Low Carb Stuffed Squash Boats May 19, 2013

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These are fairly quick and easy, if you happen to have some leftover meat sauce in your fridge.  Paired up with roasted sweet potato and asparagus, this is a GREAT weeknight meal for you working parents.  It can also be prepped in advance and frozen, also the leftovers keep well.

Stuffed Squash Boats

4 squash (zucchini or yellow)
1/2 recipe of Jabberwock’s Meat Sauce
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

Cut the squash in half lengthwise.  Place cut side down in covered glass baking dish with 1 Tbsp. water and microwave for 3-4 minutes.

Scoop out the innards/seeds and arrange in 9″x13″ pan.  Fill the boats with Jabberwock’s Meat Sauce.  Top with mozzarella and Italian seasoning. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Jabberwock’s Fajitas with Peach and Avocado Salsa

Marinade:
1/4 Cup olive oil
2 1/2 Tbsp Lime juice
1 tsp. cumin
3 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Fajitas:
2 lb steak (I used chuck)
2 red bell peppers, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp olive oil
Flour tortillas (for the family)
Salad Greens for the low carbers
Peach and Avocado Salsa

Prepare marinade in bowl and whisk. Add meat, and refridgerate for at least 30 minutes, but preferably a couple of hours if possible. Flip the steak a couple of times so both sides are coated with the marinade.

Fire up the BBQ to Med/High.

In a large nonstick frying pan, sautee the onions and red peppers in the olive oil.

While onions and peppers are cooking toss the steak on the BBQ until cooked to desired done-ness – bring it in to rest a bit. Add the leftover marinade to onion/peppers and turn to med/high heat and make sure it bubbles up for several minutes to cook out any meat juices.

Slice steak, add to onions/peppers. Add the last 1/4 cup of cilantro.

Serve with Peach and Avocado Salsa over salad greens for the low carbers, and with flour tortillas for the rest of the family.

By the way, these are VERY excellent leftovers !

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Chicken Thighs, with Swiss Cheese and Carrot Medallions March 2, 2013

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I haven’t made this dish in at least 5 or 6 years….forgot how delicious it is !  Very easy prep, and leftovers are even tastier if you store them in the wine sauce.

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Chicken Thighs with Swiss Cheese and Carrot Medallions

8 chicken thighs
2 Tbsp butter, divided into eighths
1 bunch scallions, diced
2 large carrots sliced
8 slices Swiss cheese
3/4 cup white wine
Kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste

Remove skin and extra fat from the chicken and place in 9×13 inch baking pan.  Pour wine over the top of the chicken. Salt and pepper to taste.  Place a small little pat of butter on each breast, sprinkle on diced scallion. Layer with sliced carrots, and top with one slice of Swiss cheese.

Cover pan with aluminum foil to get a nice seal around the edges and bake for 30 minutes at 375 F.  Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

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If you like this dish, then check these out !

Chicken Cacciatore: https://locarbjabberwockey.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/214/

EASY Roasted Chicken:  https://locarbjabberwockey.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/super-easy-no-stress-christmas-meal/

Jabberwock’s Goulash – Get rid of those odds and ends in the fridge ! February 25, 2013

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The Jabberwock has always been a huge fan of one pot meals. Why ?  Less cleanup of course !  This custom version of Goulash is mainly a way to get rid of the odds and ends of veggies and leftovers laying around in the fridge.  The flavor of the dish is a little different every time depending on what I have to throw in it – this time I had some leftover meat sauce which give it a great flavor.  For a lower carb version just omit the orzo…… Here’s last night’s version.

Jabberwock’s Goulash

1 lb. Italian sausage (mine was chicken)
2 tsp. olive oil
1.5 onion, sliced
2 scallions, diced
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1.5 cups Jabberwock’s Meat Sauce
14 oz. can of tomatoes, juice drained
6 cups spinach
2/3 cup orzo (dry)
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
1 Tbsp. dried basil

Cook the sausage over medium heat.  Remove to a plate.  Sautee onions in 1 tsp olive oil, remove to plate.  Sautee mushrooms in 1 tsp olive oil.  Add onions and sausage back to pan with the mushrooms.  Add the meat sauce, canned tomatoes, salt, pepper, and basil,  and simmer for about 15 minutes.

While sauce is simmering, cook the orzo.  Drain, and add to pan, stir in.  Add the spinach and mix in.  You can remove from heat for this step….the residual heat of the Goulash will wilt the spinach perfectly.

What ? Low carb spaghetti ? February 3, 2013

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YEP.  There is indeed a way to do low carb spaghetti using zucchini instead of noodles!  I found a nifty Julienne tool at Bed Bath and Beyond. It was on sale for $12.00 US.  There was a nice stainless potato peeler AND the Julienne tool in the package.  Both are very sharp and seem to be doing well in the dishwasher.  The texture/size/consistency of the Julienned zukes are what I would call a near perfect simulation of noodles.  I think I have mentioned before that I just don’t care for the other “veggie noodle” alternative (spaghetti squash) due to its sweetness and mushy consistency.

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I made a very large batch of the meat sauce since it’s a perfect candidate for freezing.  I have to admit the kiddo misses real noodles, so on the leftovers I cook some pasta up, arrange in lunch containers with broccoli spears and freeze.  Since they have microwaves at her school she’s able to have a fairly healthy lunch with very little effort prepping in the morning.

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Jabberwock’s Meat Sauce

2 lb. ground beef
2 onions, sliced
2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp. olive oil
3 fifteen oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 six oz.can tomato paste
2 cans medium black olives (12 oz. drained)
2 Tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
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4 medium zucchinis, Julienned
2 tsp. olive oil
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Brown the meat in a very large saucepan, this makes alot!  Drain grease and remove to plate.  Sautee onions – no oil neccesary for me since my pan is nonstick. Remove to plate.  Sautee mushrooms in a wee bit of oil (2 tsp.).

Add canned tomatoes and tomato paste to mushrooms. Add the olives. I don’t buy pre-sliced since they are more expensive….I use whole medium pitted, and simply “squash” them between my fingers to break them up a bit.

Add all seasonings and stir until the tomato paste incorporates into the sauce, then add the beef and onions back to the pan.  Simmer for 30 min (or more if you have the time).

When the sauce is ready,get another pan nice and hot, I use cast iron for this…add about 1 tsp. olive oil and half of the zucchini.  Don’t crowd the pan!  Sautee until the zucchini is “al-dente”, and remove to plate. Sautee the other half…

Serve topped with grated parmesan.  Sauce recipe makes 3 quarts.

sadf

EMeals Review: Spinach Lasagna December 28, 2012

This low carb EMEALS recipe was a GREAT alternative to “regular” lasagna, and rather than using pasta to create the layers they used fresh spinach.

Ingredients were:  ground beef, bell pepper, onion, tomato sauce, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, cottage cheese, egg, spinach and mozzarella.

My embellishments were:  Salt, pepper, 5 garlic cloves minced, 1 splenda packet, 1 Tbsp Basil, some additional leftover cheddar cheese I needed to get rid of.

Prep: EASY !  Maybe about 15 minutes.  Far less time than the traditional “cook the noodles” business with regular lasagna.

Cook Time: 45 min.

Comments:  Recipe called for 3 Tbsp of Italian seasoning, which seemed like too much.  I took it down to 1 Tbsp, and added one Tbsp of dried basil.  I would have preferred to use 1 can of 15 oz. diced tomatoes for a chunkier sauce, rather than just plain tomato sauce, but really tried hard to not stray away from the original recipe.   As you can imagine with the large amount of spinach the lasagna did turn out a little “soupy”.  I let it stand for about 10 minutes and after cutting I drained off the excess liquid.  The side dish was supposed to be pork rinds, we opted for salad instead.

This one was DELICIOUS, and the fam and I loved it.  THUMBS UP EMeals ~