Category Archives: Main Dish

Breakfast & Brunch, Main Dish, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

Eggs with Asparagus for Sunday Brunch

Huevos Rancheros are a part of my Texas up-bringing and I’ve enjoyed them many times and in many ways over the years. This recipe is based on my version that I inherited from my grandma with a couple of new twists, like adding the asparagus and chipotle salsa to it. Low carb tortillas can be purchased at most grocery stores, just look for the lowest net carbohydrate count (La Tortilla Factory and Mama Lupe’s both have ones that are 3 net carbs.)

I call these “spring” ranch eggs because they are best made when asparagus is arriving in supermarkets (or your garden) in the spring. You definitely want to use fresh asparagus for it. At times that you can’t get asparagus or the price is just too high, try broccolini (baby broccoli) with it or skip it altogether.

I used what I call Mexican style chorizo, which is a beef or pork sausage packed with chili in a plastic casing. Remove the casing and it almost melts in the pan while it’s cooking. It’s a spicy, but not too hot sausage that also makes fabulous scrambled eggs with sausage burritos. You can also use ground beef or pork sausage to make this.

I am a light eater these days, so one egg is enough for me, but if you want more food, there is plenty of room for a second egg on the tortilla.

Heuvos Rancheros Primavera

2 low carb Tortillas
2 to 4 Eggs
1/2 link Mexican-style Chorizo or 1/2 cup ground Beef or Pork
Queso Blanco or Queso Fresca cheese
1/2 cup Enchilada Sauce (canned or homemade)
3 tablespoons Pico de Gallo (tomato, onion, jalapeno and cilantro)
2 tablespoons Chipotle Salsa or other Salsa
6 spears of Asparagus or Broccolini
2 tablespoons Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 365 degrees F.

Wash and trim the asparagus spears. Bring a pot of water to a boil and put the asparagus spears in for two minutes to blanch. Remove and drain the spears.

Prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray or a silicone mat or parchment paper to prevent sticking. Put enchilada sauce in a pie pan and dip each tortilla in it, making sure the whole tortilla is covered. Place on the baking sheet and put in the hot oven to cook for about 10 minutes.

Remove the chorizo from its casing and stir fry it in a small skillet until it is done. In another skillet, fry the eggs the way you like them. Or poach the eggs. Or you can scramble the eggs with the chorizo.

Mix the salsa with the pico de gallo in a small bowl.

Put a tortilla on the plate, arrange 3 asparagus spears in a trio with the tops meeting and the bottoms spread across the tortilla. Put the egg on top, then put the chorizo around the edge of the eggs. Put a little salsa on each side and across the tops of the spears. Crumble queso fresco or queso blanca over the entire tortilla, about 2 to 3 tablespoons, then put sour cream on top of the egg.

Add salt and pepper, if desired and serve immediately. Serves 2.

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 263.7 Fat: 18.1 g Net Carbs: 8.4 g Protein: 14.4 g

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 5/14/2013 1:22 PM

Beef, Main Dish, Pork, Recipes

Hungarian-Style Kohlrabi Rolls

So, follow my logic here. Greek dolmades use grape leaves to make a leaf-wrapped meat roll similar to a cabbage roll. Out in my garden were about a dozen beautiful kohlrabi plants with nice big leaves. I found a recipe that sounded good and adaptable to low carb for Hungarian cabbage rolls. Kohlrabi is part of the cabbage family and the leaves are edible. So, grape leaf to cabbage leaf to kohlrabi leaf. It should work.

Well, I tried it and it does work! It doesn’t taste like cabbage or grape leaves, for that matter, but the taste is pleasing and the filling and sauce are awesome. If you like cabbage rolls, give this a try. This is based on a recipe by Diana Ratay at About.com. All changes to make it low carb are mine.

16 large Kohlrabi leaves or 16 large leaves of Cabbage
boiling water
1/3 pound Ground Pork
3/4 pound lean Ground Beef
1/4 cup chopped Onion
1/2 cup riced Cauliflower
1/4 cup riced Daikon Radish
1 Egg, beaten
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
2 teaspoons Paprika

Sauce
1/2 cup Pasta Sauce or Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Sour Cream

Preparation:

Drop leaves into boiling salted water; cover and cook for 3 minutes or until pliable. Drain well.

Blanched kohlrabi leaves draining in a colander. Look at the beatiful dark green color.

For filling, combine ground beef, pork, riced cauliflower-daikon mixture, onion, egg, and salt, pepper, paprika, and water. Mix well and divide into 8 portions. Use half of each portion for each leaf.

Place a half portion of the ground beef mixture into the center of each leaf. Roll leaf around filling; fasten with toothpick. Place in a baking dish. You may have to make long, thin rolls of the meat to fit it into the leaves.

For sauce, combine tomato sauce, and 1/2 cup of water and pour over kohlrabi rolls.

Rolled leaves are covered with sauce and are ready to be covered and cooked.

Bake tightly covered in a preheated 350° oven 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the kohlrabi rolls and discard toothpicks.

Mix 1/2 cup of pan sauce with 1/2 cup sour cream and add a tablespoon full over each serving. These reheat well so leftovers are great.

Makes about 16 rolls.

Nutrition Info: 2 per serving
Calories: 271 Fat: 8g Net Carbs: 4.1 g Protein: 17.9 g

3 per serving
Calories: 380 Fat: 26.1 g Net Carbs: 4.5 g Protein: 25 g

Posted on  6/16/2013

Main Dish, Pork, Recipes

Kohl– what? Kohlrabi and Ham Casserole

I have a friend to thank for pointing me to kohlrabi. I had barely heard of it, certainly hadn’t tasted it and hadn’t a clue that I would love it. After I posted my recipe for the turnip and butternut squash mash, she mentioned that kohlrabi would work well in place of the turnips. That sent me on a quest for it and luckily, I found the root vegetable on my first try at the supermarket. It’s a nice green bulb about the color of the vegetable it tastes a bit like, broccoli stalks. But it also has a texture and taste that is a bit like potato. Delightful! You can also get purple kohlrabi, tastes the same, I hear, but I haven’t seen it yet.

So, I went hunting for recipes using kohlrabi and found one for a dish that is from a German cookbook. Can I make anything the way it is written? Of course not, I added to it and changed it slightly, adding turnips, onions and other ingredients to create this tasty casserole dish. So I offer this recipe for those who might enjoy the combination. If you don’t like turnips, just double up on the kohlrabi.

2 Kohlrabi, peeled and cubed
2 Turnips, peeled and cubed
8 oz Ham, cubed
1 Onion diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 Leek, sliced thinly
1 cup torn Baby Spinach leaves (optional)
1 tablespoon Butter or Olive Oil
2 Egg yolks
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 tablespoon Carbquick or other low carb flour or thickener
1/4 teaspoon Mace
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Put cubed kohlrabi and turnips into a pan, add enough water to cover and boil for about 20 minutes until fork tender. Meanwhile, sauté onion, garlic and leek in 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil. Drain.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix egg yolks, cream, Carbquick and seasonings together. Blend the flour in well until it is smooth.

Spray an 8×8 inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Return kohlrabi and turnips to pan and mix in the onion mixture. Spread 1/2 of this mixture on the bottom of the casserole. Spread the diced ham on top and spread the spinach leaves over the ham. Top with the remaining kohlrabi mixture. Pour the cream mixture over the top, distributing evenly over the casserole.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the cream is set.

Serves 4 hearty appetites or 6 regular servings.

Nutrition 4 servings: Calories 355 Net Carbs 11.3 g Protein 11 g
6 servings: Calories 236.7 Net Carbs 7.5 g Protein 7.3 g

Main Dish, Pork, Recipes, Vegetarian

Legal Ham and Mac Casserole

This is a low carb variation on an all-American comfort dish, macaroni and cheese with ham. Any time I have left over ham, it just calls for a pasta and cheese. But to do this on a low carb diet requires some variation and a low carb pasta.

How do you keep pasta legal on a low carb diet? Well, there are a couple of ways to approach this. You can use vegetables for the pasta, such as cutting zuchinni into thin flat slices like a lasagna noodle or making it like spaghetti in long slices cut into 1/4″ to 13 inch strings. Or you can use chopped cauliflower. Or, if you’re like me, a combination of the two. Or you can use spaghetti squash.

Initially, I used Dreamfield rotini in my pasta since it was supposed to be a low carb pasta, which has since been proven not to be.  Oddly, it didn’t impact my weight loss when I used it, but it could be problematic for other people and for anyone who is needing low carbs to control diabetes.  When I did, and probably will again, use the pasta, I combined it with some added cauliflower and broccoli which makes this dish even more flavorful as well as colorful and filling.   Net carbs (without the pasta) are about 6 grams per serving and about 233 calories.

For a vegetarian version, simply omit the ham and add another cup of broccoli or Brussels sprouts, if you like.

Ham and “Mac” without the Mac 

1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Jack Cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup Water
2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons low carb Flour
1 tablespoon minced Garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese, whole milk
1 cup Cauliflower, chopped
1 cup Broccoli, chopped
2 cups cooked Spaghetti Squash
2 cups Ham, diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use cooking spray to coat a large casserole dish or baking dish (about 9 ½ x 11 inches).

Microwave the cauliflower and broccoli for about 3 minutes to give them a head start on cooking or you can drop them into boiling water for about 5 minutes, then drain.

In a medium-sized pot, make the roux by melting the butter and adding the low carb flour and stir to make a paste. Add whipping cream and water, then the garlic, ground pepper and cayenne pepper and stir well until the mixture begins to thicken. With the low carb flour, it may not thicken much but it will thicken more when the cheese is added. Reserve about ¼ cup of cheddar cheese, then add in all the cheeses, including the ricotta, stirring in as you add each one. Turn off sauce when all the cheeses are mixed in and melted.

In a large mixing bowl, add the vegetables and the ham. Pour half of the cheese mixture into the bowl and mix well with a large spoon, being sure to get all of the pasta and vegetables coated with sauce. Add the remainder and mix it in well. Top the dish with the reserved cheddar cheese.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the cheddar topping is melted and a light brown. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 4.2.4 Fat: 31.7 g Net Carbs: 7.8 g Protein: 21.1

POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 9/4/2012 6:03 PM

Beef, Main Dish, Recipes

Use Leftover Corned Beef In A Pie

If you have some leftover corned beef after St Patrick’s, you could make it into sandwiches or turn it into a Corned Beef Pot Pie. This easy pie uses the fixings from your celebration meal to make a cottage pie with all the yummy flavors. I do start with fresh, lightly sauteed cabbage rather than any boiled in the pot. You can use any vegetables in it or stick to the traditional carrots, celery, onion and cabbage. The same recipe also works well for other meats. While this is low carb, it does use some ingredients that are optional that are not on the Phase I or Phase II lists of Atkins.

My selection of vegetables includes cabbage, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers and green beans.

Corned Beef Cottage Pie

This uses corned beef and all the usual accompaniments in a no crust pie with mashed kohlrabi and turnips for the topping. I use 1/3 cup of instant mashed potatoes to help thicken the mash and give a little potato flavor to the mix. You can omit, if you prefer. You can make this as a large pie or as individual pot pies.

1 pound Corned Beef, Brisket, cooked
2 cups Cabbage, hopped
1 cup Celery, diced
1/2 cup Carrots, diced (optional) or Green Beans or Broccoli
2 cups Kohlrabi, cubed
1 cup Turnips, cubed
1/2 cup Leeks, chopped
1 cup Beef Broth (or water from cooking corned beef)
1/3 cup Mashed Potato Flakes (optional and helps to thicken turnip/kohlrabi mixture)
2 tablespoons Butter
1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Garlic & Herb Seasoning Blend
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons Carbquick or 1 tablespoon Corn Starch

Put celery and carrots into a bowl and microwave for about three minutes to partially cook them. Put the kohlrabi and turnips into a pan of water and cook for about 20 minutes until they are tender. Drain and return to the stove. Cook a little longer to remove any excess water. Mash with a hand masher or a mixer. Add butter, cream, leeks, seasonings and potato flakes. Mix well. Set aside.

In a small pan, add a little olive oil and stir fry the leeks and cabbage. Set aside.

Add flour and a tablespoon of butter and stir to mix. Add the beef broth or corned beef broth and stir well, continuing to cook to form a light gravy.

Cut cooked corned beef into cubes. Distribute beef evenly around a deep dish pie plate or separate into six individual casserole dishes or individual pie tins. Spoon carrots, celery over the top so they are distributed evenly. Put the leeks and cabbage over the top of the vegetables. Pour the gravy over the vegetables. (Divide evenly into the pot pie dishes.) Top with mashed vegetables, spreading them to fill the top leaving a small opening in the middle for the juices to bubble up.

Pies ready to go in the oven. I left them slightly unsealed at the edge for vent points.

Bake in 350 degree F oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Makes 6 servings

Nutrition Info
Calories: 313.2 Net Carbs: 7.2 g Fat: 23 g Protein: 16.1 g

Posted on 3/17/2013