Mashed Cauliflower

Mashed cauliflower makes an excellent substitute for mashed potatoes even if you can eat starch. Not only is it healthier than mashed potatoes but it takes less time to make.

Mashed Cauliflower
serves 3-4
1/2 of a large head of cauliflower
1-2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
dash of milk &/or cream
opt: minced garlic

1. Roughly chop the cauliflower and discard any leaves. Put a pot of water on the stove on high heat and add all of the cauliflower to the pot; put the lid on. Once it starts boiling, let it boil for 5 minutes.

2. Remove pot from heat and put the cauliflower and water in a strainer to drain out the water. Add some of the butter back to the pot and put it back on the stove on medium heat. If using garlic, add this to the pot now. Add the drained cauliflower back to the pot and sauté for a few minutes until some of the water has evaporated.

3. Then put the cauliflower (I use a ladle for this part) into a blender in parts, adding the rest of the butter and the milk or cream while you blend it. Add the milk/cream only a little at a time so that you can stop when it's the right level of creaminess for you. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You can add cheese, gravy, and sauces to season your mashed cauliflower. Really, just season it how you would season mashed potatoes. It'll be creamy and delicious!

-- Kara

Avgolemono: Greek Egg-Lemon Soup

 This soup is so light and tasty, you'll get hooked. Don't be deterred by the egg in this soup, it's used only as a thickener and doesn't actually coagulate.

A couple of months ago, one of my besties, Ashlee, came to visit. (Did I mention she's awesome?) On one of the days she was here, we were trying to decide where to eat lunch. Back in college, she studied abroad in Greece but she hadn't had Greek food in awhile, so we settled on going to a Greek restaurant in the city. I let her do the choosing (since I know very little about Greek food), and we ended up sharing quite a few foods that I had never had, one of which was this delicious egg-lemon soup that I've been wanting to re-create at home ever since. This soup is a staple in Greece, but the restaurant we were eating at was kind of a trendy place, so they fancied the soup up a little. I found a recipe for avgolemono in Cooks Illustrated: The Best International Recipe, replaced the rice/orzo with cauliflower to make it starch free and added a few things based on the soup at the restaurant.

This soup is pretty simple to make and is perfect as an appetizer, because it's so light and lemony. When buying chicken stock, you have to be careful that it doesn't contain starch; many contain carrots, which are starchy (as are all root vegetables). I buy the low-sodium chicken stock from Trader Joe's but I also make my own chicken stock when I can.

Avgolemono
serves 6-8
2 quarts low-sodium chicken stock (or you could substitute vegetable if you're a veggie)
2 cups cauliflower rice (directions for this are outlined below)
12 (4-inch long) strips zest from 2 lemons
2 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup juice from 2 lemons
a head of romaine lettuce, chopped
optional: 1 cup cooked chicken, cut into tiny strips
1 scallion, sliced thin
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

{cauliflower rice}

 
1. Put 3-4 cups roughly chopped cauliflower pieces into a food processor or blender. Pulse until the cauliflower resembles grains of rice.

2. Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the cauliflower rice, lemon zest, cloves, bay leaves, and salt. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the "rice" is tender, 16-20 minutes.

3. Remove and discard the bay leaves, cloves, and lemon zest. Return the broth to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low. Whisk the whole eggs, yolks, and lemon juice together in a medium bowl until combined.

4. Ladle about 2 cups of the hot broth into the bowl with the eggs and slowly whisk it into the eggs to temper, then slowly whisk the egg mixture back into the soup. Continue to cook the soup over low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, 4-5 minutes. Don't let the soup simmer or boil, to make sure that the eggs don't coagulate.

5. Put 1/2-3/4 cup chopped romaine (and the chicken, if you're having it: 1/4 cup in each bowl) in each bowl and divide up the soup between bowls. Sprinkle with scallions and mint and serve immediately.

{so tasty!}

Almond Flour Pancakes

 

A couple of years ago when Roi first made the jump to a completely starch free diet, we both thought that pancakes would be something he'd have to give up forever. But last year while I was trolling the web, I came across some Paleo recipes that used almond flour and eggs to make pancakes that have the same taste and consistency we were used to in traditional pancakes. I made a few tweaks because the Paleo diet isn't synonymous with a starch free diet and here we are! In delicious pancake land.

Almond Flour Pancakes

serves 2 ~ about 3 medium pancakes each

1/2 cup almond meal/almond flour (it's the same thing, I buy mine from Trader Joe's)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

butter for frying

Sift or whisk the dry ingredients together. Whisk in the cream and vanilla, then the eggs. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and add a little butter to the pan. These pancakes will spread, so I usually like to use a small egg-frying pan and only 1/4-1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until the pancake seems set and you can see little bubbles all over the top, then flip. Make sure both sides are golden brown and the pancake is cooked through. Mix the batter in between pancakes because it will separate slightly.

Having pancakes with sliced strawberries and whipped cream is my favorite way, but you can serve these however you'd serve regular pancakes. In the past, I have made these with blueberries, but the pancakes never stay together as well when the berries are mixed into the batter, so I usually serve the fruit on top after the pancakes are cooked. Roi likes them with with butter in between each layer and with a lot of maple syrup (Real maple syrup is starch free! Hooray! I don't know about the fake stuff though.) 

To make 2-3 servings of whipped cream, put 1/3 cup cold heavy whipping cream into a bowl and mix (I use an electric hand mixer) until thick. Then add a teaspoon of sugar and whip until stiff peaks form and it looks like whipped cream should. Then just dollop as much as you want on top of your pancakes. (I used a piping bag because I like to get fancy.)

Greek Cucumber Salad

I know how much you like salads, so here's another one. I like to make this salad when I don't have that much time to make dinner and I usually have the ingredients on hand because Greek salad is one of my favorites. It only takes about 10 minutes total to chop everything up, make the dressing and toss it all in a bowl. And if you don't have exact amounts, that's okay. I never measure out amounts for salads like this, I usually just throw what I have into a bowl and mix it up.

Greek Cucumber Salad
serves 2-3
salad:
1 large cucumber, quartered and sliced (I usually half-peel it too)
1 large tomato, chopped
a handful of black olives (you can use Kalamata olives obviously, I just use black because they're cheaper)
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
~1/2 cup feta*, crumbled (use more or less depending on how much you love feta, I tend to use a lot)
dressing:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
oregano

Throw all of the salad ingredients into a large bowl and mix it up! I usually just put the dressing in an old jam jar with a tight-fitting lid. First add vinegar, then oil and throw in the spices to taste. Then shake it up! Divide the salad among individual bowls and add dressing. So good!

*A note about buying feta. If you need it to be starch free, don't buy it already crumbled because they always add a starch to keep it from sticking together. You don't have to buy expensive feta, just make sure it's in a block and check the ingredients to be sure.

Fancy Scrambled Eggs

Eggs. If you're keeping starch free, eggs become a very versatile part of your diet. On weekend mornings, we usually stick to some variation of eggs (whether they're scrambled, fried or in omelet form) along with a fresh fruit and maybe some bacon. Almost all berries and melons can be counted on to be starch free, so we eat those breakfast fruits most often.

One of the things that's nice about scrambled eggs (omelets too) is that you can use whatever you have on hand as the extras. I usually throw in some chopped green onions, either fresh cilantro or basil, deli ham if we have it and some cheese at the end. I'm including some different flavor combinations after the recipe for you to try out. (The scrambled eggs pictured were made with green onions, cilantro and white cheddar cheese.)

Ingredients:
4-6 eggs
salt and pepper
cream or whole milk
herbs, cheeses, etc. 


For 2 people, crack 4 (or 6 if you're really hungry!) large eggs into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper, a splash of cream/whole milk and any herbs or extras you're using. I usually don't add my cheese until the end, but you can mix it in the bowl before you cook the eggs, if you like.

Put a small saucepan (don't use stainless steel for eggs, they'll stick) over low heat and add a tablespoon or two of butter. Let it melt until it gets frothy, then pour the eggs into the pan and stir them slowly. I use a silicone spatula to stir the eggs because it lets me scrape everything from the sides of the pan, so none of the eggs stick.

Your eggs are done then they're silky and looking slightly underdone. They still cook themselves after you put them on your plate, so you want to remove them from the pan before they look completely cooked or they'll actually overcook and get leathery. Once on your plate, grate the cheese of your choice on top of the eggs.

Variations:
-- deli ham and cheddar
-- green onions, cilantro and white cheddar
-- basil, 1/2 tomato (chopped & drained) and swiss
-- bacon (previously cooked and crumbled) and your choice of cheese
-- cilantro, monterey jack and home made salsa (These should be added after the eggs are done. And we use home made salsa because store bought salsas usually test starchy.)
-- sauteed onions, basil and swiss

I'm sure there are a million more.  What are your favorites?