Tag Archives: bacon

Breakfast & Brunch, Main Dish, Recipes

Bacon & Ricotta Cheese Pie for Brunch

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Great for a brunch or breakfast or even a light dinner, this pie goes together quickly and takes about 30 minutes to bake.

The base recipe for this came from the Tova Foods website, who got it from Linda’s Low Carb Recipes. I made a few adjustments, but the recipe is basically the same for any quick pie based on Bisquick’s Impossible Pies. I find that the pie crust doesn’t separate to the bottom as consistently as it does with Bisquick, so it may end up on top, rather than on the bottom.

I used 1/2 cup CarbQuick and 1/4 cup Almond Flour for my crust, but most any baking mix or low carb flour will work with this recipe.  I would not recommend coconut flour for it.

Easy Bacon & Ricotta Cheese Pie

1 egg
3/4 cup Low Carb Baking Mix
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 cup Heavy Cream mixed
2 tablespoon Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup Baby Spinach, fresh (optional)
1/2 cup Water
1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
2 slices Bacon, fried
4 slices tomato

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (F.) Prepare a pie tin with cooking spray.

Break the bacon into pieces or use 1/4 cup Bacon Pieces.

Put the cream into a large cup, add the water and mix together. Put baking mix, egg, salt, pepper and 1/2 the cream mixture into a small bowl and mix together with a whisk. Add the rest of the milk and ricotta cheese and beat well.  There may still be a few little lumps of the baking mix.

Tear the spinach (if using) into pieces and add to the batter, then stir in half the cheese and pour into the prepared pie pan. Make sure the cheese is evenly distributed.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle the other 1/2 cup of cheese on the top, distribute the tomato slices in each quarter. and bake for another 4 to 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories; 364.2 g Fat; 31.2 g Net Carbs: 4.2 g Protein: 16.2 g

Main Dish, Poultry, Recipes

Simple BBQ Chicken with Bacon

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This easy recipe for a delicious chicken dish popped up in my email from All Recipes.   You can see a video of the preparation at AllRecipes.com.

Since it combines chicken and bacon, I had to try it! But I also had to add a little more, so I added the seasonings and the slice of cheddar cheese on top because it all goes better with cheese, right? The next time I make this, and it will be soon, I plan to add a thin slice of sweet red onion underneath the bacon strips, so it’s tucked in next to the chicken.  Yum…

Have this for dinner with a nice dinner salad and you’ll be sitting pretty with low carb. I baked the chicken, but you can also do it on the grill if you’d prefer. It’s easy to double or triple if you are cooking for more than two people.

Baked BBQ Chicken with Bacon and Cheese

2 half Chicken Breasts
4 slices of bacon
2 slices of Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Cheese or similar
1/4 cup low carb BBQ Sauce
1 teaspoon of Seasoning Salt or BBQ Seasoning
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees(F.). Prepare a baking pan to fit the chicken by spraying with cooking spray.

Sprinkle chicken breasts with the seasoning salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside for a few minutes.

Cook the bacon until almost done, but still flexible. Don’t crisp it. (I put my slices between two paper towels and microwaved them for 2 1/2 minutes, which kept them flat while cooking and absorbed the fat.)

Wrap 2 slices over each chicken breast, making an X across the front of the chicken and tuck ends in the back and place back side down in the baking pan. Use a pastry or kitchen brush or the back of a spoon to spread 1 tablespoons of the BBQ sauce on each of the breasts.

Bake for 30 minutes until the chicken is nearly done and juices run clear. Add cheese slices on top of each breast, then brush each with the rest of the BBQ sauce and bake for another 10 minutes to melt the cheese.

Makes 2 servings

Nutrition Info per serving:
   Calories:401  Fat: 9.2 g  Net Carbs: 0.0g  Protein: 48.0

Note:  Yes, that is the correct net carb if you use 0 carb BBQ Sauce and 0 carb cheese. I used Walden Farms Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce, which is 0 calories and 0 carbs. The cheese is also 0.   If you use one of the higher ones, then you will likely add a carb or two to the total.

Try this recipe and I think you’ll love it.  Let me know what you think!

Main Dish, Pork, Recipes

Wonderful Stuffed Golden Beets

For most of my life, I didn’t  like beets finding their taste too unappealing.  But a few years ago, I tried the Harvard Beets dish and was surprised to discover that my taste buds had changed again and the flavor was very nice.  Then I tried a fresh golden beet, cooked it and just loved the taste.  It isn’t as “earthy-tasting” as the red beet and can be used a variety of ways.

This recipe for a stuffed beet is adapted using the golden beet and made as low carb as I possibly can.  The beet is one of the higher vegetables in natural sugar, so generally you don’t want to eat too much at one time.   Add a nice green salad to this and you have a very tasty meal.

Stuffed Golden Beets

2 large golden beets 3 to 3 1/2 inches
2 slices crumbled bacon
1/2 Italian sausage link, crumbled and cooked to light brown
1/4 cup Gruyere or mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, fresh
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper
2 sprigs parsley

Pre-cook the bacon until crisp. I like to put the slices on a rack in the oven at 400 degrees (f.) for about 15 to 20 minutes. Let them cool, then break the slices into small pieces.

Use 3 inch beets to make it easier to hollow out and fill. Trim the root and tops off the beets and put in enough water to completely cover the beets. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to low heat, cover the pot and cook until beets are fork tender. Some resistance is okay, but you want them soft enough to scoop out the middle with a spoon. Empty the water out of the pot and refill it with cold water. Let the beets cool until you can handle them easily – 15 to 20 minutes.

Peel the beets and trim the tops and bottom so they will stand easily. Cut off 1/3 of the top of each beet and put it away for use in a salad or elsewhere. This will give you about a 2″ beet for a meal course under 10 net carbs. Use a sharp knife to cut about the edge of the beet leaving a 1/4 inch shell. Scoop the meat out with a spoon and chop, then set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F.) Prepare a small baking dish that can hold two beets.

In a skillet, cook the Italian sausage until light brown. Pour off an excess grease. Add garlic, black pepper and sour cream and stir and cook until mixed together well and hot. Add the sour cream and the chopped beets. Remove from the heat and mix in the cheese.

Spoon the meat mixture into the hollowed out beets. Mound any extra on top or alongside the beet.  Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until the top is lightly browned.  Garnish with the parsley.

Makes two servings.

Nutrition info per serving:
   Calories: 433 Fat: 28.9 g Net Carbs: 8.6 g Protein: 25.8 g

Main Dish, Pork, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Riffing the BLT Salad

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Just about anything with bacon is a winner for me. I love it and I love the over 100 years-old woman who claimed her longevity came from eating bacon every day. I’m in for that! A BLT sandwich is really great also and I have finagled a couple of ways to eat one on a low carb diet with low carb breads that are very tasty. But when I saw a recipe come across on Facebook for a BLT Pasta salad, I knew I had to figure an adaptation for low carb. Pasta is one of those things that you don’t eat or eat very sparingly when trying to maintain the lc lifestyle, so I turned to my favorite substitute item for pasta, potatoes, and rice — cauliflower.

So with just a few adjustments and a little enhancement, I present the low carb version of the …

BLT Plus C Salad

2 cups Chopped Cauliflower
8 ounces lean Bacon
2 medium ripe Tomatoes
1 teaspoon chopped fresh Thyme
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons Mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Greek Yogurt
3 tablespoons Sour Cream
1/4 teaspoon Cumin, ground
2 tablespoons chopped Chives
4 cups chopped Hearts of Romaine lettuce
1 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese

Bring a pan of water to a boil and add the cauliflower. Let cook for about 10 minutes until it is tender. Cut into bite-sized pieces if it is too big. Drain. Put into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Chop the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.

Pan fry the bacon or cook in the oven until it is completely done. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Put 2 tablespoons of bacon grease into a skillet and add the garlic, then add the tomatoes and thyme. Cook for about five minutes until the tomatoes are warmed, but not cooked. Crumble the bacon into pieces. Reserve 1/4 cup for garnish.

Add the tomatoes and bacon to the cauliflower and toss together. Add the shredded cheese and lettuce and toss again.

Mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, and yogurt and add the cumin, chives. salt, and pepper. Pour over the salad and toss to mix it in and coat it. Garnish with reserved bacon and chives. Serve warm. You can add slices of avocado or a tablespoon or two of guacamole if you wish. (Not included in the nutrition info.)

Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition info per serving:
Calories: 330.5 Fat: 24.1 g Net Carbs:5.6 g Protein: 21.4 g

If you’d like you can add more lettuce to the salad with only a little more in the carb count.

TIP: This can be a very versatile base salad. Instead of bacon (or in addition for real bacon lovers), substitute in tuna, ham, chicken, or taco meat. The possibilities abound.

Let me know how you like this salad in the comments.

Main Dish, Poultry, Recipes

Grilled Chicken with Asparagus

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I’m still working my way through the two pounds of asparagus my friends left for me while they ran off to France.  So many ways to prepare asparagus and I’ve stir-fried a little, mixed it with cabbage and turnips and made a quiche.  But this simple recipe for chicken and asparagus wrapped in bacon is one of the best.  It is quick to prepare and cook, so dinner can be on the table in less than 30 minutes.

A key to making sure the bacon is done is to pre-cook the bacon about halfway, so that it is still flexible, but not raw.  I used a George Foreman grill, but any tabletop grill, outdoor grill or broiler will work. It is so low in carbs that you can indulge with a salad and a few vegetable fries.  I used turnips and cauliflower fries with my dinner.

Grilled Chicken with Bacon and Asparagus

For a quick, elegant entrée, this goes together in four steps and cooks on the grill, in the broiler, or in something like a George Foreman grill in just a few minutes. It tastes wonderful! Chicken, asparagus, and bacon — how can you go wrong?

2 (8 oz) Chicken breast filets (about 1/2 inch thick), pounded to square if you wish
4 to 6 Asparagus Spears, trimmed – small or medium
2 slices thick Bacon
1/2 teaspoon Herb Seasoning of choice
Sprinkle of Lemon juice (optional)
Salt and Pepper to preference

Partially cook the bacon so that it is about half way done. This ensures that it will get done while grilling. Drain the bacon.

Partially cooked bacon is drained on paper towels.

Pound or press the chicken to tenderize and flatten to a square. (You can use the side a plate for this or the end of table knife.)

Put 2 to 3 asparagus spears in the middle of each chicken breast, season and sprinkle a little lemon juice on it. Roll up and wrap a slice of bacon around it. Use a toothpick to secure the bacon.

Chicken is wrapped with bacon and ready to grill.

Grill on each side until the chicken is done and juices run clear. If you’re using a Foreman or similar grill, it will grill both sides at one time, so just make sure the chicken is done.  The time to cook varies with the method used.

Let rest a couple of minutes, then serve.

Serves 2

Nutrition info per servings:
   Calories: 180.6 Fat: 6.1 g Net Carbs: 0.8 g Protein: 28.0 g