Tag Archives: Atkins friendly recipes

Main Dish, Recipes, Seafood

Creamed Salmon with Asparagus and Greens

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Although I’m not a huge fish fan, I do get a craving every now and then and last week, I decided I wanted cream salmon.  I had some asparagus in the house and a mix of turnip greens, spinach, and Swiss Chard, so it seemed like that would be a really good and low carb combination.  It turned out great!  The flavor is delicious and the sauce is light and creamy.  I served over low carb bagels the first time and over Dixie Carb Counters Skinni Spaghetti the next time.

This makes an easy, elegant dinner and if you love salmon, you’ll love this dish.  It can also be made with broccoli instead of asparagus if you wish.  This could be a wonderful dinner for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day.

Need to top the dinner off with a sweet treat?  Try this wonderful Strawberry Cream Torte.

Creamed Salmon with Asparagus and Greens

3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons low carb flour
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup Asparagus or Broccoli, chopped
2 mini Sweet Peppers, chopped
1 Salmon filet, poached and sliced (8 oz.)
1 cup Mixed Greens (Spinach)
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

In a skillet, put enough water to cover the salmon filet, bring to a boil, then put in the salmon and poach for about 5 minutes until the fish flakes. It doesn’t need to be completely cooked as it will cook more in the sauce.

Remove the salmon and cut or tear into pieces.  Set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt butter, add the mushroom and saute until lightly browned. Remove mushrooms, then add low carb flour and stir to make a paste. Add the cream and water and stir in until the paste is mixed in. Add seasonings and stir.

In a cup, beat the egg until creamy yellow, then add a tablespoon of the hot cream sauce to it and stir in. Repeat until you’ve added about four tablespoons of the cream, then stir the egg mixture into the cream sauce and continue to stir until mixed. You don’t want the egg to cook, but to blend into the sauce.

Add the mushrooms back into the sauce, then add the sweet peppers and asparagus (or broccoli) and stir together. Cook for about five minutes, then add the salmon and the mixed greens. Cook for another 5 minutes until heated through. Serve over low carb toast, cauli-rice, spaghetti squash or low carb pasta.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition info per serving: (only the recipe)
Calories: 280.5 Fat: 23.8 g Net Carbs: 2.8 g Protein: 13.5 g

Italian Inspired Recipes, Product Review

Product Review: Dixie Carb Counters Skinni Spaghetti

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For all that pasta is supposed to be good for a diet and the number of calories diets that include it in some form, it’s practically impossible in a low carb diet. I made a stab at Dreamfields Pasta a few years ago and actually did okay using it, but it was proven that their claims about blocked carbs were incorrect and the pasta did affect the glycemic count for those who are diabetic.

So when I saw that Dixie Carb Counters had a spaghetti out that actually looks like spaghetti, although a little curvy, I wanted to give it a try. I ordered an 8 ounce package, which is four servings, and decided to try it with my salmon with cream sauce recipe.

 

 

To begin with, it cooks in about six minutes and looks like regular spaghetti. It’s not slimy like the oriental noodles that I tried in the past. I drained it as normal, put some butter on top and then put my creamed salmon on top of that, added a little Parmesan Romano cheese and had a bite. It was delicious. While not exactly like the regular flour spaghetti, it was still very tasty and served its purpose well. I mean, really, pasta isn’t exactly loaded with flavor by itself, but serves as the medium to put those delicious sauces on. Overall, this was very satisfying and now I want to try more spaghetti with pasta sauce and meatballs.

Creamed salmon over DCC Skinny Spaghetti. Wonderful!

One note, although the package will serve four normal servings, I actually used less so I think I will get six servings from one package. Unlike regular spaghetti, it isn’t in the lower price range. Like everything that is made for low carb dieters, it is in the $8 plus price range and not readily available at grocery stores.

But the good news is that it is low carb, it looks and tastes like spaghetti, and is great for those moments that you’re craving pasta.

Nutrition Information per 2 oz (dry) serving:
Calories: 166 Fat: 3 g Net Carbs: 4 g Protein: 30 g

4-spoons

This Skinni spaghetti is available by mail from Dixie Carb Counters website or from Netrition.com.

Disclaimer: I have not received any promotional items to review and no one from any of the companies whose products I review have asked me to do so. I have purchased the product and am giving my honest opinion about it. Should any company send me a product to try, I will state it up front and will still give my honest opinion.

Desserts, Recipes

Low Carb Version of Hepburn’s Brownies

Recently, I saw a recipe from the New York Times that said it was Katherine Hepburn’s own for Brownies. It’s a simple recipe and I really wanted to try it, but I also needed to adapt it to low carb. It uses a lot of powdered chocolate and very little flour. I made it and it turns out well, with a rich dark chocolate flavor and a lot of nuts. I plan to make it again, but I am going to make a couple of changes so that it isn’t quite so dark chocolate-tasting as I prefer a lighter taste to my chocolate, being very fond of milk chocolate. When I do that, I’ll post the lighter version.

The best part of this recipe is that it is very low in effective carbs with only 1 net carb in each square. Without further fanfare, here is the low carb adapted recipe.

Low Carb Hepburn’s Brownies

1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 stick Butter
2 Eggs
1 cup Sugar Substitute
1/4 cup Low Carb Flour
1 cup chopped Walnuts or Pecans
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
pinch of Salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees(F.)

Use a medium-sized heavy pot. Over low heat, melt the butter until it’s almost completely melted (or put this over a double boiler to avoid burning). Stir in the unsweetened cocoa powder until completely mixed in. Remove from the heat and let cool a few minutes.

Mix the flour, sugar substitute, salt and nuts together in a bowl.

Whisk the eggs into the chocolate mixture one at a time, blending each in well. The mixture will begin to thicken. Add the vanilla and stir it in, then add the flour and nut mixture and stir it in until it is completely blended.

Pour into a buttered (or cooking spray coated) 8×8-inch baking pan. Spread the batter so that it is even, then bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Do not overbake so that the brownies are gooey inside. Let cool completely, then cut into 16 2×2-inch squares.

Nutrition Information per square:
Calories: 122.5 Fat: 12.3 g Net Carbs: 1.0 g Protein: 2.3 g

Notes:  For the low carb flour you can use CarbQuick, LC Foods Cake Flour, Soy Flour or Almond Flour.  I personally don’t like the taste of Soy Flour, so I don’t use it, but if you don’t mind it, then it will work.

Regular Katherine Hepburn Brownies

For those of you who want the full sugar version, here’s the ingredient list and the instructions are the same:

1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 stick Butter
2 Eggs
1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
1 cup chopped Walnuts or Pecans
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
pinch of Salt

Nutrition Information per square with regular sugar and flour:
Calories:170.5 Fat: 11.7 g Net Carbs: 15.2 g Protein: 2.7 g

Are you a Brownie fan?  (Isn’t everyone?)  Which do you prefer — dark chocolate or milk chocolate? Let me know in the comments and let me know how you like the recipe.

Beef, Crock Pot Recipes, Main Dish, Product Review

Super Ground Beef Chile

This time of year just calls out “make chile” to me because nothing warms you up quite like a nice, spicy bowl of chile. Adding beans to it adds more carbs than I sometimes can allow in my daily menu, so I make an all meat chile. This version uses lean ground beef, which makes it quicker to make and bacon to add a little more flavor. The result is delicious. I’ve left the beans as optional if you want to use them.

6 slices Bacon
3 pounds lean Ground Beef
1 package Chili Seasoning
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup diced Onions
2 teaspoons Garlic, minced
4 oz. can chopped Green Chiles
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
1 cup Medium Hot Salsa
1/2 cup Red Beans (optional)
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Fry bacon strips in a large, deep skillet until almost crisp. Remove to paper towel to drain. Drain off fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan. Add garlic and onion and cook until the onion is almost tender. Add to the crock pot.

In the same skillet, brown the ground beef, but don’t cook all the way through. Drain fat. Add to the crock pot. Break the bacon into pieces and add to the crock pot. Add the diced tomatoes, salsa, chopped chiles, chile seasoning and cayenne pepper. Stir together to mix it well.

Cook on high for one hour, then reduce to low heat for 2 hours. Check seasonings and adjust if necessary, then cook for another 30 minutes with the lid off to thicken.

Serve with crumbled Queso Fresco and sour cream.

Makes 10 servings

Nutrition Info: (No beans) per serving
Calories: 240 Fat: 16.0 g Net Carbs: 5 g Protein: 14.4 g

Nutrition Info: (With beans) per serving
Calories: 251.4 Fat: 16.0 g Net Carbs: 6.3 g Protein: 15.1 g

Breads, Desserts, Product Review

Product Review: Dixie Carb Counters Applesauce Snackin’ Cake Mix

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Dixie Carb Counter Applesauce Cake Mix.

This past weekend, I tried out Dixie Carb Counters Applesauce Snackin’ Cake Mix (trademarked by DCC), which is one of several snacking cakes that they make.  Generally, I like the baking products from DCC, so I was eager to try this one.

Making the cake is super simple, you just need to add a few ingredients to the two packages of mix that are supplied.

To packet #1, you need to add 4 large eggs, 1/3 cup coconut oil or other oil and 2/3 cup water to make the cake.  Packet #2 is sugar seasoning for the frosting to which you add 8 ounces of cream cheese and 1/4 cup water.  Pretty easy.

You just mix the cake ingredients in a bowl, add the included cup of unsweetened apple sauce, mix well and put it in a greased or sprayed with baking spray 8-inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes and you have a lovely, moist cake.  Let it cool, then combine the ingredients from packet #2 to the cream cheese and water and beat until creamy and spread it over the cake.

Applesauce cake without the icing.

The cake makes 9 servings and each serving is 2 net carbs.  You can add in nuts and/or raisins if you like, but they do increase the carb count per serving.  Adding just the nuts brings it up to about 2.5 net carbs, but adding 1/2 cup raisins will add about 2.5 net carbs, so a total of 4.5 net carbs for the raisins alone.  If you want to go that route, I’d suggest using reduced-sugar craisins instead.

The cake has a lovely texture and is very moist and look at that nice layer of cream cheese icing.

After the icing was on the cake, it was time for the taste test.  Both PK and I tried a piece and agreed that the texture was very nice and it was moist.  But we didn’t feel that the apple taste was very strong, so it could have used more of that flavor.  Still with the cream cheese icing, it was a good treat.  I have made better from-scratch cakes, so I don’t think that I’m likely to buy this one again.  If I did, I think it could be improved by adding one packet of sugar-free Apple Cider mix and a little more cinnamon. I would also likely add 1 tablespoon of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder which adds taste as well as protein.

I do have two other packets of snacking cakes that I will be trying in the next few weeks, so I’ll let you know how those stack up.

Nutrition information per one slice of the cake
Calories: 218  Total Fat 0  Carbohydrates: 6 g Fiber: 4 g  NC: 2 g

On a scale of one to five, for flavor I give this cake four spoons.  Good, but not great.

4-spoons

This mix is available by mail from Dixie Carb Counters website or from Netrition.com.

Disclaimer: I have not received any promotional items to review and no one from any of the companies whose products I review have asked me to do so. I have purchased the product and am giving my honest opinion about it. Should any company send me a product to try, I will state it up front and will still give my honest opinion.