Yes, it’s one last corned beef recipe for this year. I still have corned beef in the ‘fridge, but I figure I can save some of my brainstorms for next year, right? But I have to share this last one now because it is so good and a cool way of making a Corned Beef Sandwich using a low carb tortilla.
If you can’t find low carb tortillas, you can use an Oopsie Roll by spreading the batter out thinly into a 6 inch circle. Cook it a little less than you would a regular Oopsie roll, then take it out of the oven, let it cool a bit, then fold it over. Fill it according to the recipe below and you can either lightly toast it on a griddle or put it into the 300 degree oven for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
Corned Beef Quesadillas
Mixing corned beef with a flour tortilla isn’t as odd as you might think. It is basically a flat bread, so there’s no reason it doesn’t work wonderfully with shredded corned beef with onions and peppers. Add some grated Swiss cheese or cheddar and you have a great lunch time meal. Add a scoop of Springtime Coleslaw to round out the meal. If you can get Kerry Gold Irish Swiss cheese, it is a little stronger than American cheese, but a good American will substitute.
For two servings:
1 cup shredded corned beef
1/4 cup diced or sliced sweet peppers
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup shredded Kerry Gold Swiss cheese
2 low carb 6″ tortillas
3 tablespoons butter
Dijon mustard
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet and sauté the onions and peppers until the onions are translucent. Add the corned beef and stir cook until the meat is heated, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Warm the tortillas over the open flame of a gas stove or on a griddle or skillet until the tortilla is soft and easily folded. Place on a plate and spread the corned beef mixture over half of the tortilla. Spread a little mustard on top or on the opposite side of the tortilla. Sprinkle 1/2 of the Swiss or cheddar cheese on top.. Fold over. Spread 1/2 tablespoon butter on the top of the tortilla. Set aside and prepare the next one.
On a griddle or another large skillet, at medium heat, melt 1/2 tablespoon butter, spreading it around the middle. Place the filled tortilla with the non-buttered side down onto the griddle and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes until the tortilla is toasted. Use a spatula to carefully turn to the buttered side and cook another 3 minutes. Remove to a plate and repeat with the second filled tortilla.
If you are making several, keep the quesadillas warm in a 200 degree oven until they are all done and/or use a large griddle to prepare.
Right about now, everyone is looking at their Mexican food recipes in anticipation of the coming celebration of Cinco de Mayo (5th of May for those who don’t know). Originally a celebration of the Mexican-Americans in the west to celebrate freedom and democracy during the Civil War, the Mexican state of Puebla now celebrates the same day commemorating the Battle of Puebla. However, there are other parts of the world where it is also celebrated because all you need is a small excuse to have a great party, right?
And really, you need no excuse in order to enjoy the great flavors of Mexican and Spanish food. So here are my offerings for Cinco de Mayo, but feel free to enjoy them any time you have a craving for something with a bit of bite or a sweet that’s a little out of the ordinary.
1 pound Ground Beef
10 oz. Enchilada sauce (about 3 net carbs per 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
4 taco size Low Carb FlourTortillas (3 Net carbs each)
1/2 cup Onions, chopped
1/2 cup canned Green Chili Peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon Red Chile Powder
1 cup Zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick
In a skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until onion is just tender. Remove to a bowl. Add ground beef and cook, breaking into small pieces, until it is lightly browned. Drain any liquid off. Add 1/8 cup enchilada sauce and stir to mix. Add onions back to the pan and add green chiles.
To make as a casserole:
Assemble the layers in a deep 9 inch round casserole dish beginning with 1/8 cup of enchilada sauce. Place a tortilla on top, then spread another 1/4 cup of sauce on top, then 1/3 of the meat mixture over the top of that. Arrange zucchini slices in a circle then top with 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese. Place another tortilla on top of that, then top with 1/4 cup sauce, then meat mixture, remaining zucchini slices distributed evenly around the outer circle and top with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Place another tortilla on top and repeat with 1/4 cup sauce, the remaining meat and 1/2 cup cheese. Top with tortilla, spread remaining sauce over the top and sprinkle cheese over it.
To make as individual enchiladas, as pictured:
Warm a low carb flour tortilla and place on a plate. Spread two tablespoons of red enchilada sauce over the tortilla. Spread 1/4 of the meat mixture on top, 1/4 of the zuchinni slices on top of that and sprinkle a tablespoon of cheddar cheese on top. Roll the tortilla into a flute and placed into a lightly sprayed baking pan, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining three tortillas. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas and top with the rest of the cheese.
Enchilada loaded and ready to roll up.
Bake in 350 degree (F) oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly. Cut into six slices. Top each serving with a fried egg if you would like. Serve with Mexican Style Cauli-Rice as a side dish or a nice green salad.
Nutrition Info: Per enchilada – 4 servings
Calories: 516 Fat: 39.8 g Net Carbs: 8 g Protein: 31.3
When made in a casserole, this can make 6 servings with each servings being:
Calories: 333 Fat: 20.5 g Net Carbs: 7 g Protein: 20.8 g
Light and Refreshing Orange Flan
Flan is a light custard dessert that is very popular in Mexican restaurants. It is also very easy to make. The trickiest part in converting this to low carb is the caramel sauce that is made from burnt sugar. Sugar substitutes don’t really melt the same way and I hesitated to get them too brown. But with the light sugary sauce, this is a delicious orange flan (Flan de Naranjas). It was inspired by a recipe that used orange zest in the custard and I thought the best orange flavor is in the pulp, so this one uses the orange pulp in it.
1/3 cup sugar substitute
1 teaspoon butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar substitute
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees (F.)
If using Splenda or Equal, these sugar substitutes don’t melt well, so add 1 tablespoon water to a small sauce pan or skillet with the 1/3 cup of Splenda or Equal. Sugar alcohol will melt without water added. It gets gummy, then melts. Be sure to do this over low heat. Bring the melted sugar sauce to a light golden brown rather than a dark caramel. Remove from heat and stir butter into the sauce.
Divide into five1/2 cup ramekins. Place ramekins in a baking dish large enough to allow 1 inch of water up the sides. You can also make this as a large flan in a 2 1/2 cup flan dish or casserole dish.
Separate the orange segments in 1/4 of a large orange, remove any membrane and chop the orange into small pieces or process in a food processor to get a nicely chopped pulp. Should make about 1/4 cup of orange bits.
Stir cream, coconut milk, water, eggs, sugar substitute, orange extract and chopped oranges together and measure 1/2 cup into each ramekin. Or pour all of it into a flan mold. If you use a mold, stir to make sure the orange pieces are distributed in the dish.
Sugar sauce in the ramekins. I used one two serving ramekin so just doubled the sauce and the custard mix in that one.
Carefully, to avoid getting water in the dishes, add warm water to the pan to come up to 1 inch.
Bake for about 1 hour until a thin knife (I use a citrus knife) inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove the ramekins or mold from the pan and cover the top with plastic wrap, allowing the wrap to touch the surface of the flan. Chill 3 1/2 to 4 hours before serving.
To un-mold, loosen the edges with a thin bladed knife and lift up the bottom a little. Put the serving plate on top of the ramekin or mold and flip. The flan should drop right out. If it doesn’t, put hot water in a bowl and set the ramekin or mold in it for about 10 seconds and try again to un-mold it.
Deliciously topped with Cool Whip and orange pieces.
Spoon any melted caramel over the top of the flan. Serve with dollop of whipped cream or Cool Whip on top, if you wish, and top with an orange segment or pieces of orange.
Makes 5 servings
Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 196.6 Fat: 10 g Net Carbs: 2.5 g. Protein: 5.6 g
Yum! Cornmeal pancake with egg, pico de gallo and sour cream! This breakfast is so tasty I wanted to get it out in time for Easter although its Mexican flavors certainly fit with the Cinco de Mayo theme. The initial recipe came from my local grocery store, Raleys, but I adjusted it to low carb and made a couple of tweaks in it. Add a little ground beef flavored with taco seasonings and you have a great brunch meal.
To get a little of the cornmeal taste into the corn cake, I used one tablespoon of corn flour instead of two and used one tablespoon of golden flax meal that has a similar texture and compliments the taste. I hope you’ll give these a try because they are really good.
I do have to add that with the cornmeal in them, they are not technically legal on Phase 2 and 3 Atkins, but the carb count is low and it should be a fairly safe “cheat”. I am on maintenance and still stay within my body’s carb limit, which is low, so I want my food to be as low carb’d as possible. If you prefer to make it without the cornmeal and use two tablespoons of golden flax instead, it will save you a little in the carbs, but you will lose the cornmeal flavor.
Fiesta Cornmeal Pancakes & Eggs
For the pancakes:
1/4 cup Carbquick or New Hope Mills Pancake Mix*
2 tablespoons heavy cream plus 1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon golden flaxmeal
2 tablespoons shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon Mexican Blend Seasoning
1 tablespoon beaten egg
1 teaspoon olive oil
butter for skillet
For the toppings:
2 fried eggs
2 tablespoons Fresh Pico de Gallo
2 tsp. sour cream
* You can make your own pancake mix using 4 tablespoons almond flour or 2 tablespoon coconut flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (with the almond flour) or 1 extra egg white (with the coconut flour).
In a small bowl, mix together the pancake ingredients, except cheese, until well mixed. Add the cheddar cheese last. If batter is too thick, add a little water until it is easy to spoon out.
Heat an omelette pan or small griddle on the burner until it is hot enough that water sizzles when dropped on the pan. Lower the heat a little to a medium high. Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter in the pan and pour half the batter onto the griddle and spread to make a 4 inch pancake. Put a lid over the skillet or tent aluminum foil over the pan to hold the heat and begin cooking the top. This will help to cook the pancake through without burning it. After 2 or 3 minutes, remove the lid and turn the pancake. Cook about 4 minutes on the back side until golden brown. Remove to a warm plate and place in an oven or cover with foil to hold the heat. Repeat with the second pancake.
Corn cake off the griddle.
Melt the rest of the butter in an egg pan and when it bubbles, carefully break an egg into the pan. Use the spatula to keep the egg white around the egg. To cook a sunny side up egg, cover the pan with a lid for about 3 minutes, then check the egg white to see if it is solid. If so, remove the egg, place on top of the corn cake and top with a tablespoon of pico de gallo and a teaspoon of sour cream. Repeat with second egg. You can cook the eggs any way you prefer. The one at the top of the page is over easy, but you can also scramble them if you wish.
Serve hot.
Makes 2 servings
Nutrition Info:
Calories: 301 Fat: 24.4 Net Carbs: 5.4 g Protein: 13.4 g
Cook the ground beef in a small skillet until lightly browned. Add taco seasoning and 1 tablespoon of water or beef broth. Stir the seasonings into the meat. Drain and set aside.
Follow the instructions above, but add pre-cooked ground beef to the toppers and about 2 tablespoons cheddar jack cheese per serving.
I also added a tablespoon of guacamole to my brunch taco corn cake, so that’s an option also.
Nutrition Info: (without the guacamole)
Calories: 481 Fat: 39.1 Net Carbs: 5.9 g Protein: 23.2 g
Originally Published 04/18/2014 on my previous blog.
How about a little muffin magic? These delicious muffins are sweet, flourless and low carb.
This may have been tried by someone else, but to my knowledge, this is my recipe. At least, I haven’t seen it anywhere else. It takes the Atkins roll another step further to make a sweet muffin that has the texture of a sponge cake. Although the basic recipe is vanilla, it can easily be an almond, strawberry or chocolate muffin, or any other flavor you’d like to try. You could also add a teaspoon of cinnamon powder to add a bit of spice.
Although the recipe says flourless, it actually uses coconut flour in place of wheat flour. This still makes it low carb and gluten free. Win-win!
Flourless Sweet Muffins
2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
2 oz. Cream Cheese
2 Eggs, separated
1 tablespoon Butter
1/4 cup Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tarter
2 tablespoon Water
Preheat oven to 315 degrees (F). Prepare a muffin tin by spraying with cooking spray or use 5 individual silicone muffin molds and spray them with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, add the egg whites and cream of tarter. Beat with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In a smaller bowl, add cream cheese, butter and sugar and cream together. Add egg yolks, vanilla, water and coconut flour. Mix together until completely combined. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites as carefully as possible so that it doesn’t break down the whites. Continue to lift and fold the mixture until the egg yolk mixture is blended into the whites.
Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into each muffin mold. It will make 5 muffins. Bake for 18 minutes until just lightly browned. Remove and cool.
Nutrition Info: Per muffin
Calories: 116 Fat: 4.1 g Net Carbs: 2.0 g Protein: 3.4 g
Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 4/12/2014 7:20 PM
Okay, so the leaf bordered plate wasn’t the best choice to display these waffles. Still they look yummy!
I love waffles, but I don’t make them too often and every time I do make them, I wonder why I don’t do them more often. Well, the taste of this fantastic waffle and syrup that I made today is one that really needs repeating often. This is a recipe adapted from one at the Raley’s grocery store web site. Theirs isn’t low carb, but mine is and it lacks nothing with the substitutions in it. Add the terrific Bourbon Pecan syrup I created to go with this and it is absolutely “fantastical”! (To quote Huey Calhoun in Memphis.)
Once again, I rely on a combination of low carb baking mix – my preferred one being CarbQuick – and a non-wheat flour, like almond flour or coconut flour. Can it be made with just almond flour or coconut flour? I haven’t tried, but I am guessing that yes, it can, but it will be more delicate and you will need extra eggs in it. Waffles are tricky enough to get out of the iron, so the almond flour or coconut flour mix may be really hard to move without them falling apart. If you have a flip waffle maker, you might be able to flip them into your plate successfully.
While these are great for breakfast or brunch, don’t overlook the possibility of a smaller portion with ice cream or yogurt and whipped cream on top as a dessert. It’s that good!
And, like most waffle batters, this also makes great pancakes, so that’s an option if you don’t want to go the waffle route.
Ricotta Waffles
1 cups carbquick
1/4 cup almond flour
1 large egg
2 tbsp. sugar substitute
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons melted butter
Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients together with a whisk. Stir into dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed, but may be slightly lumpy.
Pour or spoon 1/2 batter into a lightly greased hot waffle iron and cook until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Check after 2 1/2 minutes to see if it releases easily. If not, let it cook another 30 to 40 seconds and check again. The cook time will vary with waffle irons. Mine is a flip and takes about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes to cook.
Makes 4 waffles. If you’re a light eater, half a waffle will be enough.
Nutrition Info per waffle:
Calories: 232 Fat: 19 Net Carbs: 3.7 g Protein: 11.1 g
Awesome Bourbon Pecan Syrup
Best made just before serving, so the recipe is per waffle.
Per waffle:
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup pecan halves
1 tablespoon sugar substitute
1 tablespoon Kentucky Bourbon
1/4 cup sugar-free pancake syrup (Mrs. Butterworth’s)
OR
*1/4 cup water, 2 tablespoon brown sugar substitute and 1 teaspoon maple extract
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar substitute. Stir and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the bourbon, stir and cook another minute or two. Add the maple syrup and cook one more minute to just warm the syrup.
*If you’re making your own syrup, prior to starting the pecans and the waffles, mix the water, brown sugar substitute and maple extract in a saucepan and cook on medium high heat until the mixture begins to thicken. Stir frequently so it doesn’t burn and stick. It will take about 10 minutes and it won’t get very thick.
Spoon over buttered waffle and serve. Delicious!
Nutrition Info for 1 serving sauce:
Calories: 324 Fat: 31.9 g Net Carbs: 1.2 g Protein: 2.7 g
Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 3/26/2014 4:16 PM
