Low Carb Shrimp Scampi Dinner

Low Carb dinners are on the top of my list these days.  I'm obsessed with finding enjoyable, delicious and satisfying meals, that are nutritious. I wanted shrimp scampi but I can't have pasta.  Spaghetti squash was my next choice but I was thinking outside of the box.  I wanted 2 cups of vegetables and 8 oz. of shrimp per person. I found the perfect recipe for the Shrimp.  I bake it in the oven,mix it with the vegetables and boom!  I steamed 1 cup of broccoli, cauliflower and  sliced carrots.  I make this meal often and I am loving the combinations.  So many veggies go well with shrimp, garlic, butter, lemon, and dijon mustard.  YUUUUUUM!  

Ingredients

1stick of butter
2 lbs.  Shrimp,deveined, peeled (tails left on optional)

2 tablespoons of prepared dijon mustard

1 tablespoon of chopped garlic

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley

VEGGIES

1 1/2 cup of broccoli

1 1/2 cup of cauliflower

1 cup of sliced fresh carrots

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F

2.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, mustard, lemon juice, garlic and parsley .           When the butter melts completely, remove from heat.

3.  Arrange shrimp in a shallow baking dish.  Pour the butter mixture over that shrimp.

4.  Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and opaque.

While the shrimp is baking you should have enough time to steam the vegetables.  I put them in a platter then when the shrimp is done, I take it out of the oven, pour it over the veggies.  

Garnish with parsley, lemon slices, parmesan cheese.  Treat yourself!

Crustless Apple Pie

This is a delightful treat in the summer, served cold.  It is delicious and refreshing, very low in calories if you have just a little bit. It is also very simple.




Ingredients


1/2 cup of cinnamon apple sauce 
Whipped light cream






Refrigerate the apple sauce. When you are ready to have some, get a bowl and pour 1/2 cup of apple sauce into a bowl, top with your desired amount of whip cream.  That's it!  Treat yourself!  Enjoy.

Mushroom Asparagus Soup with Chicken Sausage

This soup came out of what I had in the fridge.  It came out so delicious!  You don't have to use the sausage if you don't want to (I love roasted garlic chicken sausage and this came out better than I could have imagined), you can add chicken, tofu, go for it!  It simmers for 30 minutes and I add the sausage and shitake mushrooms,and cream at the end. What made this soup over the top was that I toasted thin slices of a thin Berkshire multi grain baguette in the oven.  While bread was still very warm, rub a garlic clove cut in half, on the bread.

Ingredients

1 bunch of  chopped asparagus, ends torn off and discarded
8 oz. of baby bella mushrooms
8 oz of shitake mushrooms
8 oz of fresh cauliflower
1 cup of chopped onion
1 package of chicken and roasted garlic sausage
4 cups of organic veggie broth
1 can of chicken broth
1/2 cup of light cream
1T of oregano
2 teaspoons of tumeric
2 teaspoons of corriander
1 teaspoon of dry mustard
1 teaspoon of cumin
fresh chopped parsley for garnish


Directions
Spray the soup pot with some Pam, turn the heat to medium high.  Add bella mushrooms, onions, cumin stir for 2 minutes.  Add the asparagus and stir for a minute while adding the rest of the seasonings.  Add the cauliflower,  the veggie and chicken broths.  Bring the soup to a boil, and turn it down to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, cut the sausage into bite size pieces and brown with the shitake mushrooms.  When the soup is done, blend it with an immersion blender, or in a blender, blend batches of the soup and return to the pot.  Add the light cream, sausage and shitake mushrooms.  Serve with sour cream, or greek yogurt if desired and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.  Serve with crusty bread.

Thai Salmon Salad

I found this on allrecipes.com I added some ingredients to make it taste like my favorite Thai Restaurant. This serves six. I use a head of iceberg and divide it in wedges and pour the salad on top. My husband likes to make lettuce wraps out of this. Thai peppers are hot, if you are used to medium salsa.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons fish sauce 4 tablespoons lime juice 2 teaspoons brown sugar 4 Thai chiles, chopped 1 1/2 pounds salmon fillet 1 cup of cucumber, seeded and sliced Directions

1 teaspoon olive oil 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 large tomato, sliced into wedges 1 cup chopped fresh basil 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1 head iceberg lettuce divided into wedges.

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.	Prepare the dressing by combining the fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar and chopped chiles in a small bowl; set aside.
3.	Place the salmon filet on a baking tray, and rub olive oil over. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until easily flaked. Let cool for at least 15 minutes.
4.	Place salmon filet into a big bowl; use fork to break salmon meat into big chunks. Add onion, tomato cilantro, and basil; pour dressing over, and toss lightly until well mixed.
5.	Place mixture on lettuce leaves, and serve immediately.

Massaman Black Bean Curry

I was inspired by my favorite Thai Restaurant. They make delicious massaman curry.

A flavorful way to enjoy vegetables.

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked black beans

1 sweet potato, cut into bite size pieces

1 small onion, cut into wedges

1 tomato, cut into wedges

3 T of hot red curry paste

1 hot chili pepper, chopped

2 T brown sugar

2 T of fish sauce, divided

1 T of tamarind paste

1 can of coconut milk

1T coconut oil.

2T of finely chopped peanuts

1T cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1T of canola oil

chopped peanuts for garnish

chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions

Steam the sweet potato until fork tender, about 7 minutes. Heat canola oil in a medium sauce pan. Add the onion wedges, cumin and gently stir to brown, 3 minutes. Add 1T of fish sauce and 1 T of water, cover and turn off the heat. Let pan stay on the burner with the heat off. This will simmer the onion. Have everything prepared and ready to add to the pan.

Add coconut oil to large sauce pan let heat up. Add the chopped peppers and stir. Add the curry paste, 2T of finely chopped peanuts, tamarind paste, brown sugar, the other 1 T of fish sauce to the pan over medium high heat for 2 min. Stir to combine flavors. If the mixture seems like it's burning, lower the heat. Add the coconut milk gradually and stir to combine for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, onion, sweet potato, and black beans, stirring each time you add one of the ingredients. The mixture should be bubbling. You then lower the heat to simmer the mixture for 3-5 minutes. top with remaining chopped peanuts and chopped cilantro.

Sever with Brown Jasmine Rice.

Perfect Black Beans

That's right, these beans came out perfect. The essential tool for these perfect beans is a crock pot. It is a two day process for plump, and juicy beans.

1 lb. package of Goya dried black beans

8 cups of water

Directions

Open package and place the beans in a colander. Rinse with water. Pick through the beans to remove foreign materials if any. Place the beans in a large bowl and add 8 cups of water. Allow the beans to soak for 8 hours. Then, drain the beans and rinse with water. Add the beans to the crock pot and cover with water. Cook the beans on low for 10 hours. After the beans are cooked, you then add desired seasoning. Save the bean juice for refried beans.

You have perfect plump beans to add to soup, cooked rice, salads.

To make refried beans you put olive oil in a pan, add beans and some of the bean juice and mash the beans while you cook them.

Baklava Fish

I have tried this with salmon and Swai. Both are delicious.

Ingredients

¼ cup melted butter

3 tablespoons whole grain mustard or 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard (or your favorite)

1 ½ tablespoons honey

¼ cup walnuts

¼ cup flax meal

4 teaspoons fresh parsley chopped

4 (4 ounce) salmon fillets

Fresh ground pepper

Kosher salt

1 lemon or lime quartered

Directions

Preaheat oven to 400. Line shallow roasting pan with non-stick aluminum foil, or spray with non-stick pan spray

In a small bowl, blend butter, mustard, and honey, set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs, nuts, and parsley.

Place salmon fillets on prepared pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and brush with honey mustard mixture; sprinkle tops with crumb/nut mixture; if any remains, press into sides of salmon

Bake salmon 12-15 minutes in preheated oven or until it flakes easily with a fork, serve lime or lemon wedge

Mom's Sardines

You know sardines are good for you don't you? Well, they are! Mom made this every time we had people over. You serve it with crackers, or baquette bread.

Ingredients1 Can of Sardines in Water (Bumble Bee, or some name brand. It's safer to use fish in a can from a name brand)
1 lemon cut into halves
1 handful of parsley leaves chopped
1 small onion chopped
Salt
Pepper
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

Chop up the onion finely, place in a strainer, rinse with cold water. Place in a bowl. Sprinkle the onion with salt and pepper (use your judgment, start with 1/2 teaspoon each). open the sardines and strain the water from them. Place sardines on top of onions. Add Parsley. String the EVOO over the ingredients. Squeeze 1/2 of the lemon over and combine all the ingredients. Break up the the sardines while combining. I usually add the entire lemon. Taste it first. Add more if you like. Adjust the salt and pepper too if you like.
Enjoy on crackers, or toasted bread.

Ellie Krieger's Succotash with Grilled Scallops

I made this with scallops. I am so excited to make this with grilled portabella mushrooms instead of scallops.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 ears corn, or 2 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen lima beans, thawed
• 1 medium zucchini (about 1/2 pound) quartered lengthwise and sliced
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 1/4 pounds large sea scallops (about 16)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Parsley Drizzle, recipe follows

If using ears of corn, cut the kernels off and set aside. Discard the cobs.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the corn, lima beans,zucchini, and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes.

Spray a large nonstick skillet or grill pan with cooking spray, and preheat it over medium-high heat.

In the meantime, prepare the scallops. Pat them dry and season them with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Add the scallops and cook until the inside is opaque, 5 to 6 minutes, turning once.

Stir the vinegar and basil into the succotash, season with additional salt and pepper, to taste, and serve topped with grilled scallops. Garnish with Parsley Drizzle.

Parsley Drizzle:

• 1 cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons water, as needed to slacken

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree.

Yield: 1/2 cup

Beet Hummus Recipe

This is a great way to have a healthy snack loaded with nutrients and fiber.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 pound beets (about 4 medium sized beets), scrubbed clean, cooked, peeled, and cubed*
• 2 Tbsp tahini sesame seed paste
• 5 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 small clove garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest (zest from approx. 2 lemons)
• Generous pinch of sea salt or Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper to taste

*To cook the beets, cut off any tops, scrub the roots clean, put them in a covered dish with about 1/4-inch of water in a 375°F oven, and cook until easily penetrated with a knife or fork. Alternatively, cover with water in a saucepan and simmer until tender, about 1/2 hour. Peel once they have cooled.

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings and ingredients as desired.

Chill and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage.

Eat with pita chips, or with sliced cucumber or celery, or on a crostini with goat cheese and shaved mint.

Makes 2 cups

Burgers

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burger

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, grated finely
1 cup black beans, cooked
1 baked sweet potato, scooped out of skin
1 cup red quinoa, cooked
¾ cup bread crumbs/gluten free bread crumbs
1 tablespoons caraway seeds (OPTIONAL)
½ teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon adobo sauce (If you don’t like spicy, use 1 tsp oftomato paste, or tomato sauce)

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and lower heat. Cook until lightly browned, several minutes (5-7). Add carrots and beans and cook an additional 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat. Mash slightly in pan, until beans are half crushed.

Place skillet mixture in large bowl with remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. If mixture is too moist, add more breadcrumbs. Form into 6 patties. Cook what you need on a George Forman Grill, in a skillet with a little oil, or in the oven at 350 degrees 30 to 45 minutes turning over half way through the baking. Wrap the rest in saran wrap and freeze until needed!

Cobbler

I think I just came up with an amazing fruit cobbler. It was totally out of necessity. I wanted something warm and healthy. I have a few bags of frozen fruit in the freezer. How can I make a healthy topping, no sugar, no wheat, and healthy ingredients. Flax Meal, Coconut, brown rice flour. I need butter. This is what I came up with. One bag with tropical fruit, papaya, pineapple, mango and strawberries, sounded good, I mixed it with some frozen blueberries.

Fruit Cobbler
2 cups frozen mixed fruit
1 Tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon minute tapioca
1/4 cup apple cider
2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup flax meal
12 cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon brown rice flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoon cardamom
1 pinch of salt

preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease casserole dish. Add fruit to casserole dish. Add the molasses, cider and tapioca, and stir. Set aside. In a bowl mix Flax Meal, flour, coconut, cinnamon, cardamom, and a pinch of salt. mix the butter in with your fingers till its all nice and crumbly. Sprinkle over the fruit, place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. I didn't even cover it with foil. I suppose you could do that if you like. I would take the foil off the last 5 minutes to brown the toping.

Serve with frozen yogurt, or rice dream ice cream.

Ellie Krieger's Roasted Salmon with Shallot Grapefruit Sauce

I love this combination of ruby red grapefruit and shallots with the salmon. I serve this with my Mushroom Spaghetti Squash.

Ingredients

· 4 skinless salmon fillets, 5 to 6 ounces each

· 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning

· 2 ruby red grapefruits

· 2 teaspoons olive oil

· 1 tablespoon minced shallot

· 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

· 2 1/2 teaspoons honey

· Pinch cayenne pepper

· 2 teaspoons lemon juice

· 2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season the salmon with 1/4 teaspoon salt, place in a baking dish and roast until cooked through, about 18 minutes.

While the salmon is cooking prepare the sauce. Cut 1 of the grapefruits into sections by cutting off the top and bottom of the fruit, then standing it on 1 end, cut down the skin to remove the pith and peel. Then, with a paring knife, remove each segment of fruit from its casing and cut the segments in half. Set the segment pieces aside. Juice the other grapefruit and set the juice aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the ginger, grapefruit juice, honey, and cayenne pepper and bring to simmer. Cook until sauce is reduced by about half about, 10 minutes. Add lemon juice and season with salt, to taste. Right before serving, toss the grapefruit pieces and basil into the sauce. Put the salmon onto a serving dish.Spoon sauce over the salmon and serve.

Baked Haddock

I'm not a big fan of gluten free bread crumbs, they have yeast in them. I need to limit my yeast. I found some delicious brown rice crackers, Edward & Sons, tamari sesame flavor. I ground them in a food processor. I didn't have enough for the recipe so I used flax meal and it came out perfect. I like the taste. The fiber in the crackers and the flax meal are great. Instead of milk, I used almond milk. The original recipe called for 2 teaspoons of salt in the milk. I don't think that my "pinch" of sea salt ruined this. I can't imagine 2 teaspoons of salt. DON'T DO IT! I could try it with Spike or Mrs. Dash. I was happy with a pinch.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• A pinch of sea salt
• 3/4 cup of ground tamari sesame rice crackers minus 2 Tablespoons
• 2 T of flax meal
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon ground dried thyme
• 4 haddock fillets
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 a lemon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
2. Place a cooling wire rack in a baking dish.
3. In a small bowl, combine the milk and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, flax meal, Parmesan cheese, and thyme. Dip the haddock fillets in the milk, then press into the crumb mixture to coat. Place haddock fillets on the rack in the baking dish, and drizzle with melted butter, squeeze fresh lemon on top of each fillet.
4. Put a cooling rack for baking on top of a pan
5. Bake on the top rack of the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily, about 15 minutes.

Collard Greens

I loooove collard greens. You don't need to make them with bacon. I have switched between using chicken stock or veggie stock. I like them both. I have also made this in my pressure cooker for 10 minutes or cooked them on the stove for 30 minutes to and hour. Read about what a perfect food this is: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=138&utm_source=rss_reader&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_feed

Ingredients

a bunch of collard greens, chopped

2 teaspoons of roasted garlic

2 teaspoons of ground ginger

1Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup of broth (veggie or chicken)

1teaspoon of Nutmeg

Add olive oil to your pan and turn the heat on to medium high. Add the garlic and the ginger, stir for a minute. Add the chopped collard greens, nutmeg and stir the goodies for3 minutes. Add the stock, stir. When it comes to a boil (1 or 2 minutes) cover the pan and lower the heat. Simmer for 45 minutes. If you are making this in the pressure cooker, when you add the stock, lock the lid and when the pressure starts to whistle, lower the heat to maintain pressure and cook for 10 minutes. Quick release method.

Split Pea Soup

Who needs ham? pppffftt! This recipe came from my Dr.'s elimination diet. I simply added some more spices. I brought some to her because I loved the taste; Let's just say it's "kid tested, mother approved."

Split Pea Soup
Serves 6


3 cups dry split peas, well rised
2 quarts water
1tsp salt
1 bay leaf
½ - 1 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 onions chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced (I chopped them)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar

Combine peas, water, salt, bay leaf, and mustard in 6-quart pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for about 20 minutes. Add vegetables and spices except for salt and pepper, and simmer for another 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more water as needed. Add salt, pepper, and vinegar to taste.

Gluten Free Mac n Cheese

I took this from Alton Brown. I had some leftover cheddar and fontina cheese from a platter. I looked up a recipe and decided to use brown rice macaroni, almond milk instead of cow milk, and brown rice flour. I don't know if it was "better" for me, it tasted good.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound brown rice elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons brown rice flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
• 3 cups almond milk
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, grated
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 large egg
• 6 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
• 6 ounces fontina, shredded
• 1 teaspoon seasalt
• Fresh black pepper

Topping:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup crumbled gluten free crackers

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quartcasserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Remember to save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese