Tag Archives: low carb

Gingered Greens

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Gingered Rainbow Chard

Gingered Rainbow Chard

I am fortunate enough to live close to a few natural foods markets.  One of the natural foods markets that I frequent has an onsite restaurant, it happens to serve only vegan food, and the food is amazing.  My best friend and I used to make it a Sunday routine to meet there for brunch and then shop for groceries together afterwards. It was the best of both worlds for both of us, we both have a love of food and food shopping, and of course spending time together.  One of my favorite dishes at this natural foods market restaurant was a dish called gingered greens.  It hit all the right notes for me, tangy and soul satisfying all at the same time! We always asked the waiters to tell us what was in this dish, because of course we wanted to remake it at home, but every time we asked we’d get different answers or worse no answer at all. Needless to say I’ve tried this dish several times with less than stellar results. This week when I went to my local farmers market, they had rainbow chard, and I thought, this is my chance to get it right! Maybe it took me going into this with a bit of confidence, or maybe it was just a stroke of luck, I don’t know, but I think I struck gold with this one!

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Ingredients:

4 cups of rainbow chard, chopped

3 small cloves of garlic, grated

1/2 teaspoon of ginger grated

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of olive oil or ghee

2 tablespoons of cilantro roughly chopped

Sea Salt to taste

Directions:  Heat the oil along with the ginger and garlic for 20-30 seconds

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Add in the chard, saute until the greens wilt, then add the apple cider vinegar

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Cook for another 5-7 minutes or until the greens are tender, season with a little sea salt, add in cilantro, transfer to a bowl and enjoy!

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Grilled Rib-eye with Spicy Dry-Rub

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Grilled Rib-eye with Spicy Dry-Rub

Grilled Rib-eye with Spicy Dry-Rub

Now that it’s warm again, I can cut out a bit of my cooking by having my husband grill for us. He loves rib-eye steaks and it’s fun for me to find different ways to spice them up. I love making marinades for steaks but sometimes it’s fun just to mix a few dry spices together and see what happens. That is exactly what I did here. This dry rub is definitely going into our menu line up again, it is so yummy.  The only problem with allowing my husband to grill the meat, is that he was not as gentle with the meat as I would have been, so I didn’t get great pictures, but trust me when I say, you will love this dry rub.

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Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 10-15 minutes

Total Time: 17 minutes

Servings: Enough seasoning for 1lb Steak double the recipe if you need to season more than one steak.

Ingredients Dry-Rub:

1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Sea salt to taste

Directions: Add the dry spices to a small bowl and mix them together until combined.

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Season the both sides of the steak with sea salt, then rub both sides generously with the dry spice mixture.

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Place on the grill and let cook  for 7-8 minutes on each side, remove from grill let sit for 5-7 minutes before enjoying.  How easy was that?  I love it when my husband grills;-)

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Okay share your favorite dry rub seasoning?  I always buy one, this is the first time that I’ve made my own.

 

How to make Zucchini Noodles–How to Make Squash Noodles

Video How to–Make Zucchini or Squash noodles in seconds. How to blanch them and make them into a glutenfree, paleo friendly, low carb noodle, to have with a delicious pasta sauce

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Sautéed Mushrooms

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Sautéed Mushrooms

Sautéed Mushrooms

One of my favorite side dishes in the world is sautéed mushrooms. I love mushrooms in general, but there is just something that happens to a mushroom when it’s sautéed perfectly that sets off a flavor explosion in your mouth. Sautéing mushrooms is easy, but there is an art to it, not all sautés are created equally. The key to a good mushroom sauté is to let the mushrooms brown. Browning is an result of the Maillard reaction, and that reaction is where flavor  lives.

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Ingredients:
10 ounces of sliced mushrooms (I used crimini and oyster)
2 large cloves of garlic
1 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 tea spoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley finely minced
Sea salt to taste

Directions: add the olive oil and garlic to a sauté and let cook for 10-20 seconds or until you can smell the garlic:

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Add in the sliced mushrooms and season with sea salt:

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The mushrooms will begin to release water, toss and allow them to cook for 5-7 minutes. The water should begin to evaporate. Add in the tab of butter and toss the mushrooms:

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Cook for another 3-4 minutes without tossing, to allow the mushrooms to brown, add in soy sauce and toss, until the soy evaporates, about 1 minute:

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Transfer the mushrooms to a dish, sprinkle the parsley on top and enjoy!

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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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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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Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pesto

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Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pesto

Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pes

I make roast chicken a lot for my family. Mainly because it’s easy, and I know everyone will enjoy it. However, because I make it so often, I am always trying to come up with ways to make it differently, ways in which I can add flavor, this pesto does exactly that. It adds a ton of flavor, but requires minimal extra work. You throw all the ingredients in the blender or a food processor, push a button and it’s done! Leftover, pesto, if you have any, can be spread on bread as the condiment to leftover chicken salad sandwiches…talk about yum! If you don’t want to roast an entire chicken, you can scale this down and use just 2 chicken breasts, it doesn’t matter. I find that buying a whole organic chicken is often less expensive than buying just 2 organic chicken breasts. So I always prefer to save money and buy the whole chicken. I reinvent the leftover chicken into tacos, salad, soup or tostadas.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:
1 whole Organic Nongmo Air-chilled Chicken
2 cloves of garlic
2-3 Tablespoons of Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Ingredients for Cilantro Pesto:
2 cups of cilantro
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of toasted hazelnuts
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Season the chicken generously with sea salt and black pepper, then rub it with the garlic and oil. Line a baking dish with foil, place the chicken on it and place it in the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the pesto in a blender or processor, and blend until smooth. Serve the pesto however you’d like, I smear it on the chicken, with an additional spoonful or two, so that I can dip as I go. It’s so delicious!!!! If you haven’t read my blog on How to roast Chicken, Steps to making the perfect roast chicken now would be a great time. My recipe for Roast Chicken with Lemon and Garlic works the pesto as well.

Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pesto

Roast Chicken with Cilantro Pesto

Za’atar Spiced Chicken

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Za'atar Spiced Chicken

Za’atar Spiced Chicken

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile now, then you know that I’m enamored with Mediterranean spices, and food. One of my favorite things to have when I go out for dinner at a middle eastern restaurant is a naan bread with za’atar spices on it. What’s not to like? Piping hot crispy bread with a tangy spice, and hot olive oil…yum! I’m drooling at just the thought, it’s just so yummy. If you’re not familiar with za’atar you’ve been missing out. It’s simply a mixture of thyme, sesame seeds, marjoram, cumin, and sumac. With the exception of the sumac, you probably have all the ingredients to make it in your cabinet right now. You can’t make this without the sumac though, it’s tart and tangy flavor would be missed. The herbaceous smell of this spice is reason enough to use it. It pairs well with many meats, not just chicken, but on chicken it is amazing. I will share my recipe for my own homemade za’atar spice in a future blog, but for this, a store bought version will do. I got a packaged za’atar spice blend at Whole Foods in the spice aisle. While it’s not as good as my homemade version, it’s very close.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
1 tablespoon of za’atar spice
Juice of half a large lemon
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic grated
5-6 (1lb) boneless skinless chicken thighs
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Mix the za’atar, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil together in a medium bowl. Season the chicken with sea salt and black pepper, then toss in the bowl with the marinade and mix well. Line a baking sheet with foil, then add the chicken, and place in the oven, for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven, serve and enjoy!

Grilled Greek Chicken Salad

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Grilled Greek Chicken Salad

Grilled Greek Chicken Salad

One my favorite salads, besides Caesar salad is Greek salad. I could eat one every day, and when I was pregnant I did. While most pregnant women crave chocolate or some other weird concoction of things, I craved the crisp freshness of salad. I loved romaine lettuce with an almost unhealthy passion. It’s crunchy and crisp texture was comforting to me, paired with the tanginess of my favorite Feta cheese, I was in heaven. I often made Greek salad for dinner when I was pregnant, because it was soothing to my unending nausea. I would eat it without chicken, because meat just wasn’t my friend when I was pregnant. However, my husband needed something more substantial so I would grill chicken for him, and add it to the salad, which made it a satisfying meal for us both. Now that I don’t have a meat aversion, this Greek salad with grilled chicken is one of my favorite meals. It’s light, but filling, and oh so satisfying.

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Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
4 cups of organic romaine lettuce, chopped and washed
1/2 cup of organic cherrie tomatoes
1/2 cup of Feta cheese, crumbled or cubed
1/2 cup of kalmata olives
1/2 cup of organic Persian cucumbers cubed
1/4 cup of sliced bell pepper
4 organic boneless skinless chicken thighs, or 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Marinade for chicken
1 teaspoon of thyme
1/3 cup of lemon juice
1 tablespoons of olive oil
1 medium clove of garlic grated
2 Tablespoons of organic full fat Greek yogurt
Sea salt to taste

Ingredients for Salad dressing:
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic minced
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Mix the ingredients for the chicken marinade in a small bowl, then pour it over both sides of the chicken. Meanwhile preheat your grill pan, over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, it should be nice and hot–smoking before your chicken goes on, so that you get nice grill marks. Place your chicken on the grill and cook without turning on one side for 5 minutes, then flip it on the other side for an additional 7-10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and let it rest while you assemble the ingredients for the salad.

Place all of the ingredients for the salad dressing in a mason jar, seal it and give it a good shake. If you don’t have a mason jar, just put the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together.

Place all the ingredients for the salad, save for the resting grilled chicken, in a bowl and toss well. Assemble the salad on plates and top with the chicken, I slice the chicken just before adding it to the salad. Drizzle a few tablespoons the salad dressing over each plate and enjoy!