Category Archives: Vegetables & Salads

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads, Vegetarian

Recreating a Restaurant Vegetable – Broccoli with Mornay Sauce

At the beginning of March, my roomie and I went to San Jose to see Celtic Thunder and decided to eat at a restaurant near the theater.  While the cuisine was a little pricier than we had expected, it was fantastic.  One of the dishes we ordered was Broccoli with Mornay Sauce that was just wonderful  So, I decided to recreate this with a low carb Mornay.    Couple this with my joy in finally getting a whole case of kohlrabi that I ordered from my grocery store because no one in Reno has gotten in kohlrabi in over 8 months.  I was in withdrawal!  It’s like taking away my potatoes, only worse, because it’s my substitute for potatoes.  So, my version of the broccoli dish is now Broccoli and Kohlrabi with Mornay Sauce.  You can make it without the kohlrabi by increasing the broccoli, but give it a try with the “cousin” root vegetable.  It is really good.

Broccoli & Kohlrabi with Mornay Sauce

1 cup Broccoli, cut into pieces
1 cup Kohlrabi, 1/4″ cubes
1/2 cup Leeks, sliced
4 cloves Garlic, sliced
2 slices Bacon, fried (optional)
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 tablespoon Butter
1 1/2 tablespoon Low Carb Flour
1/2 cup Water
Pinch Pepper
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 oz. Cream Cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Prepare sauce: In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour to form a paste. Remove from heat and stir in cream, water, pepper and nutmeg. Return to heat and stir until the sauce begins to thicken. Add cream cheese and Parmesan cheese and stir until it is melted in. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F.)

Steam broccoli, kohlrabi and leeks in a bowl in the microwave or in a steamer until just tender, about 3 to 4 minutes in the microwave. In an oven safe skillet, add a little butter and the chopped garlic and cook until just fragrant. Add the vegetables and cook a couple of minutes, then add the sauce and mix together until completely coated. Break the bacon into pieces and sprinkle over the top of the vegetables, then sprinkle a little more Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the top is just starting to brown. Remove, let cool for a few minutes, then serve.

Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 235.3 Fat: 20.5 g Net Carbs: 5.3 g Protein: 6.6 g

Note:  For vegetarian, omit the Bacon.

 

Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Drinks, Main Dish, Poultry, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

A Low Carb Winter Holiday

L to R: Turnips and Cauliflower au Gratin Casserole, Irish Style Kohlrabi, Classic Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Thanksgiving, then all the other winter holidays are coming up quickly.  To help find those recipes that I’ve posted over the past few years for holiday meals, I’m putting many of them on this one page.  At the beginning of December, I’ll do a similar page with Holiday Sweet Treats that will cover the cookies, candies and cakes for the holiday season.

Main Course:

Turkey – I don’t actually have a recipe for roasting turkey. Almost anyone you might find will likely be low carb. What adds the carbs is the dressing. See below. But here’s a Roast Turkey recipe from AllRecipes.com that is beautifully seasoned and not stuffed.  Rosemary Roasted Turkey

Low Carb Stuffing Bread

Low Carb Stuffing – This is an easy-to-make stuffing bread that will work well with any of your usual vegetables and/or fruits and sausage to make a delicious stuffing you can bake in your turkey or in a side casserole dish. Add some of the turkey juices to the mix to bring in the flavor of the turkey.

Side Dishes:

We need good side dishes that are still low carb. Potatoes just don’t cut it on a low carb lifestyle, no matter how much we want them to be a part of the meal. Here are a few options for potato replacements that are very tasty and may make you forget all about that other root vegetable.

Delicious Creamed Cauliflower

Creamed Cauliflower – delicious and so elegant-looking.
Turnips and Cauliflower Au Gratin – Wonderful flavor and so like scalloped potatoes (see first photo)

Ricotta Cheese Cauliflower Casserole

Ricotta Cheese Cauliflower Casserole – Absolutely amazing taste and easy to make

Smashed Turnips with Leeks

Smashed Turnips with Leeks – Pretty close to the taste of mashed potatoes and I like them better!

Other side dishes that are great:

L to R: Green beans with turnips, Brussels sprouts fritters, roaster turnips and kohlrabi

Green Beans with Turnips – Here’s a way to get your potato substitute in with the green beans
Loaded Brussels Sprout Fritters – A little different taste, but fabulous!
Irish Style Baked Celery with Kohlrabi – Don’t overlook celery when making a vegetable dish. It’s great!  (See top photo)
Roasted Turnips and Kohlrabi – This goes well with meat, turkey, chicken, and fish.

Desserts:

Maple Pumpkin Pie

Maple Pecan Pumpkin Pie – just posted today! RIch, creamy and delicious custard-style pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Panna Cotta – Light dessert and so delicious!

L to R: Pumpkin Panna Cotta, Pumpkin PIe Cupcake, and Cinnamon Pecan Tartlets

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes – A quick and easy pumpkin pie taste cupcake that is very moist.

Cinnamon Pecan Tartlets – Just for pecan pie fans, this little tartlet has all the flavor in a controlled portion size.

Rich Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars – An old favorite made the low carb way. (See top photo.)

Rene’s LV Pumpkin Cheesecake

Rene LC Pumpkin Cheesecake – About as good as it gets when it comes to the holiday cheesecake.

Breakfast Options:

Mah-velous Pumpkin Pancakes with bacon.

Mah-velous Pumpkin Pancakes – Add some pumpkin and seasonings to the pancakes.

Pumpkin French Toast Casserole

Pumpkin French Toast – Requires low carb bread, but is delicious.

Beverage

Hot Pumpkin Nog – Shun the rich and high carb Egg Nog and try this tasty Pumpkin Nog!

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Simple Creamed Cauliflower Is Wonderful

As I was trying to come up with something a little different and along the lines of a creamed potato dish, I hit on making creamed cauliflower. It turned out to be absolutely delicious, as well as being easy to make. The nutmeg adds a subtle flavor that really makes it special. This would go great with your Thanksgiving or other holiday turkey or with just plain roasted chicken.  I’ve tried this with both Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and while I prefer the Mozzarella, both are very good.

Creamed Cauliflower

2 cups Cauliflower, chopped
1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
2 tablespoons Butter
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg, ground
Pinch Salt
1/2 teaspoon Sugar Substitute
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded or Parmesan Cheese, shredded

If using fresh cauliflower, par boil for two minutes or put in the microwave, one cup at a time, for 1 minute each cup. Melt butter in a medium sauce pan and add the cauliflower. Add the cream, nutmeg, salt and sugar substitute and stir well. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Use the spoon to break any large pieces up into smaller pieces. When almost fork tender, add the mozzarella cheese and stir until melted. Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce is thick. Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 140.6 Fat: 11.4 g Net Carbs: 3.8 g Protein: 5.4 g

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Fresh Taste with Zucchini Fritters

To me, it still seems like an impossible dream that any diet could allow the luxury of any kind of fried food and still be legal.  I’ve always joked that Atkins low carb diet was the one that allowed you to eat all the toppings — sour cream, butter, bacon and cheese — that go on a baked potato, but the not potato itself.  What irony.

Well, potatoes might not be on the menu, but there are other substitutes that are totally palate pleasing as well as low carb’d.  One of these is the Zucchini Fritter.  My version is loaded with fresh zucchini, onions, bell pepper and bacon pieces.  Usually, the recipes start with grating the zucchini, then draining it, adding salt to remove the liquid and squeezing as much water out as possible so that it’s very dry.  I skip that step.  You can shred the zucchini or take my approach and let the food processor chop it into small pieces.  I don’t squeeze the liquid out, but just use it as is and let the flour absorb the liquid.  Serve this with a dill sauce, a low carb Ranch dressing or heat up a little pasta sauce.

Zucchini, Onions and Peppers Fritters

1 cup Zucchini, shredded or chopped
1/2 cup Onions, chopped
1/4 cup Bell Peppers, chopped
2 large Eggs
1/2 cup  low carb Flour *
2 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese, grated
2 tablespoons Bacon pieces
1/2 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
4 to 6 tablespoons Olive Oil

* If you use Coconut Flour, reduce to 3 tablespoons.  The flour will absorb the liquid very well.

Finely chop the zucchini, onion and bell peppers in a food processor and mix together in a bowl. Add eggs, low carb flour, cheese, bacon pieces and seasoning salt. Stir together until the mixture is completely blended with the vegetables and all the flour is mixed in. The liquid from the vegetables and the eggs will provide enough moisture to make a pancake consistency batter.

Fitter patties in the frying pan.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small skillet over medium heat. When hot, add a big tablespoon of the zucchini mixture to the pan and smooth it into a small pancake. Repeat with a second tablespoon on the other side of the pan.  Cover with a lid and cook for about two minutes until golden brown. Turn over and cook another two minutes. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Add more olive oil if needed.  Repeat, making two at a time, with the remainder of the batter.

Flipped golden brown fritters. The trick here is to cook them at a medium temperature, just hot enough to lightly brown them and still cook them through. These were about 1 minute and 40 seconds.

Serve warm with a dill dressing or a low carb dressing. Delicious.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition Info per fritter
Calories: 109 Fat:9.8 g Net Carbs: 2.0 Protein: 3.5 g

 

 

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Summer’s End with Greek Style Spaghetti Squash

Luckily for us, summer’s end doesn’t mean the end of many of the vegetables we’ve enjoyed all summer, like broccoli, zucchini andbell peppers since so many of these are easily brought in from sunnier climates where they grow in the winter.  It does mark the start of the late fall vegetables, like pumpkins, acorn and butternut squashes, and spaghetti squash, when they will be more readily available.  In fact, some of you may have some growing in your garden.  Not so here, but the market had a steady supply of these through the summer and I hope to see more of the less common ones showing up soon.

For now, here’s a recipe that combines spaghetti squash with broccoli in a Greek-style dish.

Greek Style Spaghetti Squash

2 cups Spaghetti Squash, cooked
1 cup Broccoli, chopped and par-boiled
2 tablespoons Sour Cream
1 teaspoon Oregano, ground
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice, preferably freshly squeezed
1 cup Spinach, fresh and chopped
1/2 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Pepper, black
1/2 teaspoon Parsley, dried or 1 tablespoon fresh
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
2 tablespoons Butter or Olive Oil

If you haven’t already cooked the spaghetti squash, do it before starting. You can cut it in half and bake in the oven, face down on a foil-covered baking sheet for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees (F.) Or pierce the squash a few times with a knife, wrap in plastic wrap and microwave for about 5 minutes.   Cut the squash open and remove the seeds, then cut or pull the stands of squash away from the shell and separate into strands.

Cut broccoli into pieces. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, then add the broccoli and cook for 1 minute once the water comes back to a boil. Drain in a colander to get as much water off as possible.

In a large skillet, add butter or olive oil and heat about 1 minute on medium high heat. Add garlic and saute a minute or two. Add the spaghetti squash and broccoli and cook, stirring a little, for about five minutes. Add the seasonings, lemon juice and sour cream and stir in, then add the spinach. Cook until the spinach wilts, then serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 52.7 Fat: 1.7 g Net Carbs: 6.4 g Protein: 2.0 g