Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

 

This is my version of a dish that we used to order regularly at Szechuan East, a Chinese restaurant that was once (and may still be for all I know) at the Galleria on Westheimer in Houston, TX.  It was truly one of the very best Chinese dishes I’ve ever eaten in my life.  I admit, up front, eggplant can be visually off-putting, but the flavor on this dish is just amazing!  All at the same time it is sweet–sour–and spicy.   One night while enjoying dinner in this particular restaurant, we saw Debra Paget (well-known 50’s actress who played Indian princesses in more than one film) enjoying a meal across the room, all alone at her table.  My husband told me her last husband was a wealthy, business Asian, but reading his bio , he was well-known in his own right.  Being children of this film era, we were quite excited to see someone who had been so famous at one time and my husband went quietly over to her table after her meal concluded and asked for her autograph.  She seemed genuinely pleased she had been recognized and was delighted to do so.  Sorry, I digress.  🙂

Though this dish is also off-putting texturally (pieces are quite slippery when properly cooked and sauced), the flavor is so delightful it continues to be a favorite in many Chinese restaurants.  Both my husband and I can get past the look and texture to appreciate the subtle flavor nuances of this dish.  It is typically eaten atop rice, but it’s not bad eaten alone or incorporated into a simple shrimp-stir-fry.  It is outstanding with grilled Asian Marinated meat.  If you like eggplant and are not bothered by its sometimes slippery texture, you will REALLY like this dish.  🙂

VARIATION:  This is also good with RED bell pepper strips sauteed and added to the mix.  Colorful, too.

INGREDIENTS:

1   1-lb. eggplant, peeled and cut into ¼” strips

4 T. olive oil

½ tsp. HOT sesame oil

½ pkt. Splenda or Stevia   

1 T. rice wine vinegar (no substitions)

1½ T. low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos

3 small cloves garlic, minced

½ c. chicken broth

1/2-1 tsp. oriental chili paste like Sambal Oelek (or use crushed red pepper flakes)

1/8 tsp. xanthan gum to thicken

1 tsp. sesame seeds (optional and not included in numbers below)

DIRECTIONS:   Peel eggplant and cut into ¼” strips.  Heat olive and hot sesame oil in non-stick skillet or wok.   Add eggplant strips and gently stir fry.  Keep gently tossing them around on the hot pan surface and they WILL eventually get limp and soft.  When they are all starting to look translucent, add all remaining ingredients and simmer 1-2 minutes.  Add a tiny bit of your favorite thickening agent and stir well until slightly thickened.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 3 servings, each containing:

214.7 cals, 19.8g fat, 9.37g carbs, 4.77g fiber, 4.6g NET CARBS, 2.23g protein, 355 mg sodium

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Cauli-Rice

Lets head out of North Africa and take the shortest route west, through the Middle East, stopping in China.  I’d like to spend this week sharing some Asian classics as well as personal creations of Oriental foods.  You just can’t think about Chinese and Southeast Asian foods without first thinking of rice, a staple in that part of the world.  Sadly, low-carbers do not eat rice typically served with Asian foods.  Well, some clever genius out there invented what is known as cauliflower rice (Cauli-rice for short).  Lord only knows who offered this “mock rice” dish first, but it has become a staple in low-carb kitchens around the world now.  Commercial food distributors even offer it pre-frozen for convenience!  Asian foods are no longer eschewed in the low-carb kitchen!    

Many low-carbers complain they just can’t seem to get their riced cauliflower to come out to their liking.  I sure had my problems cooking with it in the beginning.  We’ve all tried steaming it over water, but that tends to overcook it and make it too odiferous and soggy for my liking.  We’ve all tried sautéing it in oil in a skillet, but I find that is the path to overcooking.  My preferred method of preparing it is actually in my microwave!  Who’da thunk?   I’ll tell ya, it comes out perfect every time!  Here a how to explanation:

INGREDIENTS:

1 large head cauliflower (about 6½-7″ in diameter)

DIRECTIONS:   Remove the leaves and with a heavy large knife, cut the flowerets off the stalks.  Place them in a food processor and pulse 8-9 times or enough to reduce the flowerets to little “pellet” like pieces.  I do not use the stalks as that doesn’t chop up so nicely, but you can.  If you do, I would process them by themselves first a couple pulses  Me, I usually eat those while I’m cooking dinner.  I simply LOVE raw cauliflower. 😉

Scrape the riced cauliflower into a medium-large bowl.  DO NOT ADD ANY WATER!  Cover with a microwave dome or loose fitting plate or microwaveable paper plate.  Microwave on HI a total of 3 minutes, stirring completely after each minute.  The stirring is essential!  Remove, taste and if not quite done to your liking (microwaves vary), cook 1 minute longer.  If going to use your cauli-rice in a casserole, add it to the casserole UNCOOKED.  If using in a wetter dish like étouffée, jambalaya or gumbo, stir the cooked meat mixture right into the cooked cauli-rice and serve at once.  When serving company, I prefer to dip the cooked meat mixture on top of the cauli-rice as is shown below, as this is more attractive on the platter.

Shown with Lobster Andouille

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes approximately 6 servings of 1 cup of cauli-rice, each (slight variables: exactly how big your head of cauliflower is and whether you riced the stalks or not). Each serving contains approximately:

34 cals, 0.13 g fat, 7.41 g carbs, 3.5 g fiber, 3.91 g NET CARBS, 2.76 g protein, 42 mg sodium

Roasted Shawarma Vegetables

If you’re a Middle Eastern food fan, this is a must try!  This dish is incredibly easy to make and is exceptionally good with charcoal-grilled meats.  Shown above with a rib-eye steak but these are equally good with grilled chicken or shrimp.  This flavor reminds me so much of the eggplant stew Khoresh-e-Bademjan I ate when we lived in Teheran.  I have even been known to cook the veggies in a grilling basket right on the grill with the meat!  It’s even BETTER that way!   This dish always elicits a thumbs up from diners and definitely sits proudly amongst my very best-tasting veggie recipes.  You can certainly use other spice blends here, but the Shawarma blend is what makes this recipe truly unique!  This is an Atkins Induction friendly recipe.  If you have leftovers, I often cut up any leftover grilled meats and toss it right in the vegetables for lunch the next day.  You will find that this is one of those dishes that just tastes better every time you reheat it, assuming there ARE any leftovers! 😉  This veggie or veg with meat combo dinner is also good baked in the oven when the weather doesn’t accommodate grilling.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium yellow squash cut in 1″ chunks (or zucchini is OK)
1 small eggplant (about 10-12 oz) cut in ½” slices, then cut those in quarters
4 plum tomatoes cut into quarters
1 green, yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and cut in 1″ chunks
1 red bell pepper seeded and cut in 1″ chunks
1 purple onion cut into ½” wedges, layers separated
12 cloves garlic (one entire bulb, cloves peeled but left whole)
2 T. my Shawarma Spice Blend
¼ tsp. each salt & black pepper (opt.)

Splash of  olive oil (about 2 T., or more if you can afford the calories)

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 425º.  Cut up all veggies and place in large mixing bowl.  Drizzle olive oil over all and stir well to coat all veggies with oil and seasonings.  Toss to try and coat all veggies with oil.  Splash on the extra olive oil if using.  Pour all into glass casserole dish and bake at 425º for about 30-40 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Serves 6, each serving contains:

91 calories, 5.0 g  fat, 11.45 g  carbs, 3.48 g  fiber, 7.97 NET CARBS, 2.22 g  protein, 105  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

Eggplant Parmigiana “Pizza”

Here’s a ‘pizza’ that doesn’t even have a crust!   I LOVE how the eggplant “crust’ came together to convey a sense of a real crust though.   Just as crunchy as classically battered and fried Eggplant Parmigiana.  Couldn’t even taste the pepperoni though.  Will put more next time.  What I do know is this was extremely filling and most delicious!   Pork rinds are just wonderful as a stand-in for breadcrumbs in Italian cooking.  If you keep some of the Lucini sauce in your freezer, it can be defrosted quickly in the microwave for such recipes.  Makes prep time a snap!  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets and Primal Blueprint.

VARIATION:  Double the recipe, omit the pepperoni and make a full casserole pan of these slices for classic Eggplant Parmigiana.  🙂

INGREDIENTS:

2   slices eggplant, unpeeled, about 3/8″ thick

1½ T. homemade mayonnaise

1½ oz. pork rinds (2 handfuls) crushed

Dash your favorite seasoning blend

Dash Italian spice blend (or oregano)

1½ oz. shredded mozzarella (about 5 Tbsp.)

4 T. spaghetti sauce (I use Lucini brand I buy at Walmart)

½ oz. green bell pepper, sliced extremely thin

5 slices pepperoni, chopped a bit

2 T. Parmesan, grated

DIRECTIONS:   Preheat oven to 450º.  Line baking sheet with parchment.

Slice off eggplant slices and brush both sides with mayo.  Crush pork rinds and stir in spices. Sprinkle them onto both surfaces with pork rind crumbs, coating well.  Place slices onto parchment lined pan and bake at 450º for about 15 minutes.  No need to turn during baking.  Remove from oven and lower to 350º.

Sprinkle each slice with 2 T. mozzarella cheese.  Dot each with 2 T. sauce.  Place bits of green pepper next.  Evenly space the pepperoni bits.  Sprinkle each with Parmesan cheese and the remaining 1T. mozzarella.  Bake at 350º for 5-10 minutes to melt the cheese.  Serve (eat with a fork) and ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 2 slices, each contains:

310 cals, 23.1 g fat, 7 g carbs, 3.1 g fiber, 3.9 g NET CARBS, 18.9 g protein, 700 mg sodium

Calabacita

We’re having this delicious side with our pork chops tonight.  I’ve seen a wide variety of recipes for this dish over the years, but this version, with a few tweaks, is my favorite.  For those not familiar with what we Texans call Calaba squash, the pic below is an example of one popular strain in all our local grocery stores.  This squash is also referred to as Mexican Zucchini.  They are mild and very similar to zucchini in taste, but are shorter, lighter green, slightly striped (some have even darker stripes than the squash in the pic) and they are more oval in shape than zucchini.  The inside flesh is slightly firmer and yellower and best of all, it does not bleed water into your recipes as badly as regular Italian zucchini does. You can definitely substitute zucchini in this dish if you can’t get calaba squash where you live.  I’ve even been known to make this recipe with yellow summer squash.  Comes out tasting a little different, but still quite good.  This dish is Induction friendly.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. diced calaba squash (½-¾” dice)

½ large leek, sliced thin

4 slices lean bacon, chopped

1 T. butter, unsalted

½ c. sweet red pepper, chopped

3 oz. cheddar cheese

3 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese

Pinch each of black pepper, ground cumin and celery seed

VARIATION:  Omit the bacon entirely in this recipe.  That was one of my tweaks actually.  It’s not usually in calabacita.

DIRECTIONS: Brown the chopped bacon in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat (do not drain off grease unless there is more than 2 tablespoons).  When done, add butter and diced calaba squash, stirring often and cook until just about fully tender.   Add sliced leeks, red pepper and spices  and continue stirring for about 5-10 minutes until all veggies appear to be done.  Top with cheeses and pop into 350º oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted nicely.  This dish goes well with pork, fish and most Mexican food.  Leftovers often get frozen & dumped into the next pot of Mexican soup I make.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 4 large servings each containing:

235.5 cals, 17.7 g fat, 7.65 g carbs, 1.8 g fiber, 5.85 g NET CARBS, 12.9 g protein, 394 mg sodium

Indian Cauliflower

 

Took me awhile researching on the internet to find out what the black seeds often seen in this dish in restaurants were, but diligence was rewarded in the end.  They are nigella seeds, which go by a variety of other names as well.  The resulting experiment  came out pretty close in flavor to the dish served in many Indian restaurants, so I’m quite pleased.  We served it with charbroiled chicken we had marinated in a Tandoori seasoning I just got out of an Indian cookbook.   The spices are available in a bottle from Middle Eastern or Indian groceries, but as there isn’t where I live, I must order my exotic spices from Penzey’s on-line.  This is an Atkins Induction suitable recipe also OK for other ketogenic lifestyles.

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole cauliflower (about 16 oz.)

½ stick butter

½ tsp. whole cumin seed

¼ tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. finely minced, peeled ginger root

1 tsp. black or brown mustard seed (totally different from yellow variety).

½ tsp. nigella seeds.

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cut cauliflower into fairly large chunks.  Place in a steamer over ½-1″ water and steam until just barely tender (10 minutes or less).

In a separate skillet, melt butter and saute all spices until they are fragrant and mustard seeds begin to pop.   When cauliflower is just tender, lift out of steamer and toss into the spice mixture.  Stir to coat cauliflower well with buttery spices.  Serve with Middle Eastern foods or Indian curries.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Serves 4.  Each 4 oz. servings has:

136 cals, 12 g fat, 6.7 g carbs, 3.05 g fiber, 3.65 g NET CARBS, 2.68 g protein, 36.5 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

Creamed Spinach

American style

We just LOVE creamed spinach!  This dish is Atkins Induction friendly and suitable for other Keto diets as well.

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. butter

Saag Paneer (Indian style).

2 oz. yellow onion

16 oz. frozen chopped spinach

1 c. water

3 oz. cream cheese

1/3 c. heavy cream

Dash salt and pepper

VARIATION :  Try it as it’s made in INDIA sometime, where it is called Saag Paneer with pot cheese added.  Add 1 tsp. my Garam Masala spice blend, ½ tsp. grated ginger root, ½ c. chopped cilantro, and ½ seeded jalapeno chopped and paneer cheese cubes (if you know how to make it or can buy frozen at an Indian grocery).

DIRECTIONS:  Sliver up the onion very thin or chop finely.  Melt butter in skillet and sauté onion over medium heat in non-stick skillet.  Add spinach and water, cover and simmer just until spinach is done (about 5 minutes).  Drain off any remaining water.  Now dot the surface with cream cheese and stir in to melt.  If making the Indian version, add all spices and jalapeno pepper now.  Stir.  Lower heat to lowest setting and add cream.  Simmer uncovered for 2-3 minutes to allow  flavors to blend.  Optional bake-off:  Bake at 350º for 15 minutes.  Great with grilled kebab, chicken or fish.  Mmm Mmm Mmm.  I just love this stuff, especially the Indian version!

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 4 servings each contains

193 cals, 16.4 g fat, 7.9 g carbs, 3.9 g fiber, 4g  NET CARBS, 197 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 to her topping.  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  6-oz. can 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

Twice-Baked “Potatoes”

I have made this delicious side dish often throughout my nearly 14 years of low-carbing.  You just can’t beat an all-time favorite food!  Comfort food for sure at our house.  This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets.  It is not suitable for Primal-Paleo due to all the dairy.

INGREDIENTS:

24 oz. raw cauliflower (about 2/3 of a large head)

1 oz. heavy cream

1 oz. cream cheese

1 oz. sour cream

4 T. melted butter, unsalted

4 oz. Cheddar cheese, shredded

2 large green onions, chopped

1 tsp. or less olive oil to grease dish

DIRECTIONS:  Cut cauliflower into smaller pieces and boil or steam until tender.  Drain well.  Stir in the cream cheese and butter to melt.  Add the sour cream and heavy cream and whip with a stick blender or hand mixer until smooth or nearly smooth.  Spread into a greased medium baking dish and top with half the cheese, then the onions and finally the rest of the cheese.  Bake in a preheated 350º oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 servings, each contains:

209 cals, 18 g  fat, 7.85 g  carbs, 2.98 g fiber, 4.87 g NET CARBS, 6.98 g protein, 257 mg sodium

Judy’s Parmesan Baked Yellow Squash

I just love yellow summer squash (the slim, soft-skinned variety) and have cooked it a ton of different ways over the years.  But honestly, this recipe is by far the best way I’ve ever eaten it.   It’s so good, I make it often during the Holiday Season!  It goes so nicely with turkey and dressing in my opinion.  This is a recipe of a friend I used to work with years ago.  Parmesan is not usually the cheese people put on yellow squash dishes, but I’m here to tell ya this is an OUTSTANDING flavor combination.  And the sweet caramelized onions just bring so much to the combo.  I just use the Parmesan in the green canister we all are familiar with, as a rule, for this dish.  But you can use whole, grated Parmesan if you prefer. This recipe is OK for all phases of Atkins, Keto and Primal Blueprint programs.

INGREDIENTS:

6 yellow summer squash (medium, about 6″ long)

6 oz. yellow onion

1 Flax Sandwich Bun, crumbled (or slice other low-carb bread)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Dash of Salt and Pepper

3 T. butter

DIRECTIONS:  Slice onion into thin slivers and sauté in butter in no-stick skillet.  Cook until they begin to brown, as the caramelizing is essential to the flavor of this dish.  Turn off heat and let them cool.

Now grease a 9×13 glass casserole pan with butter.  Slice the squash laterally/lengthwise into 1/4″ slices (or thinner if you want to speed this dish up a bit).  This goes together in lasagna-type layers.  First sprinkle 1-2 T.of the flax bun crumbs on the bottom of the pan.  These will soak up moisture that bleeds out of the squash during cooking.  Now place a single layer of squash slices in the pan.  Jimmie them around, switching ends of slices so the pan is pretty much filled without gaps.  Top with 1/4 of the browned onions.  Next sprinkle 1-2 T. Parmesan cheese.  Repeat these steps until all ingredients are used, ending with onion on top.   Cover pan tightly with foil and bake 30-40 minutes at 350 º.  Uncover, add 2-3 T. water if there is no moisture left in the bottom of the pan.  Bake another 20-30 minutes (uncovered) or until squash feels tender when knife is stuck into it and onions on the top are toasty brown.  Toast top in broiler if need be.  You want the top layer of onion to be attractively toasted. This dish is a big hit every time I make it and it goes nicely with your holiday turkey dinners.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 6 servings, each containing:

150 calories, 10.35 g  fat, 9.88 g  carbs, 3.0 g  fiber, 6.88 NET CARBS, 7.2 g  protein, 26 g sodium

Twice-Baked Portobello Mushrooms

I’m going to make these again as soon as I can get some portobellos.  Makes such a delicious side for grilled steaks.  We just love these things!  So glad I tried this veggie combo so I can feel like I’m eating “high on the hog” as my Dad used to say.  Of course, you can use homemade mashed cauliflower, but the Birdseye was so good, and so convenient, why would you bother?  😉  This side dish is suitable for all stages of Atkins, Keto plans, Paleo and Primal as well.

INGREDIENTS:

3  Portobello mushrooms (mine were 3-oz. each)

3 T. olive oil

12 oz. pkg. frozen Mashed Cauliflower (I used Birdseye), Sour Cream & Chive

1 T. unsalted butter

¼ c. green onion, chopped

¼ c. Cheddar Cheese shreds

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a pan with parchment (optional).  Using a spoon, scoop the dark gills out of the mushrooms.  With a basting brush, brush both sides of the mushrooms with olive oil.  Set them curved side down on the pan.  Pop them in oven for about 8-9 minutes.

While they are pre-cooking, cook the cauli-mash as instructed on the box.  I microwaved mine.  Remove film from tray and stir in the butter to mix and melt.  Remove mushroom pan from the oven and spoon 1/3 of the mixture into each of the 3 mushrooms.  Top each with 1/3 of the Cheddar cheese shreds.  Finally, sprinkle the green onion evenly on all 3 servings.  Return the mushroom pan to the oven and bake about 10 minutes more or just until cheese is melted.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 3 servings, each contains:

297 cals, 22.3g fat, 7.06g carbs, 2.33g fiber, 4.73g NET CARBS, 4.6g. protein, 261 mg sodium

“Potato” Cakes

We low-carbers know you can’t eat white potatoes on a low-carb plan.  However you can get creative with jicama and other vegetables and get that potato taste when fried.  These “potato” cakes stay crunchy as jicama is quite crunchy even after cooking.  The flavor is VERY close to real potatoes when cooked this way.  This recipe is OK for Induction.  You can also do this with grated, peeled turnip or rutabaga, but recalculate carbs if you change.  When you get to the OWL starchy veggie rung, using rutabaga is the best choice for these, in my opinion. 🙂  I have since original publishing, added the flax meal and resistant wheat starch.  These are optional, but really improve these in flavor and texture for me and I intend to include them always, so I have included in the nutritional info numbers below.  Those 2 added ingredients only increase net carbs by 0.17 g.

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz jicama, grated (or daikon radish, or turnip, or rutabaga)

1/4 c. onion, grated

1 whole egg + 1 small egg white (I used 2 T. carton egg whites)

1/8 tsp. sea salt

Dash black pepper

2 T. bacon grease, or oil of your choice

1 T. flax meal (optional)

1 T. Resistant wheat starch (optional)

DIRECTIONS:  Skin/peel back the brown outer coating of your jicama. Weigh out 12 oz. and grate. Pat out any moisture with paper towels and place grated jicama into a medium bowl.  Add all other ingredients and stir well. Put unused jicama in a ziploc bag in fridge for some other use. . Melt grease/oil in non-stick skillet over high heat.   Using fork or spoon, dip half the mixture into 5 portions onto the hot skillet, spreading it out fairly thin into 2½” patties patties.  Brown nicely on both sides.  I serve with my morning eggs and bacon/sausage or as a dinner side.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION: Makes 10 potato cakes, each has:

53 cals, 3.55 g fat, 4.19 g. carbs, 2.27 g. fiber, 1.92 g NET CARBS, 1.39 g protein, 30 mg. sodium

Indian Cabbage

 If you think you don’t like cabbage (like my husband) you have GOT to try this recipe!  You’ll swear you are not eating cabbage!!  No cabbage odor or strong taste whatsoever to this dish!  It is a delightfully crunchy side dish with grilled Tandoori Chicken or pork chops!  I order my nigella seeds (black onion seeds or kalongi seed) on-line, but you may be fortunate to have a spice supplier where you live.  I would not recommend omitting them, as you will miss out on a flavor layer that is quite nice.  Once you taste this recipe (without alterations) you’ll wish you had found this simple recipe long ago!  This dish is Atkins Induction, Primal and Paleo friendly.

VARIATION:  Instead of cabbage, substitute French style frozen green beans (cooked to tender-crisp stage).  Sprinkle 2 T. desiccated coconut on the beans and toss right before serving. I like this variation just as well as the cabbage version.  We used to have these two dishes at The Taj Majal restaurant on the Gulf Freeway in Houston years ago.  I was always amazed at how good they were and how much the vegetables almost didn’t taste like themselves at all!  But no matter, the dishes were always excellent!

VARIATION:  Add some browned ground beef or ground lamb for a complete meal. 

INGREDIENTS: 4 T. unsalted butter

½ tsp. whole cumin seed

1 jalapeno, seeded and cut into 1/8″ strips (julienned)

2 oz. thinly sliced yellow onion

1 carrot, grated

2 ½ c. cabbage, ¼” shred with a knife (it’s too fine with a food processor)

Pinch salt

Pinch ground turmeric

½ tsp. nigella seeds (I order from Penzey’s Spices)

½ tsp. my Garam Masala spice blend

1 T. lemon juice

DIRECTIONS: Melt the butter in a non-stick wok or large skillet.  Add cumin seed, slivered jalapeno, onion, turmeric and salt.  Stir fry on medium-high heat until onions are beginning to get soft.  Add cabbage and carrot and remaining spices.  Continue to stir-fry until cabbage begins to soften.  Squeeze on lemon juice, stir and serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 4 servings, each contains:

129 cals, 12g fat 7.0g carbs, 2.2g fiber, 4.8g NET CARBS, 1.1g protein, 63 mg sodium

ALL-STAR RECIPES, PRIMAL-PALEO, Vegetables

Spicy Zucchini Cakes

I created these to have with a baked ham, but they are pretty good with all meats, I have since discovered.   These are delicious and make a lovely side dish that requires little effort.  Ready in minutes!  This would therefore be a good recipe for your busy week nights.  Over 100,000 people on Facebook thought so when I was posting there on Jennifer Eloff’s ‘Low Carbing Among Friends’ page.

As written, these are not suitable for Atkins Induction, but if you use an Induction-friendly One Minute Muffin for the breadcrumbs instead of the biscuit listed, they are suitable for the Induction phase.  They are a go for Keto diets and Paleo or Primal if you use plan-suitable bread and hot sauce.

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 of black 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

Jicama “Fries”

Man, I tried these on a whim early on in my low-carb journey.  They were FANTASTIC!  And best of all, you don’t have to stand over a skillet of hot grease!  The Seafood Spice blend in the coating took 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 Induction friendly, too!

Some may be tempted to just use spicy/BBQ pork rinds and omitting the seasoning blend in the recipe.  Please bear in mind the flavored pork rinds are laden with sugar and sometimes modified food starch as well……not acceptable ingredients for us low-carbers.  Be sure you read the ingredients listed if you don’t believe me.  In fact, you should ALWAYS read ingredients listings, for ALL processed foods.  The net carb count just isn’t the whole picture!

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

Roasted Shawarma Chicken and Vegetables

I have made these Roasted Shawarma Vegetables before as a side dish, but not until I added chicken to the mix had I found a wonderful meal in a pan!  Good decision!  This meal that virtually cooks itself is so delicious!  I saved out 1 chicken breast from this whole chicken to use for something else this week but cooked all the remaining pieces.  If you omit the chicken, this vegetable dish is a marvelous side with grilled steak and chicken!  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets, Primal and Paleo as well.  So ENJOY everybody!

INGREDIENTS:

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

1 whole chicken, cut up (minus 1 of the breasts reserved for another use)

10 cloves garlic, peeled

1 medium zucchini, sliced thick

1 yellow squash, sliced thick

8 oz. Japanese eggplant, cubed or sliced thick (I don’t peel it)

1 2 3/4″ tomato, cut into wedges

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

1 tsp. my Shawarma Spice Blend

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  I used my convection settting to speed mine up a bit.  Oil a large metal baking pan with some of the olive oil.  Lay the chicken pieces evenly in the pan (I cut my chicken breast into 2 pieces, as they tend to be large nowadays).  Next add the sliced vegetables evenly around the pieces of chicken. Sprinkle on the Shawarma spice Blend and last of all, place the garlic (whole) around the pan, cutting larger cloves in half.  Pop into 350º oven.  If using convection roast, it will take about 35-40 minutes, or until chicken reads 170º on your meat thermometer.  If using standard oven, it will probably take a full hour, perhaps a bit longer if your chicken is big or you cut your vegetables larger than shown in my photo.  I like to baste the chicken and veggies with pan juices mid-cooking.  🙂  Serve with a nice green salad.   This is delightful with nutty-tasting basmati rice for your non-low-carbing dinner guests.  🙂  I don’t eat anything with mine.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes around 6 servings, each contains:

384 cals, 25 g fat, 8.08 g carbs, 2.56 g fiber, 5.52 g NET CARBS, 32 g protein, 457 mg sodium

Okra Fritters

This little experiment came out quite tasty!  And ever so easy once I thawed the okra.  This is not suitable until the grains rung of OWL.  Those still on Induction might try subbing flax meal for the bake mixes and then it would be OK 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 mixed together brings to the table.

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INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. frozen sliced okra, coarsely chopped

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 calories

1.67 g fat

2.09 g carbs, .73 g fiber, 1.36 NET CARBS

1.34 g protein

24 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!  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 is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto 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 has collaborated with a number of talented low-carb cooks to bring you a wealth of delicious recipes you are going to want to try.  Even a few of my recipes are in the cookbooks! Order yours today from Amazon or: http://amongfriends.us/order.php

INGREDIENTS:

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

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 375 degree 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

Creamy Broccoli and Mushrooms

This dish is a variation on a broccoli dip a friend of many years often served at parties.  I didn’t chop my broccoli as fine as she did, and there was no cheese in her dip.  Mine instead is made with a delicious low-carb soup.  The flavor was so memorable I decided to try and reproduce it as a vegetable side dish today.  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 cooked green beans for the broccoli.

INGREDIENTS:

½ bunch broccoli, stems and flowerettes 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

Induction Recipe

Broccoli with Caramelized Onion Sauce

If you’re tired of the same old steamed broccoli, the usual cheese sauce and the typical broccoli casseroles, give this recipe a whirl.  It’s easy and ready in minutes.  The sweetness of the caramelized onions in this sauce really smooths out the oft-perceived bitter taste of broccoli in an amazing way!  This dish is Atkins Induction-friendly and suitable for other Keto diets as well.  Primal-Paleo followers will want to sub in coconut milk for the cream and of course ghee for the butter.

INGREDIENTS:  

9 oz. broccoli, cut up into large pieces or small spears

2 T. butter, unsalted

2 oz. yellow onion, sliced thin

½ clove garlic, minced

½ c. heavy cream

¼-½ c. water

Dash pepper

1 T. grated Parmesan cheese

OPTIONAL:  a sprinkle of your favorite thickener if desired

DIRECTIONS:  Cook broccoli stems until completely done and nicely browned.   Drain well a few minutes on paper towels.  Lay broccoli stems  decoratively on your serving dish.  In non-stick skillet over med-high heat, sauté onion and garlic in butter until the onion begins to brown nicely and caramelizes.    Lower heat.  Add cream and Parmesan.  Add pepper and taste.  Add pinch of salt.  Simmer a few minutes and it will slightly thicken.  Add water.  Simmer a few more minutes.  Should be the right thickness when done.  Add a bit of your favorite thickener if the thickness is not to your liking.  Dip or pour over broccoli and serve or let diners serve dip it over own serving on the plate.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 3 servings each containing:

164 calories, 13.1 g  fat, 9.4 g  carbs, 2.57 g fiber, 6.83 g  NET CARBS, 4.5 g  protein, 73 mg sodium

Boursin-Herb Stuffed Mushrooms

I’ve done shrimp-stuffed mushrooms, herb-stuffed mushrooms, sausage-stuffed mushrooms, but last night I decided to do just a simple, rich herb-Boursin cheese filling.  Yummers!  These so “dressed up” a simple beef pattie dinner.  A side of fresh green beans was the perfect complement.  These would make great party snacks, using smaller mushrooms, of course.  This recipe is certainly a keeper for us as we love Boursin cheese!  And these gems have 30%-55% RDA of 11+ vital vitamins and minerals, so they are very nutritious for your family!  Best of all, they’re suitable for all you folks still on Atkins Induction!

INGREDIENTS:

6 large button mushrooms

2 T. olive oil + 2 T. unsalted butter

¼ c. chopped parsley

1 large green onion, chopped fine

1/8 tsp. each black and cayenne pepper

4 T. Boursin or Alouette “Garlic & Herb” soft cheese

1 slice low-carb bread or roll (I used this focaccia), crumbled

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Wipe clean and stem the mushrooms.  I saved the stems for some other use.  You can, of course, chop them up, saute and add to the filling mixture, but in doing so, you may not get all the filling into the mushroom cavities when stuffing.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  With a brush, coat the outsides and insides of the mushrooms and set on baking pan.  To the remaining oil in the skillet, add the parsley, green onion, black and cayenne pepper.  Saute for a couple minutes.  Turn off heat and stir in the cheese to melt and blend.  Fold the bread crumbles into the mixture last and blend well.  Using a spoon, fill each mushroom cavity with 1/6 the filling, forcing it down well in the hole and allowing it to mound slightly.  If you have leftover filling, grab a 7th mushroom and fill it!  That will lower the numbers below a bit.  Pop pan into 350º oven and back around 25 minutes until mushrooms appear done and topping is slightly brown on top as shown above.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 stuffed mushrooms, each one contains:

128 cals, 12.4g fat, 2.2g carbs, 0.7g fiber, 1.5g NET CARBS, 3g protein, 78 mg sodium

 

Oven-Fried Summer Squash

This dish is one of the most popular recipes on my website with over 13,000 fans now.  It is super easy to make and super good!  No standing over a skillet of hot grease either!  So good, it was impossible to refrain from having a second serving!  🙂  This recipe works with yellow squash, green zuccini or the Mexican calaba squash that looks like lighter green zucchini.  Some call it Mexican zucchini.  Calaba has less water content that its darker green “cousin” and is very nice for baking because of this quality.  The flesh inside is a wee bit yellowish, but the flavor I cannot detect as different from the darker green zucchini.  The inside gets fully cooked in 20 minutes without par-boiling first.  The pork rinds make it crunchy on the outside and will satisfy your desire for crunchy, fried food.  This dish is Atkins Induction friendly.  This coating works nicely on a variety of other vegetables as well.  Put your experimenting hat on and have fun!  So far I’ve used the coating/method on pkra, onion rings, and eggplant with consistent success.  coating.

DO NOT USE A SILICONE SHEET to bake this squash or it will not brown properly.  Bake them directly on a 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) 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

Swiss Chard Sauté

I’m trialing small-scale veggie gardening using 20 gallon grow bags on a rear, unused driveway at my home. Things are germinating and my Swiss Chard was ready to harvest today. Thought I’d try a little sauté to go with our broiled chicken breasts tonight. Chard is nearly as nutritious as kale and spinach, so I like to add it and many green, leafy veggies to our diet as much as possible. I tend to cut the stems off as I find it strong tasting, but they are edible and you can add the stems to your chard dishes. This side dish was absolutely delicious! It just took minutes to prepare from start to finish. This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins as well as other Keto diets, including Paleo.

INGREDIENTS:

8 leaves Swiss Chard

3 slices thick-sliced bacon, chopped

3 oz. yellow or red onion, sliced in thin wedges

1/8 tsp. coarse black pepper

DIRECTIONS: Cut bottom of stem off chard leaves (if you wish). Wash leaves well under cold water and pat dry both sides of leaves with paper toweling. Cut into 1″ strips and set aside on towel or paper plate.

Chop bacon coarsely and fry over high heat in a medium skillet until browned and starting to crisp. Using slotted spoon, dip bacon bits onto paper towels to drain and await final plating.

In the same bacon grease you just generated, place the onion wedges, separating the slices as you sauté them over high heat and stir. When they have softened and caramelized, add in the chard strips and sauté just until chard goes limp. Plate the onion/chard mixture and top with bacon crisps. Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 3 servings, each contains:

170 cals, 12.4g fat, 10.5g carbs, 3.5g fiber, 7g NET CARBS, 12.8g protein, 542 mg sodium

Summer Vegetable Sauté

I’m serving a grilled, marinated chuck roast tonight for dinner. I’ve decided to serve a nice, light, vegetable sauté with it. The particular summer veggies you choose for this dish can vary, but you will want to recalculate the recipe if you make changes. Today, I have yellow summer squash and bell peppers on hand, the other things I always have around, but this particulay combo makes an overall “sweet” mix of summer freshness.

This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets. For Primal Blueprint/Paleo, use all olive oil instead of butter/OO mixture specified in recipe.

VARIATION: You could use sliced red radishes instead of the celery for more color! Remember, they taste very different sauteed than they do raw in a salad. You could even add some sliced fresh mushrooms to this dish!

INGREDIENTS:

1 T. extra light olive oil

1 c. carrot, peeled and sliced thin

3 oz. onion, sliced or cut in wedges

½ c. celery, sliced on the diagonal

2 T. unsalted butter

1½ c. summer yellow squash, sliced ¼” thick

1 oz. red bell pepper, sliced

2 oz. green bell pepper, sliced

Pinch sea salt

¼ tsp. coarse black pepper

DIRECTIONS: Heat olive oil + 1 T. of the butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté carrots, onion & celery first until just slightly softened. Dip out onto paper plate Add rest of butter to skillet. Add yellow squash and sauté just until it begins to look slightly transluscent (as to not over cook). Add bell peppers and continue to sauté couple minutes just until the green pepper is slightly tender. Add back the carrot-onion mixture, stirring and sautéeing another minute to meld the flavors. If vegetables are added in the specified order, they should all be perfectly tender-crisp. Cook longer only if it is your personala preference. Sprinkle on salt and pepper, stir well and serve at once with your favorite grilled beef, pork, chicken or seafood.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 4 servings, each contains:

143 cals, 12.75g fat, 7.3g carbs, 2.1g fiber, 5.2g NET CARBS, 1.2g protein, 106 mg sodium

Boursin Bacon Brussels Sprouts

I’ve finally found a way to prepare Brussels sprouts that I really like.  I think the key was to cook them in the microwave instead of steaming or boiling them.  They came out so mild…….not bitter, or chemical tasting at all!  And the Boursin soft cheese gave them a nice flavor layer to complement the bacon topper.  In my grocery store, the Boursin is usually near the deli with the other specialty cheeses.  You’re talkin’ to a Brussels sprouts hater here, so all you sprouts haters be sure to try these sometime.  You’ll be amazed how much milder they are than steamed or boiled sprouts.  And the green color is preserved cooking them in the microwave!

INGREDIENTS:

10 fresh Brussels sprouts (cut larger ones in half)

3-4 T. water

Dash each salt and black pepper

2 T. Boursin “Garlic Herb and Chive” soft cheese (more if you like)

3 thick slices bacon, chopped 1″ and browned

DIRECTIONS:  Cut tiny bit off sprouts stems.  Cut larger sprouts in half lengthwise.  Place them in a ceramic or glass dish.  Add the water and microwave for 2 minutes, stir and microwave 2 more minutes.  While they are cooking, brown the bacon in a skillet and drain on paper toweling.  Remove sprouts from microwave and stir the Boursin cheese gently into the sprouts to melt.  Don’t be too rough here or the sprouts may fall apart on you.  Top with bacon crisps and serve.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 2 servings, each contains:

221 cals, 18.3g fat, 9.05g carbs, 3.6g fiber, 5.45g NET CARBS, 13.2g protein, 321 mg sodium

Portobello Mushrooms in Wine Sauce

I just realized this evening (we grilled ribeyes for dinner) that I have never posted my mushroom recipe on the site before! Oh, my! I don’t know how I could forget this favorite. They’re simple to prepare and ready in 5-10 minutes! I usually start these when the steaks go out to the hot charcoal fire. Omit the red wine and use ½ c. more beef stock if you are still on Atkins Induction.

Whenever I make a chuck roast or oven-baked brisket, I always save all the broth and freeze it in 1/2 c. blocks for just such quick recipes. You can use canned broth, but your final dish won’t be quite as tasty.

INGREDIENTS:

2 large portobello mushrooms

3 T. butter

1 large clove garlic, minced

½ c. rich beef stock

¼-½ c. dry red wine (I usually use Merlot or Cabernet)

Dash each sea salt and coarse black peppper

Optional: chopped parsley to garnish

DIRECTIONS: Wipe any dirt off mushrooms with a paper towel. Never rinse mushrooms in water else it will bleed into your sauces! Chop mushrooms into 1″ chunks. You can scoop out the gills if you like, but frankly, I never bother. Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and minced garlic to the pan and sauté a few minutes or until they begin to look translucent. Add wine and beef stock and simmer a few minutes longer or until ‘shrooms are done. 🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes two 3/4 c. servings, each contains:

232 cals, 19g fat, 7.4g carbs, 2.7g fiber, 4.7g NET CARBS, 6.5g protein, 93 mg sodium

Baked Sweet Potato Halves

My mom just loved baked sweet potatoes with nothing but butter on them.  Me, I like to dress them up with a hint of cinnamon and a hint of brown sugar.  So I have blended her favorite way to cook them along with mine for this creation.  This method of preparation is effortless, fast and you can make a lot of them for a crowd at one time using a larger baking pan!   I just love to have any leftover halves for breakfast the next day, dotted with more butter and cinnamon. 🙂  Shown above with pork chop and delicious kale with bacon.  But tonight, I’m serving these potatoes with some baked ham leftover from the holidays.

Now sweet potatoes aren’t something a low-carber should be eating daily, mind you, but I have a couple left in the house from the Holidays, so I’m springing for higher carbs to finish them off.  Sweet potatoes are so nutritious and have a fiber deduction on the carb count as well, something white potatoes can’t really boast about.  These are not suitable until you are in Pre-Maintenance or have reached goal weight.  Added note:  these are wonderful with baked fish, pork, ham, BBQ beef or JUST BY THEMSELVES!

INGREDIENTS:  

1    medium 6-oz sweet potato, washed

2 T. melted butter

1/8-¼ tsp. cinnamon (I use Vietnamese cinnamon from Penzey’s)

OPTIONAL:  few drops maple extract stirred into the melted butter for brown sugar flavor

DIRECTIONS:  Wash potato and cut tips off each end.  Cut in half lengthwise.  Turn oven on to 400º.  Melt the butter in pan as the oven preheats, right in your metal baking pan. Remove pan from oven and stir in the cinnamon and maple extract, if using.   Now rub the cut side of the potato in the cinnamon-y butter.  With cut side of the potatoes still down, place pan back in oven and bake at 400º for about 30 minutes (longer for larger potatoes).  When a knife tip can be inserted easily, they are done.  Remove, serve and enjoy!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 2 servings, each contains:

175 calories, 11.5 g  fat, 17.35 g carbs, 2.7 g fiber, 14.6 g  NET CARBS, 1.54 g  protein, 48 mg sodium

Boursin-Herb Stuffed Mushrooms

I’ve done shrimp-stuffed mushrooms, herb-stuffed mushrooms, sausage-stuffed mushrooms, but last night I decided to do just a simple, rich herb-Boursin cheese filling.  Yummers!  These so “dressed up” a simple beef pattie dinner.  A side of fresh green beans was the perfect complement.  These would make great party snacks, using smaller mushrooms, of course.  This recipe is certainly a keeper for us as we love Boursin cheese!  And these gems have 30%-55% RDA of 11+ vital vitamins and minerals, so they are very nutritious for your family!  Best of all, they’re suitable for all you folks still on Atkins Induction!

INGREDIENTS:

6 large button mushrooms

2 T. olive oil + 2 T. unsalted butter

¼ c. chopped parsley

1 large green onion, chopped fine

1/8 tsp. each black and cayenne pepper

4 T. Boursin or Alouette “Garlic & Herb” soft cheese

1 slice low-carb bread or roll (I used this focaccia), crumbled

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Wipe clean and stem the mushrooms.  I saved the stems for some other use.  You can, of course, chop them up, saute and add to the filling mixture, but in doing so, you may not get all the filling into the mushroom cavities when stuffing.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  With a brush, coat the outsides and insides of the mushrooms and set on baking pan.  To the remaining oil in the skillet, add the parsley, green onion, black and cayenne pepper.  Saute for a couple minutes.  Turn off heat and stir in the cheese to melt and blend.  Fold the bread crumbles into the mixture last and blend well.  Using a spoon, fill each mushroom cavity with 1/6 the filling, forcing it down well in the hole and allowing it to mound slightly.  If you have leftover filling, grab a 7th mushroom and fill it!  That will lower the numbers below a bit.  Pop pan into 350º oven and back around 25 minutes until mushrooms appear done and topping is slightly brown on top as shown above.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 stuffed mushrooms, each one contains:

128 cals, 12.4g fat, 2.2g carbs, 0.7g fiber, 1.5g NET CARBS, 3g protein, 78 mg sodium

 

Creamy Broccoli and Mushrooms

This dish is a variation on a broccoli dip a friend of many years often served at parties.  I didn’t chop my broccoli as fine as she did, and there was no cheese in her dip.  Mine instead is made with a delicious low-carb soup.  The flavor was so memorable I decided to try and reproduce it as a vegetable side dish today.  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.  You can also substitute fresh coked green beans for the broccoli.

INGREDIENTS:

½ bunch broccoli, stems and flowerettes 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 Monterrey 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 calories, 18.35 g  fat, 7 g  carbs, 2.22 g  fiber, 4.78 g  NET CARBS, 6.45 g  protein, 348 mg sodium

Asparagus with Bacon and Onion

I’ve always steamed or roasted my fresh asparagus, but sometimes I just saute it.  It is marvelous done this way!  By adding the smoky taste of bacon and the sweet edge of caramelized onion it takes an already delicious vegetable to a whole new flavor level.  Each ingredient enhances the other!  This side dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Paleo-Primal diners as well.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch of fresh asparagus (mine had 20 stalks in it)

2 oz. yellow onion, sliced

4 slices low-sodium bacon, sliced

Dash each salt and black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Break the bottom ½” or so off the asparagus stems off. Cut in 2″ long pieces, separating out the tips for shorter cooking time. Brown the bacon in a non-stick skillet.  Remove and drain bacon bits on paper toweling. Add the onion and saute in the bacon grease until it begins to brown and caramelize.  Add the 2″ stem pieces (holding out the tip pieces for now).  Saute for 2-3 minutes or until stems are tender crisp.  Add the tip pieces and saute just until the tips are tender crisp as well.  Pour all into a serving dish and top with the browned bacon.  You can add the bacon to the skillet and toss before plating if you prefer.  I served this alongside some tender oven-roasted grass-fed beef brisket and a lovely tomato-olive salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

101 cals, 7.1g fat, 4.98g carbs, 2.22g fiber, 2.76g NET CARBS, 4.8g protein, 133 mg sodium

Broccoli with Caramelized Onion Sauce

If you’re tired of the same old steamed broccoli, the usual cheese sauce and the not so unusual broccoli casseroles, give this recipe a whirl.  It’s easy and ready in minutes.  The sweetness of the caramelized onions in this sauce really smooths out the oft-perceived bitter taste of broccoli in an amazing way!  This dish is Atkins Induction-friendly and suitable for other Keto diets as well.  Primal-Paleo followers will want to sub in coconut milk for the cream and of course ghee for the butter.

INGREDIENTS:  

9 oz. broccoli, cut up into large pieces or small spears

2 T. butter, unsalted

2 oz. yellow onion, sliced thin

½ clove garlic, minced

½ c. heavy cream

½ c. water

Dash pepper

1 T. grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:  Cook broccoli stems until completely done and drain well a few minutes.  Lay broccoli stems  decoratively on your serving dish.  In non-stick skillet over med-high heat, saute onion and garlic in butter until the onion begins to brown and caramelize.    Lower heat and add cream and Parmesan.  Add pepper and taste.  Add pinch of salt if needed.  Simmer a few minutes and it will slightly thicken.  Add water.  Simmer a few more minutes.  Should be the right thickness when done.  If the water made it too thin, add a bit of your favorite thickener.  Dip or pour over broccoli and serve.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 3 servings each containing:

164 calories, 13.1 g  fat, 9.4 g  carbs, 2.57 g fiber, 6.83 g  NET CARBS, 4.5 g  protein, 73 mg sodium

Creamed Parmesan Brussels Sprouts

We low carbers love our creamed spinach.  But did you ever think about creaming Brussels Sprouts?  Well I did last night and gave it a try!  So glad I did, too, as it took this vegetable to a totally different realm.  My husband said “Be SURE to put this one on your blog!”  It was not only the rich creaminess, but the bit of Parmesan, bacon and onion that took this one over the top!  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto diets and Primal blueprint.  The dairy makes it unsuitable for Paleo.

INGREDIENTS:

3 thick slices bacon, chopped coarse

4 oz. red onion (or yellow), chopped coarsely

1 lb. fresh Brussels sprouts (or frozen could be used)

2 oz. cream cheese

½ c. heavy cream

2 T. Parmesan grated cheese

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Cut stems off sprouts and slice each into ½” slices.  Place in ceramic dish with 1/2″ water and microwave 1 minute, stir and then 1 min. longer.  Remove from microwave (all water will be evaporated, or drain off any left).  Set aside.  In a skillet over high heat fry bacon until browning.  Add onion and saute until tender.  Lower heat and add cream cheese to melt and blend in evenly.  Add cream.  Now toss in sprouts and toss gently.  Grease the baking dish you used before.  Pour the sprout mixture into the dish.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.  Pop the dish into a 350º oven and bake 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.  Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 servings, each contains:

154 cals, 11.8g fat, 8.85g carbs, 3.06g fiber, 5.79g NET CARBS, 7.3g protein, 121 mg sodium

 

Boursin Bacon Brussels Sprouts

I’ve finally found a way to prepare Brussels sprouts that I really liked tonight.  I think the key was to cook them in the microwave instead of steaming or boiling them.  They came out so mild…….not bitter, or chemical tasting at all!  And the Boursin soft cheese gave them a nice flavor layer to complement the bacon topper.  In my grocery store, the Boursin is usually near the deli with the other specialty cheeses.  You’re talkin’ to a Brussels sprouts hater here, so all you sprouts haters be sure to try these sometime.  You’ll be amazed how much milder they are than steamed or boiled sprouts.  And the green color is preserved cooking them in the microwave!

INGREDIENTS:

10 fresh Brussels sprouts (cut larger ones in half)

3-4 T. water

Dash each salt and black pepper

2 T. Boursin “Garlic Herb and Chive” soft cheese (more if you like)

3 thick slices bacon, chopped 1″ and browned

DIRECTIONS:  Cut tiny bit off sprouts stems.  Cut larger sprouts in half lengthwise.  Place them in a ceramic or glass dish.  Add the water and microwave for 2 minutes, stir and microwave 2 more minutes.  While they are cooking, brown the bacon in a skillet and drain on paper toweling.  Remove sprouts from microwave and stir the Boursin cheese gently into the sprouts to melt.  don’t be too rough here ot the sprouts may fall apart on you.  Top with bacon crisps and serve.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 2 servings, each contains:

221 cals, 18.3g fat, 9.05g carbs, 3.6g fiber, 5.45g NET CARBS, 13.2g protein, 321 mg sodium

 

Twice Cooked Cauliflower and Leeks

Next time you’re contemplating making the low-carber’s classic dish, Loaded Baked “Potatoes”, try using leeks sometime instead of the green onion.  WONDERFUL change!

Man, did my husband ever rant about this cauliflower dish tonight.  I have my Twice Baked “Potatoes” that uses green onion, but leeks are much milder!  I used half a large leek and it sliced up to made 2 c. sliced up!  I used more cream cheese than I usually do in my similar dish and decided to use American Deluxe cheese tonight instead of cheddar cheese.  WOW!  What a difference in flavor those changes made.  Who’da thunk?  🙂  Hope you give this one a try!  This recipes is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto programs.  Primal followers can enjoy this as written.  Paleo people will need to leave out the cream cheese.  It’ll taste OK, but not quite as rich.  🙂

INGREDIENTS:

½ large head cauliflower (6-7″) cut into flowerets

3 oz. cream cheese, cut into small bits

6 T. total butter, unsalted

Dash salt (omit if using salted butter)

½ leek, sliced thinly

6 slices American Deluxe or Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:   Under running cold water, wash all dirt from between the leaves of the half leek.  Do this carefully, as the dirt hides on both sides of the leaves.  Nothing worse than biting into grit at the table.    Slice the leak thinly.  Melt 2 T. of the butter in a skillet over medium heat and saute leeks just until tender. Turn off heat and set aside.

Cut up the cauliflower into flowerets, place it into a 4-qt. saucepan.  Cover with water and bring to a boil.   Reduce heat and medium boil until soft, or about 15-18 minutes.  Remove from heat, pour all into a colander to drain and with a rubber spatula, mash out any water you can. Preheat oven to 350º.  Pour cauliflower back into the saucepan and drop in the cut up cream cheese.  Stir with you a rubber spatula to allow the cream cheese to melt a bit.  Add 4 of the 6 tablespoons of butter and the salt.  With a hand-held mixer or stick blender (I used the stick for mine), puree all until smooth.   Add the sauteed leek, scraping all the butter you can get into the pot.  Stir well to mix evenly.  With your rubber spatula, scrape the cauli-leek mixture into a lightly buttered baking dish (mine is about 7″x11″).  Top with 6 slices of cheese (you can shred the cheese first if you prefer).  Pop into 350º oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted nicely.  This tasty dish was delightful served with butter-seared pork chops and a salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains:

259.3 cals, 23.4g fat, 6.36g carbs, 1.99g fiber, 4.48g NET CARBS, 7.7g protein, 350 mg sodium

Spinach Gratin

I worked up a delicious air fryer pork chop recipe tonight and created what turned out to be a very tasty cheesy spinach side dish to have along with the chops.  Both got a resounding thumbs up from the hubs.  I really liked both dishes, too.  I will be posting the pork recipe shortly, so stay tuned.  This simple to make spinach recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto programs.  Primal Blueprint folks can enjoy it but it is not suitable for Paleo with the cheeses.

INGREDIENTS:

4 tsp. bacon grease or butter

1 oz. yellow or red onion, chopped

½ c. drained canned sliced mushrooms (or 3-4 fresh, sliced thin)

16 oz. frozen chopped spinach, cooked in water per package instructions

1 oz. cream cheese

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese (part skim)

1 Roma tomato, sliced

OPTIONAL:  1-2 T. grated Parmesan cheese to top

DIRECTIONS:  Cook spinach per package instructions and drain well in a sieve, pressing out water with the back of a spoon.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 350º.   In a skillet, melt the bacon grease over high heat.  Saute chopped onion until tender.  Add mushrooms and saute a couple minutes as well.  Add spinach and cream cheese and stir mixture until cheese is melted.  Reduce heat to medium.  Add mozzarella shreds and stir just until incorporate shreds evenly.  Remove from heat.  Top decoratively with tomato slices and if using, sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.  Pop into 350º oven and bake for 20 minutes or so to allow flavors to blend and tomatoes to cook nicely.  Remove and serve alongside your favorite meat.

VARIATION:  Use Smoked Gouda cheese instead of mozzarella for a different flavor!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 6 servings, each contains:

123.7 cals, 8.8g fat, 4.73g carbs, 2.23g fiber, 2.5g NET CARBS, 7.86g protein, 216 mg sodium

 

Vegetable Mac

This tasty lunch was developed from a few odds and ends in the refrigerator today.  As my husband is away for the day, I only had to make a very small amount of it.  With a bit of leftover pasta, a small piece of yellow squash and red pepper, 1 last leek, this dish was born.  And man, was it ever good!  The spice blend was the crowning touch!  This dish could also be served as a side dish, but I enjoyed it for my complete lunch today.  The little bit of cheese adds to the rich, creaminess of the final dish, without really tasking like a mac and cheese dish, per se.  You might prefer Parmesan sprinkled on top instead of the slice of American cheese.  You could even add a bit of leftover meat for a higher protein content, if you have in the fridge……but I had no leftover meat, so I ate this meatless.  This dish is not suitable for Atkins Induction unless you sub in shiritake noodles or cauliflower for the noodles I used.  As written, this recipe should perhaps be avoided until Pre-Maintenance, or at least until you’re fairly close to your goal weight on whatever Keto plan you follow.

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INGREDIENTS:

2 T. butter, melted

1 T. olive oil

2/3 c. sliced yellow squash

½c. leek, washed well

¼ c. sliced red bell pepper (or roasted red pepper from jar)

1 slice American Cheese (or 1 oz. shredded cheddar)

1½ oz. (about 2/3 cup raw) Fiber Gourmet ‘Rotini’ pasta

¼ tsp. my Seafood Spice Blend

VARIATION:  Add a few bits of leftover chicken, beef or pork for a higher protein count.

DIRECTIONS:  In a small saucepan, boil the noodles until tender.  Drain off water and set aside.  While the noodles boil, quarter about 1/3-1/2 yellow squash and cut it then into thin slices.  Slice off ½c. leek.  Slice red bell pepper (or jarred roasted peppers).

Melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add olive oil.  Add squash and saute until tender.  Add leeks and red pepper and continue to saute until those are tender.  Add Seafood Spice Blend next.  Stir well.  If adding any bits of meat, now is the time.  Lower heat to low and add the slice of cheese, stirring until it has completely melted and blended into the vegetable mixture.  Finally, stir in cooked pasta, tossing several times to coat all ingredients well.  Dip up onto two plates and ENJOY!  This pairs nicely with a small green salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 2 servings, each contains:

263 cals, 20.6g fat, 22.6g carbs, 13.3g fiber, 9.3g NET CARBS, 5.85g protein, 180 mg sodium

Twice-Baked Portobello Mushrooms

I’m going to make these again tonight to go with our grilled rib-eye steaks.  We just love these.  So glad I tried this veggie combo so I can feel like I’m eating “high on the hog” as my Dad used to say.  Of course, you can use homemade mashed cauliflower, but the Birdseye was so good, and so convenient, why would you bother?  😉  This side dish is suitable for all stages of Atkins, Keto plans, Paleo and Primal as well.

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INGREDIENTS:

3  Portobello mushrooms (mine were 3-oz. each)

3 T. olive oil

12 oz. pkg. frozen Mashed Cauliflower (I used Birdseye), Sour Cream & Chive

1 T. unsalted butter

¼ c. green onion, chopped

¼ c. Cheddar Cheese shreds

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a pan with parchment (optional).  Using a spoon, scoop the dark gills out of the mushrooms.  With a basting brush, brush both sides of the mushrooms with olive oil.  Set them curved side down on the pan.  Pop them in oven for about 8-9 minutes.

While they are pre-cooking, cook the cauli-mash as instructed on the box.  I microwaved mine.  Remove film from tray and stir in the butter to mix and melt.  Remove mushroom pan from the oven and spoon 1/3 of the mixture into each of the 3 mushrooms.  Top each with 1/3 of the Cheddar cheese shreds.  Finally, sprinkle the green onion evenly on all 3 servings.  Return the mushroom pan to the oven and bake about 10 minutes more or just until cheese is melted.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 3 servings, each contains:

297 cals, 22.3g fat, 7.06g carbs, 2.33g fiber, 4.73g NET CARBS, 4.6g. protein, 261 mg sodium

Cabbage Trifecta

This colorful triple cabbage side dish was most delicious with our broiled chicken last night.  I have always loved cabbage.  My husband, on the other hand, isn’t a big fan.  He’ll eat it, but gripes the entire meal.  But he dipped up seconds of this veggie side!  He “says” he doesn’t LIKE cabbage, but I prove him wrong on this regularly.  He prefers his cabbage raw in coleslaw.  In fact he LOVES coleslaw!  So maybe I got enough bacon in this recipe to disguise the flavor he finds offensive in cooked cabbage.  I know it was just right for my palate.  🙂  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto, Primal and Paleo eating programs.

INGREDIENTS:

2 c. shredded napa (Chinese) cabbage

2 c. shredded green cabbage

1 c. shredded purple cabbage

3 oz. onion, sliced thin

5 slices bacon, cut in 1″ pieces

¼ tsp. coarse black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Brown bacon in large skillet or wok until it begins to get crisp.  Add onion and saute until it begins to brown/caramelize.  Add green cabbage and saute until it begins to go limp.  Add napa cabbage and only saute a couple minutes until barely gets limp.  Add purple cabbage last so it won’t discolor too much.  Volume will reduce during cooking with cabbage. Sprinkle on the pepper, stir well and spoon up into your serving dish.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 1-cup servings (after wilting down), each contains:

193 cals, 16.2g fat, 7.37g carbs, 2.25g fiber, 5.12g NET CARBS, 5.65g protein, 324 mg sodium

Spinach Parmesan Bake

This has been a very popular side dish on my blog.  It is simple to make and I’m very please with the resulting flavor profile.  It went very nicely with our boneless baked rosemary-onion pork steaks tonight.   I did put 3 large sliced mushrooms in this, but they added absolutely nothing to the flavor impact, so I won’t include them again and I’m not including those in my recipe here.  This dish is Induction acceptable.  Popeye himself would brag on the nutritional stats for a serving of this spinach dish!

INGREDIENTS:

2 T. olive oil

2 oz. onion, chopped

Dash salt

10 oz. box frozen spinach, thawed and drained

2 oz. cream cheese

2 oz. heavy cream

1/3 c. homemade mayonnaise

2 large eggs

3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

With Chicken Added for a meal!

VARIATION:   Add 2 c. chopped raw, boneless chicken meat to the skillet with the onion and turn this side dish into a delicious meal.

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Heat olive oil in non-stick skillet over med-high heat.  Add onion and salt and saute the onion until tender.  Add the drained spinach and cook a few minutes, stirring several times.  Lower heat to medium.  Cut the cream cheese into little chunks and melt and stir it into the warm spinach.  Add mayonnaise and stir well.  Turn off heat.  Beat the eggs in a bowl with the cream and pour it evenly over the top of the spinach.  Top with Parmesan and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350º.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:  Makes 4 servings, each contains:

420 calories, 38 g  fat, 6.78 g  carbs, 2.75 g  fiber, 4.03 NET CARBS, 15.28 g  protein, 622 mg sodium

Ham & Veggie Terrine

Shown with Cheese Sauce

Dinner was kind of fun to make tonight.  And isn’t this one colorful?!  I don’t own a ceramic loaf pan anymore, so I just used my metal 8″x4″ lined with parchment. to prepare this recipe.  This dish is quick to make and quite delicious, not to mention nutritious with all those veggies in it.  A quick cut, saute and fill the mold is all there is to it!  You could serve this tasty dish for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and other Keto diets.  Paleo and Primal will want to sub in coconut milk for the cream here.

INGREDIENTS:

1 large carrot, peeled, sliced thin

2 5″ zucchini (about 10 oz.), sliced thin

1 leek, washed well of dirt and sliced thin

3 T. olive oil

Dash sea salt and coarse black pepper

¼ tsp. garlic powder or 1 small clove garlic, minced

4 extra large eggs, beaten (or 5 large eggs)

2 T. coconut flour

3 T. oz. heavy cream, divided

5 T. water, total

1½ c. cooked, cured ham

VARIATION:  Substitute cooked bacon for the ham

CHEESE SAUCE:  5-10 minutes before terrine is done, mix 3 T. of the water, 2 T. of the cream in small saucepan set into larger saucepan (or use double boiler) and heat.  Add 4 slices American Deluxe or Cheddar Cheese.  Stir and blend until cheese is melted and all is incorporated into a smooth sauce.  Pour into serving bowl when terrine is out of oven, sliced and ready to serve.  Sauce will thicken fast, so do not dip it up one minutes before you need it.

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Line a metal or ceramic 4×8″ loaf pan with parchment.  I don’t line the ends of the pan and just oil there lightly.  Set aside for now.  Stem and slice up all veggies.  I used a food processor for uniform, thin slice. Heat olive oil in wok or large skillet.  Add veggies, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Saute stirring often over medium-high heat until veggies are tender but not mushy.  Stir in sliced/diced ham.  Turn off heat.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs, remaining 1 T. cream and remaining 2 T. water until smooth.  Add coconut flour.  Stir again.  Pour over veggies and stir well to blend.  With rubber spatula, scrape mixture into parchment-prepared pan.  Trim off excess paper above top of pan but leave a bit for “handles”. Pop into 350º oven for about 40 minutes.  Check at 30 min. as ovens do vary.  Top will be lightly golden and center should be firm (not damp) when touched.  Do not over brown as terrine will be dry if overcooked.  Remove from oven, run knife along ends of pan and lift out  of pan holding the paper, tipping onto your platter.  Slice into 6 slices (about 1″-1¼” thick).  Serve with cheese sauce (or some other favorite sauce if you prefer)

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains (including 1½ T. sauce):

288 cals, 21 g fat, 6.88g carbs, 1.48g fiber, 5.4g NET CARBS, 18.6g protein, 689mg sodium

Mashed Cauliflower (Foolproof!)

Although I have been mashing cauliflower since I began low-carbing in 2009, I only recently discovered a way to really firm up this ever-popular dish, as they can mash up a little “soupy” if you get in a rush.  That secret ingredient is glucomannan powder, derived from the konjac tuber.  Although a bit pricey, a bag of this stuff will last you a year (or longer!), as you use such tiny amounts in cakes, cookies and puddings for thickening or texture enhancing of your baked goods.  In this recipe, only ¼-½ tsp. is needed to do the job.  Glucomannan is what they make shirataki noodles from (konjac tuber) if you were not aware.  I purchase mine at Netrition.com and like I said, it doesn’t spoil and a bag will last you ages and ages.  It’s pure fiber and will do wonders for your mashed cauli if you have problems with moisture bleeding out of the cauliflower after whipping, resulting in a “soupy” batch.  It is also said to help maintain steady blood glucose levels, so a good food for my Type2 diabetic husband to consume regularly.  This mashed cauliflower makes a wonderful Shepherd’s Pie topping!  Suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium head cauliflower

4 T. butter

2 T. cream cheese

1/8-¼ tsp. sea salt

1/8-¼ tsp. glucomannan powder

VARIATION:   Add 2-4 T. heavy cream for even richer results

DIRECTIONS:   Stem and cut up cauliflower into flowerettes.  Place in 4-qt. saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil.  Lower heat to medium and cook until very tender when poked with a knife or fork.  Drain off water in a colander or sieve.  After water is drained, using the back of a spoon, press the cauliflower against the wall of the colander or sieve to press out even more water until most appears to be released.  Spoon back into the saucepan.

Add the butter cheese and salt and whip with a hand mixer or stick blender until very smooth.  Add ¼ tsp. of the glucomannan and pulse the blender/mixer a few seconds.  If still a pretty loose mixture add the rest of the gluc powder, whipping once again to incorporate it throughout the mixture.  The mixture will continue to firm up a little more as it sits on your table.  You don’t want to overdo gluc powder, as it will REALLY get stiff if you put too much!  Any leftovers on this dish are fantastic great reheated with a bit of chopped green onion and cheese on top. 😉

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains: (not including any heavy cream)

109 calories, 11.36 g fat, 5.26 g carbs, 2.45 g fiber, 2.81 g NET CARBS, 2.35 g protein, 96.33 g sodium

Kale Cabbage Medley

I love braised kale and braised cabbage, but tonight’s creation with the two together was just amazing!  Combining with my ingredient lineup totally changed the flavor profile of BOTH vegetables.  This just might be a good dish to try on those kale and cabbage haters among you, as neither tasted like themselves.  I can’t say enough about how good this colorful, tasty combo is!  This vegetable side is a little carb-y, but all those carbs are in the incredibly nutritious kale and cabbage, so they’re all GOOD carbs!    This dish is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets if you can fit the carbs into your daily allowance.  This recipe is also OK for Primal-Paleo diners.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch of kale (about 4 cups stemmed and coarsely cut up)

2 c. cabbage, coarsely cut up

2 oz. yellow onion, sliced

3 oz. bell pepper, cut into medium-sized pieces (your color choice)

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Dash black pepper

1 T. Sriracha chili sauce

Water to cover all (I also added 3/4 c. baked ham broth/drippings)

1 T. bacon grease

DIRECTIONS:  Heat the bacon grease over high heat in a large stew pot and saute the onion until caramelized in the fat.  When they just begin to brown, add the stemmed, cut up kale, cabbage and water to cover.  Add bell pepper, salt, pepper and Sriracha sauce.  Bring to a boil and lower heat to medium and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Serve at once.  This broth makes a tasty and nutritious base for soups, so I store mine in containers in my freezer.  🙂

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 5 servings, each contains:

70 cals, 3.04g  fat, 9.92g carbs, 2.42g fiber, 7.5g NET CARBS, 2.48g protein, 60 mg sodium

 

Twice Cooked Cauliflower and Leeks

Next time you’re contemplating making the low-carber’s classic dish, Loaded Baked “Potatoes”, try using leeks sometime instead of the green onion.  WONDERFUL change!

Man, did my husband ever rant about this cauliflower dish tonight.  I have my Twice Baked “Potatoes” that uses green onion, but leeks are much milder!  I used half a large leek and it sliced up to made 2 c. sliced up!  I used more cream cheese than I usually do in my similar dish and decided to use American Deluxe cheese tonight instead of cheddar cheese.  WOW!  What a difference in flavor those changes made.  Who’da thunk?  🙂  Hope you give this one a try!  This recipes is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto programs.  Primal followers can enjoy this as written.  Paleo people will need to leave out the cream cheese.  It’ll taste OK, bu t not quite as rich.  🙂

INGREDIENTS:

½ large head cauliflower (6-7″) cut into flowerets

3 oz. cream cheese, cut into small bits

6 T. total butter, unsalted

Dash salt (omit if using salted butter)

½ leek, sliced thinly

6 slices American Deluxe or Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:   Under running cold water, wash all dirt from between the leaves of the half leek.  Do this carefully, as the dirt hides on both sides of the leaves.  Nothing worse than biting into grit at the table.    Slice the leak thinly.  Melt 2 T. of the butter in a skillet over medium heat and saute leeks just until tender. Turn off heat and set aside.

Cut up the cauliflower into flowerets, place it into a 4-qt. saucepan.  Cover with water and bring to a boil.   Reduce heat and medium boil until soft, or about 15-18 minutes.  Remove from heat, pour all into a colander to drain and with a rubber spatula, mash out any water you can. Preheat oven to 350º.  Pour cauliflower back into the saucepan and drop in the cut up cream cheese.  Stir with you a rubber spatula to allow the cream cheese to melt a bit.  Add 4 of the 6 tablespoons of butter and the salt.  With a hand-held mixer or stick blender (I used the stick for mine), puree all until smooth.   Add the sauteed leek, scraping all the butter you can get into the pot.  Stir well to mix evenly.  With your rubber spatula, scrape the cauli-leek mixture into a lightly buttered baking dish (mine is about 7″x11″).  Top with 6 slices of cheese (you can shred the cheese first if you prefer).  Pop into 350º oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted nicely.  This tasty dish was delightful served with butter-seared pork chops and a salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 servings, each contains:

259.3 cals, 23.4g fat, 6.36g carbs, 1.99g fiber, 4.48g NET CARBS, 7.7g protein, 350 mg sodium

Sofrito Zoodles

These healthy “noodles” will be delicious alongside a variety of meats or seafood.   Their flavor profile is most adaptable to what you are serving.  Last night I served them with broiled shrimp.  They will also serve as a foundation for a number of delicious meat stir-fries, Italian meat sauces and creamy seafood dishes.   They are exceedingly quick to make and Induction friendly on Atkins of any Keto program.  This recipe is also acceptable for Primal or Paleo followers.

INGREDIENTS:

2 large zucchini (about 16 ounces)

2 T. unsalted butter

2 T. my Sofrito sauce

2 T. Parmesan cheese (finely grated)

VARIATION:  Use yellow summer squash instead of zucchini (or any combination of the two).  For added color impact, you could add some carrot you have run through the noodler.

DIRECTIONS:   Form the zucchini noodles in your preferred noodling tool.  I used my hand-held Vegetti® for this task as my larger Spirooli® broke irreparably not long ago.  I like the little Vegetti®!  I understand they make an electric Vegetti® now, but I’ve not seen them in the stores yet.  Saw it on the internet.  But the hand held model works just fine.  You will end up with about 3½-4 c. zucchini noodles.  Depending on your tool, you may want to cut them shorter with a knife (I did).    Place on a clean kitchen towel and pat/press to absorb all the water.  Wait a few minutes and press again to dry them well of their water.

Heat a non-stick skillet and melt the butter.  Add the noodles and with a large kitchen fork, stir them gently just until they go limp and translucent.  Add the Sofrito sauce and mix well.  Remove from heat and dip into a serving dish or onto plates.  Sprinkle Parmesan on top either in your serving dish or allow your diners to add it themselves at the table.  Enjoy!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 4 servings (about 3/4 c. each after shrinkage).  Each serving contains:

108 cals., 8g fat, 5.95g carbs, 1.9g fiber, 3.05g NET CARBS, 3.1g protein, 60 mg sodium

Cabbage Trifecta

This colorful triple cabbage side dish was most delicious with our broiled chicken last night.  I have always loved cabbage.  My husband, on the other hand, isn’t a big fan.  He’ll eat it, but gripes the entire meal.  But he dipped up seconds of this veggie side!  He “says” he doesn’t LIKE cabbage, but I prove him wrong on this regularly.  He prefers his cabbage raw in coleslaw.  In fact he LOVES coleslaw!  So maybe I got enough bacon in this recipe to disguise the flavor he finds offensive in cooked cabbage.  I know it was just right for my palate.  🙂  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto, Primal and Paleo eating programs.

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INGREDIENTS:

2 c. shredded napa (Chinese) cabbage

2 c. shredded green cabbage

1 c. purple cabbage

3 oz. onion, sliced thin

5 slices bacon, cut in 1″ pieces

¼ tsp. coarse black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Brown bacon in large skillet or wok until it begins to get crisp.  Add onion and saute until it begins to brown/caramelize.  Add green cabbage and saute until it begins to go limp.  Add napa cabbage and only saute a couple minutes until barely gets limp.  Add purple cabbage last so it won’t discolor too much.  Volume will reduce during cooking with cabbage. Sprinkle on the pepper, stir well and spoon up into your serving dish.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 1-cup servings (after wilting down), each contains:

193 cals, 16.2g fat, 7.37g carbs, 2.25g fiber, 5.12g NET CARBS, 5.65g protein, 324 mg sodium

Zucchini and Leeks

Something so simple can be absolutely delicious!  It’s hard to improve on tasty fresh vegetables in their most basic form.   This side was a perfect example of that.  My husband isn’t wild about either zucchini OR leeks yet he raved about this with our BBQ chicken last night.  Said I could fix that again any old time.  I have to admit it was delicious.  I reheated the leftovers with a Salisbury Steak today for lunch and my impression of this vegetable side just grew more favorable!  🙂  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto programs as well as Primal and Paleo diets.

Many more simple, tasty low-carb recipes can be at your fingertips with your very own copy of our cookbooks  LOW CARBING AMONG FRIENDS.  Volume 8 is almost exclusively comprised of my recipes with some new George Stella and Jennifer Eloff creations.  Volume 9, due out in October, has mostly my recipes once again.

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INGREDIENTS:

2 medium zucchini (about 6″ long), stemmed and sliced (about 2½ c.)

1/4 large leek, washed well between leaves, sliced thinly (about 1 c.)

2 slices thick bacon, chopped coarsely

Dash coarse black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Brown the bacon in a skillet over high heat.  Add the zucchini and saute, stirring constantly for a few minutes.  Add the leek last and saute all just until the zucchini is tender but still a bit firm. Serve at once.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings each contains:

80 cals, 4.92g fat, 7.7g carbs, 2g fiber, 5.7g NET CARBS, 2.3g protein, 174mg sodium

Smoky Kale-Squash-Ham Casserole

I threw this little dish together for lunch today and it was so tasty I thought I’d share it  with my readers.  I just love one-pan dishes.  The cleanup is just as easy as the cooking. 🙂  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins and Keto diets.  Leave the cheese off for Primal-Paleo compliance.

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 has collaborated with famous low-carb Chef George Stella and several other talented chefs to bring 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 5-volume set TODAY! (available individually) from Amazon or: http://amongfriends.us/order.php

INGREDIENTS:

4 tsp. bacon grease

2 oz. yellow onion, sliced

5 oz. yellow squash, cut into medium chunks

5 oz. cured ham, sliced or chopped

3 oz. kale, stemmed and cut coarsely

2 oz. smoked Gouda cheese, shredded

Dash black pepper

VARIATION:  Make without the ham for a lovely vegetable side dish.

INSTRUCTIONS:  If you’ll soak your ham in warm water for 30 minutes, changing water at least once, this will draw out about 50% of the sodium they put in cured ham, without hurting the taste at all.  Remove from water and pat dry with paper towels.  Cut in small pieces.  Heat bacon grease in non-stick skillet. Add onion and saute until the onion begins to caramelize.  Add squash and saute, stirring often, until it is half done (no longer opaque).  Add the pieces of ham and saute 2-3 minutes or until done (squash should be done by now, too).  Add kale and saute 3-4 minutes, just until kale begins to wilt but isn’t overly cooked.  You don’t it want to lose its pretty green color.  The ham will make this dish salty enough, but add a dash of black pepper and stir one last time.  If serving in the skillet, top with the shredded cheese and put lid or foil on top for a couple minutes to allow heat to melt the cheese.  If serving in a pretty ceramic dish, dip up the mixture into baking dish.  Then sprinkle with cheese and pop into microwave on 80% power for about 2 minutes to melt.  Serve at once.  This would be good with a piece of your favorite low-carb bread slathered in butter.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 3 servings, each contains:

227 cals., 15g fat, 6.63g carbs, 1.26g fiber, 5.37g NET CARBS, 16g protein, 609 mg sodium

 

Montreal Green Beans

A quick, simple, delicious way to prepare green beans your family is going to love.  If you have mushroom haters in your midst, just omit and double the amount of beans.  Either way, you will love these nicely seasoned, garlic-y beans.  They were a lovely side with our grilled rib-eye steaks last night.  This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins, Keto programs, Primal and Paleo.

INGREDIENTS:

3 T. unsalted butter

2 c. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1½-2″ lengths

4-5 medium mushrooms, sliced

1 large clove garlic, minced

Couple shakes each sea salt and coarse black pepper

¼ tsp. my homemade Montreal Steak Seasoning

DIRECTIONS:  Place beans in saucepan with enough water just to cover.  Bring to boil and then simmer just until tender-crisp.  Drain off water.  Add butter, garlic, salt, pepper to the pan and saute beans over medium-high heat until they are just about done.  Add the Montreal Steak seasoning and mushroom slices to the pan.  Stir-fry just until mushrooms are no longer opaque, stirring occasionally.   Serve at once with grilled steak, pork,  seafood or whatever you like.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 servings, each contains:

100 cals., 8.8g fat, 5.05g carbs, 2.15g fiber, 2.9g net carbs, 1.85g protein, 83 mg sodium