Baked Tilapia with Parmesan Mayo and Lemon Sauce

We don’t eat a whole lot of fish other then Tilapia (or Salmon), and this happens to be one of most favorite ways to prepare it!  It’s quick, SO so easy, and so tasty, my whole family loves it!  It takes less then 20 minutes from start to finish, and by “finish” I mean ready to eat!  Serve this with a complimentary rice side dish (plain is fine too) or a hearty salad.

p.s. this tastes FANTASTIC on salmon as well!!  I add just a little extra lemon and put the sauce on a little earlier to keep the salmon from drying out.

Baked Tilapia with Parmesan Mayo and Lemon Sauce (serves 6-8)

• 8 tilapia filets, thawed
• 1-2 TBLS of melted butter
• 2 TBLS sliced green onion OR regular white onion
• 1/3 cup fresh shredded Parmesan cheese-packed
• 3 TBLS Hellmans or Best Foods mayonnaise
• 1 TBLS lemon juice
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning or dried basil
• salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/4 tsp of Emeril seasoning salt)
• a few dashes of hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a large cookie sheet with foil, then place the tilapia fillets on to it, without overlapping.  Place the cookie sheet in the oven for about 10-12 minutes.
3. In the meantime, mix all other ingredients in a bowl.
4. Fish should just about be done, it should be a uniform solid (opaque) white color.  If the center of the fillets still look a little pinkish or transparent, give it another 2-3 minutes.
5. When fish looks just done, take the pan out and spread the sauce on top of all the fillets.
6. Place the pan on the TOP rack and BROIL at 400 degrees for 1-2 minutes, or until sauce is nice and bubbly.
7. Serve while hot.

Easy Vegetable and REAL Cheese Casserole, YUM!

Broccoli has got to my my all time favorite vegetable, and we ALWAYS have a big bag of florets on hand! So I found this recipe for an easy broccoli side dish that goes well with pretty much anything and it never last long in our house. I love this recipe because it uses REAL cheese, so many out there call for processed cheese or cheese whiz, neither of which ever enter my home. Not a fan of broccoli? This works great with cauliflower, asparagus, pretty much any veggie you like to have cheese sauce on!

The flavor of the sauce is more on the mild side and the consistency is not overly creamy, which I find processed cheese to be. If you know you prefer strong flavors, definitely pick a bold tasting cheese.

Want to make this a quick meal? Go ahead and add in sliced sausage, grilled chicken, cooked ground beef, or whatever you on hand right before you put this in the oven.

The original recipe is called Delicious Blue Cheese Broccoli Casserole, but I did make a few *minor* changes.

• I upped the broccoli to 5 cups
• used colby jack cheese (as that’s what I had on hand)
• added a little garlic powder and salt to taste.
• I omitted the crackers to cut down on carbs
• reduced flour to about 1 1/2 TBLS

Quick Tip: if you are using cheese slices, like I was, you’ll need 5-6 thick slices. For the cauliflower version I used one whole head and sliced it into thin pieces, like scalloped potatoes.

Quick Broccoli, Almond and Cranberry Salad

This recipe goes back to my low-carbing days, and is one of my favorite quick side dishes for a raw veggie. It’s great for picnics and parties, as it can be made a day or 2 ahead of time, and seems to be a big hit with the crowd. There are a few different versions of this salad, most of them have added ingredients like cheese, sunflower seeds, raisins instead of cranberries, and either bacon or hard salami. This is the simplified version and you can dress it up however you’d like, also really good with the addition of cheese tortellini or cauliflower.

To keep it lowest in carbs you can sub in splenda for the sugar.

Quick Broccoli, Almond and Cranberry Salad (about 6 servings):

• 1/2 cup Hellman’s or Best Foods mayonnaise
• 2-3 TBLS sugar
• 1 1/2-2 TBLS white vinegar
• approx. 1 head of broccoli florets-cut to bite sized (I use about a 1/3 of a bag from sam’s club)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, like Craisins
• 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds

Directions:

• Mix first 3 ingredients together really well in a large mixing bowl. Adjust to your taste. I like mine on the sweet AND tart side, so I use the full 3 TBLS sugar and 2 TBLS vinegar.
• Add in 3/4 of the broccoli and all cranberries and mix well. Depending on how “saucy” you like your salad, you may want to add a little more or less then the 1 head of broccoli. I use about 1/3 of a sam’s club bag as I don’t like too saucy, just enough to cover the florets and none of my dressing to pools at the bottom of the bowl.
• Cover and chill until ready to eat. Garnish with nuts and/or cheese right before eating so they don’t get soggy/mushy.

A fast a delicious Microwave Artichoke Dip

Ultra Easy Microwave Artichoke Dip

I first fell in love with Artichoke dip when I had it at Kincaid’s, the one in Bloomington, MN. These was soooooo good and had crab in it, and unlike other “artichoke” dips, it doesn’t contain any spinach and it not salty or gritty. It’s smooth, creamy, but still light in consistency and not over-the-top rich. It’s a dangerous dip to be sure, as you could finish it all off yourself without a problem, haha. It is so popular, that for a while they even published the recipe on their website, though I don’t see it there now. It’s officially called “Kincaid’s Dungeness Crab and Artichoke Dip” and is definitely worth trying. It’s delicious served with crostini or a warm tender bread brushed with olive oil and garlic and then lightly toasted.

I haven’t tried a ton of Artichoke Dips at other restaurants, but of the others that I have (3-4 maybe), NONE of them even compared and some were just not worth eating. So I stopped ordering it from other restaurant all together and just decided to stick to Kincaids or make it myself.

However, for the times when you don’t have crab on hand (as it is costly) and are looking for something a little simpler, this is a great variation that I love to zap up in the microwave! It’s no replacement for the Kincaid’s version, but it’s certainly crave-worthy and gets 5 stars for how simple it is to whip up! Great with crostini, toasted garlic bread, even club crackers or Ritz. Heck, pair this with a soft and thick pita and your set.  Want to keep it low carb?  Serve with a raw veggie tray.

Ultra Easy Microwave Artichoke Dip recipe (serves 2-3):

• 1.5 oz. of cream cheese
• 1/3 cup of shredded fresh Parmesan cheese (Kraft grated is ok too, but cut down to 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
• pinch of black pepper
• 7 small artichoke hearts, quartered

Directions:

• In a large microwave safe bowl, heat the cream cheese at 50% power for 20 seconds, or until it is warm.
• Take the bowl out of the microwave and add in all of the other ingredients, mix well.
• Put the bowl back in the microwave and place a paper town over the bowl. Heat it at 70% powder for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, or until nice and hot.
• Serve with crackers and breads, even veggie sticks!

Quick and Simple “Skinny” Curry-A loose Interpretation

Quick & Simple "skinny" African Curry

I LOVE my mom’s curry, but alas, she is retired far away from here and my husband and I dearly miss her…which includes her cooking, haha. I remember driving home from college on the weekends and calling ahead of time to make sure she knew the “menu” of items I wanted to eat, she spoiled me rotten. And now my husband misses her cooking too, I think even more then I do!

Well anyways, like most spoiled kids I didn’t bother learning how to cook my favorites, how dumb of me huh? Dumb or not, I still craved curry though and decided to find a recipe on my own to try out! A while back I ran across a recipe named “African Curry” and was a little hesitant to try it, but it seemed easy and it had great reviews. Honestly, I was more so hesitant because it was labeled “African”, and I have no idea what differentiates one type of curry from another. All I know is that I grew up on Asian “yellow” curry, or more commonly known as “you know, that curry that mom makes!”. But I’d like to think that I can venture out of my comfort zone a little, so I decided to give it a try.

I’ve made this dish, or a version of it, at least 6 times now and my family loves it! It’s not like my mom’s as it it doesn’t use coconut milk nor does it look “yellow”, but still good in it’s own right. Here’s what I’ve discovered:

• This taste best made with beef (in my opinion), but you can use chicken or pork too. If you are a vegetarian this is a great base as well for whatever you want to throw in, I’d recommend potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, cabbage, etc…
• Making this without coconut milk REALLY cuts down on the fat! You can use half & half instead with a little coconut extract, or omit the coconut flavor all together, it still tastes great.
• You can use chuck roast cuts of beef, just make sure to simmer it longer so the beef becomes tender.
• Using undiluted tomato soup will make it nice and thick without using cream or cornstarch!
• The lemon juice is key, don’t omit it as it really brightens up the flavor.
• I use Garam Masala for my curry powder and add in quite a bit more then what was originally called for, but I think it was old too. So just add to your as needed, if it isn’t enough you can always add in more.
• I HIGHLY suggest eating this with a good Asian or long-grain rice, NOT instant! But then again, you are talking to an Asian girl here, we don’t eat instant rice…we don’t even consider that rice, sorry.

So here is my recipe, loosely based on the one mentioned above. It’s quick, simple, and so delicious….I think my mom would be proud of me

Want to keep it low carb? I used to eat this on top of steamed, mashed, or “riced” cauliflower.

Quick and Simple “Skinny” African Curry (feeds 8):

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 can condensed tomato soup
• 2 teaspoons Garam Masala curry powder-or more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tsp brown sugar (optional)
• 2 pounds beef- cut into bite sized pieces (pork or chicken works well too)
• 1/2 cup cream or half & half
• 1 tsp coconut extract (optional)
• juice from 1/2 a lemon, maybe a little more to taste

Directions:

• In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once it is hot, add in the diced onions, pressed garlic, and bay leaf. Saute for a 3-4 minutes.
• Add in the diced tomatoes, tomato soup, curry powder, salt and brown sugar. Stir well and allow the mixture to simmer for 7-8 minutes.
• Add in the beef, mix well, and cover the pot. Allow this to gently simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the meat is fully cooked and tender.
• Add in the cream or half & half, coconut extract, and lemon juice and give it a good stir.
• Serve while hot over rice.

Fried Zucchini & Cheese Sticks Recipe

Fried cheese sticks on the left, fried zucchini stick on the right

We were blessed with some great zucchini’s from a friend of ours this past week, but since it’s not something I normally purchase, it sort of sat in the fridge for a few days. Then I remembered those yummy fried zucchini appetizers that you can get at some restaurants and I figured, how hard can it be?? So I looked up a recipe on recipezaar.com and came up with this one from Uncle Bill, which had lots of great reviews.

I pretty much followed the recipe exactly as written, though I do think you need more saltine crumbs then called for. I also did the bowl method instead of the ziploc baggies, and used a pair of metal tongs to handle all of the zucchini pieces. I tried using my fingers, but after the first one I realized that was not going to work so well as the eggs and crumbs really stuck to my fingers a lot! Also, if you don’t want your zucchini to be too mushy, make sure the oil temperature is fairly hot, your strips should start frying/bubbling as soon as you put them in the oil. I find that cutting them about 3/4 of an inch wide and 3/8ths of an inch thick tastes best for us, as we like a lot of “crumb crust” along with our zucchini

I used both olive oil yesterday and canola oil today, both work great! I’m not really into “deep” frying anything, but rather I poured just under a 1/2 inch of oil into a small pot, frying in small batches. I just hate to waste the oil, especially if it’s olive oil as that can get expensive! I made a horseradish mayo to go with these, but my husband likes them with pizza sauce the best.

Oh, and the cheese sticks were totally my daughters idea, as she loves mozzarella sticks! I was a little wary at first, thinking I would have big oozing mess all over, but I gave it a try. Here’s what I’ve learned.

• make sure the cheese is straight from the fridge, nice and cold. It doesn’t have to be mozzarella, I think any firm cheese would well.
• the oil needs to be just a little hotter then what you used for the fried zucchini, as you want these to cook fast. It actually doesn’t take longer then 30 seconds of so for the cheese to get hot, so a quick 30 seconds on each side is what you want to shoot for…maybe even less then that. If you leave them in too long they WILL start to ooze and if the oil is not hot enough they will actually fall apart a bit and stay flimsy.
• since I put in a shallow amount of oil to save a little money, I found that the best measurement to cut my cheese to was 3/4 on an inch wide by 1/4 of an inch thick.
• these disappear FAST, so make quite a few!

So next time you are craving fried cheese or veggies, give this recipe a try instead of going out to eat and save yourself a few bucks! The breading in the recipe would work well for almost anything really, I may try cauliflower and mushrooms next!

Stir-fry part 2, a Cabbage Side Dish

The soy and oyster sauce we use in our house.

While I’m on a stir-fry kick, I decided to post this quick recipe for my stir-fried cabbage, a GREAT side dish for any Asian meal.   I had actually forgotten about this side dish until I was forced to do something with the cabbage staring back at me, begging me to do something with it besides throwing it away.  You could do this for any vegetable honestly, but you will probably have to adjust the ingredient measurements a little, but that’s not a big deal seeing as how I cook….a shake of this, dash of that.  Don’t worry though, stir-fry is a pretty forgiving dish, as long as you start out with just a small amount of the spices/ingredients, adding more in a little at a time until it is just right.

So here it is, the humble cabbage made into a tasty side dish….you could even use cabbage instead of broccoli in my “beef and broccoli” stir-fry recipe that I posted a few days ago.

Stir-Fry Cabbage Side Dish recipe-feeds 4-6:

• 1 Tbls cooking oil
• 4 Cloves of garlic-thinly sliced
• 1 small head of cabbage, thinly sliced (shredded)
• 1 Tbls white sugar
• 2 Tbls oyster sauce
• 2 Tbls soy sauce

Directions:

1. Place a wok (or stock pot) over med-high heat with the oil in it.  Once the oil is hot, toss in the garlic and stir it around for 20 seconds or so, don’t let it burn though.
2. Place all of the cabbage and the sugar into the wok and give it a good stir, evenly distributing the garlic and oil into it.  Place a lid over it, turn the heat down to medium, and allow it to cook for a few minutes.  I usually check on it every minute or so, stirring it around a bit each time so it gets evenly cooked.
3. When the cabbage is almost to the consistency you want it at (this is totally up to you, we like it al-dente at times, other times we like it soft), add in the soy sauce and oyster sauce and mix well.  Give it a taste to see if the flavor needs adjusting, serve while hot.

Low-Carb Tuna “Noodle” Cauliflower Casserole

low-carb Tuna "Noodle" Cauliflower Casserole

So I found some fresh cauliflower at a really good price last weekend and decided to make up one of my favorites, low-carb Tuna “Noodle” Casserole! It basically has all the same ingredients but replaces noodles with cauliflower instead. Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed! Even my kids love this, though they still find it quite odd that they are eating cauliflower instead of noodles, lol. I adapted te below recipe from this Tuna Casserole recipe, found on recipezaar.com.

Again, frozen cauliflower can be used instead of fresh, but I really prefer to use fresh if possible. I just think the texture and flavor of fresh is so much better!

Tuna “Noodle” Cauliflower Casserole recipe:

• 1 small head of cauliflower-chopped
• 1 can cream of celery, mushroom, or chicken soup
• 1-2 stalks of celery finely diced
• 1/2 an onion finely diced
• 1/2 cup cream or mayonnaise ( I used Hellmann’s mayo)
• 1 cup cheddar cheese-shredded
• 1 10oz. can of tuna-drained
• salt and pepper to taste

• 1/3 cup cheddar cheese-shredded

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the chopped cauliflower until al dente-just tender. Drain well and then place the cauliflower in a large casserole dish.
• Combine everything else in the casserole dish along with the cauliflower and mix well. Top with remaining 1/3 cup cheddar cheese.
• Place casserole dish into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbling.
• Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Our Favorite “Meat-lovers” Stuffed Peppers recipe-Low Carb

Meat-lovers stuffed peppers

This delicious recipe is adapted from one that was passed on to me from my husband’s dearest friend…and being a man it was definitely for meat-lovers!  Yes…there were peppers involved in there  somewhere, but you’d be hard-pressed to taste it among all of the meat, lol.  So I changed it just a little and it’s still a great dish for a meat-lover, but now you can taste a bit more of the sweet peppers as well

A word to the wise, when doing stuffed peppers ALWAYS avoid the green ones.  They are not sweet at all and are really dissapointing taste-wise when compared to any of the others- red, yellow or orange.  They do tend to be expensive, but if you belong to a Sam’s club they usually have a 6-pack for less then $7, which is a GREAT price for non-green peppers.

There are a few steps involved, but they are simple and the result is worth it!  If you don’t usually like peppers I still encourage you to try these, I myself dislike peppers any other way and will only eat them stuffed, YUM!  Oh, and the filling is pretty forgiving…use white rice if you don’t have wild, croutons can be used instead of the bread slices, incorporate some of your other favorite meat spices in place of the one’s suggested, etc…

I think these are fairly low-carb to begin with, but if you want to cut down on the carbs even more just omit either the rice or the bread crumbs.

Low-Carb Twice Baked “Potatoes” or Loaded Mashed “Potatoes”

Loaded Mock Mashed Potatoes with Green onion, bacon, and cheddar cheese

Ahhh…where would us low-carbers be without the all-mighty CAULIFLOWER? Now before you start thinking that this is just another “mock mashed potato” recipe, it’s really not! I personally am not a big fan of the traditional “mock” potatoes,n the ones where you puree cooked cauliflower, ugh. I remember when I first started watching my carb intake I was SO excited to try them, as everyone raved about them! So I tried 2 or 3 recipes, all of which I have never made again, no thanks. Here’s a couple things I’ve learned along the way about “mock” potatoes-they tend to be runny, overly strong in flavor (not in a good way), and just NOT like mashed potatoes Perhaps I was doing it all wrong, as millions of “mock” lovers can’t be wrong, can they?

In any case, here is a recipe I found that I LOVE and goes well with anything you’d serve up with mashed potatoes. They are rich, creamy, flavorful in the *right* way, and I promise everyone will like them, I would choose these over normal mashed potatoes any day! They key is to use FRESH cauliflower (not frozen) and to drain it well. So when cauliflower goes on sale, grab a couple heads for this dish! And remember, my measurements are approximate, so just adjust as needed to suit your taste buds. Oh, and it’s the cream cheese that makes them so creamy and rich, so cut back a little if you want something a little lighter.

Mock Loaded Mashed Potatoes or Twice Baked Potatoes-serves 6:

• 1 large head of cauliflower, chopped bite-sized for faster cooking and easy mashing
• 6-8 slices of bacon
• 2 green onions/scallions thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 4-5 oz. cream cheese-softened
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
• salt and pepper to taste