The Bowl Kitchen: Everything Big Mac Bowl

I've been wanting to try this viral recipe...a Big Mac Bowl. I finally got the ingredients and yumm. The sauce is definitely the star. I added everything seasoning to mine for a bit of crunch.

The ingredients:

1lb ground beef

1 TBSP Soy sauce

Salt and pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1-2 C shredded cabbage

1 TBSP dill relish or dill pickles (16)

Shredded cheese

Bacon

Everything seasoning

Sauce:

1/2 C mayo

2 TBSP dill relish

2 TBSP mustard

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

The recipe:

In a skillet, brown the ground beef with the soy sauce, salt, pepper, and onion powder.

Then add the cabbage and cook until wilted.

Then add a sprinkle of everything seasoning and mix well.

While the meats cooking make the sauce by combining the sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix well.

Add meat mixture to a bowl and top with pickles/relish, bacon, and cheese.

Drizzle with the sauce and sprinkle a bit more everything seasoning on top.

Note:

For a twist you can add mushrooms to the meat mixture, replace the cheddar cheese with Swiss cheese and its like a mushroom Swiss burger bowl.

The Seafood Kitchen: Za'atar Garlic Salmon

Another new salmon recipe to try for my weekly seafood dish. This turned out pretty good. Definitely a more savory than sweet. Salmon was cooked perfectly.

The ingredients:

1 salmon fillet

1 TBSP olive oil

1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove

1/2 tsp Za'atar

Pinch of salt and pepper

The recipe:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, add oil and seasonings and stir to combine.

Brush oil mixture over the salmon.

Add salmon to parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until flaky.

Rest for a couple minutes.

Notes:

I used skin on salmon, so the oil mixture was just added to the flesh side.

I used garlic powder instead of cloves.

The Holiday Kitchen: Dublin Coddle Twist

I made a twist on a Dublin coddle to make it low carb in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. This twist features radishes instead of potatoes and adds cabbage.

The ingredients:

1 C crumbled bacon

11oz smoked sausage

1 C broth

1 lb radishes chopped

2 C shredded cabbage

Onion powder or 1/2 yellow onion sliced thin

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 TBSP margoram

1/2 TBSP savory

1/2 tsp thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

The recipe: 

Preheat oven to 325.

In a cast iron skillet on medium high heat, cook bacon and set aside leaving grease.

Then cook the sausage to brown and set aside side, leave half of grease.

Reduce heat to medium, and add broth and veggies and cook for 5 minutes.

Add seasonings, sausage, and half the bacon.

Cover with foil.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Top with remaining bacon.

Notes:

I used beef sausage and beef broth. The recipe calls for pork sausage and chicken broth.

The original recipe used turnips instead of cabbage but I replaced with cabbage instead.

The Low Carb Kitchen: Chicken Fettucine Alfedo with Broccoli

 I am finally trying a new ingredient to replace traditional pasta in this dish. Egg life has come out with power pasta which is fettucine shaped egg pasta made with eggs and no flour. It is low in carbs and high in protein. I found this to be a great alternative if you are cutting back on carbs or are gluten free. The texture is different. I use Egg life wraps to replace tortillas frequently, so it was not so much of a big deal for me. There are three flavors of pasta: plain, roasted garlic, and sundried tomato. I used the roasted garlic in this alfredo dish. 

The ingredients:

3-4 chicken thighs baked and shredded

1 TBSP Olive oil

1 jar of alfredo sauce

1 crown of broccoli cut up into florets

1/2 C crumbled bacon

salt and pepper

Italian Seasoning

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 C grated parmesan cheese

crushed red pepper

The recipe:

In the oven at 425 degrees bake your chicken for 20-25 minutes coated with olive oil and seasoning of choice (I used an onion salt and mushroom umami seasoning). Once done shred to be added later to the alfredo. Next time I may try chicken breast instead. 

In a skillet, add olive oil, bacon, and broccoli cooking until bright green and bacon is crispy. (I use a pre crumbled bacon.) 

Add jar of sauce with the chicken and season as desired. I used an aglio e olio seasoning from Trader Joes, you could use an Italian Seasoning instead. Mix to combine and taste to check seasoning. 

Prepare the egg life noodles as directed on the box, then add to the skillet with the alfredo and toss to coat in the sauce and mix well with the chicken and broccoli. 

Top with grated parmesan. Garnish with crushed red pepper and basil if desired. 

Notes:

The Egg life noodles were pretty good. They may seem weird at first texture wise. They are much softer than traditional pasta but once coated in the sauce you don't notice as much. In my opinion. 

The noodles run about 7.99 and are currently hard to find. I have only found them at Hy-Vee locally so far. There are 3 C in a box which is enough for about 3-4 servings. 

The Sheet Pan Kitchen: Sheet Pan Tandoori Chicken and Veggies

 I cut up the chicken and added the marinade the night before, so this was really a quick meal to make the day of. I just had to chop up some veggies. This is also pretty healthy. The spices really are the stars of this meal. 

The ingredients:

Chicken:
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs

2 TBSP coconut cream or greek yogurt

1 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP lemon juice

2 garlic cloves or 1 tsp garlic powder

1 TBSP tandoori spice (see end for spice mix recipe)

Veggies:

1lb bag frozen cauliflower or 1 head cut into florets.

2 peppers cut up in large pieces

1 TBSP olive oil

1-2 tsp curry powder

salt 

pepper

Cilantro (optional)

The recipe:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Chop the chicken into 1 in cubes. Place in a large bowl and add the coconut cream, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and tandoori spice. Set aside. 

Toss the cauliflower and peppers in olive oil and add the curry powder, salt, and pepper. 

Transfer the chicken and veggies to a sheet pan and bake for 20-30 minutes. 

Garnish with cilantro if desired. 

Notes:

The original recipe used peas instead of peppers. 

I used 2 tsp of curry powder on the veggies.

I baked for 25 minutes. 

Tandorri Spice Mix:

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt. 

The Seafood Kitchen: Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas

 This is a great way to make shrimp fajitas it is super-fast and easy with only using one pan. It's even faster if you do all your chopping ahead of time. It's a great low carb and low-calorie meal with a lot of protein. 

The ingredients:

1lb shrimp

4 bell peppers various colors cut in strips

1/4 C sliced jalapenos (optional)

2 tsp black lime seasoning- divided

2 tsp hatch chili seasoning- divided

4 tsp taco seasoning- divided

lime juice of 1 lime

4 TBSP olive oil

The recipe:

I prepped the peppers the night before and cut into strips plus the jalapenos and added to a Ziploc bag with 2 TBSP olive plus half of the seasonings. And rub together to coat then leave in fridge overnight. 

Thaw shrimp and add to Ziploc with 2 TBSP olive oil, lime juice, and the other half of the seasonings. Rub together to coat. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

On a baking sheet add the peppers and bake for 5 minutes. 

Then top with the shrimp and bake another 8-10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. 

Serve with fajita fixings.

Notes:

If you don't like a lot of spice omit the jalapenos. 

Garnish with cilantro, salsa, sour cream, guacamole. Serve with taco shells if desired, I omit them unless I have egg life wraps but I am currently out. 

 

Cookbook Review: Keto BBQ by Faith Gorsky and Lara Clevenger

 This is a small cookbook that focuses on all things BBQ. This is a great cookbook to have on hand for the summer when everyone is cooking out. It has over 100 recipes ranging from rubs, marinades, sides, to desserts. A lot of classics revamped for the low carb lifestyle. 

The first chapter is all about eating Keto like many of the other keto cookbooks. This section does include specifics about keto barbeque. Important things like rubs, brines, and marinades have their own section. The condiments have some twist on classics like smoky guacamole (which I am excited to try), Tex-Mex ranch, and spicy ketchup. 

The meat sections focus on things like grilled meats, pulled meats, burgers, and tacos. There is a recipe for Indian Chicken Burgers that sounds so good! All the burger recipes have instructions for cooking on grill and on stovetop. 

There are tip boxes at the bottom of some of the recipes with things like grilling tips, storage tips, slow cooker tips, etc. 

Unlike some other cookbooks there is a whole section for sausage and hot dogs including the famous Chicago style and Coney Island Hot Dogs. 

One nice thing in this cookbook is a drinks section for a BBQ. This includes keto versions of sweet tea, lemonade, Arnold Palmers, and various mocktails. 

This is a nice little cookbook for the summer with some great classics and some twists on things like burgers. There is not a picture for every recipe and there are multiple recipes on some pages. When that is the case, they clearly mark which recipe has a picture.

Some recipes I really want to try are the smoky guacamole, the Indian Chicken Burgers, the grilled lime shrimp packets, and the cauliflower mac and cheese.