Category Archives: Main Dish

Asian Recipes, Beef, Recipes

Easy and tasty Korean Beef Bowl

When you’re looking for something quick and easy to make, especially when it’s warm out and you don’t want to heat up the kitchen too much, try cooking a simple skillet dish.

For a taste of Korean-style food, this easy to make Korean Beef Bowl fits the bill. If you want to make it a little lower in carbohydrates, reduce the soy sauce to 1/4 cup. This reduces it 1 net carb per serving.

Korean Beef Bowl

1 pound lean ground beef
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup Low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Swerve Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 Green Onions, chopped, divided
2 stalks Celery, chopped
4 cups riced Cauliflower, cooked
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Using a large skillet, heat it over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles on it. Add ground beef and use the spatula to cut and crumble it into small pieces. Cook until browned, about 7 minutes. Drain any excess grease from the pan.

Stir in the garlic, ginger, and sesame oil and cook for about 2 minutes until you can smell the seasonings. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, and crushed peppers to the pan and cook about another 7 to 8 minutes until some of the beef absorbs some of the sauce. Add 1/2 of the chopped green onions and stir.

Spoon the beef mixture over the cooked cauliflower rice in 4 dinner bowls. Sprinkle the rest of the chopped onions and sesame seeds over the beef and serve. A crisp cucumber salad – sliced cucumbers, sliced red onions, and a little shredded daikon radish in rice wine vinegar – makes a refreshing side dish.

Makes 4 delicious servings.

Tip: For variety, use a cauliflower-zucchini rice or a cauliflower-broccoli rice instead of plain cauliflower. Also, add a little beef bullion to the rice combination as it cooks. I’ve also used riced turnips as a rice substitute.

Seafood, Vegetables & Salads

Crispy, Cool Salad for Warm Evenings

Photo: Shrimp Salad

As we move into the dog days of August, I think about cool and easy to prepare dinners. That often means a salad. In this instance, it’s a lovely combination of shrimp, asparagus, avocado, and cucumber over a nice bowl of mixed salad greens. Requiring only a little cooking for the shrimp and asparagus, this dish comes together in about thirty minutes or less. The lemon vinaigrette can be prepared in advance and refrigerated until ready to serve.

For the salad:
8 oz Shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups Spring Mix Greens
10 spears Asparagus, trimmed and cut into one-inch pieces
1/2 Avocado, cubed
1/4 cup Red Onions, sliced
1 small Cucumber, peeled and sliced
Salt and Pepper, to taste

For the lemon vinaigrette
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1 large Lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/2 teaspoon Sugar-free Honey
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1-2 cloves minced Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste

Make the vinaigrette first. In a small bowl, add all the ingredients and whisk together. Taste to see if it needs more honey, salt, or pepper. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until ready to use. Whisk again before serving. You can store any excess dressing in the refrigerator for about one week.

Heat a medium-sized pot to boiling and add the shrimp. Cook for about three minutes, then drain and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Heat olive oil in a saute pan and add the asparagus spears. Cook for about three minutes. Drain the shrimp, pat dry with a paper towel, and add to the pan and stir fry them for a couple of minutes to get slightly browned.

Remove the shrimp and asparagus to a pan or bowl to cool. Using two salad bowls, divide the spring greens and arrange half the onions and half the cucumber in each bowl. Divide the shrimp and asparagus between the bowls, then add avocado pieces. Spoon about two tablespoons of the lemon vinaigrette the ingredients in each bowl.

Serves two.

Tip: Buy pre-cleaned and deveined  frozen shrimp to save time, and it make less mess in the kitchen. If you don’t have a fresh lemon, use 6 tablespoons of lemon juice. 

Image: Nutrition Information: Shrimp Salad

Main Dish, Seafood

Quick to Fix Garlic Cajun-Style Cod

Photo: Garlic Cajun Cod Fish

As I move through the heat of August, I am looking for less cooking in the kitchen and more salads. But an easy and quick cook meal I made recently was this spicy and delicious dish of one of the few kinds of fish I enjoy eating.

Cod is a sturdy white fish and takes well to this spicy seasoning. Use any Cajun blend seasoning to rub into the fish before you cook it in a skillet. The Cajun Holy Trinity of cooking includes bell pepper, onion, and celery. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any celery in the house, but feel free to add it to the dish.

Garlic Cajun-Style Cod Fish

2 fillets Cod Fish (about 4 oz. each)
1/2 Bell Pepper, sliced
1/2 Red Onion, sliced
1/4 cup Celery, sliced
4 tablespoons Butter, melted
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Cajun Spice mix

In a skillet, add oil and heat. Add onions, and garlic, and sauté for about 2 minutes, then add bell pepper and celery. Stir fry for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are just tender. Remove to a bowl or a plate.

Season cod with Cajun spices. Reduce heat under the skillet to a medium high, then add the cod. Cook about 4 to 5 minutes on each side until the cod is white all the way through. Add vegetables and stir together for about two minutes to warm them up.

Serves 2.

Nutrition Info

Breads, Poultry, Product Review

Easy Low Carb Pizza with No Fuss

Image: Low Carb Thai Chicken Pizza

Just about everybody gets a craving for pizza, some of us more than others. Most of the time, I make my own low carb pizza crust using this recipe.

But recently, LC Foods added a personal-pan-sized crust to its product list. With three 6-inch pre-made and partially cooked crusts for only $7.95 plus shipping, this sounded like a pretty good deal. I ordered two packages of them plus 2 of their pizza and bagel flour mix to make your own. If you order enough from LC Foods, you can get free shipping. As it was, the shipping was $8.95 for priority mail, and the package arrived in Reno, Nevada, three days after it was shipped from North Carolina. That’s pretty good time!

Now, to speed up the pizza-making process, I discovered that Papa Murphy’s pizza is selling their pizza ingredients in a package for Keto eaters. So you have about a 12-ounce, 7×9-inch tray of pre-cut vegetables and pre-cooked meat ready to put on top of your pizza crust. In fact, you can customize your pizza ingredients from their website. I bought a custom variation of their Thai Chicken Pizza with all the same ingredients. When I cooked our first pizzas with it, I used half of the package to make two personal-sized pizzas. The taste was really good, but I didn’t think it had enough chicken in it, and it needed a bit of kick with a base sauce. When I made the next two pizzas, I added more cooked and sliced chicken, plus I spread a layer of Asian Chili Sauce on the bottom before adding the ingredients. This worked much better, yielding delicious results.

If you have a pizza place that will sell you the ingredients without the crust, this is a real time saver in getting your low carb pizza fix. If you don’t, then the ingredient list is below to build your own. If you don’t want to order pre-made crusts, you can make your own or use a cauliflower crust that many stores now sell or create your own from this recipe.

Thai Chicken Pizza

1 to 1 1/2 cups of Chicken Breast, cooked and sliced or chopped
1/4 cup Green Onions or chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped Tomatoes or Sun-Dried Tomatoes
1 cup of Zucchini, sliced
1 teaspoon Dried Red Chiles, crushed
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F.)

Place pizza crusts on a foil-covered pan or raised rack.

Mix all the ingredients, except the chile sauce together. Spread 2 tablespoons of chile sauce on each 6-inch pizza crust. Spoon 1/4 of the ingredients on top of the pizza and sprinkle with a little extra mozzarella if you like.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust is browned. Makes four 6-inch pizzas.

Nutrition Info for Thai Chicken Pizza

Breakfast & Brunch, Main Dish, Recipes, Vegetarian

Easy Cheese Pie makes great snacks!

 

Photo: Cheese Pie sticks

Whether you want a side dish,  the main course, or snacks, this cheese pie is a quick and versatile option. I adapted this from a recipe at 12 Tomatoes to a low carb version, which is only a couple of changes. You can use any cheese you like, although mozzarella holds it together well. You can also add your favorite seasoning or mix it up. Use a Mexican cheese mix with taco seasoning and add in chopped green onions for variety. Mix in broccoli and garlic herb seasoning with mozzarella and Reggiano. The possibilities abound.

My flour choice was Bakesquick from Dixie Diner, but you can also use any other low carb flour, including almond flour. If you use coconut flour, use 1/3 cup and add an extra egg. You can use 1 full cup of milk instead of the heavy cream and almond milk, or use the heavy cream and add water to make 1 cup.

Photo: Cheese Pie

Cheese Pie

2 Eggs
1/3 cup Heavy Cream
2/3 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 cup Low Carb Flour
3/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
3/4 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Ground Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Use cooking spray or butter to grease a 9-inch pie plate or a baking dish.

Add the eggs to a medium bowl and whisk until they are mixed together. Add cream, almond milk, and flour, and seasonings and whisk until they are fully incorporated. You can use a blender to combine these. Stir in both cheeses and any other additions. Make sure they are mixed in well. Pour cheese mixture into the greased baking dish and use a spoon or spatula to smooth the top.

Bake between 25 and 30 minutes until top turns golden brown. When a knife blade inserted in the middle comes out clean, it is done. Remove to a counter or a trivet and let cool for 5 minutes.

This makes six servings for a luncheon or dinner. Or cut into snack pieces, by cutting into slices about 3 inches long and 1-1/2 inches wide. Makes about 12 slices.

Keeps well in the refrigerator for several days if it lasts that long. You can warm them for about 10 seconds in the microwave if you wish.

Image: Cheese Pie Nutrition