The Low Carb Kitchen: Shrimp and Cauli Grits

I love shrimp and grits but not the carbs. A nice alternative to grits is using cauliflower. Not the same but an alternative.

Cheesy Cauli Grits

2 C shredded cheese

Butter

2 10 oz. Bags cauliflower rice

1/4 C water

1 TBSP oil

Creole or cajun seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Crushed red pepper optional

I a pot add oil, water, cauliflower, and creole seasoning and cook for 10 minutes stirring frequently. Add cheese, butter, salt and pepper. Stir until mixed well and thickened.

Creole Shrimp and Sausage
1lb shrimp

Smoked sausage sliced

Creole or cajun seasoning

Bell pepper diced

Celery diced

1 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP butter

Onion powder or diced onion

Xanthum Gum 

Place thawed shrimp in ziploc and toss with 1 TBSP Creole seasoning.

Place sliced smoked sausage in ziploc and toss with 1 TBSP Creole seasoning.

In a skillet, add oil, peppers, celery, onion powder, butter, and sausage. 

Cook until veggies softened and sausage browned.

Add shrimp and cook until pink and opaque.

Add xanthum gum to thicken the sauce.

Notes:

Instead of xanthum gum you can use any cornstarch slurry. 

I use the immersion blender in my grits go make it less chunky. 

Low Carb Kitchen: Curried Pork and Cauliflower Rice Bowl

The ingredients:

4 C cauliflower rice

2 bell peppers diced

1lb ground pork

Olive oil

3 tsp curry powder

2 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp hot paprika

Optional: crushed red pepper

Optional: herbs and garlic or cilantro

The recipe:

In a skillet, add oil peppers and pork and cook until pork done.

Add cauliflower rice and cook until liquid cooked down.

Add spices and stir to combine.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with crushed red pepper, herbs and garlic, or cilantro.

The Veggie Kitchen: Radish O'Brien

On this low carb journey something new I've discovered is roasted radishes taste and look very similar to roasted potatoes. A great alternative. I thought Radish O'Brien was an easy twist.

The ingredients:

Radishes quartered

Bell peppers diced

1 tsp onion powder or 1 C diced onion

1 tsp garlic powder

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

The recipe:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Dice peppers and quarter radishes.

Toss peppers and radishes in a bowl with the spices.

If using onion instead of onion powder add and toss.

Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and toss.

Add to greased baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Notes:

This pairs great with breakfast or you can use it as a base for a breakfast bowl. 

It will also make a great side dish.

The Veggie Kitchen: Veggie Hash

When eating super low carb and avoiding starchy veggies there are just some things you miss like hashbrowns. I wanted to try a version with low carb veggies but you can use any veggies you have. Its a great way to use up your veggies before they go bad.

The ingredients:

Shredded cabbage

Chopped broccoli

Chopped kale

Diced green pepper

Diced poblano pepper

Shredded zucchini

Olive oil

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Smoked paprika

Salt and pepper

The recipe:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees 

In a bowl, add all the veggies and seasonings and coat with olive oil.

Add to baking dish and baked for 15-30 minutes until cooked to your liking.

Notes:

I tried making hashbrowns with the finished product by dropping in oil and frying. They did not hold up on their own. 

I then added cheese, it held up better but not great. The burnt bits were so good and tasted just like hashbrowns! 

The Mediterranean Kitchen: Chicken Pesto Bowl

The ingredients: 

Olive oil

1 lb ground chicken

1 bag cauliflower rice

1 C chopped kale

1-2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

1/4-1/2 C pesto

1/2 C crumbled feta

The recipe:

In a skillet, brown chicken with garlic, paprika, salt and pepper in olive oil.

Add cauliflower rice and pesto and stir to combine.

Add kale and cook until bright green.

Remove from heat and add feta and stir to combine.

Garnish with some parmesan cheese, silk chili, and sumac.

The Starter Kitchen: Mini Pepper Nachos

A low carb twist to classic nachos. These turned out great and we're relatively easy to make. 

The ingredients:

1 bag mini peppers sliced lengthwise and seeds and stem removed

1 lb ground beef

1 roll Mexican chorizo

1 poblano pepper diced

Taco seasoning

Black lime seasoning

Pepperjack cheese shredded

Cheddar cheese shredded

Garnish: black olives, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, etc.

The recipe:

Slice peppers lengthwise, seed, and remove the stems.

In a skillet cook the ground beef, chorizo, and poblano together with the Taco seasoning and black lime.

Stuff the peppers with the meat mixture.

Top with the two cheeses.

Bake at 350 until cheese is melted.

Garnish as desired.

Notes:

I also made a seasoning blend with black lime, silk chili, and herbs and garlic to sprinkle on top. I added this to the top before baking. All these spices are from Burlap and Barrel.

For the meat mixture I used about 1-2 TBSP of a taco blend but you can use a taco seasoning packet instead.

The Breakfast Kitchen: Sausage, Kale, and Swiss Egg Bake

Sausage and Kale just go so well together thought I'd try it as a breakfast. 

The ingredients:

1 lb sausage

1 bunch kale leaves

1/2 C shredded Swiss

10 eggs

Salt and pepper

Sweet paprika

Black garlic

Olive oil

1 TBSP Butter

1/2 TBSP baking powder

The recipe:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a skillet, cook sausage in olive oil. 

Once browned, add the kale leaves and vook down.

Season with salt, pepper, black garlic, sweet paprika, butter.  Stir to combine.

Add mixture to greased baking pan.

Top with cheese.

In a bowl, add eggs, salt, pepper, and baking powder mix until well combined.

Spread egg mixture over the meat mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes.

The Starter Kitchen: Bacon Buffalo Chicken Dip

When you need a snack for a party, or just because this is a classic. My twist is adding bacon and some extra ingredients.

The ingredients:

1-2 C shredded chicken

4-6 oz cream cheese

1/2 C sour cream

1/2 C mayo

1/2 C crumbled bacon

1/2 C Franks buffalo sauce

1/2 C Gruyere cheese shredded

1/2 C pork rind panko

1/4 C asiago or parmesan

Pinch of cayenne

Pinch of paprika

The recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, add softened cream cheese, bacon, sour cream, buffalo sauce, mayo, chicken, and gruyere.

In a 2nd bowl add pork rind panko, asiago, paprika, and cayenne and mix well.

Add dip mixture to oven safe dish and top with panko mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Serve with chips, bread, veggies, pork rinds, or eat as is.

Notes:

You can use cheddar instead of gruyere.

If you want you can add ranch or blue cheese dressing instead of the mayo.

The Low Carb Kitchen: Middle Eastern Chicken Bowl

A great way you eat healthy is with a bowl and changing up the spices gives you all kinds of flavor options.

Middle Eastern Spice Blend

• ▢1 tablespoon coriander
• ▢1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢½ teaspoon allspice
• ▢¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ▢Pinch of ground ginger
• ▢Pinch of ground turmeric
• ▢Pinch of saffron

The ingredients:

Middle Eastern Spice Blend

1lb ground chicken

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 bag frozen cauliflower rice

1 zucchini diced

Olive oil

Fata crumbles

Salt and pepper

Harissa optional

The recipe:

On a baking sheet add diced zucchini tossed in olive oil and a sprinkle of the seasoning.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

While that's baking, start the chicken in a skillet with some olive oil, garlic, and onion powder.

Once cooked through, add the middle eastern seasoning and stir to combine.

Add the cauliflower rice and stir.

Add zucchini and stir.

Salt and pepper as needed.

Garnish with feta crumbles and harissa

Notes:

You can omit baking the zucchini and just add to thweed skillet if desired.

You can use diced onion and garlic cloves instead of powder.

I start the caIliflower rice in the microwave so its not frozen.

Garnish with feta, parsley, harissa, etc.