All posts by Rene Averett

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Spring Green Goodness: Asparagus Leek Cauli-Risotto

The idea of ricing cauliflower came from other places, but once I got into the idea, it became a wonderful alternative to rice. My first foray into adapting a rice dish to cauli-rice was my grandmother’s Spanish rice recipe and it was wonderful. I use 1 tablespoon of rice in the dish to bring a little of the real rice texture and flavor to the dish, but it really doesn’t need it.

With the drop in price of asparagus last week for Easter, I bought a couple of bundles and was inspired by a California Asparagus Risotto recipe that also included leek to try this version using riced cauliflower and daikon radish to replace most of the rice in the dish. The result was deliciously wonderful and so good for you. Just look at the beautiful colors in the dish and it shouts Spring!

Asparagus Leek Cauli-Risotto

1 1/2 Cups Cauliflower, raw (fresh or frozen)
1 cup Daikon Radish
1 cup Asparagus, fresh
1/2 cup Mushrooms, fresh
1 tablespoon Rice, white, long-grain, raw
1/2 cup Chicken Broth or Bouillon,
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 Lemon Pepper seasoning
1/4 cup White Wine (I used a California Risling)
2 cloves of Garlic
1 cup Leeks, slices (bottom only)
1 tablespoon Butter
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Cut cauliflower into pieces and microwave for about 5 minutes to partially cook. If using frozen cauliflower, microwave about 2 minutes to defrost. Peel the daikon and cut into cubes. Put cauliflower and daikon in food processor and pulse until the pieces are about the size of rice. Set aside.

Cut asparagus into one inch segments on a diagonal and microwave in a bowl for about 30 seconds to just slightly steam. Cut or break mushrooms into pieces. Finely chop two cloves of garlic. Slice leek into thin slices. Melt butter in a deep skillet, brown garlic and rice until just golden brown. Add leeks, then add the cauliflower and daikon mixture and stir together in the skillet. Add one cup of water and stir it around.

Cook on high heat until it boils, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add 1/2 cup of bouillon or chicken broth and stir in. Cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring every five or so minutes. When almost all the liquid is gone, add white wine, asparagus, mushrooms and seasonings.

Cook over low heat until the liquid is almost gone and the dish is just moist. Sprinkle on cheese and serve. This took about an hour to reduce the liquids from start to finish. Makes 4 to 6 servings

Nutrition Info 1/4 of recipe:
Calories: 140.8 Fat: 5.8 g Net Carbs: 10 g Protein: 5.6 g

1/6 of recipe:
Calories: 93.9 Fat: 3.9 g Net Carbs: 6.7 g Protein: 3.7 g

Posted on 4/2/2013

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Celebrate St. David’s Day with Leeks

March 1st is St. David’s Day (Dewi Sant), the patron saint of Wales. While St. Patrick’s is the more well known holiday, St. David’s Day, which is his feast day, also has a food associated with it. That food is the leek. If you’ve used or eaten leeks, chances are it was in potato leek soup. But there are many other ways to prepare this delicious, onion-like vegetable. It has a milder flavor than onions and makes an excellent side dish, as this recipe for Leeks with Tomatoes and Bacon attests. I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com, posted by sal, and I adapted it to a low carb recipe.

Cennin gyda Thomato a Bacwn
(Leeks with Tomatoes and Bacon)

1 low carb Tortilla
1/2 cup Chicarrones (fried pork skins) – optional
1/4 teaspoon dried Rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried Thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried Sage
2 Leeks, sliced
1 medium Tomato, sliced
1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 tablespoon Butter, melted
1/4 cup crumbled Bacon or diced Ham

Toast tortilla under a broiler or in a toaster oven until lightly browned. Allow it to dry out, then break into crumbs. Break the pork skins into crumbs also. In a small bowl, mix crushed tortilla and pork skins, rosemary, thyme and sage.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Leeks cooking in the pan.

Slice leeks into thin rings and wash well in a colander under running water. Be sure to separate the rings to make sure no dirt remains. Drain well and let the leeks dry in the colander until you are ready for them.

Cook bacon on a rack over a deep pan in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until the bacon is well done. Let it cool, then crumble or tear the bacon.

In a large skillet, pour 2 to 3 tablespoons of bacon grease, add the leeks and saute for about 10 minutes until the leeks are almost tender.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Spread the leeks into the bottom of a medium baking dish or a deep dish pie plate. Layer with tomato slices and half the mozzarella cheese. Top with the crushed tortilla mixture, the rest of the cheese and drizzle with melted butter.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Nutrition Info (4 servings) Calories 116.8 Net Carbs 7.3 g Protein 6.9 g
(6 servings) Calories 77.8 Net Carbs 4.8 g Protein 4.6 g

Posted on  3/1/2013

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Another Potato Substitute – Veggies O’Brien

If you’re anything like me, potatoes were a mainstay of your life. But they become a big starchy vegetable with more carbs than you want in your body when you try to maintain a low carb lifestyle. From the time I started in earnest on this eating plan two years ago, I began looking for acceptable substitutions for potatoes and bread. I’d grown up with them in one form or another at just about every meal. In high school lunch had consisted of french fries and a large hot roll with butter. (They were the least expensive and most filling thing that the school cafeteria offered. Any wonder that I had a weight problem?)

So, I have tried several options to substitute a potato, mostly successful in their own right if not matching the potato taste. Among the choices are cauliflower, turnips, daikon radishes and now kohlrabi. If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know. (Rutabagas and parsnips are higher carb’d than I want to go, but also good options.) I am having a ball tasting all these different flavors prepared like potatoes. My offering today is a combination of the potato substitutes prepared like Potatoes O’Brien. They make a very tasty dish that is very close to the starchy version and yet have their own character, The flavors meld well together and I really am not missing the potato in this.

If your body can use more carbohydrates than mine does, then you can actually add potatoes to the mix and it would still cut out some of the carbs and leave you with a lower carb’d version.

As a bonus, if you add bacon or sausage or ham and cheese to this, you can make it as a nice one dish meal without adding too many carbs.

Home-style Veggies O’Brien

A tasty mix of several root vegetables with cauliflower to make a dish similar to Potatoes O’Brien, without the high carbs! Don’t like daikon? Just sub in more kohlrabi or turnip.  Don’t like turnip or cauliflower? Use just the kohlrabi. It’s very flexible.

1/2 cup Cauliflower, cut into pieces
1/2 cup Kohlrabi,, cut into 1/4″ cubes
1/2 cup Turnips, .5 cut into 1/4″ cubes
1/2 cup Daikon Radish, cut into 1/4″ cubes
1/2 cup Onions, chopped
1/4 cup Sweet Peppers, sliced
1 tablespoon Olive oil or Bacon fat
1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt or Garlic Pepper seasoning
3 strips of Bacon, broken into pieces (optional)
1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Put cauliflower, kohlrabi, turnips and daikon in a pot, cover with water, add a pinch of salt and boil for about 15 minutes. Drain. In a skillet, heat olive oil, add onions and peppers and stir fry until tender. Add vegetables and stir together. Cook, stirring often, until veggies are lightly browned. Add seasoning and serve.

Makes about four 1/2 cup servings.

Tip: You can cook up the vegetables ahead of time, drain well and store in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for about a week or freeze to store longer. Just pull them out when you’re ready to make your hash browns.
Also, when putting the veggies in the bag, squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can before sealing it, then fold it over to save storage space and help keep the food fresher.

Nutrition Info per 1/2 cup serving (without optional items):
Calories: 24.8 Net Carbs: 3.4 g Protein: 1 g

Substituting all kohlrabi for the vegetables:
Calories: 27.6 Net Carbs: 3.2g Protein: 1.3 g

Adding optional items:
Calories: 112 Net Carbs: 3.4 g Protein: 6.3 g

Posted on  1/23/2013

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Butternut Turnip Mash is a Treat

While looking for a yummy side dish to go with my sirloin pot roast left over, which I reheated on my Foreman grill, I found a recipe for a Sweet Potato Turnip Swirl on AllRecipes.com. It sounded great, but sweet potatoes have a pretty high carb count. This is an adaptation of that recipe from Robyn Webb. I replaced the sweet potato with butternut squash and just mashed them instead of doing a puree. The result is a delicious alternative to mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes.

2 medium Turnips, peeled and cubed, about 2 cups
1 cup Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon minced fresh Ginger Root
1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoons Orange Extract
1/2 teaspoon grated Orange Zest

Put the turnips and butternut squash in a saucepan over medium high heat, add enough water to just cover. Bring to a boil and cook until soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and mash in the pan.

Add the ginger, butter, sugar, and orange and mix well. Cook on low heat for a few more minutes to melt the butter and blend the flavors in.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Info per serving: Calories: 46 Net Carbs: 4.9 Protein: .7

Posted on 1/10/2013

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Potato Pancake Substitute Is Great!

My last post of 2012… Wow, where did the last year go? When I was a kid, it seemed like time went by way too slowly, especially during the weeks when we were in school, but then the summer seemed to fly by. That’s kind of how it is now, the days just seem to go by so quickly and there is so much undone at the end of the day that I had hoped to do. Work days never seemed to go this quickly.

So, anyway, here’s the last recipe I’m offering for 2012. This is a simple substitute for a potato pancake that is made with left over smashed turnips with leeks. I’ve pictured it with a BBQ beef sandwich on an Oopsie Roll (Your Lighter Side’s web site) and a small salad. The BBQ beef sandwich is easily made from leftover roast beef and sliced onions warmed up in a skillet with Walden Farm’s 0 calorie, 0 carb Honey BBQ Sauce. (Carried at some grocery stores or order from Netrition.com.)

Turnip and Leek Pancakes

1 cup leftover Smashed Turnips with Leeks
1/4 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground Pepper
1/4 cup Carbquick or other low carb flour
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Butter

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Heat skillet or griddle until hot and spray cooking spray or melt butter in the pan. Put 1/4 of batter mixture in the pan and spread to about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thickness. Repeat with as many cakes as the pan can hold and still allow you to turn easily. Cook on medium heat for about four minutes then carefully turn. Be sure to slide the pancake turner under the entire cake to support it so it won’t break apart. Cook on the other side about another four minutes. Cakes should be nicely browned.

Makes 2 servings of 2 cakes each.

Nutrition Info: Calories: 209.2 Net carbs: 8.1 g Protein: 7.4 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 12/31/2012 6:54 PM