Since my last post I have been too sore to type. I have visited my personal trainer twice now. I hate him exponentially more every time so that by the time this 3 month session is up, I should be looking in the Yellow Pages for contract killers. I jest! Sort of.
Anyway, my new exercise regimen poses an unforseen problem. I work out twice a week and it has to be in the late afternoon. Twice a week, I take my daughter to Taekwondo class. So, there are a few days in there when I get home too late to fix a proper dinner. Enter the slow cooker.
I have always been a slow cooker fan. I make pork with salsa verde, chili and short ribs in mine. I do corned beef and cabbage. Delicious! However, since I will be using my slow cooker a lot more often I need to branch out. Me and my friend, the internet, have been searching for interesting and innovative recipes that I can tweak for my low carb life. One of my favorite sites is this:
A Year of Slow Cooking
Stephanie O'Dea essentially made something in her slow cooker every day for a year (and then some). Her recipes are almost tailor made for the low carb lifestyle as she is gluten intolerant. She has to be very careful about wheat or other gluten containing ingredients. The only problem is that she is not sugar intolerant so some of her recipes have to be tweaked a little.
Today's recipe is Chinese Lemon Chicken. Her original recipe is here:
Chinese Lemon Chicken
Her recipe is slightly problematic for me as one of the main ingredients is a half can of thawed lemonade frozen concentrate. Unfortunately, just that half can is 103 carbs. The recipe also calls for sugar. The recipe I came up with after fiddling around with it is pretty tasty. It is more sour than sweet but I like it that way... my husband likes it better that way, too. By making my substitutions I took it from approximately 48 carbs per serving to 12.75 carbs per serving. Of course, to beef it up (enhance it), add vitamins and more flavor I chopped up some vegetables which will add a few carbs but all in all, I am very pleased with the results. You can serve it over cauliflower rice.
Slow Cooker Citrus Chicken
Serves 4-6
6 chicken thighs; boneless/skinless/trimmed of excess fat
1/4 cup flour
2 tsp kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup orange juice, no extra sugar added
Juice of 2 lemons
1 TB balsamic vinegar
3 TB ketchup (or low-sugar ketchup)
1 onion, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into strips
3 celery stalks, sliced into half moons
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" coins
Olive oil for browning chicken
Cut the chicken thighs into large-ish bite sized chunks. Put the flour and the salt into a large zip-top bag. Dump the chicken into the bag and shake until the chicken bits are coated. (This step is optional. I use it because maybe only an 1/8 of a cup ends up on the actual chicken and it thickens the sauce). Heat a large, non-stick saute pan over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add 2 tsp of olive oil and swirl, coating the bottom. Using a large, slotted spoon, lift the chicken from the bag, shaking off the excess and drop the chicken chunks into the hot oil. Don't necessarily cook the chicken all the way, just give it a little color and get the flour to stick to it. Dump the browned chicken into the bowl of your slow cooker. Add the cut vegetables and stir to incorporate.
Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl. Whisk to combine thoroughly. Pour it over the chicken in the slow cooker. Don't worry if it doesn't seem like a lot of liquid. There will be plenty of liquid by the time you are done.
Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours.
It tasted very much like the lemon chicken you'd get in a Chinese-American restaurant... without hardly any of the fat or MSG or CARBS!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Going over to the dark side...
I have always loathed exercise in almost any form. There, I said it. It is now out there in the cosmos just floating around waiting for anyone to absorb it. Today, I go over to the dark side... to exercise.
I have finally come to the realization that just losing weight is not enough. And anyway, weight is not the primary consideration here. Health is my prime focus. There are so many things I want to do, besides just fitting into smaller pants. I want to go hiking... I want to be able to walk around New York City all day noticing everything but not obsessing over my aching back and feet. It is not just about building muscles but strengthening my core. I am tired of muscle spasms.
So today, I go in for my first personal training session. Its pricey but it is important that I learn to do this right. I signed up for 3 months, mano a womano, 2 times a week. I am looking forward to lots of ibuprofen and sore muscles... but also a sense of satisfaction. I am going to stick this out. I am going to show my daughter that fitness is something better accomplished early but I won't let a little thing like age stop me.
And better late than never... wish me luck!
I have finally come to the realization that just losing weight is not enough. And anyway, weight is not the primary consideration here. Health is my prime focus. There are so many things I want to do, besides just fitting into smaller pants. I want to go hiking... I want to be able to walk around New York City all day noticing everything but not obsessing over my aching back and feet. It is not just about building muscles but strengthening my core. I am tired of muscle spasms.
So today, I go in for my first personal training session. Its pricey but it is important that I learn to do this right. I signed up for 3 months, mano a womano, 2 times a week. I am looking forward to lots of ibuprofen and sore muscles... but also a sense of satisfaction. I am going to stick this out. I am going to show my daughter that fitness is something better accomplished early but I won't let a little thing like age stop me.
And better late than never... wish me luck!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Fall has fell...
Yay! I don't need to pretend any more! Fall is here! Living where I do (Tacoma/Seattle area) many years we need to pretend it is summer. We gamely wear our shorts and shortsleeved shirts while secretly freezing and wishing we could put on a purple and gold Husky Sweatshirt (University of Washington, for the uninitiated). We bear the rain and use the grill while someone holds up a golf unbrella. But it is September now so I don't need to tell myself it is warm enough to wear my capri pants. I can hide my flabby arms under long sleeves. Yay!
And with fall comes my favorite time of year to cook. The fall vegetables are in, like squashes of every kind and the end of the corn season. Eggplants and tomatoes and zucchini and garlic... oh yes. I can make soups and stews and cook them a long time in my slow cooker. My idea of fall food is spicy and warm, filling and satisfying.
My first instinct is to serve a lot of these stews and fricasees and whatnot over rice. I always like to have something to soak up all the good juices. Bread is important, too, excellent for dipping and sopping up extra sauce. So I am in a quandry. I eat neither rice nor bread. I took a bunch of different ideas and devised my own recipe for short ribs which develops an amazing sauce. Do I serve it in a bowl or just let the juice spread out all over the plate? Do I lift the plate and slurp it that way? No, it would end up all down the front of me, not to mention, it would be a terrible example for my daughter. What to do?
I was saved by my sister. We were talking about that very thing last weekend. She has gone on a Paleo type eating regimen that disallows most carbs and dairy so she is in the same boat. She found a recipe for "cauliflower rice." Basically, you chop up cauliflower really fine then saute it in a pan with a little olive oil. It is a blank canvas. You could add all kinds of flavors: sesame oil for Asian, curry powder, parmesan cheese. It could be a foil for all your stew or braise type recipes. My daughter sucked it up without any prompting (amazing) but my husband was freaked out by the texture. That's okay though... more for us!
Short Ribs
Serves 4
2.5 lbs short ribs (not flanken cut)
Olive oil
Olive oil spray
1 large onion, chopped into 1" chunks
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
3 TB red wine vinegar
1 cup dry, red wine
1 14oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
Cauliflower "Rice"
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat a tsp or two of olive oil in a oven-proof dutch oven over medium high heat. Sear all 3 meat sides of the short ribs until they are crusty and brown. Remove the ribs to a plate. Pour off all the fat from the dutch oven, leaving nothing but some brown bits in the bottom. Spray some olive oil spray onto the bottom to grease it up just a little bit before dumping in the chopped onion. Toss those around until they turn translucent. Dump in the carrots, garlic and herbs. Continue to toss them around until the carrots are just barely starting to soften and the brown bits have come up off the bottom of the pan.
Pour in the vinegar. Toss around until all the vegetables are covered and the vinegar is almost evaporated. Pour in the red wine. Simmer for 5 minutes until the wine reduces a little Pour in the tomatoes, incorporating all the ingredients. Put the short ribs and accumulated juices back into the dutch oven. Cover and place in the oven. Check it after 2 hours. The meat should be meltingly tender and falling off the bones.
This part is optional. I made the short ribs early in the day. After it was done in the oven I left it to cool. After it got to almost room temperature, I lifted the meat and vegetables into a bowl, covered and refrigerated it. I poured the sauce into a separate bowl and refrigerated that, too. Before reheating, I was able to lift the fat from the top of the sauce, as short ribs are pretty fatty. I find it hard to lift the fat off when it is still hot. If you are worried about extra fat, you might consider this method.
Serve over cauliflower "rice."
Caufiflower Rice
Recipe from Paleo Plan
Serves 4 (I also used half the oil than in the original recipe)
1 head cauliflower
1 Tbs coconut or olive oil
Sea salt, garlic, ginger, coconut aminos, curry, garlic or freshly ground black pepper(optional seasonings)
Place the cauliflower into a food processor and pulse until it has a grainy rice-like consistency. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Saute the cauliflower in a medium hot saute pan with oil and any additional seasonings desired (sea salt, garlic, ginger, coconut aminos, curry, or just freshly ground black pepper).
Couldn't be easier, more delicious or make a better base for my fall food!
And with fall comes my favorite time of year to cook. The fall vegetables are in, like squashes of every kind and the end of the corn season. Eggplants and tomatoes and zucchini and garlic... oh yes. I can make soups and stews and cook them a long time in my slow cooker. My idea of fall food is spicy and warm, filling and satisfying.
My first instinct is to serve a lot of these stews and fricasees and whatnot over rice. I always like to have something to soak up all the good juices. Bread is important, too, excellent for dipping and sopping up extra sauce. So I am in a quandry. I eat neither rice nor bread. I took a bunch of different ideas and devised my own recipe for short ribs which develops an amazing sauce. Do I serve it in a bowl or just let the juice spread out all over the plate? Do I lift the plate and slurp it that way? No, it would end up all down the front of me, not to mention, it would be a terrible example for my daughter. What to do?
I was saved by my sister. We were talking about that very thing last weekend. She has gone on a Paleo type eating regimen that disallows most carbs and dairy so she is in the same boat. She found a recipe for "cauliflower rice." Basically, you chop up cauliflower really fine then saute it in a pan with a little olive oil. It is a blank canvas. You could add all kinds of flavors: sesame oil for Asian, curry powder, parmesan cheese. It could be a foil for all your stew or braise type recipes. My daughter sucked it up without any prompting (amazing) but my husband was freaked out by the texture. That's okay though... more for us!
Short Ribs
Serves 4
2.5 lbs short ribs (not flanken cut)
Olive oil
Olive oil spray
1 large onion, chopped into 1" chunks
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
3 TB red wine vinegar
1 cup dry, red wine
1 14oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
Cauliflower "Rice"
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat a tsp or two of olive oil in a oven-proof dutch oven over medium high heat. Sear all 3 meat sides of the short ribs until they are crusty and brown. Remove the ribs to a plate. Pour off all the fat from the dutch oven, leaving nothing but some brown bits in the bottom. Spray some olive oil spray onto the bottom to grease it up just a little bit before dumping in the chopped onion. Toss those around until they turn translucent. Dump in the carrots, garlic and herbs. Continue to toss them around until the carrots are just barely starting to soften and the brown bits have come up off the bottom of the pan.
Pour in the vinegar. Toss around until all the vegetables are covered and the vinegar is almost evaporated. Pour in the red wine. Simmer for 5 minutes until the wine reduces a little Pour in the tomatoes, incorporating all the ingredients. Put the short ribs and accumulated juices back into the dutch oven. Cover and place in the oven. Check it after 2 hours. The meat should be meltingly tender and falling off the bones.
This part is optional. I made the short ribs early in the day. After it was done in the oven I left it to cool. After it got to almost room temperature, I lifted the meat and vegetables into a bowl, covered and refrigerated it. I poured the sauce into a separate bowl and refrigerated that, too. Before reheating, I was able to lift the fat from the top of the sauce, as short ribs are pretty fatty. I find it hard to lift the fat off when it is still hot. If you are worried about extra fat, you might consider this method.
Serve over cauliflower "rice."
Caufiflower Rice
Recipe from Paleo Plan
Serves 4 (I also used half the oil than in the original recipe)
1 head cauliflower
1 Tbs coconut or olive oil
Sea salt, garlic, ginger, coconut aminos, curry, garlic or freshly ground black pepper(optional seasonings)
Place the cauliflower into a food processor and pulse until it has a grainy rice-like consistency. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Saute the cauliflower in a medium hot saute pan with oil and any additional seasonings desired (sea salt, garlic, ginger, coconut aminos, curry, or just freshly ground black pepper).
Couldn't be easier, more delicious or make a better base for my fall food!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Mama Moira's Kitchen...
Just to set the record straight, like it matters, is that I am neither Italian nor Jewish. I must admit, I steal from their heritage kitchens all the time.
There is nothing more therapeutic than a good chicken soup. One of these days, when I can consider eating even a modest amount of carbs again, I would like to learn to make matzo balls. There is something so soulful about the combination of a rich chicken stock combined with bits of chicken and sauteed vegetables. I also love, love Italian food. Pasta is right out for me, of course, but I can still enjoy that mind numbing joy of tomatoes, garlic, onions, fennel combined in a slowly simmered sauce... Huh? Oh wait. Where was I?
When I was in the airport in Atlanta not long ago I bought a mess of cooking magazines (including one of my top favorites, Saveur) to read on the plane. Since we are all poor during this recession I hardly ever buy cooking magazines any more (even though I used to be addicted and had subscriptions to at least three of them). I can look at them online but it isn't the same. I love the glossy pages and lovely, professional pictures of foods I will most likely never make.
Some of my favorite recipes are for foods with which I am not familiar; like, I love the recipes for Italian Christmas Eve dinner with all the myriad seafood dishes but the one that caught my eye this time was the recipes for Sukkot, the Jewish holiday of celebration and thanksgiving. The recipe in Saveur calls for some traditional ingredients like raisins and honey, rice... and a couple of other things I can't have because a) I am a low carb kind of girl and b) if I put fruit in a meat dish I think my husband might divorce me. I compromised by making it more Sephardic (which for me is just a fancy way of saying I substituted a bunch of ingredients to make it more Italian and less fruity). My kitchen is now filled with intoxicating scents and I am about to float away on them.
Holishkes (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls ala Cathy)
Based on a recipe found in Saveur
Serves 4
1 large head of cabbage, cored
Olive oil
2 small onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 TB fennel seed
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup red chard, sliced into thin ribbons then chopped crosswise
1 32oz can pureed tomatoes
1 lb ground lean ground chuck (or ground lamb would be delicious, too)
3 TB beef stock
1/3 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp paprika or smoked paprika (my personal favorite)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper
Bring a large, deep pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, add the head of cabbage using a giant fork and cook, pulling off each leaf as it cook with some tongs, about 2 minutes per leaf until you get 9-10 leaves. Let drain and cool on some paper towels.
Heat a tsp or two of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add onions and celery. Saute but do not caramelize. Add the fennel seeds, garlic, chard and the pepper flakes. Continue to saute until both the onions and celery are translucent and your kitchen is fragrant. Add the tomato paste and stir until incorporated. Add the tomato puree. Stir then simmer until the sauce starts to reduce, thicken and again become very fragrant, about 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ground beef, beef stock, carrots, paprika, egg and salt and pepper. Don't over-mix or the stuffing will be tough. Lightly stir using only your fingertips until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Lay out your cabbage leaves like little green dishes. Divide the filling between all the leaves. Fold the leaves up one by one by folding in the sides, then rolling the other way into a tidy ball. Place the rolls into an 8"x8" (or 9"x9") baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray. Once all the rolls are in there, cover with the tomato sauce. Bake until the filling is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
If you don't care much about being Kosher, you could sprinkle the top with feta cheese or Parmesan as an added touch. I don't use cheese as there is so much flavor already I don't think it needs it.
Mazel tov, amore!
There is nothing more therapeutic than a good chicken soup. One of these days, when I can consider eating even a modest amount of carbs again, I would like to learn to make matzo balls. There is something so soulful about the combination of a rich chicken stock combined with bits of chicken and sauteed vegetables. I also love, love Italian food. Pasta is right out for me, of course, but I can still enjoy that mind numbing joy of tomatoes, garlic, onions, fennel combined in a slowly simmered sauce... Huh? Oh wait. Where was I?
When I was in the airport in Atlanta not long ago I bought a mess of cooking magazines (including one of my top favorites, Saveur) to read on the plane. Since we are all poor during this recession I hardly ever buy cooking magazines any more (even though I used to be addicted and had subscriptions to at least three of them). I can look at them online but it isn't the same. I love the glossy pages and lovely, professional pictures of foods I will most likely never make.
Some of my favorite recipes are for foods with which I am not familiar; like, I love the recipes for Italian Christmas Eve dinner with all the myriad seafood dishes but the one that caught my eye this time was the recipes for Sukkot, the Jewish holiday of celebration and thanksgiving. The recipe in Saveur calls for some traditional ingredients like raisins and honey, rice... and a couple of other things I can't have because a) I am a low carb kind of girl and b) if I put fruit in a meat dish I think my husband might divorce me. I compromised by making it more Sephardic (which for me is just a fancy way of saying I substituted a bunch of ingredients to make it more Italian and less fruity). My kitchen is now filled with intoxicating scents and I am about to float away on them.
Holishkes (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls ala Cathy)
Based on a recipe found in Saveur
Serves 4
1 large head of cabbage, cored
Olive oil
2 small onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 TB fennel seed
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup red chard, sliced into thin ribbons then chopped crosswise
1 32oz can pureed tomatoes
1 lb ground lean ground chuck (or ground lamb would be delicious, too)
3 TB beef stock
1/3 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp paprika or smoked paprika (my personal favorite)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper
Bring a large, deep pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, add the head of cabbage using a giant fork and cook, pulling off each leaf as it cook with some tongs, about 2 minutes per leaf until you get 9-10 leaves. Let drain and cool on some paper towels.
Heat a tsp or two of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add onions and celery. Saute but do not caramelize. Add the fennel seeds, garlic, chard and the pepper flakes. Continue to saute until both the onions and celery are translucent and your kitchen is fragrant. Add the tomato paste and stir until incorporated. Add the tomato puree. Stir then simmer until the sauce starts to reduce, thicken and again become very fragrant, about 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ground beef, beef stock, carrots, paprika, egg and salt and pepper. Don't over-mix or the stuffing will be tough. Lightly stir using only your fingertips until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Lay out your cabbage leaves like little green dishes. Divide the filling between all the leaves. Fold the leaves up one by one by folding in the sides, then rolling the other way into a tidy ball. Place the rolls into an 8"x8" (or 9"x9") baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray. Once all the rolls are in there, cover with the tomato sauce. Bake until the filling is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
If you don't care much about being Kosher, you could sprinkle the top with feta cheese or Parmesan as an added touch. I don't use cheese as there is so much flavor already I don't think it needs it.
Mazel tov, amore!
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