Ground Pork Fried Rice

Well, my husband was down in Austin today and said he would stopping by a BBQ place on his way home to bring some sliced brisket for our supper tonight.  Then at 5:30, he called and announced they were closed!  Luckily I had thawed some ground pork for tomorrow night and got to work creating something quick for dinner.  This dish was quite tasty and we will definitely fix it again.  I had my doubts about using ground pork rather than sliced pork, my preference for stir fires, but it was pretty good in this!  I’d sure do it with the ground pork “in a pinch” again.  🙂

This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins.  Those still on Induction or who are doing Paleo should leave out the sherry.  It is OK for Keto diets and Primal diets as well.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground pork

3/4 c. carrot, peeled, sliced or diced

1 stalk celery, sliced thinly

1½ c. cabbage, sliced thinly

½ c. green onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

½ tsp. ginger root, minced

½ tsp. Sambal Oelek chili sauce

1/8 tsp. coarse black pepper

Dash salt

1 T. sherry (optional, omit for Induction or Paleo)

1 T. low-sodium soy sauce

1 pkg Zeroodles shirataki rice-shape noodles with oat fiber, drained, rinsed

DIRECTIONS:  Drain and rinse noodles in sieve and set aside.  Heat wok or large non-stick skillet.  Add oil and then ground pork.  Brown over high heat.  Do drain off some of the fat if excessive (but not all of it), but I did not have to, as my meat was pretty lean.   Add carrots and celery and continue stir-frying until carrots nearly tender.  Add cabbage and green onion next, stir-frying until cabbage is getting limp.  Add all remaining ingredients, including “rice” noodles and lower heat to medium.  Allow to simmer, stirring frequently, for five minutes longer, allowing flavors to blend and mellow. Serve at once with Sambal Oelek chili sauce and soy sauce at table for those that like more of these.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

412 cals, 31 g fat, 9.55g carbs, 5.82g fiber, 3.73g NET CARBS, 22.2g protein, 288 mg sodium

 

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Chicken Artichoke Casserole

I have had a can of artichoke hearts in my pantry that have been there for months.  Since I was making chicken tonight, I decided to get creative.  I threw this simple dish together in 10 minutes, baked it 1 hour while we watched the evening news.  It is ever so delicious!  Even my picky husband, who is not too fond of artichokes, liked this dish!!  When he was finished dinner, he volunteered “Be sure to post this on your blog.”  That’s the best compliment I can get.  It truly was delicious and the key ingredient, the Shawarma Spice Blend in the mayo, adds so much flavor to this dish, so I do hope you’ll try it if you have not already.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and other Keto diets.  With all this dairy, it would not be suitable for Primal-Paleo, however.

Many delicious low-carb recipes like this can be at your fingertips with your very own cookbooks from LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS, by Jennifer Eloff and low-carb friends (me included).  Chef George Stella also shares his wealth of delicious recipes in our books.  Order yours TODAY! from Amazon  or our direct order site: http://amongfriends.us/order.php. Special set pricing going on right now!  

NOTE:  I just discovered the reheated leftovers are even tastier than this was on first baking!! So this dish, if serving to company, might be better made a day ahead, only partially cooking/browning the chicken for 35 minutes and removing from oven. Refrigerate overnight and allow it to finish cooking/browning the next day as it is warming up. 🙂 

INGREDIENTS:

3 large chicken thighs

3 large chicken drumsticks

5 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ c. sour cream

¼ c. + 2 T. my Shawarma Mayonnaise

½ c. parsley, chopped

2 oz. yellow onion, chopped fine

1 can (15 oz) artichoke hearts, drained or 1 c. marinated salad artichokes, cut in halves, rinsed well

Dash sea salt

¼ tsp. coarse black pepper

3 T. melted butter for basting

DIRECTIONS:  Remove the chicken from the bones, leaving the skin on as it adds so much flavor.   You can boil the bones for some great stock for future use.  I cut each piece of the meat into two smaller pieces.  Set meat aside for now.  Preheat oven to 350º and lightly oil a ceramic 9×13 baking dish.

Soften the cream cheese by your preferred method.  I nuke mine in a glass mixing bowl on DEFROST for 2-3 seconds.  Stir in sour cream and mayo and blend well with a rubber spatula. Add chopped parsley, onion, salt and pepper and stir again.  Fold the chopped artichoke hearts gently into the creamy mixture.  Spoon the artichoke mixture into the oiled baking dish and spread evenly.  Place the pieces of chicken, skin side up, on top of the mixture.  Mine were slightly touching in my dish, but they shrink during cooking.  Using a brush, baste meat with a bit of the melted butter.  Sprinkle with another dash of salt and black pepper.  Pop into 350º oven and bake for 1 hour.  Baste again with melted butter at the 20 minute mare and again at 40 minutes cook time.  Remove from oven at the 1 hour mark when chicken should be golden brown.  Serve with your favorite green salad or green veggie side dish.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes  5 servings, each contains

529 cals, 50g fat (reduce dairy to lower), 6.68g carbs, 2g fiber, 4.68g NET CARBS, 22 g protein, 468 mg sodium

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Chicken “Risotto”

This tasty dinner came together in under an hour, start to sitting down to table.  I always buy chicken breasts with bones, as I stew the bones to strip for adding those bits of meat to my dog’s food and making chicken broth.  But you can certainly use boneless breasts for this dish if you wish to speed up this quick meal even more.  This risotto-like dish is very psychologically satisfying, as well as being literally quite filling.  My husband and I felt like we were eating a real rice or cous-cous dish!  It is extremely low-carb and suitable for all phases of Atkins, other Keto diets, Primal Blueprint and if the wine and cheese are omitted, it is also acceptable for Paleo followers.

Our latest LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS cookbooks are calling you. Special prices going on right now. Hurry and place your order today for one or more of our cookbooks at https://amongfriends.us/sale.php or at Amazon. After your book(s) arrive, and you’ve had a chance to try a recipe or two, I hope you’ll stop by and leave a review at Amazon here.

INGREDIENTS:

5 T. butter, unsalted

20 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips

½ tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend (or seasoning of your choice)

¼ tsp. black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 c. chopped parsley (I used flat leaf, but either type will work)

2 T. white wine (optional)

¼ tsp. sea salt

1 pkg (14 oz) Zeroodles brand Shirataki Rice-Shape Noodles w/ oat fiber

4 T. grated Parmesan Cheese (added at table)

DIRECTIONS:  Melt butter in large skillet over high heat.  Add chicken strips and begin to brown.  As it is browning, sprinkle with half the Seafood Spice Blend, salt and black pepper. Turn the pieces of meat over and brown the other side.  Sprinkle remaining spices on the side of meat now up.  When meat has nicely browned a bit on both sides, add in the parsley, garlic and wine (if using).  Lower heat to medium and stir occasionally as it simmers for about 5-10 minutes.  Open noodle package and drain in a sieve under running cold water to rinse.  Pour noodles into skillet and stir to blend ingredients well.  Continue cooking another 10 minutes and remove from heat.  Serve at table allowing each serving to receive 1 T. grated Parmesan on top.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

365.3 cals, 22.9g fat, 5.95g carbs, 4.42g fiber, 1.53g NET CARBS, 31.1g protein, 590 mg sodium

 

 

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Asian Turkey-Sausage Soup

I was digging around in my freezer for something to put together for lunch today and forgot I’d made a small turkey at Easter.  I had the torso part of the carcass still left in a bag and decided on some sort of soup.  Then when I went to the fridge to get some other veggie ingredients, I saw the highly smoked, dry-cured sausage my husband gets when he’s at his convention and thought I’d mix the two meats.  I don’t think ordinary smoked sausage would do well here, so if you don’t have a meat market that dry-cures their own smoked sausage, I’d just omit it altogether.   Then I tossed in some chopped Zeroodles Shiritaki Noodles with Oat Fiber, a bit of fresh spinach leaves, a little of this and that and ended up with a DELICIOUS soup!  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and most Keto diets.  It’s very low in carbs yet so rich in flavor layer.  Hope you’ll give this one a try!

Our latest three volumes of LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS cookbooks are calling you. Volume 8 and Volume 9 are almost exclusively comprised of my recipes! Included in both editions are a few tasty new creations of my dear friends George Stella and Jennifer Eloff.   Volume 10 is hot off the press with more delectable goodies. Special prices right now! Hurry and place your order today for one or more of our cookbooks at https://amongfriends.us/sale.php or at Amazon. After your book(s) arrive, and you’ve had a chance to try a recipe, do stop by and leave a review at Amazon here.

INGREDIENTS:

½ meaty turkey carcass, 1 chicken carcass or 2½ c. diced cooked turkey meat

4 oz. highly smoked, dry-cured beef/pork sausage (see comment above)

6 cups water (if using diced turkey, I would use chicken/turkey broth for more flavor)

2 oz. onion, chopped

1 c. celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced

1 14-oz pkg. Zeroodles Shiritake Rice-Shape noodles (or other shape, chopped up)

1 tsp. Sambal Oelek chili sauce (or few drops Sriracha, or 1 tsp. Thai red curry paste)

1 T. low-sodium soy sauce

2 T. rice wine vinegar

1 c. dried shitake mushrooms, broken into small pieces

2 c. fresh spinach leaves (added at very last)

OPTIONAL:  ½ tsp. toasted sesame oil

DIRECTIONS:  Into a 5 qt. soup pot, place the turkey or chicken carcass.  Add the sausage and water to the pot.  Add celery, onion, garlic and ginger next.  Add rice-shaped or chopped up shiritake noodles and shitake mushrooms next.  Bring this mixture to a boil over high heat.  Lower heat and simmer covered with lid 30 minutes, or until veggies and mushrooms are fully tender.  Remove carcass to a cutting board, cool and strip meat off bones.  Chop meat into bite-size pieces and add back to the soup pot.  Add all remaining ingredients listed above but the spinach leaves.  Simmer about 15 minutes more to blend flavors.  Finally add the spinach leaves cooking just until it is barely done, or about 5 minutes.  Serve soup at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 large servings, each contains:

205 cals, 9.85g fat, 6.33g carbs, 3.46g fiber, 2.87g NET CARBS, 20.8g protein, 486 mg sodium

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Grilled Steelhead Trout-Spinach Pizza

I know this recipe may sound a little bizarre, but trust me, it is really, really tasty!  If you like things made with tuna or salmon, you will LOVE this interesting twist on a “pizza”.  The smoke on the fish combines so heavenly with cream cheese and green onion.   I created this for our lunch today and even my picky husband, a non-fish lover, said it was good!  And it was quite simple to put together.  I had a small piece of grilled Steelhead Trout leftover from our last grilling adventure and froze this piece.  I defrosted it and got this incredible idea as I blended it into some cream cheese.  Yummy, is all I can say.  I used my Mozzy Dough dough for the crust, but you can use whatever low-carb pizza crust you prefer.  I am providing nutritional stats for the entire recipe in case you decide to make this up as bite-size party food using a mini-muffin pan.  Just divide the “entire recipe” numbers below by the number of mini-bites you make.

This recipe is suitable once you get to phase 2 Atkins and is OK for most Keto diets provided you use a plan-suitable crust.

Our latest three volumes of LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS cookbooks are calling you. Volume 8 and Volume 9 are almost exclusively comprised of my recipes! Included in both editions are a few tasty new creations of my dear friends George Stella and Jennifer Eloff.   Volume 10 is hot off the press with more delectable goodies. Special prices offered right now! Hurry and place your order today for one or more of our cookbooks at https://amongfriends.us/sale.php or at Amazon. After your book(s) arrive, and you’ve had a chance to try a recipe, do stop by and leave a review at Amazon here.

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe my Mozzy Dough

4-5 oz. grilled Steelhead Trout, salmon or other fish

25 small spinach leaves, stemmed

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ c. green onion, chopped

2/3 c. mozzarella shreds

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º. Line a pizza pan with parchment paper and set aside. Make the crust by that recipe’s instructions.  Press the dough out evenly in your pan to a 14″ diameter circle.  Pop into 350º oven for 8-9 minutes or until just beginning to brown a tiny bit.  Remove and cool 5 minutes.  Slide parchment out from under the crust so it will crisp up on the bottom for the next phase of cooking.

While crust is baking, soften the cream cheese in a bowl in your microwave set to defrost.  Remove, add green onion and trout flakes (discard skin).  Blend well with a fork.  With a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon, spread half the fish mixture evenly onto the crust to within 1/4″ of the edge.  Place the spinach leaves in a single layer evenly on top.  Carefully spread the remaining fish-cream-cheese mixture on top.  Sprinkle the mozzarella shreds on top and pop into 350º for about 10 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned and the cheese is melted.   Remove from oven and slice into 8 slices.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Entire recipe contains 2215 cals, 177.7g fat, 77g carbs, 44.7g fiber, 32.30g NET CARBS, 151.4g protein, 2812 mg sodium 

For 8 slices, each contains:  277 cals, 22g fat, 9.62g carbs, 5.58g fiber, 4.04g NET CARBS, 19g protein, 352 mg sodium

For 6 slices, each contains:  369 cals, 30g fat, 12.83g carbs, 7.45g fiber, 5.38g NET CARBS, 25g protein, 469 mg sodium

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Cheesy Crawfish-Yellow Squash Casserole

This casserole came out delicious.  The blanched kale “platters” were an afterthought, but I figured at the very least, it would  make a lovely photo.  Maybe they would even be good together.  Good decision!  Even my husband thought they complimented each other and what a lovely color contrast as well!

This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto, and Primal as well, provided you use a phase or plan suitable bread.  You can use other spice blends, but the one called for is particularly crucial to the final Cajun flavor on this dish.  It helps to mellow any fishiness the crawfish might have.  Sometimes they can be strong.

More delicious low-carb recipes can be at your fingertips with your very own cookbooks from LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS, by Jennifer Eloff and low-carb friends.  Chef George Stella also offer a wealth of delicious recipes you will love!  Order yours TODAY! Special pricing going on right now on the 10-volume set, or you can order just one volume if you prefer from Amazon or our direct order site for sale pricing: http://amongfriends.us/order.php

INGREDIENTS:

3 T. butter

1 T. olive oil

1 c. celery, chopped

¼ c. each red and green bell pepper, chopped

2 oz. onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 small yellow squash (about 6″ long)

¼ tsp. salt

12 oz. crawfish tail meat (I buy Boudreaux’s frozen)

2 slices my gluten-free focaccia bread (or plan/phase suitable bread)

4 slices American Deluxe cheese

2 slices Cheddar cheese, diced or shredded

1½ tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend (or Emeril’s seafood blend)

DIRECTIONS:  Cut squash lengthwise into 4 quarters.  Then slice the wedges into ½” slices.  Chop the celery, onion, red and green pepper coarsely.   Preheat oven to 350º.  In a large skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil over medium high heat.  Saute the vegetables altogether just until about half tender (they’ll finish cooking in the oven.  Add garlic, Seafood Spice Blend and salt.  Stir and saute a couple minutes longer.  Add crawfish tails, stir & turn off heat.  Crumble one of the slices of focaccia into the mixture. Stir to mix.  Place 4 slices of American cheese on the top of the mixture.  Crumble the second slice of bread over the top and finally top with the diced/shredded Cheddar.  Place lid or foil on top and pop into 350º oven for about 30 minutes or until top bread crumbs and cheese just begin to brown.   Serve directly from the skillet the casserole baked in or as I did, atop blanched leaves of kale (submerged 2 min. in boiling water, removed gently and drained on paper towels).

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 6 servings, each contains: (not including kale option)

237.5 calories

20.71 g fat

7.15 g carbs, 1.60 g fat, 5.55 g NET CARBS

19.7 g protein

724 mg sodium

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Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta a la Puttanesca

This tasty dinner sure went together easily and FAST!  I would have used prosciutto in this if I had any in the house, but I used a locally made, highly-smoked dry-cured pork-beef sausage my husband brought home from Austin that served as a good stand-in.  I would NOT recommend using regular smoked sausage for this recipe.  I think it would NOT be very good.  Bacon would do in a pinch, but a totally different taste there.  I used Classico brand of sun-dried pesto sauce as it is only 7 net carbs per ¼ cup, spread out among the 4 servings.  I have calculated nutritional stats as if I had used the prosciutto, however.  This was outstanding!  My husband said I could make it again any time and I enjoyed it as well.  This recipe is suitable once you get to phase 2 of Atkins, but those still on Induction wanting to try it need to leave out the white wine.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. unsalted butter

3 oz. onion, chopped (I used red onion)

4 slices prosciutto (or highly smoked dry-cured meat like bacon)

1 Roma tomato, coarsely diced

½ c. canned sliced mushrooms with liquid (or 4-5 fresh medium, sliced)

10 black olives, sliced into 3 pieces

½ c. parsley, chopped

½ c. white wine (omit if still on Atkins Induction)

Dash red pepper flakes

¼ c. sun-dried tomato pesto sauce (I used Classico brand from a jar)

½ c. heavy cream

11 oz. Zeroodles “Penne” noodles with oat fiber (or 4 servings your preferred noodle alternate like zucchini noodles)

DIRECTIONS:   Melt butter in medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute until tender.  Add all remaining ingredients but the cream and noodles.  Lower heat to medium and add cream.   Simmer until it begins to thicken up a bit.  Add the noodles and toss well to coat.  I let mine simmer for about 5 minutes longer.  Serve at once with a nice green salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

276.3 cals, 20.2g fat, 12.2g carbs, 5.92g fiber, 6.28g NET CARBS, 6.75g protein, 586 mg sodium

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