Friday, July 06, 2007

I have to brag on this one.. I made egg free, dairy free, gluten free, (vegan), sugar free Gingerbread cookies. This was really a great boon. I have a friend that is hypoglycemic and allergic to chocolate. I wanted to make a dessert for us, as I’m cooking a Thai night up at their place. I did good on this one I think. They are tasty as anything too. :D

I found out you can make a killer sugar free “brown sugar” with Splenda and sugar free maple syrup. It’s really tasty!! Take a cup of splenda and a 1/4 cup of the sugar free maple syrup and blend.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Posted by Diosa in • Dessert • Gluten free • Low Carb
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Sunday, May 28, 2006

Serves 6
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
2 eggs
4 Tbsp butter, or 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp olive oil

Pound chicken breasts until they are 1/4 inch (5mm) thick and cut into 6 portions.  Set aside.

Combine cheese with oregano, parsley, garlic powder, paprika, pepper on a plate.  On another plate or in a shallow bowl, beat the eggs.  dip the chicken into the eggs, then into the cheese mixture, coating both sides evenly.

Melt butter or butter/oil mix in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat (any higher will burn the cheese) and saute for 4-5 minutes per side or until cooked through.

Cook’s note:
This is a higher fat dish due to the cheese.  the one cup is 457 calories, with 257 calories from fat, or 28.6 grams of fat. But bear in mind that this is used over 6 pieces of chicken, so per piece it’d be about 76 calories or about 42 from fat, or about 4.8 grams of fat, at most.  You can do this with cooking spray or minimal oil to lower the calorie/fat counts even more.  The eggs can be replaced with egg replacer for an egg-less version, and if tolerated, you can try a dairyfree version using soy parmesan cheese.  That will also substantially lower fat and calories.

This is from the 15 Minute Low-Carb cookbook by Dana Carpender.  It’s an awesome cookbook, with lots of quick ideas. 

Posted by Diosa in • Comfort Food • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Poultry
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Saturday, May 27, 2006

1/2 lb boneless chicken breast (or 1/2 lb mixed vegetables, see note below)
2 to 6 small red chile peppers
1/2 stalk fresh lemon grass
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 T oil
1/2 c coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
fish sauce to taste (soy sauce for veggie version)
10 to 15 basil leaves
1 c chopped cabbage

Thinly cut chicken into 2-inch strips. (If doing veggie version, cut vegetables into thin strips.) Grind together red chili peppers, lemon grass, and kaffir lime leaves in a food processor or pound in a mortar. Heat oil to medium-high and saute pepper mixture for 3 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and cook for 2 minutes. Add chicken (or vegetables) and cook for 5 minutes or until cooked (same time for veggies). Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in fish sauce (if using), salt, and basil. Serve on a bed of chopped cabbage.

Makes 3 to 4 servings.

Note: For mixed vegetables, choose from among bell peppers, string beans, water chestnuts, tomatoes (small cherry tomatoes are best), bamboo shoots, miniature corn, asparagus, cucumbers, zucchini, Japanese eggplant, and mushrooms. I particularly like string beans or asparagus, a few cherry tomatoes, shredded (rather than sliced) bamboo shoots, miniature corn, and some straw mushrooms or slender (Japanese) eggplant.

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Low Fat • Meats • Poultry • Vegetarian
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Sunday, April 09, 2006

Lately, I’ve been trying to do some stuff with lamb.  I’ve never been a huge fan of it, but I know the DH loves it.  It all boils down to being bored with chicken and beef.  We eat a lot of both, as it’s the easiest to do stuff with.  You can grill it, fry it, bake it, broil it and usually it’s all good.  He’s not a big fish fan, and while I love fish like salmon and tuna, I’m not as keen on cod or other mild white fish so we tend not to eat a lot of fish.  For me, shrimp belongs in a shrimp cocktail and little else.   So finding new meats and new tastes are right now key to keeping me interested in cooking and not getting too down about having CD. 

Which brings me to lamb.

I’ve been playing around with it a bit, starting with that French Provence lamb slow cooker dish I did a few weeks ago.  It was really good, but I wanted to try something else.  I found this minted lamb recipe and wanted to try it.  Thursday night I pull the meat down from the freezer to have it ready for Friday.  Friday night I’m all ready to cook it and guess what?  It needs to marinate for at least four hours!!  Now what?  I look closely at the list of ingredients for the marinade.  I could do a dry rub with part of it then the liquids could be made into a sauce and reduced a bit.  Cool, let’s get started.  Hmm.  The 8 bits of lamb I thought I had?  Try 4 big pieces.   Oops.  Ok, no biggie, two skillets should do the trick and just split the sauce between both.  Except one of my skillets is steel and the other is hard anodized aluminum.  It was a bit tense trying to watch both, as they were wanting to cook at different rates, and one was smoking (First time I set off the heat/smoke detector in a while.) and while all this is going on, I’m trying to roast up some carrots to go with it.  As frantic as it all looked, it came together well.  I can definitely see doing this again, and I’d probably do it the same way, except I’d get a chunk of bobneless lamb and cut it up.

Minted Lamb Chops
8 lamb rib chops with bone, cut 1” thick
1/4 cup snipped fresh mint
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons worth)
2 Tbsp cooking oil
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp bottled mince garlic or 1-2 cloves fresh
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1-2 Tbsp finely shreddded mint

Trim fat from chops.  Place chops in resealable plastic bag or in a shallow dish.  For the marinade place all the ingredients except the finely shredded mint into a bowl and mix.  Pour over chops. Seal the bag, if using.  Turn the chops to coat. Cover if in a dish.  marinate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Drain chops, discarding the marinade.  Place chops on a grill or in broiler 3-4 inches from the heat.  Grill or broil til desired doneness, turning once halfway through cooking.  Aloow 12 minutes or so for medium-rare and 15 or so for medium.

If using the skillet method, heat pan over medium high heat.  Add a bit of oil.  When the oils starts showing the first wisps of smoke, add the chops.  Wait for several minutes, oil the side facing upwards, then flip, letting them sear.  Cook until desired doneness.

Transfer chops to a serving platter and sprinkle with shredded mint.

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Lamb
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Tonight I was ready for a light meal.  I knew we were doing the Lemon Chicken tonight.  I had the chicken marinating last night and the nuoc cham made, all I had to do tonight was prep the salad and cook the chicken.  The chicken was gorgeous!  It was definitely high ranking in my favorites.  There was such a play of flavors with the chicken, the lemon, and garlic with the sugar, the cilantro, lettuce and green onion, the spice and heat of the dipping sauce and the cleansing of the cucumber.  YUM!!  All of it practically danced in your mouth.  The only thing I wasn’t keen on was the pea shoots.  They tasted like grass to me.  Maybe if they were blanched or something but in their straight out of the garden taste, they were not that nice for me.  I’ll admit - I’m picky when it comes to stuff like sprouts or shoots.  I really don’t like most of them because they taste of grass (at least raw).  So next salad, those will definitely be omitted.  The chicken recipe came from the 15 Minute low Carb Recipe book I have.  They only marinate for a few minutes, but I just can’t do that.  I love the intensity of the flavor (not to mention the tenderness) of meat that marinates for hours, even days.  But if you don’t mind that, feel free to marinate on the spot.  The salad recipe I found online somewhere (lost the bookmark to it unfortunately.)  I made some variations.  I diced the chicken up as it was better over the salad that way.  Plus I added several dashes of red pepper to the nuoc cham.  I wanted it to be spicy and have some bite to it.  Feel free to leave that out if it’s too hot or too spicy.

Vietnamese Lemon Chicken

1 1/2 lbs (750g) boneless skinless chicken (your choice of white or dark - I used breasts as they were on sale)
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp lemon juice (I just used the juice of a whole lemon and the zest)
2 tsp garlic
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Slenda (or sugar if you prefer the carbed up version)
2 tsp fish sauce (nuoc mam)  (i’ll admit - I used more)
1/2 tsp pepper
Oil
Nuoc Cham (see below)

If time permits, combine the everything save the oil and the nuoc cham and let marinate overnight.  Also, if you can, make the nuoc cham the night before just to get the flavors blended together.  If you are pressed for time, pound each piece of chicken until it is 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick.  Put them on a plate.

Mix together the lemon, garlic, splenda, fish sauce and pepper aand pour the mixture evenly over the chicken.  Turn the chicken so that all sides are coated.  Heat 1 or 2 Tbsp oil in a heavy skillet and add the chicken.  Saute 4 to 5 minutes each side, or until cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, toss together the nuoc cham - see below, but this takes no time at all to put together.

In the last minute or so of cooking, pour the lemon juice mixture remaining on the plate into the skillet, turning the chicken once again to make sure it’s all coated.  After a minute or so, remove from heat.  Serve with a little pool or a bowl of the nuoc cham to dip the chicken in.

Nuoc Cham (Spicy dipping sauce)

2 Tbsp fish sauce (I was a bit liberal with this)
2 Tbsp lime juice (I just used a whole lime)
1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar and again, I was a bit generous with the pour)
3 Tbsp Splenda
1/2 tsp minced garlic or 1 clove, crushed
1 tsp chili garlic paste
several dashes red pepper (optional)

Simply mix everything in a small dish.

Vietnamese Green Salad

1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar or white rice vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
¼ teaspoon superfine (caster) sugar (I used Splenda for this)
4 cups oak leaf lettuce leaves—washed, dried and roughly torn (I ended up using escarole, as it’s what they had at the store)
1 oz (30g) snow pea sprouts
1 scallion—thinly sliced on the diagonal
15 thinly sliced rounds of cucumber—cut in half
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves (I was generous with this and I’m glad I was.  It’s a great flavor enhancer in this)

MIX together the fish sauce, vinegar and sugar in a bowl until well combined (or shake together in a screw-top jar). PLACE all remaining ingredients, except the dressing, in a salad bowl. POUR the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine just before serving.

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Marinades, Condiments, dressings and rubs • Meats • Poultry • Salads
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Tuesday, March 21, 2006

In this culinary trip around the globe, i decided that one needed to be done via the slow cooker.  There really something to having your dinner ready the second you walk in the door, isn’t there?  Last summer my low cooker (crock pot) got a major workout along with the grill.  The problem I found though is that boneless, skinless chicken breasts really didn’t work for us.  The meat was rubbery and never really held the flavor of the ingredients in there.  Now beef, I’ve never had issues with.  It’s only been chicken.  Chicken with bone in/skin on does ok, but I still wasn’t a big fan of it.  But being adventurous as always, I decided to give it a new lease on life.

I wanted to add some lamb to the rota.  We’ve been eating a fair amount of lamb recently and I’ve really grown to like it.  I found the perfect trial recipe for the slow cooker attempt - Lamb Stew Provencal from my 200 Low Carb Slow Cooker recipe book.  The only thing in there that I wasn’t sure of was the fennel.  I’d never had fennel before so I wasn’t sure if I’d like it or not, but why not give it a go.  This morning was the “dump and go” maneuver.

It was extremely tasty!  The lamb fell off the bones, the veggies were all done and the sauce was thick enough that I didn’t even bother trying t thicken it more.  The one thing I will say is that this is one of those stick to your rib stews, so I wouldn’t want it if I was in the mood for a light dinner or during the hottest part of summer.  This is the perfect cold, rainy night meal.  One note - make sure you know how big your crock pot is!!  I only had 2.5 lbs (including bones) of meat and it *barely* fit.  Feel free to adjust the recipe to your slow cooker

Lamb Stew Provencal

3 lbs (1.5 kg) lamb stew meat (I did bone in shoulder, but go for the cubed, deboned meat)
3 Tbsp (45 milliliters) olive oil
1 whole fennel bulb, sliced lengthwise
1 medium onion, sliced lengthwise
4 cloves of garlic, crushed (I did 6 and sliced)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried rosemary, whole needles
15 oz (425 grams) canned black soybeans, drained (I used a cup dried black beans due to the soy allergy.  You can use canned beans if you want.)
1 cup beef broth (Again, I substituted chicken both (that’s what I had on hand) with a gf “beef” vegan bouillon cube and some red wine)
1 tsp chicken bouillon concentrate (this got left out - didn’t see the point since I was already using chicken broth and added a large bouillon cube already)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried majoram
1/2 tsp dried savory
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Guar or xantham (if needed)

Season the lamb with salt and pepper.  In a heavy skillet, heat the oil and brown the lamb on all sides over medium-high heat.

Place the fennel, onion, and garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker, Add bay leaf and rosemary.  Dump the beans (whichever you are using) on top of that.  When the lamb is browned, put it on top of the veggies.

Add the one cup broth to the pan to get all those nice browned lamb bits off the bottom.  Transfer that to a bowl and stir in the bouillon, and the herbs.  Pour the mixture over the lamb.  Cover, set to low and let it cook for 8-9 hours.

When it’s done, (if needed) thicken the liquid to the texture of heavy cream with the guar or xantham.

Tomorrow we are setting off to Vietnam.  I’ve already got the chicken marinating and the dipping sauce is all prepared.  All I have to do tomorrow is cook the chicken and prep the salad.  Man, when did I get so organised?

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Lamb
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Monday, March 20, 2006

Tonight was probably one of my best meals ever.  Tonight was chinese sweet and sour chicken.  Again, the craving for takeout comfort was intense, so sweet and sour chicken seemed to fit the bill.  But it was so funny.  I was all organised to the point that all I had to do was dump everything in.  I found this one off of Recipezaar, with my own modifications.  I made sure to season the chicken with plenty of salt and pepper.  I also added a bit more vinegar than recommended, and made sure to use cider vinegar.  Also I de-glutened this by using cauliflower “rice”.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe #141131
YUMMMMM!
1/2 head cauliflower
1 Tbsp oil
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into cubes (about 3/4 lbs.)
1 small green bell peppers, cut into strips
1 small red bell peppers, cut into strips
3 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce substitute
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 (8 oz) can chunk pineapple in juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1. For the rice, put the shredded cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and cover.  Add a few tablespoons of water and microwave for 6 minutes or so.
2. Meanwhile, cook and stir chicken in hot oil in large skillet until brown. Add peppers; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes. Stir cornstarch and soy sauce in small bowl. Add soy sauce mixture, pineapple in juice, vinegar, sugar, ginger and garlic powder to skillet; bring to boil.  Enjoy.

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Poultry
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Ok, so I honestly can’t go on a trip around the world, but here lately I’ve been craving ethnic food something fierce… Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, and especially Ethiopian.  Before going gluten-free, I used to have all of these on a regular basis, especially the Ethiopian.  There was an awesome place in BackBay called Addis Red Sea which had the most incredible food.  Lots of wonderful chicken, beef, lamb and vegetarian dishes, all perfectly spiced.  A great Mexican place I used to go was Fajitas N Ritas.  The food was good, but it had the best margaritas anywhere.  The sour ones were superb.  There were several nice Thai and Vietnamese places I used to frequent.  I’ve missed all of that.

Until now.

I’m getting more and more away from the bland steak and chicken that I first started out making and have really started coming into some prety good food.  I know when I was first diagnosed, I thought all I’d be able to eat was meat and veggies.  I’ve since learned that meat and veggies aren’t so bad, and can be very versatile with the aid of spices.

But I digress.

My Ethiopian adventure is on hold for the moment, pending a trip to the spice store.  There’s this awesome spice place in Lexington that my friends have raved about but I’ve yet to go into.  I could just go to Whole Foods, but there’s something about *fresh* spices that appeals to me, especially for something like this.  But this new food rota is full of ethnic food.  I’ve got Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai.  Have you ever had those days where you just crave take-away?  The easy food for life on the run?  I have.  So this rota is just for that.

Last night (see below for pics) was Thai Beef in Lettuce wraps.  I made my own soy sauce substitute, which was really good!  It’s not as dark as the real thing, but has all the flavor, and little of the fat (no oil in it).  That recipe can be found here.  The only things I’d change in this is I would spice the beef up more.   Not so much with more heat, but with more spice.  Cumin and or chili powder would’ve suited this nicely.  I also didn’t add the whole amount of chili flakes, since the DH isn’t that keen on hot foods.  i just took the shaker with me and added for myself.  For the rice in this dish, I used half a head of cauliflower shredded in the Cuisinart and then microwave it in a covered bowl (Ok, I used Saran wrap and a glass bowl. ) and microwave for 6-7 minutes.  It makes a darn good rice substiture.  The DH, who hates rice, liked this.

This recipe, btw, comes from 500 More Low Carb Recipes.  Low carb tends to marry well with gluten free.

Thai Beef Lettuce Wraps

1 lbs (455 g) ground beef (Use ground round or sirloin if you can)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup (80 ml) chopped onions
1 clove garlic
1 medium yellow pepper diced (or whatever colour you have on hand)
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
2 tsp chopped fresh mint
1 tsp gluten free beef bouillon granules (I actually use a vegan “beef” one that is wonderful)
1/2 head cauliflower, shredded
1 Tbsp (15 ml) fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)
2 tsp soy sauce substitute
1/2 cup (60 g) chopped peanuts (OPTIONAL)
1/2 cucumber, diced small
16 lettuce leaves (I’d recommend either Romaine or Butter lettuce over iceberg)

In a big skillet, break up and brown the beek with the pepper flakes (I’d also recommend cumin and/or a pinch of chili powder, salt or seasoning salt and pepper.  A pinch of coriander would work nicely too).

When the beef is browned, tilt the pan and spoon off any fat that’s accumulated (with round and sirloin, there’s barely any).  Stir in the onion, garlic, pepper, lemon juice, mint and beef bouillon granules.  Stir until bouillon dissolves.  Turn burner on low and let the whole thing simmer.

Now you can start on the “rice”.  Put the shredded cauliflower in a microwavable casserole dish with a lid (or do the “ghetto” method of a glass bowl and Saran Wrap or wax paper) add a couple of tablespoons of water, and microwave for 6-7 minutes on high.

By the time the “rice” is done, the peppers in onions should be tender.  Drain the “rice” and stir into the beef mixture.  Stir in fish sauce and soy sauce substitute too. 

Put your peanuts if using and cucumber in small dishes.  Arrange 4 good sized lettuce leaves on each of four plates and spoon a mound of the meat mixture next to them.  To eat, spoon some of the meat mixture into a lettuce leaf and sprinkle with peanuts and cucumber.  Wrap in the lettuce and eat as you would a burrito.

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Beef
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Sunday, January 08, 2006

Except for the chicken, the rest of this isn’t really measured, so these are my best guesses.  I just chuck a bunch of the stuff together until it “looks right”

2 1/2 to 3 lbs. boneless, skinless, meaty chicken pieces (I prefer thighs, but breasts work well)
2 Tbsp cooking oil or Olive oil
1 1/2 to 2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1-2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
1 1/2 tsp oregano, basil or italian seasoning, crushed
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (I go a bit easy on this)

For better results, marinade the chicken at least 10 minutes in the sauce.  If you have the time, marinade longer, up to overnight.  If you are REALLY short on time, follow the broiling instructions.

Preheat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  Place chicken in skillet.  Cover and cook about 5-7 minutes each side or until chicken pieces are done.  Serve.

If you are broiling.  place chicken in the broiler, about 4 inches from the heat.  Broil for about 3 minutes then turn.  Use the sauce as a glaze and brush ckicken with it.  Broil for another couple minutes then turn and brush again.  Give it a few more minutes then check for doneness.  When done, serve, brushing chicken with any remaining marinade.

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Poultry
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Serves: 2-4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8-12 minutes for the beef, or until desired doneness and 5 minutes for the sauce.

2 boneless beef top sirloin steaks, or any preferred cut that about 3/4” thick and about 1.5 to 1.75 lbs
1 to 2 tsp bottled minced garlic (around 2-4 cloves)
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil (or garlic-infused olive oil if you have it)
1 cup beef broth (I use these vegan GF cubes thaat are awesome)
2 tbsp wine
1/2 tsp dijon mustard

These can be done either in a broiler or in a skillet.  I usually use the skillet method

Preheat broiler or start heating a skillet with the oil on low-medium heat.  Trim fat from steaks.  For rub, in a small bowl combine garlic pepper and salt.  Sprinkle mixture evenly over both sides of each steak.  Rub in with your fingers.

For sauce, in a pan combine beef broth and wine.  Cook over high heat for 4-5 minutes or until mixture is reduced to about 1/2 cup.  Whisk in mustard.  Cover sauce and keep on low heat to keep warm.

Place steaks n the unheated rack of a broiler pan Broil 3-4 inches from the heat until desired doneness, turning once halfway through broiling.

-OR-

Place steaks in heated skillet.  After a minute or two, start raising the heat of the skillet.  Allow 8-10 minues or so for medium rare, more time for more doneness.

Cut steaks into 4 roughly equal servings if needed.  Spoon sauce onto 4 dnner plates.  Top with steak

I tend to serve this with roasted, blanched or sauted asparagus.  The flavor pairing is incredible.

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Beef
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Monday, November 14, 2005

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes for the meat, another 2-5 minutes for the sauce.

4 beef tenderloins, cut 1 inch thick (about a pound total)
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper (more if you like spicy)
1 Tbsp butter or margarine (or any oil)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup beef broth (I use GF vegan “beef” bouillion in this and it’s great)
1/4 cup red wine
1 tsp dried majoram, crushed

Trim fat from steaks.  Press pepper into both sides of each steak.  In a large heavy skillet, melt butter/heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add steaks, reduce heat to medium.  Cook for 10-13 minutes for medium-rare (145F) to medium (160F) doneness, turning once.  Transfer steaks to a serving platter, reserving drippings in skillet.  Cover steaks, keep warm.

For sauce, stir onions into reserved drippings in skillet.  Cook until onion is tender.  Remove from heat.  Carefully add beef broth, wine and majoram to onion in skillet, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of skillet.  Return to heat.  Bring to boiling, reduce heat.  Boil gently, uncovered, about 2 minutes or until recuded to about 1/4 cup.  Serve sauce over steks.

This is a very tasy, quick meal to make.

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Meats • Beef
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Saturday, July 30, 2005

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1.25lbs total)
1 cup balsamic vinegrette dressing
1 1/2 tsp bottled minced garlic (or 4 cloves, minced)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
8 cups cut up salad greens of your choice

Place chicken in a resealable bag.  Mix up the next three ingredients into a bowl and our over chicken.  Seal the bag, turn to coat chicken and let marinade for at least an hour.

Chicken can then be grilled or placed in a broiler for 12 to 15 minutes or until no longer pink.  Divide up the salad greens among the dinner plates.  Cut the chicken into strips and place over the greens.  Serve with the remaining 1/2 cup balsamic vinegrette dressing.

Serves 4

Posted by Diosa in • Low Carb • Meats • Poultry
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1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dired thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tsp dried basil (or rosemary)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (optional)
1/4 tsp onion powder (optional)
1 tsp Splenda (or sweetener of choice)

Mix everything together.  Store in an airtight container, or clean salad dressing jar.

Posted by Diosa in • Low Carb • Marinades, Condiments, dressings and rubs
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Monday, July 04, 2005

2 cups low sodium beef broth
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon molasses
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 dash black pepper
1 dash garlic powder
1 dash onion powder

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and boil uncover until reduced to 1/2 cup.  Store in refrigerator. Stir/Shake before using. (2-4 servings)

Found this on Recipezaar.com and thought it was a great replacement for soy sauce. 

Nutritional info per serving - 11 calories, 0 Fat, 3g carb

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Low Fat • Marinades, Condiments, dressings and rubs
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1 1/2 lbs fresh green beans (frozen works well too)
1/3 cup diced red pepper
4 1/2 t olive oil
4 1/2 t water
1 1/2 t white wine vinegar
1 1/2 t spicy brwon mustard
3/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/8t garlic powder

Place beans and red pepper in a steamer basket.  Cover and steam for 7-8 minute sor until crisp-tender.  Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.  Transfer bean mixture to a serving bowl; add vinegrette and stir to coat.

(ed) This recipe came out of Taste of Home’s Low-Carb recipe book.  It’s a great one for people who aren’t really fond of green beans (me) or just as a way to jazz them up. Makes roughly 8 servings.

Nutritional info (per 1/2 cup serving) - 43 calories, 2g fat, 5g carbs (3g fiber)

Posted by Diosa in • Gluten free • Low Carb • Vegetable
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