einkorn flour when I do).  This recipe is VERY close to my older Carbquik pizza crust recipe, but this one has an even better texture and stroucture!    I’m most pleased with this crust and think you’ll like it!  This dough/batter is amazingly versatile for other applications as well, so be creative with this one!  This recipe is suitable once you reach Phase 2 OWL of Atkins.   It would be suitable for Primal folks that eat occasional dairy, but pizza is clearly not suitable for any Paleo followers.

INGREDIENTS:

½ c. almond flour

¼ c. golden flax meal

¼ c. plain whey protein powder

1 tsp. baking powder

3 T. cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs, beaten

1 c. grated Monterrey Jack cheese

½ c. grated Mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. cider vinegar

1 T. heavy cream

1 T. water

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Soften cream cheese in medium mixing bowl in microwave.  Beat in the eggs, cream, water, vinegar and both cheeses.  Measure and add in all the dry ingredients and stir well with a rubber spatula. Line a sheet pan or pizza pan with parchment paper.  I use a pizza pan that has air circulation holes in it. Scrape the batter onto the prepared pan, spreading it as evenly as possible with the silicone spatula into a circle that is roughly 13″ in diameter. Batter will be about ¼” thick.  Pop crust into a 350º oven and bake for about 15-17 minutes and remove.  Slide the parchment paper out from under the crust so air will begin to flow up under the bottom and it will brown nicer.  I DO NOT recommend using a silicone sheet for pizza other than reheating leftovers on.  Your crust simply won’t brown properly on silicone.  Add sauce, cheeses and toppings of your choice.  Pop back into oven and bake an additional 20 minutes or so.

Before toppings are added

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Cutting into 8 slices, each contains: (crust only)

168 calories, 12.95 g fat, 3.29 g carbs, 1.73 g fiber, 1.73 g NET CARBS, 11.3 g protein, 214 mg sodium

Spaghetti Sauce Bolognese

This week I’m going to take you to Italy!  Italian foods are on the menu, so get set for some fun!   Some of the recipes I’ll showcase are authentic Italian fare; some are my own creations.  But I promise they are all delicious!  One can’t think of Italian food without immediately turning one’s thoughts to spaghetti!  This is the spaghetti sauce recipe I have used for nearly 75 years now.  It was my mother’s version long before me.  🙂  Haven’t found one I like better.  I usually double or triple this recipe and freeze some for convenience in other kitchen creations.  This recipe is acceptable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets, Primal-Paleo as well.

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ lb. lean ground beef

½ c. green pepper chopped

½ c. parsley chopped

1 c. celery chopped

6 garlic cloves minced

6 oz. yellow onion chopped

2   14-oz. cans crushed or diced tomatoes (with no added sugars)

1   small (8 oz.) can tomato paste

½ tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (less if you don’t like it very spicy)

1 T. dried crushed oregano

1 bay leaf

1 T. fresh rosemary (or ½ tsp. dried)

1 T. fresh basil leaves, chopped (or ½ tsp. dried)

½ tsp. fennel seed, crushed

VARIATIONS:  Add 1½ c. diced eggplant, 6 sliced fresh mushrooms, or replace 1/2 lb. of the ground with with browned Italian sausage crumbles, balls or links.  Any of these variations are quite nice in this recipe.

DIRECTIONS:  Brown meat in large stew pot.  You may need a little oil if your meat is real lean.  Chop all veggies and add to meat and stir well.  Now add garlic, seasonings, tomatoes and tomato paste.  Simmer covered for 1½-2 hours on lowest heat possible.  Stir often during cooking and if it gets too thick to do so, add ½ c. water to think the sauce a wee bit.  Will yield about 8-9 cups of sauce, or 8-10 servings, depending on how saucy you like things and how you plan to use the sauce.   For my noodles, I use spaghetti squash threads, zucchini ‘noodles’ or I order on-line low-carb commercial noodles like Al Dente’s ‘Carba Nada’ line of pasta.  Those still on Atkins Induction might consider the shirataki noodles with oat fiber for your Italian dishes.  I think they are the best shirataki noodles out there.  I believe the brand I’ve tried is Zeroodle I obtained at Netrition.com.  

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Serves 10, each serving has: (excluding ‘noodles used)

295.3 cals, 20.75g fat, 13.18g carbs, 4.48 g fiber, 8.7g NET CARBS, 18.3g protein, 116 mg. sodium

Mexicali Spaghetti Squash

Let me say up front, this final Mexican Food celebration post, is not an authentic Mexicali recipe.  I just like the sound of the city name and appropriated it to name my creation ‘Mexicali’.   I plead ‘Guilty as charged’.    🙂 I created this dish while on Weight Watchers many years ago in my 30’s.   I discovered this amazing vegetable that year and have enjoyed using it in many different applications.  It’s fun to fork out the treads when cooked and it is fun to eat!  Good for you, too.  This recipe has remained in my menu rotations ever since it’s creation in 1980.  Spaghetti squash is is a bit “carb pricey”, so plan your day’s meals carefully to be sure this one will fit  without pushing you over your carb limit for the day.

This is pretty baked right in the squash shell as a “bowl”, but if that tears up after cooking the squash in the first step, just butter a glass baking dish instead and bake the filling like a regular casserole.  This recipe is  OK for Atkins Induction, Keto diets and Primal.  It is not suitable for Paleo followers with the cheese in it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. spaghetti squash threads (half of 1 lb. squash’s yield)

3 oz. chopped onion

3 oz. chopped bell pepper (any color)

1 lg. plum tomato, chopped

1 clove minced garlic

2 T. chopped cilantro (optional)

½ tsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. ground cumin

4 oz. Cheddar cheese, grated

8 oz. ground beef

dash pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cooking the squash:

Using large kitchen knife cut squash in half lengthwise.  Wrap one half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for some other use.  Place the other half, cut side down, in a microwave proof baking dish.  Add ½ c. water to the pan.  Microwave on HI for 12-14 minutes or conventional 350º oven for about 30 minutes.  Outer skin will begin to give when touched when the squash is done.  Take out of microwave and pour off water.  Turn squash over and using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and discard.  With the tines of a fork, strip out the squash “threads” into a bowl.    Try not to tear the squash shell, as you are going to use this shell as a baking “dish”.  If it tears up, discard and use a greased glass dish instead.

Making the filling:

Brown ground beef in non-stick pan over medium heat. It will probably produce enough grease on its own to continue, add a little if not.   Add onion and bell pepper and sauté until they begin to get soft.  Add garlic, tomato and all seasonings. Continue to cook until vegetables are tender.  Pour over squash threads in the bowl, add ¾ of the cheese and stir to mix all ingredients well.  Spoon mixture into the two halves of the squash shell.  Top with the bit of reserved cheese.   Place back into pan you originally used to bake the squash.  Bake about 3-4 minutes in a microwave on HI; or bake 15-20 minutes in 350º conventional oven.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Serves 2, each serving contains:

573 cals, 38g fat, 15.35g carbs, 2.85g fiber, 12.5g NET CARBS, 43g protein, 900 mg. sodium

Chicken Chile Relleno Casserole

Thought I’d post my chicken version of a chile rellenos casserole now.  I just layer the common chile rellenos ingredients into a casserole dish and bake.  Doesn’t get much easier.   It comes out just as delicious every time, plus so much simpler than stuffing the peppers.  Another plus…….deep frying!  Tastes almost exactly the same as the real deal, but it’s much less trouble for the cook.   Of course, to serve this to company, I would go to the trouble to stuff the peppers and deep fry for authentic presentation.  This Atkins Induction-friendly recipe garnished millions of fans on Facebook when I was posting there regularly for the Low Carbing Friends team.  It deserves to be in my Mexican celebration of great great Mexican dishes.   This one is suitable for all ketogenic diets and Primal diners but is not suitable for Paleo followers.

INGREDIENTS: 

3 poblano peppers (2-2.5 oz. each)

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces

2 T. olive oil

2 oz. onion, sliced

½ tsp. dried guajillo chile, seeded, chopped fine (optional)

¼ tsp. dried ancho chile powder (optional)

¼ tsp. chili powder  (use ½ tsp. if guajillo & ancho are unavailable)

¼ tsp. garlic powder

3/4 c. Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, solids only (mild)

¼ c. cilantro, chopped

6 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 450º.  Roasting your peppers will make them milder and sweeter, so don’t bypass this step.  Cut tops off poblano peppers and remove seed cluster.  Cut in halves, lay the halves on a non-stick baking sheet and roast in 450º oven for about 15-20 minutes, turning once during roasting.  Remove and cool.  Lower oven to 350º. Peel tough skin gently off the peppers.  While they are roasting, heat oil in non-stick skillet.  Sauté onion until tender.  Add chicken and sauté until meat is no longer pink.  Add all remaining ingredients except the cheese.  Simmer 3-4 minutes for flavors to meld together.  Lay the skinned poblano pepper pieces in the bottom of 3 individual casserole dishes (or use one larger casserole dish if you prefer).  Top the peppers in each serving dish with 1 spoon of the chicken filling.  Spread 1/3 of the cheese over the chicken filling in each dish. Place the remaining chicken filling evenly in the dish(es).  Top with the remaining cheese.  Pop into a 350º oven for about 20 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is melted.  Serve at once with a nice guacamole salad (and if you are in Pre-Maintenance or Maintenance, this is nice with a ½ c. of heated refried beans).

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 3 servings, each contains:

547 cals, 35g fat, 07.7g carbs, 2.23g fiber, 5.47g NET CARBS, 47.7g protein, 620 mg sodium

Beef Chile Relleno Casserole

I just love chile rellenos, but I don’t like all the fuss of actually stuffing the poblano peppers.  Lazy me, what can I say.  So I just make the popular dish up in a layered casserole.  Tastes exactly the same, but it’s much less trouble to put together.   Shown above with a serving of black soy beans (not regular black beans which are higher in carbs) and guacamole salad.  This recipe is Atkins Induction friendly and Primal diners who eat cheese can also enjoy this dish. It would not be suitable for Paleo followers.

INGREDIENTS: 

3 poblano peppers (2-2.5 oz. each)

12 oz. lean ground beef

2 oz. onion, sliced

½ tsp. dried guajillo or ancho chile, seeded & chopped (optional, but both very mild in heat)

¼ tsp. chili powder  (½ tsp. if guajillo & ancho chiles above are not available)

¼ tsp. garlic powder

3/4 c. Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, solids only (mild)

¼ c. cilantro, chopped

6 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 450º.  Roasting your peppers will make them milder and sweeter, so don’t bypass this step.  Cut tops off poblano peppers and remove seed cluster.  Cut in halves, lay the halves on a non-stick baking sheet and roast in 450º oven for about 15-20 minutes, turning once during roasting.  Remove and cool.  Lower oven to 350º. Peel tough skin gently off the peppers.

While they are roasting, heat ground beef in non-stick skillet over high heat.  When meat is no longer pink, add onion and sauté until tender.  Add all remaining ingredients except the cheese.  Simmer 3-4 minutes for flavors to meld together.  Lay the skinned poblano pepper pieces in the bottom of 4 individual casserole dishes or one larger casserole dish if you prefer.  For the next layer, spoon half of the beef mixture equally amongst the 4 dishes.   Spread half of the cheese equally over the tops of the 4 servings. Next, place the remaining beef filling equally in the 4 dishes.  Finally top each equally with the remaining cheese.  Pop them into a 350º oven for about 20 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese is melted.  Serve at once with a nice guacamole salad (and if you are in Pre-Maintenance or Maintenance, this is nice with a ½ c. of heated refried beans).

VARIATION:  If your are at goal weight and you can afford the extra carbs, a thin layer of refried black soy beans is delicious on this (I usually start out with the bean layer, or you can dot them on top before adding the final cheese).  

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   REcipe makes 4 servings, each contains:

412 calories, 27.7 g fat, 6.72 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 4.72 g NET CARBS, 32.6 g protein, 897 mg sodium

(adding ½ c. mashed soy black bean layer increases carbs to 10.7 g, fiber 5.5 g, net carbs 5.22 g).

Pork in Queso Flameado Sauce

I couldn’t have a Mexican Food celebration without one of my star creations in that repertoire.  Have you had the appetizer known as Queso Flameado in a Mexican restaurant?  If so, it isn’t a flavor you soon forget. Chorizo sausage at its best, in my opinion.  It’s a thick melted cheese fondu with Mexican chorizo crumbled in it.  It is served with flour tortillas so you can roll it up and enjoy.  It is sooo good!

Well, this dish I created takes Queso Flameado to a main dish.  If you love spicy chorizo, you’ve GOT to try this dish!  It has been one of the more popular recipes here on my blog!  My husband just loved it, as did I!   This dish also sports some very impressive nutritional numbers below, so it’s a keeper in my book.  It is suitable for all phases of Atkins and other Ketogenic diets.

More delicious low-carb recipes can be at your fingertips with your very own set of Jennifer Eloff and friends’ best-selling cookbooks LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS.  She brings you a wealth of delicious recipes you are going to want to try.  Even a few of my recipes are in her cookbooks! Order your set TODAY! (available individually) from Amazon or: http://amongfriends.us/order.php

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. pork loin, cut into 4 portions

1 link chorizo, removed from the skin and crumbled

2 T. unsalted butter

4 large green onions, chopped

1/2 c. red bell pepper, chopped

1 c. cilantro, chopped (use parsley if not a fan)

1/2 c. heavy cream

1/2 c. water

6 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (or more if you can afford the carbs)

VARIATION:   (shown in above photo)   For something completely different, throw a few crawfish tails into the sauce right before baking.  I have used 1/2 or so.  You’ll be amazed what THAT does to this dish.  That’s what I call going off in a totally different direction.

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Pound the 4 pieces of pork with a meat tenderizing mallet.  Melt butter in large skillet over high heat.  Brown pork on both sides until nearly done.  Remove.  Add crumbled chorizo and brown, crumbling as small as you can as it cooks.   Add the green onions, bell pepper and sauté until they are tender.  Lower heat to medium low and add cream, water and cilantro.  Simmer a couple minutes to reduce a bit. Sprinkle the cheese over the sauce and lay pork on top.  Pop into preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until bubbly and the meat appear to be done.  Serve 1/4 of the sauce over each portion of meat.  This pairs nicely with mashed cauliflower or a nice guacamole salad alongside.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

567 cals., 45g fat, 4.35g carbs, 1.15g fiber, 3.2g NET CARBS, 36g protein, 654 mg sodium

Scrambled Eggs with Tarragon Cream (with ham)

Served with 2 oz. ham added

I thought I’d totally switch gears and start off this week resurrecting my all-time favorite ways to cook eggs in the morning.  I’m not terribly fond of eggs just scrambled or fried.  I have always had to “doctor them up” quite a bit to eat them.  This is one way I’ve succeeded in making eggs not taste so much like eggs, to be quite honest! It’s sinfully rich and Induction friendly!

It is also suitable for Primal diners, but not Paleo without a substitute for the cream, like coconut milk. You can play around a bit with this recipe, too, adding other things to the sauce like sausage, ham (as shown), sliced mushrooms, onion slivers.  🙂  Tarragon is a sweet, delicate spice with a slight licorice taste.   If you put too much in the sauce, you’ll probably not be happy.  With tarragon, more is NOT better!

If beyond Induction Phase of Atkins, 1 T. sherry or white wine is also good added to this sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Roma tomato, seeded and chopped

Without the 2 oz. ham (my preferred way to serve this)

1 tsp. olive oil

6 T. heavy cream

1/3 c. water

¼ tsp. crushed tarragon

Pinch onion powder

1 T. butter

4 large eggs, beaten

1/16 tsp. xanthan gum (only if you want it thicker)

DIRECTIONS:  In small non-stick skillet, sauté chopped tomato in olive oil.  When tender but not reduced to mush, lower heat and add water, cream, tarragon and onion powder.  Simmer a few minutes and it will thicken up on its own.  Only add the xanthan gum if you want it thicker.  In separate non-stick pan, melt butter and add beaten eggs and cook scrambled just until done.  Plate 1/2 the eggs with 1/2 of the cream sauce on two serving plates.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 2 servings, each containing:

354 Cals, 32.3 g fat, 3.3 g carbs, 0.4 g fiber, 2.9 g NET CARBS, 13.85 g protein, 236 mg sodium

Scrambled Eggs with Tarragon Cream (with ham)

Served with 2 oz. ham added

I’m not terribly fond of eggs just scrambled or fried.  I have to “doctor them up” quite a bit to not get totally turned off on eating them day in and day out for breakfast.  This is one way I’ve succeeded in making eggs not taste so much like eggs, to be quite honest! It’s sinfully rich and Induction friendly!  It is also suitable for Primal diners, but not Paleo without a substitute for the cream, like coconut milk. You can play around a bit with this recipe, too, adding other things to the sauce like sausage, sliced mushrooms, onion slivers, black olives or any combination of those. 🙂  Tarragon is a sweet, delicate spice with a slight licorice taste.   If you put too much in the sauce, you’ll probably not be happy.  With tarragon, more is NOT better!  If serving to guests, (or you want to boost your vegetables for the day) this is very pretty and tasty served over a bed of steamed spinach.  Served with spinach, this makes a very nice brunch or lunch entree.  If in Atkins Phase 2 OWL, 1-2 T. sherry or white wine is also good added to this sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Roma tomato, seeded and chopped

Without the 2 oz. ham (my preferred way to serve this)

1 tsp. olive oil

6 T. heavy cream

1/3 c. water

¼ tsp. crushed tarragon

Pinch onion powder

1 T. butter

4 large eggs, beaten

1/16 tsp. xanthan gum (only if you want it thicker)

DIRECTIONS:  In small non-stick skillet, sauté chopped tomato in olive oil.  When tender but not reduced to mush, lower heat and add water, cream, tarragon and onion powder.  Simmer a few minutes and it will thicken up on its own.  Only add the xanthan gum if you want it thicker.  In separate non-stick pan, melt butter and add beaten eggs and cook scrambled just until done.  Plate 1/2 the eggs with 1/2 of the cream sauce on two serving plates.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 2 servings, each containing:

354 Cals, 32.3 g fat, 3.3 g carbs, 0.4 g fiber, 2.9 g NET CARBS, 13.85 g protein, 236 mg sodium

Pork & Chorizo Taco Salad

 

This is a variation on the popular taco salad we all know and love.  Constructing it with pork and chorizo, along with the spices and sofrito I included, I have discovered is quite delicious and a pleasant change of pace.  You can increase the ratio of chorizo to pork if you like, just maintain the total amount of meat if you do so.  You could also use 8 oz. ground beef plus the 2 oz. chorizo.  Any combination on the meats…..I say go for it!  I didn’t have an avocado in the house the night I took this photo, but when I do, I layer a nice spoonful of guacamole as a dressing, before adding the final cheese topping.   This salad is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets.

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. lean ground pork

2 oz. chorizo sausage, removed from casing and crumbled (more, using less pork above, if you’re a fan)

Dash ground cumin

¼ tsp. garlic powder

1-2 tsp. my sofrito sauce (optional, but real good in this)

1/8 tsp. my Smoky Chipotle Spice blend

2 c. Romaine lettuce, chopped

2 c. endive or curly leaf lettuce (green or purple), chopped

½ c. tomato, chopped

2 slices Monterrey Jack Cheese

½ c. shredded Cheddar Cheese

VARIATION:  Add 1 seeded, mashed avocado with a dash of garlic powder before the cheese is added last.

DIRECTIONS:  Have two plates ready by the stove.  If using guacamole layer as suggested above, make that now in separate dish and set aside (be sure to add it to the nutritional stats below if using).  Brown ground pork in a non-stick skillet, along with the crumbled chorizo until they are done.  Add salt, cumin, smoky chipotle blend, sofrito and garlic powder.  Stir often as the meat browns.  Remove from heat when done.  Mix the two types of lettuce in a bowl and plate half on each of two plates.  Add half the chopped tomato on top of each.  Place 1 slice of jack cheese in the center of each stack of greens. Top each with half the hot meat.  The heat should melt the jack cheese nicely.  If using guacamole, add it now.  Top each with ¼ c. of cheddar shreds.   If you like cilantro, some chopped and sprinkled on the top as a garnish is delicious.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 2 salads, each contains:  (does not include guacamole)

597 cals, 46.7g fat, 6.95g carbs, 2.2g fiber, 4.75g NET CARBS, 37g protein, 748 mg sodium  (coming from the chorizo and cheese)

Fluffy Biscuits

As the Monty Python crew used to say, ‘and now for something completely different’ from last night’s unfortunate post.

I made up a bunch of sausage and sausage-cheese biscuits to freeze for the hubs Sunday.  This recipe was the biscuit I chose to use, as it is still my all-time fav biscuit recipe.  I kid you not, these are hands down the lightest, fluffiest, best biscuits I’ve made in 50 years!  And man, my husband will tell ya, I’ve been trying to find a good biscuit recipe for the entire time we’ve been married!!!  Who would have ever thought the best would end up being a low-carb recipe?!  🙂  Although these can’t shine a light to Frank Williamson’s traditional biscuits he served at the Professional Bldg. snack counter in Galveston, TX (my benchmark of melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk biscuits), they are a pretty darn good imitation, considering they are not made with much real flour.

My inspirational recipe was Jennifer Eloff’s focaccia bread recipe, which I tweaked a bit.  I just made the resulting batter into drop biscuits and man were they good!  These are not suitable until the grains rung of OWL because of my CarbQuik addition.  If you use all Jennifer’s Gluten-Free bake bix and no CarbQuik, they would be suitable once you get to Atkins Phase 2 OWL nuts & seeds rung of the carb re-introduction ladder.  This change would also make them gluten-free.

If you are not needing a gluten-free biscuit, and are much closer to goal weight, my Einkorn Fluffy Biscuits , my Einkorn Heavenly Biscuits , or my Einkorn RWS biscuits might be more what you are looking for.

VARIATION:  If you substitute cheddar cheese for the Parmesan, and add a pinch of garlic powder, these are more like Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits!

INGREDIENTS:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

½ c. Jennifer Eloff Gluten-Free bake mix:   

¼ c. CarbQuik  bake mix (substitute ¼ c. more Jennifer’s mix for gluten-free)

1 T. Parmesan Cheese, grated

½ c. Monterrey Jack Cheese, grated

½ tsp. each baking powder and baking soda

dash salt

1 T. olive oil

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 350º.  Soften cream cheese and beat in the eggs.  Add all remaining ingredients and beat well.  Dip onto parchment lined baking sheet, forming 9 large drop biscuits.   Pop into preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes or until nicely browned.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 9 large biscuits, each containing:

134.5 cals, 11.9 g fat, 4.04 g carbs, 2.04 g fiber, 2g NET CARBS, 7.56 g protein, 199 mg sodium

Pumpkin Granola

My husband was asking for an easy breakfast cereal recently, because occasionally I just don’t want any breakfast and he doesn’t want me to cook when it’s just him eating.  So…… I created a very tasty cereal for such occasions.   I like to just snack on this stuff, no milk required!  The hint of pumpkin taste is delightful and so is the bit of coconut.  Mostly I taste the spices, nuts and fruit in this.   🙂  This recipe is not suitable until Atkins Phase 2 OWL when nuts are re-introduced.  This keeps AMAZINGLY well over time and stays quite crunchy, but you can reheat in the oven if it seems to get soft over time.  Mine has not, quite honestly, just storing in a Tupperware canister in my pantry.  

INGREDIENTS: 

½ c. roasted sunflower seeds, unsalted

½ c. roasted pumpkin seeds, unsalted

2 T. chia seeds

1½ c. large flake coconut, unsweetened

1 c. walnuts, coarsely cut

1 c. pecans, coarsely cut

1½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. sea salt

2 T. erythritol

5 dried prunes, chopped fine like tiny raisins (Del Monte has no added sugar)

1/3 c. liquified coconut oil

¼ c. sugar-free maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. canned pumpkin puree (do not use the pie filling!)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 300º.  Line two large baking sheets  with parchment paper and set aside.  Measure the first 12 (dry) ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir well.  In a small bowl, stir the last 4 (wet) ingredients well.  Using a rubber spatula, pour the wet ingredients evenly over the dry and with the spatula, stir and toss to coat all the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.  When well-blended, pour half the mixture onto each paper-lined pan.  Spread evenly.  You will need to bake until it is dry and somewhat crisp to the touch, or about 1½ hours (longer for some ovens).  Stir ever 15-20 minutes to be sure it is cooking evenly.  Do not allow to overly brown or the nuts will taste burned.   Turn off oven and let the granola dry in the oven as it cools.  Break it apart into smaller clusters if you like.  I like mine in larger clusters, as I eat it more as a snack than a cereal.  Transfer to an airtight container or zip-loc gallon bag.  BE ABSOLUTELY SURE IT IS FULLY COOLED BEFORE STORING.  Otherwise it will “sweat” and get soft (just re-bake for 15-20 minutes to crisp it up again).  This stuff is delicious, so do ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 9 cups total or eighteen ½ cup servings.  Each ½-cup serving contains:

214 cals, 19.6g fat, 7.5g carbs, 3.21g fiber, 4.29g NET CARBS, 4.9g protein, 42 mg sodium

Kashmiri Mushrooms (Hedar)

We love Indian food and they often have a mushroom curry on the buffet table at our favorite Indian restaurants.  This is a recipe I’ve been cooking for some time now.  In its original form, it appears in Neerja Matoo’s cookbook  Kashmiri Cooking. I’ve made quite a few changes and this is how I prepare this dish.  This is great with charcoal-grilled beef, lamb, chicken or your favorite curry recipe.  This recipe is Atkins Induction friendly and suitable for Keto diets as well.

INGREDIENTS: 2 c. mushrooms, wiped and halved (leave whole if small ones)

2 T. butter, unsalted

2 oz. slivered yellow onion

2 cloves minced garlic

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

Pinch black pepper

Pinch turmeric

½ tsp. my Garam Masala spice blend

Pinch Sharwood’s red-label Tandoori Spice (or regular mild curry powder if you can’t get this)

2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

¼ c. heavy cream

¼ c. chicken or beef broth/bouillon (preferably homemade)

DIRECTIONS: Wipe mushrooms clean.  Halve them if large, otherwise leave whole.  Set aside.  Meanwhile, melt butter in non-stick skillet.  Add onion, garlic and spices and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.  Add mushrooms and continue stirring/cooking until mushrooms are done (about 5 more minutes).  Lower heat, add bouillon and cream.   Simmer on lowest heat possible to slightly thicken.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Serves 4, each serving contains:  (this only serves 2 for hubby and I, we love it so!) 119 calories 11.5 g  fat 3.45 g  carbs, .7 g  fiber, 2.75 g  NET CARBS 1.88 Protein 33.6 mg. sodium

Green Bean Casserole

This is as close to the classic, ever-popular green bean casserole as I’ve been able to achieve as a low-carb alternative.  My husband liked it so much, he said “This one is your best to date!” and dipped up seconds.   So I’ll be making this version from now on, it would appear.

I owe many thanks to Jennifer Eloff for her inspirational recipe:  Casserole Topping, to which I made a few additions.  I finally got around to trying it, Jen, and it really does work with cheese and bake mix!  I had visions of it sinking down into the bean mixture during baking, but it didn’t sink at all!  I added even more crunch with the addition of crushed pork rinds, which I couldn’t taste as such in the final dish.  🙂

I also used her Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup for this dish, which I adore for so many things.  If you haven’t tried it yet, you simply MUST!    This delicious recipe is not suitable until you have gotten to Atkins Pre-Maintenance or Maintenance because of the grain in the bake mix.  Sub in coconut flour in the mix if you avoid grains.

INGREDIENTS:

3 c. frozen green beans, regular or French style

½ recipe Jennifer Eloff’s low-carb  Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

1  can (6-oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained (about ½ c.)

Dab olive oil to grease dish

1 recipe crumble topping (see below)

CRUMBLE TOPPING:

½ c. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1/3 c. Jennifer Eloff’s Splendid Low Carb Bake Mix

2 T. cold unsalted butter

10 medium pork rinds

1 T. toasted, dehydrated (or fresh) shallots (or red onion)

¼ tsp. my Cajun Seafood Spice Blend

1 T. hemp hearts (optional, adds a nutty flavor)

DIRECTIONS: Lightly oil a 2-qt. baking dish.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Place defrosted beans (uncooked), soup and mushrooms in a large bowl and toss well to coat.  Scrape the mixture into your lightly oiled baking dish.

To make topping, toss all ingredients but shallots or red onion into a food processor or blender and pulse a few times to make a crumbly mixture.  Sprinkle topping over the green bean mixture.  Sprinkle over shallots/onion and pop into 350º oven for about 20 minutes for French-style beans, 30 minutes for regular cut beans until golden brown on top.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 5 servings, each contains:

237 cals, 18.3g fat, 9.52g carbs, 3.32g fiber, 6.2g NET CARBS, 10.3g protein, 294 mg sodium

Imam Bayildi (Stuffed Eggplant)

These tasty stuffed eggplant will fill you right up! If you’ve eaten Dolmades in Greece, it was a tasty meat/rice filled rolled grape leaf; in Iran, it is folded into a square box shape and they call them Dolmeh.   Stuffed peppers are called Dolmas in some Middle Eastern countries.  Whatever the specific name, whatever the country, these things have a lot of flavor layers to excite your palate.  My stuffed eggplant is yet another form of dolma seen in most Middle Eastern cooking.  I know they usually choose the slender oblong strain of eggplant for making Imam Bayildi in most parts of the Middle East, rather than the larger, fat eggplants we grow primarily in the U.S., shown above.  We use what we have on hand, right?   

This dish is actually quite easy to make.  It’s a little carb-y, but that’s because of the eggplant itself, not what’s in the stuffing.  No empty carb/calorie fillers in this recipe!  This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets if you can fit the carbs into your daily limits. It is also suitable for Primal and will even work for Paleo if you sub in chia gel or an extra egg for the ricotta or cream cheese.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. coconut oil

1  16-oz. whole eggplant, stemmed and cut in half lengthwise

10 oz. ground beef (or lamb)

2 oz. onion, chopped

¼ tsp. sea salt

Dash black pepper

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cumin

1 Roma tomato, seeded & chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T. fresh spearmint, chopped (or 1 tsp. dried mint)

Pinch crushed dried dill leaf

2 beaten eggs

1/4 c. ricotta or cream cheese (instead use chia gel or an extra egg for a Paleo version)

VARIATION:   Add just a few (1-2 T.) scissor-snipped raisins to the filling.

DIRECTIONS:  Melt the oil in a very large skillet over high heat.  Place eggplant in the pan cut-side down.  Brown the cut surface, pressing the eggplant halves down with your hand as they cook.  Cook them for about 10-15 minutes.  Remove them to a cutting board to cool a bit.

Add the meat to the skillet and brown over medium-high heat.  Add the onion toward the end of the browning process and cook until pretty tender.  Add the seasonings next.  Lower heat and simmer 5 minutes or so to let the spices mingle in the meat nicely.  Turn off heat.

Preheat oven to 350º.  Using a knife slice or scoop out most of the eggplant flesh from the halves, leaving about 1/2″ of the flesh intact on the skin for shell support during baking.  Place the two hollowed out shells in a baking pan.

Next, chop the scooped out eggplant flesh into ½” dice and add back into the meat mixture in the skillet.  If the eggplant is still opaque in places (likely it is not fully done), turn the fire on to medium and stir/simmer the meat-eggplant mixture until the eggplant is pretty tender.  Turn off heat.

Stir the beaten eggs into the ricotta and add to the meat mixture and mix well to bind and moisten the filling.  Spoon half the mixture into each eggplant shell.  Pop the pan into your preheated oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the shells appear to be fully cooked.  Pairs nicely with my Iranian Mint Cucumber Salad as shown.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes two large adult servings, each contains:

467 cals, 42 g fat, 19.85 g carbs, 9.25 g fiber, 10 g NET CARBS, 38.4 g protein, 499 mg sodium

Scrambled Eggs with Tarragon Cream (with ham)

Served with 2 oz. ham added

I’m not terribly fond of eggs just scrambled or fried.  I have to “doctor them up” quite a bit to not get totally turned off on eating them day in and day out for breakfast.  This is one way I’ve succeeded in making eggs not taste so much like eggs, to be quite honest! It’s sinfully rich and Induction friendly!  It is also suitable for Primal diners, but not Paleo without a substitute for the cream, like coconut milk. You can play around a bit with this recipe, too, adding other things to the sauce like sausage, sliced mushrooms, onion slivers, black olives or any combination of those. 🙂  Tarragon is a sweet, delicate spice with a slight licorice taste.   If you put too much in the sauce, you’ll probably not be happy.  With tarragon, more is NOT better!  If serving to guests, (or you want to boost your vegetables for the day) this is very pretty and tasty served over a bed of steamed spinach.  Served with spinach, this makes a very nice brunch or lunch entree.  If in Atkins Phase 2 OWL, 1-2 T. sherry or white wine is also good added to this sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Roma tomato, seeded and chopped

Without the 2 oz. ham (my preferred way to serve this)

1 tsp. olive oil

6 T. heavy cream

1/3 c. water

¼ tsp. crushed tarragon

Pinch onion powder

1 T. butter

4 large eggs, beaten

1/16 tsp. xanthan gum (only if you want it thicker)

DIRECTIONS:  In small non-stick skillet, sauté chopped tomato in olive oil.  When tender but not reduced to mush, lower heat and add water, cream, tarragon and onion powder.  Simmer a few minutes and it will thicken up on its own.  Only add the xanthan gum if you want it thicker.  In separate non-stick pan, melt butter and add beaten eggs and cook scrambled just until done.  Plate 1/2 the eggs with 1/2 of the cream sauce on two serving plates.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 2 servings, each containing:

354 Cals, 32.3 g fat, 3.3 g carbs, 0.4 g fiber, 2.9 g NET CARBS, 13.85 g protein, 236 mg sodium

Gluten-Free Grain-Free Pizza Crust

Finally a pizza crust I keep coming back to.  It’s tasty, sturdy enough to support toppings and still be eaten with your hands.  Best of all, it has NO WHEAT FLOUR or GRAINS in it!  I am eating little wheat these days (other than a wee bit of Einkorn flour).  This recipe is VERY close to my older Carbquik pizza crust recipe, but this one has an even better texture!    I’m most pleased with this crust and think you’ll like it!  This dough/batter is amazingly versatile for other applications!  This recipe is OK once you reach Phase 2 OWL of Atkins.   It would be suitable for Primal folks that eat occasional dairy, but it is not suitable for Paleo followers.

So many gluten-free recipes like this can be found in the popular Low Carbing Among Friends cookbooks by international author Jennifer Eloff.  Get your set today at Amazon or here: http://amongfriends.us/order.php

INGREDIENTS:

½ c. almond flour

¼ c. golden flax meal

¼ c. plain whey protein powder

1 tsp. baking powder

3 T. cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs, beaten

1 c. grated Monterrey Jack cheese

½ c. grated Mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. cider vinegar

1 T. heavy cream

1 T. water

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Soften cream cheese in medium mixing bowl in microwave.  Beat in the eggs, cream, water, vinegar and both cheeses.  Measure and add in all the dry ingredients and stir well with a rubber spatula. Line a sheet pan or pizza pan with parchment paper.  I use a pizza pan that has air circulation holes in it. Scrape the batter onto the prepared pan, spreading it as evenly as possible with the spatula into a circle that is roughly 13½” in diameter. Batter will be about ¼” thick.  Pop crust into a 350º oven and bake for about 20 minutes and remove.  Slide the parchment paper out from under the crust so air will flow to the bottom and it will brown nicely.  I DO NOT recommend cooking this crust on a silicone sheet.  It doesn’t brown properly on silicone.  Add sauce, cheeses and toppings of your choice.  Pop back into oven and bake an additional 20 minutes or so.

Before toppings are added

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Cutting into 8 slices, each contains: (crust only)

168 calories, 12.95 g fat, 3.29 g carbs, 1.73 g fiber, 1.73 g NET CARBS, 11.3 g protein, 214 mg sodium