One more dish added to our whole 30 this week. This one made with sautéd shrimp, zucchini, and red peppers. Super simple.
I had cooked my shrimp the night before, so putting this dish together was very quick. You simply stir and sauté the zucchini and pepper strips for about three minutes. Then you add in the shrimp and some garlic. And then you keep it warm while you make a simple lemon sauce of lemon And clarified.
I liked the veggies and the shrimp but I did not care for the lemon sauce. I had served it over 1/4 cup of rice (Food freedom) but only ate part of the rice, because of the lemon sauce
Kayte also made this dish this past week and you can find her post about it here.
The recipe came from Melissa Hartwig’s Whole 30 Fast and Easy (Page 99).
Our garden is doing well despite the dry hot weather. The tomatoes and cucumbers are really giving us good harvests. I’ve put up 12 quarts of pickles so far. The freezer is full of tomatoes and I’ve eaten more Fried Green Tomatoes than any year previously. The only thing that did not do well was the Squash. We harvested a few before the plants gave up the ghost and died. With the few squash and zucchini I harvested I made Ellie’s Herbed Squash Casserole. In addition to the squash there was lots of cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, basil, and chives. Delish!!!
It was delicious. I made it for our church supper and there was very little left.
I only made one change in the recipe. Instead of whole wheat breadcrumbs I used crushed Pork Skins. Trying to make it more KETO friendly.
The recipe is from Ellie’s Comfort Food Fix. Page 224
Check with Kayte and Gaye to see if they did an EWE recipe this week.
For April the Good Friends Good Food chose to cook dishes from the Middle East. The Middle east consists of Egypt, Israel, Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Kuwait, etc. It is difficult to separate one country’s cuisine from another as they are all so similar.
Zucchini with Tomatoes
This is a very simple dish. Slice and saute garlic and coriander in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, peeled and chopped, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Simple. I have made zucchini and tomatoes many times but never with coriander. Completely different flavor. And I would have added more coriander.
Fish in Hot Sauce
Fish and other seafood are quite popular in the countries along the Arabian Gulf as well as the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the Sea of Galilee.
Serves 4: 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 1/2 teaspoonsground coriander 4 thick fillets whitefish , about 3/4 lb each (I used catfish) 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice salt and white pepper lemon slices , to garnish Sauce 1/2 stick butter 1/2 small sweet red pepper, diced 4 medium tomatoes , skinned and chopped 1 large onion, diced 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2teaspoorigroundginger a pinch of salt and pepper 1 tablespoon tomato paste mixed with a little water
Pound the garlic and coriander together in a pestle and mortar. Rub this into the fish fillets and chill in a covered bowl for 2 hours. Heat the oven to 375°F. Remove the fish from the bowl and rub with a mixture of the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Lay the fillets in a flat, oiled baking dish, cover tightly with foil and bake for about 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.
Melt the butter in a skillet and saute the pepper, tomato and onion until soft. Add the seasonings and the tomato paste and mix well. Simmer for 10-15 minutes on a low heat. Serve the fish in the baking dish, garnished with the hot sauce and lemon slices.
This was delicious. Definitely a keeper. BTW both of thse are KETO friendly.
As it turns out I am the only one who did the Middle Eastern recipes this month. I still have one or two I want to try: Prawns in Tomato Sauce (cinnamon). And Maamoul which is a stuffed pastry. I have the mold I just haven’t made the pastry…YET!!
Kayte supplied us with good theme for this week’s Good Friends Good Food. Something new for Thanksgiving. We could use any fresh produce and make a new side dish for our Thanksgiving table. Mine:
Creamy Zucchini Gruyère Casserole
And it was delicious. I took it to our Thanksgiving Church supper to see if they liked it. They did! There was NOTHING left.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Coat a square 8″ pan with butter.
Slice 3 – 4 zucchini. Chop up 1/2 an onion and sauté with the zucchini with salt and pepper to taste in a large skillet with EVOO and butter.
When they are nice and soft spread in the pan.
Mix 1 cup shredded Gruyère, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 tsp Wish you were here sauce (LOL) and 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan in a large bowl until well mixed. Add in 1/4 tsp dried basil.
Pour the cheese mix over the zucchini in the pan and top with 2 Tbl shredded Parmesean.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until barely brown on top. Remove and let cool about 20 minutes. SErve warm or at room temperature.
This is completely KETO friendly. I found the recipe in The Southern Keto Cookbook (page 93)
Want more NEW recipe for Thanksgiving? Visit with:
This weeks veggie is EGGPLANT! My choice! I love eggplant but don’t get to use them that often in recipes as the Man is NOT a fan of this lovely purple fruit.
I thought about making Moussaka but I wanted to try something different so I found a new recipe for a Veggie Moroccan Tagine. But I wanted a dish I could use for a meal rather than just a side so added some chicken to it. That was a good choice as it made a great KETO meal. The recipe is from Essential Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet Cookbook gifted me by my great friend Kayte who is also in this group.
You can find the recipe here. Veggies include eggplant, cauliflower, zucchini, onions, garlic, green olives, and artichoke hearts.
I browned some seasoned (salt and pepper) chicken thighs in some EVOO until almost done. Then I simply added it to my dutch oven (sans skin) with the veggies and let it cook just a little longer to get the flavor into the chicken.
Absolutely delicious. The spices: ginger, cinnamon, cumin, and paprika added so much flavor to the vegetables. I wanted to just sit down and dig into the pot with a big spoon. I’m sure there will be some veggies left over. Maybe…I hope…
This serves 6 and (without the chicken) has; 309 calories, 21 grams fat, 24 grams carb (15 net) 9 grams fiber and 6 grams protein. Each chicken thigh adds
More Eggplant recipes from…
Kayte
Nancy
Ulrike
Peggy
Ellen
Donna
Our next Ingredient is corn
And then we start with some salads. Looking forward to that in mid-April.
This week Good Food Good Friendsis using zucchini. Zucchini is one veggie that is available year round here in the deep south. We grew some this summer in the garden but they didn’t do well because it was so HOT!!! Luckily can find it in all the stores. And this week I was fortunate enough to get two nice sized zucchini in my Misfits Market box. They were just the right size for spirilizing.
I knew immediately how I was going to use the zucchini – PHO GA!
For those of you who aren’t familiar with PHO (pronounced phu) it is an Vietnamese broth soup with beef (PHO TAI) and sometimes chicken and lots of veggies and spices. It is comforting and warming on a cold day.
Ingredients
1/2 large onion, diced
1 bunch green onions white and green chopped and separated.
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
1/2 cup bean sprouts
2 Tbl fresh ginger, sliced thin
1 cup (or more) fresh mushrooms, sliced thin
1.5 baby bok choy
2 Tbl soy sauce ( I used Tamari for KETO)
1 chicken breast, cooked an shredded
2 tsp 5 spice (or to taste)
8 cups chicken broth
2 Tbl fish sauce (I added a little more)
2 tbl sesame oil
1 large zucchini, spiralized (or if not KETO use about 6 oz rice noodles) or if on KETO you could also use the yakatori noodles.
Add oil to hot Instapot (if you don’t have one a medium stockpot will do). When oil is hot add in the diced onions and sautee until onions are translucent (about 4-5 minutes on medium heat).
Add the white of the green onions, minced garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring periodically until the ginger and garlic is aromatic.
Add in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the soy sauce(or Tamarin) and 5 spice. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes.
Add the sliced ‘shrooms and bok choy to the pot. Cook for 5-8 minutes until bok choy is tender. If using the rice noodles or yakatori add them now.
Add in the cooked shredded chicken and simmer to give all the ingredients time to enjoy each other.
Place raw zucchini spirals in the bowls and cover with the broth. The hot broth will cook the zucchini until it is just tender.
Garnish with green onion tops.
Recipe makes 4 nice servings.
NOTES:
I used a mixture of cremini and mixed mushrooms which came in the Misfits Market Box. You can use any you choose.
This recipe is completely KETO friendly if you don’t use the rice noodles.
This is my own recipe. Mostly because I had to use what I had in my pantry as far as spices went. It is definitely a keeper.
Want more Zucchini recipes? Visit the other Good Friends:
As some of you know Kayte, Leslie, and I started the Whole30 program last Wednesday. Now on day 9 we are doing well. We keep track of each other, encourage each other, and keep each other going. It is easier when you have other people on your side.
I modified some of the recipes from Low-Fat, Low Cholesterol Cooking to finish off February. For March I am using The Whole 30 guidebook as my Cookbook. There are lots and lots of great recipes in there so it won’t be hard to eat well for 30 days or share with y’all for Cookbook Countdown #15.
This was very very good and very easy to put together. I used my new gadget – I could no longer resist purchasing a Spiralizer – to make the zucchini noodles. So much fun to use.
The romesco sauce is a tasty combination of tomatoes, onions, garlic, almonds, chili powder, paprika and red wine vinegar. Delicious!
It’s the third Monday in October. While that may not mean much to many of you it means a lot to some of us. It’s Group C Reveal Day for Secret Recipe Club.By this time each month many of us have browsed through our ‘assigned’ blog and chosen what recipe(s) we want to cook. Some of us chose 1 or 2. I like to use three so I can get a full idea of what my Blogger is all about.
“I am on a never ending quest for healthier eating. Oh, I totally enjoy fries, and burgers and chocolate, but I try to make the majority of our meals as healthy and unprocessed as possible. Then, in moderation we can enjoy other things that we don’t have as often anymore. I’ve also learned how to tweak some of those old “favorites” to make them a bit healthier. “
So says Kirstin of Loving Life. I think that sums up Kirstin’s food philosophy. It is a journal of her life and the recipes within it. Good days, bad days, but always great recipes.
I started out making Kirstin’s Cauliflower Pizza Crust. Like most of you I have seen a ton of recipes using a cauliflower crust for pizza and I have wanted to try it. And there it was, right there on Kirstin’s blog.
The crust is made from ‘riced’ cauliflower, eggs, cheese, and seasoning. It gets nice and crispy around the edges. I topped it with marinara, mushrooms, black olives and lots of cheese. If you are looking for a gluten free alternative this is what you need to try. It wasn’t bad. But I think I will stick to my bread crust. But that’s just me.
I make bread every week. The Man eats sandwiches and store bought just isn’t right. Too fluffy. Too white. So every week – Whole Wheat Bread. This week when I needed bread I used Kirstin’s recipe for Multigrain Bread.
It is very similar to the Whole Wheat Bread I make but has MORE!! She adds sunflower seeds, 7 or 10 grain cereal and oatmeal. The oatmeal is supposed to go ON the bread but when Kirstin said she had trouble keeping the oatmeal ON the bread I decided to put it IN the bread instead. I also used 1/2 water and 1/2 milk instead of all water for cooking the cereal. The Man really liked it. Dense and moist. Very healthy! I think I will this bread from now on. {Kirstin – used the bread machine to mix the dough but baked it free-form. It worked just fine. Next I will bake it in the machine as well.}
Ok. One more.
I made Kirstin’s Quinoa Squash Pilaf for lunch today. Delicious! This is the dish where she mentioned she wanted to make her meals healthier and less processed. This one – perfect. Just the right amount of seasoning and veggies added to the quinoa. The only change I made – I added some sliced mushrooms.
1 c. Quinoa rinsed
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) vegetable broth {I used all broth so two cups of broth.}
1/4 cup water {NOPE!}
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1 medium yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 c. chopped leeks (white portions only)….I used onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 large tomato, chopped
1 Tbs. minced fresh cilantro (I used parsley)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (I left these out)
2 c. fresh baby spinach, chopped
I cup sliced mushrooms {My addition}
In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, toast the quinoa over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
In a small saucepan, bring broth and water to a boil. Add the quinoa. Reduce the heat; simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Set aside.
In a large nonstick skillet, saute the zucchini, mushrooms, yellow squash, leeks and garlic in oil until tender. Lower heat to medium low and stir in tomato, cilantro, seasonings and quinoa. Mix in the spinach and cook until spinach is wilted.
All in all I had a lovely visit with Kirstin. I have several more recipes I want to go back to. Thanks, Kirstin.
This morning’s breakfast was a lovely Zucchini Frittata from the Colorado Farmers’ Market Cookbook the book I’m using for this month’s CookBook Countdown.
In case you haven’t heard of Cookbook Countdown is an online cooking ‘group’ where we use one of our cookbooks each month that we have had but haven’t used much and post about the recipes. The Colorado Farmers’ Market Cookbook is one I have had for about 14 years and only used once. What a shame because there are lots of great recipes in it.
Like this one:
Laura’s frittata is full of zucchini, onions, tomatoes, and Parm along with thyme and parsley. Lots of flavor. I did add some salt and pepper to taste which enhanced the flavor.
I didn’t have any fresh tomatoes so I used canned from this summer. Store ‘fresh’ tomatoes just aren’t any good this time of the year.
I would definitely make this again. It is so adaptable – as are most frittatas. I could see this one with mushrooms, maybe some butternut squash. Asparagus. Add in some wild rice? Quinoa?
2 Tbl olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
1 tomato, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup bread crumbs {I made the crumbs from herb/garlic croutons.}
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbl chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
6 – 8 eggs, beaten
In an ovenproof skillet cook the onions until they are soft but now browned. Add in the garlic and sautee only a few seconds. Remove the onions and garlic into the bowl with the remaining inredients.
While the onions and garlic are cooking mix together all the other ingredients. Add the onions and garlic and pour back into the ovenproof skillet.
Bake at 350F for 25 – 30 minutes until fritatta is a light golden brown.
Slice into wedges to serve.
The recipe is from Laura Korth and is on page 88. You can also find the recipe HERE at Google books!
Is pasta comfort food for you? Is it something you crave periodically? Nothing else will do but you really want to watch how many carbs you eat. Or you need more veggies.
Then this dish is for YOU!
simple zucchini
Speghetti (I used low carb) tossed with sauteed zuchinni (with crushed garlic and red pepper). Topped with shave Parmesan it was the perfect low-carb veggie lunch.
It was refreshing and light AND it was super quick to make. Always a plus.
The recipe is a short order from Donna’s off the shelf: cooking from the pantry on page 30.
Want to join us cooking with Donna Hay. Just cook from any of her books/website, blog, and leave a comment each week. The themes are on the WWDH webpage.
Tea and Scones 