Recipe: Asian Crunch Salad with Grilled Chicken

It's my goal to come up with as many different salads this summer as I can. The timing of starting a low carb diet in the summer is great, because this is when my body naturally craves fresh, cool, crisp salads the most. There are so many possible delicious combinations of flavors! I am also determined to show the world that low carb doesn't necessarily mean only eating greasy plates of meat. That stuff definitely has its place when you are trying to get a high ratio of your calories from fat. But I try to balance it so that if we have one meal that is full of meat or melty cheese, we also eat a meal in the same day that is very laden with vegetables. Gotta get some fiber, and some vitamins, too!

So crunchy and satisfying!

Asian Crunch Salad with Grilled Chicken

1/2 a bag of coleslaw mix
2/3 of a bag of shredded iceberg lettuce
1 can no sugar added mandarin oranges, drained
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced into half moons
1 bag of radishes, pre cut into matchsticks
1/2 a bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cashews

For dressing:
 (Makes enough for two batches)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4  cup splenda
2 shakes of soy sauce
1 Tablespoon minced garlic from a jar
fresh cracked black pepper
a little water to thin it out, if you want
1 Tablespoon smooth peanut butter

(Everything above the peanut butter is Kent's normal recipe for balsamic vinaigrette that we use all the time, because it is so magical and delicious. I call it Kent's Magical Balsamic Vinaigrette. This version just added a little peanut butter to make it a little more Asian flavored. I think it would also be good with a little bit of sesame oil in it.)

Combine all dressing ingredients into a lidded jar and shake to combine. It might be helpful to melt the peanut butter in the microwave first. We had to use a fork to break it up a little. Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl and toss with half of the dressing to combine.

Recipe: Stawberry Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

This is one variation of our famous strawberry salad. I am so glad that strawberries are one of the lower carb fruits, because they are my favorite. We've experimented with some variable ingredients in this salad, like spinach instead of butter lettuce, and pecans instead of sunflower seeds. As long as you have the strawberries, blue cheese, onion and balsamic dressing, the basic flavor profile is there.

As delicious as it is beautiful.

Strawberry Salad

1 bag of ready to eat butter lettuce or other salad greens like spinach or spring mix
10-12 strawberries, thinly sliced
1/3 of a cup of blue cheese crumbles
1/2 a small red onion, thinly sliced
3 Tablespoons shelled sunflower seeds, almonds, or pecans
Kent's Magical Balsamic Vinaigrette

 
This dressing made me love salads. That's powerful stuff. This is more of a formula than a recipe. You can use any kind of vinegar or oil, or add whatever extra herbs or spices to customize it to the salad you're using it with. We really like it with pear flavored vinegar. It is also nice with a little sesame oil and peanut butter to make it Asian style. The possibilities are endless.


Kent's Magical Balsamic Vinaigrette

Kent usually make this so that each part is equal to a half cup. That way, it makes enough for two or more family sized salads. 
 
1 part balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 part splenda (we tried stevia, and for some reason the brand we tried, Stevia in the Raw, made the vinegar taste bitter, so we are sticking to Splenda for salad dressing only, and we try to use stevia for other things.)
1 part olive oil
1/2 part water, to thin it out a little
1 heaping spoonful minced garlic from a jar
a few dashes of soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper
Whisk it up in a bowl, or shake it up in a jar. Viola!

Recipe: Smoked Salmon Salad with Creamy Lemon Garlic Dill Dressing

We have a stockpile of salmon in our freezer right now. When we got our new car in February, the salesman from the Volkswagen dealership chatted with Kent, and found out that he works at a company that designs computer games, and is therefore fairly computer savvy. He asked Kent if he'd be willing to help him with his computer, which wasn't working, so Kent went over and ended up replacing the hard drive and revamping it for him. As a token of appreciation, we received a bunch of the salmon and trout that he had caught. This is just the kind of funny stuff that happens to Kent, being a nice guy and willing to help people. We'd already tried some of it grilled, and wanted to try to smoke it at home. Kent loves his Trager pellet-fed smoker, and found a recipe on how to smoke his own salmon. It turned out great! I wanted to use it to make some sort of recipe that used the same flavors as one of my all time favorite pasta dishes, minus the pasta, of course. This is what we came up with.

Pre-mixing, so you can see what's in it!

 Smoked Salmon Salad with Creamy Lemon Garlic Dill Dressing

1 large filet of smoked salmon (probably need 2 if using store bought)
1 package of Spring Mix salad greens
6 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 of an English cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 package of sugar snap peas, roughly chopped
1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 a pint of cherry tomatoes, each one cut in half

For dressing:
1 cup mayonaise
1/2 pint of buttermilk, approximately
1 Tablespoon dried dill
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
Juice from that lemon
1 Tablespoon minced garlic from a jar, including garlic bits and some of the juice
1/2 Tablespoon cracked black pepper
pinch of Maldon or other salt

Whisk mayo in a bowl, and add buttermilk a little at a time until the consistency looks right. Add remaining ingredients and whisk to combine.
I like to use my mandolin slicer to get perfectly uniform slices of radish and cucumber. I even used it for the red onion, and that method completely eliminated any onion tears. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients. Take a picture for Instagram. (Wait, that's just me.)
Pour all dressing on the salad and toss to combine. This makes enough for 3 huge salads, so if you plan on taking some for lunch the next day, set aside some of the dressing first and pack up your lunch portion of salad before you put the dressing on the rest to keep it crisp.

Here it is all mixed up and ready to eat. It is so hard to force myself to stop and take pictures first, but I do it for the greater good. :)

Recipe: Boursin Mushrooms

Boursin mushrooms are so easy and so delicious. If you have never heard of Boursin cheese, it is a soft, spreadable cheese that is flavored with garlic and herbs. Kent first had these at Trostel's Dish, a small plate tapas restaurant in Des Moines. They were very easy to recreate, considering they only have two ingredients.

It's like a cupcake of cheese.

Boursin Mushrooms

1 package of button mushrooms or Baby Bellas
1 package of Boursin cheese

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Remove stems from mushrooms. Use a fork to poke a couple of sets of holes in each mushroom, so any juices can drain out while cooking. Use a spoon to scoop some Boursin cheese into the inside of the mushroom cap. We like to use the spoon to smooth and shape the cheese down into it so it is flush with the mushroom, but feel free to be more rustic about it. Fill each mushroom, place on a baking sheet with a rack to let the juices drain and prevent sogginess. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are golden.

These are awesome with scrambled eggs for breakfast! I think they would also go very nicely with a steak for a dinner side.

The finished product.

With scrambled eggs and bacon for brunch. Money saving tip: Did you know that bacon "ends and pieces" are way less expensive than normal bacon? Just because they are shorter and get kind of curly when cooked. Just as tasty, though! Normal bacon is $6-$7 a pound, and we got 3 pounds of ends and pieces for $8 at Walmart.

Recipe: Keto pizza crust is a reality!

Kent found this recipe for gluten free, ketogenic low carb pizza crust, thanks to the Reddit low carb forum. We were excited to test it out. Here's the original source of the recipe-  I haven't looked through the rest of that blog yet, but if this recipe is any indication, she is a genius! We are looking forward to modifying this original recipe and trying different cheese combinations, as well as adding herbs and other seasonings to make it custom to whatever kind of pizza we make. We started with my favorite this time- sausage and mushroom. I am hoping to make barbeque pork pizza and Thai chicken pizza in the future. One thing to keep in mind is to go light on the pizza sauce, as tomatoes can be sugary. Alfredo? That's a whole 'nother story!

Dreamy ovals of melty perfection.

Low Carb Pizza Crust
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
1 1/2 cup plus or minus 1-2 Tbsp almond meal
2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Place the cheese in a medium bowl; microwave till melted. (2 minutes for us.)
LET IT COOL enough to handle with your hands, this is crucial or you could burn your hands. (This took maybe 5-7 minutes.)

Once you can handle it safely, add the cream cheese, egg and almond meal; mix with your hands until it forms a ball.  This will be very sticky at first; add the almond meal in gradually until you get the right consistency. It seems like it won't come together, then suddenly it does- have faith. Also, be sure to remove your rings before this step.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces and set it aside.  Put a sheet of parchment paper on the counter, approximately the same size as your cookie sheet.  Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough as thin as you like, we went pretty thin, and I think that helps with the final texture. Pick up the parchment paper and put it on the cookie sheet.  Place in oven and bake till edges start to turn golden brown.

Remove the cookie sheet from the oven; add sauce and toppings.

Return to the oven on the top rack till cheese is melty and the edges of the crust are browned.We like to kick on the convection in the oven to encourage more crispiness.

This recipe made two oval pizzas, approximately 10 inches long by 8 inches wide. It was enough that we each got stuffed on half of our pizzas, and were able to save the other halves for lunch the next day! Almond meal sticks with a person.

One time saving tip: my local HyVee store used to put out ready made pizza toppings in a display case, but I didn't see any the other day. I went over to the pizza kitchen area and asked, and they packaged up what I wanted, so I got 28 ounces of pre-cooked Italian sausage meatballs for $2.09. That is cheaper than if I bought the raw sausage and saved us tons of prep time. Win!

Much golden. Such chewy. Wow.