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.

Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing

This salad is so good! You'll want to make it twice in the same week, which we definitely did. In my book, any recipe that combines a little bit of bacon with vegetables is good because it gets Roi to eat more vegetables. Sometimes I feel like I'm catering towards a little kid and not my husband. Anyway, try it. You won't be sorry.

This recipe is from the Cook's Illustrated cookbook Perfect Vegetables. The salad comes together quickly, so you'll need to have all the ingredients cut and ready before you start. And when you add the vinegar mixture to the pan, step away from the stove-top because the fumes will be strong!

Wilted Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
Serves 4-6
6 ounces baby spinach (about 8 cups)
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
pinch salt
10 ounces (about 8 slices) thick-cut bacon
1/2 medium red onion, chopped medium (about 1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered lengthwise

1. Put the spinach in a large bowl. Stir the vinegar, sugar, pepper, and salt together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves then set aside.

2. Fry the bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, flipping occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. When cool enough, break up into 1/2 inch pieces. Pour the bacon grease into a heatproof bowl and return 3 tablespoons of the fat to the skillet. Add the onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the vinegar mixture and remove the skillet from the heat. Working quickly, scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to the loosen the browned bits.

3. Pour the hot dressing over the spinach, add the bacon, and toss gently until the spinach is slightly wilted. Divide the salad among individual plates, arrange the egg quarters over each, and serve immediately.

Basic Starch Free Stew

This stew is a household staple and is really good as leftovers. The recipe is adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution cookbook. He gives four basic combinations: beef and ale, chicken and white wine, pork and cider or lamb and red wine. The one I usually make is pork and cider, but any of these combinations would be tasty (and starch free!) and they're provided at the end of the post. I changed a few of the amounts and left out a couple of ingredients that were starchy.

Basic Stew Recipe
serves 4-6
3-4 stalks celery, trimmed of ends and chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
3-4 large tomatoes, diced
olive oil
salt and pepper
3 sprigs fresh sage or 1-2 teaspoons ground sage
1 pound diced stewing pork
2 cups medium dry hard cider

Put a Dutch oven on the stove on medium heat. Put all the vegetables and the sage into the pan with about 3 tablespoons olive oil and fry for 10 minutes. Add the pork, then pour in the cider and tomatoes. Give it a good stir, then season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, put the lid on and simmer slowly for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid for the final 1/2 hour of simmering and add a little water if it's looking dry. When done, the meat should be really tender. Remove the herb stalks before serving and add salt and pepper to taste. I like to add a little sour cream when serving, to make it creamier and cool it down.

Beef and ale: 2 hours simmering
3 fresh or dried bay leaves
1 lb. diced stewing beef
2 cups brown ale, Guinness or stout

Chicken and white wine: 1 hour simmering
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 lb. diced, boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 cups white wine

Lamb and red wine: 2 hours simmering
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 lb. diced stewing lamb
2 cups red wine

Sausage Stir-Fry

 

This is a really simple meal that I tend to make when I get home late from work and don't want to spend a long time making dinner. One of the nice things about this stir-fry is that you can use whatever you have on hand to make it. I always put in onions and garlic, but you could add zucchini, tomatoes or mushrooms too.

Being on a starch free diet, it can be hard to trust sausages since many of them have starchy fillers. Trader Joe's sells a lot of really good options without the fillers. Our favorites are the garlic chicken sausages and the turkey kielbasa.

Sausage Stir-Fry
serves 3-4
a package of sausages (usually contains 4-5), cut into bite-size pieces
medium onion, cut into thin slices
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
a handful of fresh basil or cilantro
white wine (just a splash)
olive oil

Add olive oil to a large frying pan and heat over medium/high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until tender and golden. If your sausages are uncooked, add them with the onions. If they're already cooked, wait to add them until the onions have become tender. Add the sausage and herb and sauté until the sausages are browned. Add a splash of white wine, cover the dish and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Uncover and cook a few more minutes until the wine is absorbed/evaporated. Serve with a fresh salad or another vegetable side.

Toasted Almond Covered Truffles

It's been so long since I've posted! With a friend visiting from out of town and Valentine's day, I was busy planning other things. But now I'm back with a delicious treat.

When you're doing the starch free diet, tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc.) have a lot of uses. This is a really simple recipe for making delicious chocolate truffles. I decided to cover ours in toasted almonds, but you could also cover your truffles in cocoa powder, a plain chocolate coating, or home made sprinkles (I'll teach you how to do this soon!). This recipe needs to chill in the fridge for awhile, so you'll need to plan ahead for when you want to eat them.

Toasted Almond Covered Truffles
makes 20-30
3/4 cup heavy cream
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 tablespoon almond extract (you could also use vanilla, but I would up the amount to a tablespoon)
1 cup chopped toasted almonds

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, then stir until melted and smooth. Stir in the butter and the almond extract, then strain into a bowl and let cool. Cover and chill for 6-8 hours or overnight.
2. To toast your almonds, spread out finely chopped almonds onto an ungreased baking sheet in a single layer. Make sure they're chopped to the same size so that they'll toast evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, checking on them so that they don't burn. Let cool before you roll your truffles.
3. Line a large baking sheet with wax/parchment paper. Using a small ice cream scooper or two teaspoons, form the chocolate mixture into 20-30 balls and place on the paper. This might get messy, so be prepared! Chill if the mixture becomes soft.
4. Roll the truffles in the toasted almonds, covering completely. Chill well wrapped, for up to 10 days.

Melon Mousse

I was trying to figure out what to do with this so/so tasting cantaloupe I already had chopped up and sitting in the fridge when I stumbled across this recipe. Not only is it starch free, it's delicious!

I pretty much just followed her recipe, except I was only using one type of melon So instead of doing the two types mousses separately, I doubled the amounts for one.

Melon Mousse:
serves 4-6, adapted from this recipe
2 cups (your choice of melon, I used cantaloupe) melon purée, chopped and pulsed in food processor or blender until smooth
3 tsp powdered gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 - 1 cup cold heavy cream

Put gelatin and cold water in a small bowl to allow the gelatin to soften. Put melon purée in a medium saucepan with sugar and lemon juice and heat on low until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add softened gelatin to the mixture, heat and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

Remove from the heat and chill mixture in the fridge until it reaches room temperature and is starting to thicken. Whip heavy cream in a large mixing bowl to soft peaks. Add vanilla to melon mixture and then fold in whipped cream until all the lumps are removed. Pour into 4-6 individual serving glasses and chill in the fridge until set, at least 45 minutes. I just decided to add the strawberries at the end as garnish, and that part is up to you.

Batidos de Melocotón

Peach shakes! Seeing as how the husband is Cuban, this is the first of many recipes adapted from Cuban flavors and cooking styles. These shakes are amazing. Although I used peaches for our batidos, you could use any tropical fruit (guava, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, etc.) as long as you make sure it's starch free. I know that mangoes and bananas are starchy, so people keeping starch free should stay away from those. I think berries and melons would work too, they're just not traditionally used in batidos. But neither are peaches, so there you go. I used this recipe from Cook's Illustrated, The Best International Recipe cookbook.

Batidos (Fruit Shakes) 
serves 4
3 1/2 cups ripe fruit, cut into 1-inch chunks (I used unpeeled peaches because I don't mind the skins, but if that bothers you, just peel them first)
2 cups ice
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 tablespoon sugar, plus extra to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt

Purée the ingredients in a blender until smooth and frothy, 20-30 seconds. Add additional sugar to taste and serve immediately. With colorful straws!

Drained canned fruit and frozen fruit can be substituted for the fresh but if you're using frozen fruit, don't thaw and substitute water for the ice.