Heavy winds and rain are blasting my area as we approach the end of March. (I think it came in like a lion, but not sure it will depart like a lamb.) We can only hope April looks more like spring than March has. When the month started, I promised to post the recipe for a great salmon salad. Then it totally slipped my mind as I started getting more of the St. Patrick’s Day recipes up. But here it is. This works great if you have left-over salmon, or you can grill a piece before you make it. You can also use canned or packaged cooked salmon.
This is another yummy recipe from Paleo Leap’s web site, so it is good for Atkins, South Beach, Keto, and Paleo.
1 cup Salmon, grilled and flaked (8 oz)
1 hard boiled Egg, diced
1 Mini Pepper
1/2 Avocado, diced
2 slices Bacon, cooked and broken into pieces
1/4 Onion, minced
2 tablespoons Mayonnaise (homemade or your preference)
1 pinch Cayenne Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Lemon Juice
1 tablespoon fresh Parsley, minced or 1/2 teaspoon dried Parsley
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 drop liquid Sweetener
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups of fresh greens (Spring mix lettuce, spinach, arugula – your choice)
To make the dressing:
In a bowl, add the mayonnaise, parsley, lemon juice, cayenne, sweetener, and olive oil then whisk until it is blended.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the salmon, diced eggs, bell pepper, avocado, and red onion. Add the mayonnaise mixture and toss it together gently. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Divide the greens into two bowls, then top with half the salmon mixture into each bowl. Serve.
Makes two healthy servings.
TIP: If you’d rather have shell fish, make this with shrimp, crab, or lobster instead of salmon. It will work just as well.
Well, this is a little late for a St. Patrick’s Day brunch, but who needs that excuse to make a tasty breakfast with sliced corned beef? You can also substitute in Canadian bacon or slices of turkey. I found this recipe in my excursion looking for paleo recipes that are also low in carbs. And It’s also low enough to satisfy the keto fans. Of course, I made a minor change or two, such as the extra seasoning and adding a garnish of avocado, but those are optional.
St. Patrick’s Day Brunch Asparagus and Eggs
4 Eggs
1 Leek, sliced
1/2 bunch Asparagus. sliced
4 slices Corned Beef, quartered
1/2 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Tomato, Garlic and Basil seasoning (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 Avocado for garnish (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F.).
Slice the vegetables and cut the corned beef slices into quarters. (If your corned beef is a small cut, then just cut in half.)
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet that can go to the oven.
Add the garlic and leek to the skillet and stir cook for two minutes. Then add the asparagus and all of the corned beef pieces except 4. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes until the asparagus is almost tender.
Put the four pieces of corned beef on top, one in each section of the pan. (I used a square pan, so each corner had a piece of corned beef in it.) Press down on the corned beef piece to make a small well, then crack an egg into the corned beef. Repeat with the other three sections. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 5 to 6 minutes until the egg white is fully set. If you like your yolk non-runny, cook about 7 to 8 minutes.
If you wish, sprinkle a little cheese over the top before servings. Makes two servings or four servings if you’re not super hungry or want even lower carbs.
TIPS:This may be made with bacon in place of the corned beef. Use four or more slices. You can also use Canadian bacon, ham, or turkey slices.
It’s summer and it’s hot around my neck of the woods. But not as hot as some of my friends are suffering. Nonetheless, it’s a great time for cool salads that require no cooking.
Crab, shrimp, and lobster can all be purchased already cooked and in nice packages that require little or no effort to get them ready for a salad. This recipe is based on Atkins version with only a few minor adjustments to it. It is good for all levels of the eating plan, including Induction, so enjoy it. It is made with crab, but feel free to substitute in shrimp or lobster, or even chopped or shredded chicken.
The recipe makes four servings, although I got five out of it… and it could have been six if I hadn’t pigged out to eat it before it went bad. You can also make a crab salad sandwich if you put it on a low carb bun.
Crab Salad with Avocado
3 tablespoons Mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Fresh Lime Juice
1 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
8 ounces Crab, cleaned and picked free of shells
2 stalks medium (7-1/2″ – 8″ long) Celery or
1/2 cup Daikon Radish (diced)
1 Haas Avocado
4 leaves Romaine Lettuce leaves
Remove avocado from the skins, saving the skin for a bowl. Cut the avocado into small cubes. Put in a bowl with a 1/4 teaspoon of the lime juice and cover with plastic wrap.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix mayonnaise, cumin, lime juice, paprika, and cayenne pepper until it’s well-blended. Add the crab meat and celery or daikon radish. Mix together until completely coated wth the sauce. Add salt and pepper to your preference.
Stir in the avocado cubes. Chill for an hour before serving, if you wish. If you’re only serving two servings, put the crab mixture back in the avocado skins for display, then place on a lettuce leaf on the plate.
If you are serving four, then dispense with the avocado skins and serve on top of the lettuce.
Makes four servings.
Nutrition Information per serving: Calories: 203 Fat: 15.2 g Net Carbs: 1.9 g Protein: 12.6 g
First day of the second week and I am hanging in there. I feel some of the limitations of Induction, but it isn’t bad. It includes a repeat and lunch out. PK and I went to the movies, so we stopped by Skipilini’s after seeing “Wonder Woman” and had our favorite appetizer, bacon wrapped jalapenos, along with a salad.
Here’s the menu for the day:
Day 8
Food
NC
breakfast
Cloud muffin
2
Sugar–free Jam
2.5
Coffee with creamer
1
Lunch
Caesar Salad
2.8
Chicken
0
2 1/2 Jalapeno Poppers
1.7
Iced tea
0
Dinner
Tilapia
0
GG mashed cauliflower with bacon and cheddar
4
sauteed greens
2
dessert
pumpkin mousse
3
19
Breakfast was the Atkins cloud muffin from Day 4, but I toasted it and put 1/2 tablespoon of Smuckers Sugar-free Apricot Jam on it. Bliss! For lunch, we had the aforementioned salad with the poppers. I’m including the easy to make recipes for these for home use. I had iced tea with liquid sucralose so 0 carbs on that.
For dinner, I made seasoned tilapia and served 1/3 cup of Green Giant mashed cauliflower with bacon and cheddar cheese with it. I also sauteed some greens, namely spinach and beet leaves with 1/4 cup of grated daikon radish. Recipes follow.
Your alternate breakfast option is:
Bacon and Avocado Omelet
3 or 4 large Eggs
1/2 Haas Avocado, cut into slices
1/4 cup Cheddar Cheese
4 tablespoons Southwest Style Salsa (optional)
4 slices thick Bacon, broken into pieces
Dash Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon Water
Break eggs into a bowl, add water, seasoning salt and pepper. Beat until foamy. Heat a medium-size round bottom pan or omelet pan with 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat.
Add eggs and let cook for a couple of minutes until the egg sets on the bottom, then begin lifting the edges with the spatula and tilting the pan so that the uncooked egg runs underneath. Repeat, working your way around the pan. Keep lifting and tilting until most of the liquid egg is gone. This builds a fluffier omelet.
Evenly distribute the bacon and most of the cheese down the one-half of the omelet. Use the spatula to lift and fold the omelet over the top. Reduce heat to low and put a lid over the pan. Let cook for about 3 minutes in order to melt the cheese.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cheese over the top. Cut the omelet in half and serve each half with 2 tablespoons of salsa and half the avocado slices. If you wish, you can heat the salsa before serving.
Makes 2 servings
Nutrition Info per servings Calories: 430 Fat: 35.3 g Net Carbs: 3.0 g Protein: 23.5 g
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Peppers
These are Skipolini’s bacon wrapped jalapeno peppers, but the recipe is similar. They can also be grilled rather than broiled.
Cut the peppers open on one side and remove the seeds if you don’t want them too spicy.
In a small bowl, add 1/4 teaspoon of BBQ seasoning to the cream cheese and stir until it is completely mixed in.
Put the bacon on a paper towel on a plate and put in the microwave for one minute to partially cook. This will make it easier for it to get crisp without over-cooking the pepper.
Stuff each pepper with the cream cheese mixture, then wrap with the partially cooked bacon and secure with a toothpick.
Put on a sheet of aluminum foil under the broiler and cook for three to five minutes per side until the bacon is crisp.
Let cool a couple of minutes, then serve. Makes two servings.
Nutrition information per serving: Calories: 185 Fat: 16.5 g Net Carbs: 1.7 g Protein: 6.5 g
Caesar Salad
One of the best spots for good recipes is AllRecipes.com, so I am going to give you the link to a goodCaesar Salad recipe. However, omit the croutons. They are not on the low carb diet at this point and quite possibly never again.
Broiled Tilapia Filet
The beet leaves are intent on dying everything pink.
PK and I weren’t all that hungry after our late lunch, so I split one filet down the middle for dinner, but feel free to make a full filet per person. They are carb free.
2 Tilapia Fish Filets or other white fish of choice
1 tablespoon of Butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Sprinkle of Salt
Dash of Pepper
Rinse and dry the fish, then use a spoon to pour butter and lemon juice on the top. Put a sheet of aluminum foil on the broiler pan then place the filets with the butter side face down. Spread the lemon butter over the side that is now exposed to the flames.
Broil for about 5 minutes, then turn and broil for another 5 minutes on the other side. Test for doneness with a fork. The fish should flake, but not be dry.
Use a pancake turner (spatula) to move to a warm serving plate. Add vegetables and serve.
Makes 2 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: Calories:134.2 Fat:7.3 g Net Carbs:0.1 g Protein: 18.1 g
Recently, I watched a Food Network Show in which one of the chefs on the show made a Chocolate Avocado Mousse and I was intrigued. For one thing, they talked about the creamy, rich flavor of the dessert. I decided to try to make a low carb version. I found three slightly different recipes, including one from Food Network’s site, and I combined them with my low carb ingredients to make four servings.
To be honest, I’m undecided about this as a flavorful chocolate dessert. It’s not bad, but it isn’t your grandma’s chocolate mousse. The avocado makes it taste richer in fats, but doesn’t really add any flavor to it. What I did notice was the texture, which is creamy, but also has a little grit even though I thoroughly processed it in the food processor until it was smooth. The roomie wasn’t thrilled, agreeing that it didn’t taste bad, but it wasn’t the tastiest mousse either.
Where this might be beneficial to people would be if you are lactose intolerant, since you can use almond or coconut milk to make this version, or if you want to get the benefits of avocado, but you don’t actually care for the taste. The chocolate masks it well. Ultimately, it’s up to each person to decide if they think this is a delicious dessert or not.
I have eaten it two or three times and find that a little makes a pretty good topping on a scoop of low carb ice cream. If you layer it in a glass with orange or cherry flavored whipped cream, it might be a better balanced flavor that cuts the extreme chocolate richness. If you give it a try, post a comment before to let me know what you thought and how you served it.
Chocolate Avocado Mousse
1/2 cup Sugar-free Chocolate Chips
1 tablespoon Butter
2 very ripe (8 ounce) Hass Avocados, peeled and pitted
6 tablespoons granulated Sugar Substitute
1/3 cup Almond Milk or Coconut Milk
2 tablespoons Heavy Cream (optional)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/8 teaspoon fine Salt
Melt the chocolate chips with a little butter in a double boiler or put in a microwave safe bowl in a microwavable container with water in it for about 1 minute, then stir. Stir until the chocolater is completely melted. You may have to microwave a couple of time in 30 seconds increments
Here comes the hard part. Put all the ingredient in a food processor or blender and process until it is creamy and smooth. I actually added the cream to it because it was so thick and too chocolaty for my tastes. You can add additional almond milk instead if you want it thinner.
Spoon into four 1/2 cup serving bowls or glasses. Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving. It keeps a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.
Would be great layered with cherry-flavored whipped cream (or orange flavored) and a fresh cherry on top.
Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories: 341 Fat: 23.7 g Net Carbs: 4.4 g Protein: 2.5 g
