Category Archives: low calorie

Crispy Smelt with a Lemon Parsley Vinaigrette

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Crispy Smelt with Parsley Lemon Vinaigrette

Crispy Smelt with Parsley Lemon Vinaigrette

I LOVE Smelt, LOVE them. In fact I love them so much I wish that I could eat them year round.  If you’ve never tried smelt, then after you read this blog, stop by your grocery store, and get some! They are rich in omega-3 fatty acid, so not only are they delicious, but they’re great for you. Smelt are small boned fish, like anchovies, so you can eat them whole, even the head. if you’re so inclined. If you’re really lucky, like I have been thus far, you’ll find them fresh at your grocer.  I’m told that most grocers sell them frozen in bags.  Fresh is best, but these are so good that I would imagine they would still be good even after they’ve been frozen and defrosted. But if you have a choice, why not choose fresh?

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Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound of Smelt (cleaned)

1/2 cup of coconut flour

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

1/4-1/2 cup of coconut oil

Ingredients for Parsley Lemon Vinaigrette

1/4 cup of fresh organic flat leaf parsley finely chopped

5 tablespoons of Lemon juice

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic grated

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions: Melt the coconut oil in a cast iron skillet, and bring up to temperature. Season the smelt with sea salt and pepper:

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Dredge through the coconut flour, coating all sides of the fish with the flour:

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Carefully add the fish to the hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides, about 5-7 minutes:

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 Add the ingredients for the parsley lemon vinaigrette to a bowl and whisk until well combined, spoon over the fish and enjoy!

These make a great appetizer at a party, just make sure that you buy enough, because no one can eat just one of these! Like this recipe? Then you’ll love my video recipes, subscribe to my Lazy Girl Dinners Youtube channel for quick do it yourself and how to cook videos.

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Mussels In White Wine sauce

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Mussels in Wine Sauce

Mussels in Wine Sauce

This week I decided to switch things up a bit with a few sea food recipes.  My husband isn’t a big fan of mussels unless they’re drenched in cream, but I prefer them a little more on the light side—although I agree a great cream sauce never hurt a mussel. My daughter isn’t a fan of eating sea food just yet, but she loved playing with the mussel shells. Mussels are  great for those of us who are budget minded, they cost just a few dollars a pound, and a pound is more than enough for 2 people. A few things worth noting about mussels, as with most seafood the fresher they are, the better tasting they are. Discard any mussels that are not closed and tightly sealed, remove the hairy beards before cooking, and clean them thoroughly by scrubbing each mussel shell and then soaking them, with 1-2 tablespoons of flour added to a large bowl of water, for 10-15 minutes before cooking in order to expell any remaining sand.

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb of Mussels

1/4 cup of shallot minced

1/2 cup of white wine Sauvignon Blanc works amazingly

2 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/4 cup of finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon of bonito flakes (optional)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions: Heat olive oil, add garlic and shallot to a sauce pan, and sauté until shallots are translucent, add in the bonito flakes if you’re using them and mix for 10-20 seconds. Add in the wine, and bring to a simmer, add in the mussels and cover the pot, cook for 8-10 minutes then turn off the fire. Remove the cover, the mussels should be open, and cooked fully, sprinkle with lemon juice, and parsley transfer to a bowl and enjoy!

 

D.I.Y. Herbed Feta Spread

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Creamy Herbed Feta Cheese Spread

Creamy Herbed Feta Cheese Spread

If you don’t know I’ve expanded my blog to include video blogging. I just started it so you haven’t missed much besides subscribing to my awesome channel (subscribe here) 🙂 I love feta cheese, it’s one of the few cheeses that I can eat without getting a tummy ache. However, besides that, it’s delicious, and extremely versatile, it goes well on salads, pizza, and as an accompaniment to lamb burgers. The next time you have a dinner party break this spread out with an olive tray and some good crackers, and your dinner guests will be raving about it for days!

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: none

total time 10 minutes

 

Ingredients:

6 ounce package of feta cheese

1/2 cup of fresh mint finely chopped

3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves removed from the stems

1/4 cup of water

Directions: add the feta cheese to a blender or food processor, and pulse to break it up. Slowly add in water, add  1 tablespoons at a time, until your spread reaches desired consistency. I was happy at around 3 tablespoons of water. Transfer the creamed cheese to a bowl and add in herbs, mixing well until combined. Serve with pita bread, chips, or crackers, you really can’t go wrong with this spread. Enjoy!

 

Basil Chicken

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Basil Chicken

Basil Chicken

So everyone has that one friend whom they idolize, you know the one who is super intelligent, charismatic, gorgeous, and the kind of mother to her children you only wish you could be. Well that person for me is my friend Jennifer. She has the energy of the energizer bunny–actually I think she could out last that bunny 3 times over, She’s a great friend, reliable without fault, and on top of all that, she is a great cook. One of her signature dishes is basil Chicken.  It’s beyond delicious, the sweet notes of basil mixed with the Unami flavors imparted by the soy sauce in this dish make it heaven on a plate.  She makes hers with the whole parts of chicken, usually legs, or drummetts. I decided to try it using ground chicken, because who couldn’t use another way to use ground meat?  I’m so glad I did, it is equally as delicious as using chicken with bones, but much less time consuming, because there aren’t any bones.

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Prep time: 5-7 minutes

Cook time : 15 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound of ground chicken

3/4 cups of fresh basil chopped

1 small brown onion or shallot chopped

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 large cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of olive oil/ghee

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

sea salt to taste

Directions: heat oil in skillet, add garlic, sauté for 30 seconds, then add the onion, and cook until translucent. Add the ground chicken and brown. Add in the soy sauce, basil and red pepper flakes, cook for 2 minutes then turn off the fire. Serve over brown rice, or in lettuce cups.

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Lamb Burgers with Yogurt Cucumber Mint Sauce

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Lamb Burgers With Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

Lamb Burgers With Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

Sometimes you just need a burger! Considering the fact that Americans consume nearly 50 billion burgers a year, I am assuming most people need more than one! Although beef burgers are great, it’s nice every once in awhile to switch meats up a bit.  This lamb burger provides the perfect switch.

 

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Prep time: 7-10 minutes

Cook time: 7-10 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1lb of ground lamb

1/2 cup of mint, chopped finely

1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley chopped finely

Sea Salt & Black pepper to taste

Ingredients for Yogurt Cucumber Sauce

1/2 cup of yogurt

1 large clove of garlic grated

1/4 cup of organic Persian cucumber cubed

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 Tablespoon of finely minced shallot

1 tablespoon of mint finely chopped

Sea salt to taste

Directions:  add all the ingredients for the yogurt sauce to a medium sized bowl, mix well and set aside.

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In a large bowl add the ingredients for the burger, mix with your hands to incorporate all of the ingredients,  and then form patties.

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Heat a cast iron skillet, then add the burgers. Cook each burger without turning them, for 4-6 minutes on each side.

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Serve these on buns with the cucumber sauce or go to my YouTube channel and get my recipe for Creamy herb feta cheese spread.

Creamy Herbed Feta Cheese Spread

Creamy Herbed Feta Cheese Spread

Or skip the bun and use lettuce as a low carb option.

Lamb Burger with Yogurt cucumber sauce

Lamb Burger with Yogurt cucumber sauce

Asparagus and Mushrooms

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Asparagus and Mushrooms

Asparagus and Mushrooms

 

I don’t know what it is about the Vernal equinox and the ushering in of spring, but it floods me with inspiration, and the need to get things done. It’s like my body gets a signal on March 20th every single year to create, and I just feel so inspired. Maybe it’s because I’m a spring baby, my birthday falls just 2 days after the first day of spring. Maybe my need to create is attached to that as a reminder that I’m getting old and need to get things done! For the last few weeks I’ve lived in my kitchen, creating recipes for this blog and my book. I have so many in my cue.  Just yesterday I created four new dishes, in under 2 hours, and I’m still going to test out more recipes today. Yesterday I shared an avocado Pepita salad dressing, today I’m sharing another green recipe for asparagus and mushrooms. The season for asparagus is so short, so when it rolls around I always try to eat as much as I can.

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

2.5 cups of crimini mushrooms sliced

2 cups of asparagus sliced on a bias

3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

sea salt & black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon of soy sauce (optional)

Directions: Heat oil in a skillet with garlic. Add the mushrooms and season them with salt. The mushrooms will begin to release water, cook them until the water evaporates, about 7 minutes, then add the butter. Cook until mushrooms brown, then add in the asparagus and soy sauce if you’re using it. Cook until asparagus is tender, about 4 minutes, serve and enjoy!

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Creamy Avocado Pepita Dressing

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Creamy Avocado Pumpkin Seed Salad Dressing

Creamy Avocado Pumpkin Seed Salad Dressing

 

One of my daughters first foods was avocado.  Aside from it being an easy go to for me, because it didn’t involve cooking or complicated prep, it was the perfect food for her nutritionally. For a year of her life she ate smashed avocado gleefully without complaint. I was sort of heart broken when she suddenly decided that she’d had enough of it and started to refuse to eat it.  As you all know from reading this blog, nothing makes me happier than when my daughter eats her veggies. This week when I was at the farmers market, I picked up a few avocados from my avocado guy, just so I could make this salad dressing for her. Recently she has taken to eating salad, but only if the salad is well dressed, preferably with a salad dressing that she loves.  This particular dressing is awesome! There isn’t one bad thing in it, not one! If you love the mayo based Pepita salad dressing served at El Torito, then you’ll love this even more!  I prefer it thick and undiluted, but you can make it thinner by adding either water, or oil, until your desired thinness has been achieved. You can use raw pumpkin seeds, but I prefer the nutty flavor of pumpkin seeds when roasted for this dressing.

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Prep Time: 5-7 minutes

cook Time: none

Total time: 5-7 minutes

 

Ingredients:

1 Avocado
4 teaspoons of lemon juice
4 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds roasted
Sea salt black pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 tblsp of olive oil
Water (optional)

Directions: place all ingredients in a small blender and process until smooth. It you’re using water add it 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency, drizzle over salad greens, toss well, then serve! My daughter loved this, and we did too! It is so good!!!!

Creamy Avocado Pumpkin Seed Salad Dressing

 

White Bean and Kale Soup

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Kale and White Bean Soup

Kale and White Bean Soup

 

I feel like I haven’t shared enough vegetarian recipes with you guys, at least not as a full meal. My daughter is just beginning to appreciate veggies the way my husband and I do…thank God, I was beginning to worry she would be one of those kids who would refuse everything green. But somehow, and by the grace of god she has taken to eating veggies. While I was making this she kept reaching up to steal pieces of carrots! It made my heart leap with every bite she took! She loves this soup, and I love that she loves it, because it’s nothing but veggies!

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Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Total time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bushel of organic kale, sliced thinly

1 cup of shallots, chopped

1 cup of carrots, cubed

1 cup of celery, cubed

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

3/4 cup of white wine Sauvignon Blanc

4 cups of vegetable stock

1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of olive oil

15 oz can of Organic white beans, drained and rinsed

Directions: Heat the oil on medium heat, add garlic, shallots, celery, and carrots, cook until tender,

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add in thyme and kale, sauté for 5 minutes.

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Add in the wine, vegetable stock and beans, bring to a boil and cook until greens are tender about 15 minutes. Add in lemon juice,  adjust the seasoning with sea salt and black pepper, serve and enjoy!

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Ramen Momofuku Style and Gluten Free

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D.I.Y. Ramen

D.I.Y. Ramen

 

Is it weird that I’m not a big fan of pasta, but that I love ramen? I’m not talking about cup o noodles here, but growing up I had my fair share of those, I’m talking about a rich and flavorful  bowl of ramen. The kind of ramen one might get at David Changs Momofuku Noodle bar in New York.  The kind of ramen people wait in line for, only I don’t want to wait in line. The beginning and end of any ramen–a good one anyway–is the broth! Without the foundation of a good broth, ramen is… well just ramen in water! The best way to get a good broth without spending hours in the kitchen is to use a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers aren’t as popular as crock pots, but in my opinion they should be! Other than cooking something slowly on the stove for hours, there is just no other way to get the amount of flavor you do from something cooked in a pressure cooker. You get out what you put into a pressure cooker, all the nutrients stay in the pot, they don’t cook out, unlike when you cook on the stove top, or in a slow cooker—the nutrients escape out during cooking through steam.  What’s better is that it takes less time to do it than both stove top cooking and crock pot cooking! I like to think that my pressure cooker provides the best of both worlds, the flavor of something cooked for hours on a stove, and the ease of non-active cooking–ie ability to throw a bunch of ingredients in a pot, leave it for an hour and come back to the finished product, lazy cooking at its best!

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1lb of Organic chicken thighs, I used boneless, but a bone never hurt a good broth

1 large brown onion

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar

1 bushel of organic Dino Kale, chopped roughly

3 large cloves of garlic chopped

1 10oz package of Organic Rice ramen, I used Lotus Food brand it’s gluten free.

1 tablespoon of olive oil or ghee

1/2 cup of fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes

7.5 cups of water

Directions: Heat the oil then add the chicken. IMPORTANT: Let it brown, do not move it, let it cook for 3-4 on one side before turning it. This browning makes a tremendous amount of difference between a broth that’s good, and a broth that’s great! Once brown turn over and add the onion, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar.  Cook for another 4 minutes, then add the water. Bring to a boil, then cover and seal your pressure cooker, and let cook on medium heat for 45-50 minutes undisturbed. If you’re doing this on the stove top, without a pressure cooker, bring to a boil, cover and cook for 1.5 hours checking broth levels after an hour. At the 50 minute mark, turn off the fire, and depressurize your pressure cooker according to manufacturers instructions, remove the lid, add in the kale, turn the fire back on to medium, cover and seal the pressure cooker again. Let cook for 7 minutes, depressurize the cooker again.remove the lid, turn the fire back on, add the noodles, and cook for additional 4 minutes, add red pepper flakes and fresh cilantro, turn the fire off serve and enjoy!

 

 

 

Charbroiled Sardines with parsley and thyme

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Charbroiled Sardines with Parsley and Thyme

Charbroiled Sardines with Parsley and Thyme

 

It’s not often here that I can walk up to my local Whole Foods Market fish counter and get fresh sardines. So when the opportunity to do so  occurred, I jumped at it.  I am a huge fan of small sustainable fish, like sardines, and smelt.  I’ll even go out on a limb and say that I like smelt fish more than sardines, but smelt fish are even harder to come by than fresh sardines.  If you’ve never made fresh sardines before, then you have been missing out! They’re so easy to make, and so delicious!

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Prep Time: 7 minutes

Cook Time: 7-10 minutes

1 pound of fresh Sardines split down the middle

1/2 cup of parsley

1/4 cup thyme

1 clove of garlic

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Sea salt and Black pepper to taste

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 400F.  Line a bake sheet with parchment or foil. Pulse all the ingredients with the exception of the sardines in a small blender or processor. You can skip the processor and opt to chop all the herbs finely and then mix with the oil and lemon. Place the sardines on the lined bake sheet, add the herb mixture to the inside of each sardine. Season with sea salt and black pepper then place in the oven and cook for 7-10 minutes, or until sardines are cooked through and have charred on top a bit. Remove from the oven, serve and enjoy!

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