RECIPE: "Potatoes" O'Brien

Potatoes O'Brien has been claimed to originate from a Boston restaurant known as Jerome's and a Manhattan restaurant known as Jack's in the early 1900s. Wikipedia

Now that I have discovered what a great substitution for potatoes rutabaga is, the possibilities are endless. They are sweet and delicious. Be careful though because they are very easily mistaken for turnips in the grocery store. The first time I wanted to make this recipe we had mistakenly bought turnips and they have a pretty bitter aftertaste. If you do not mind bitter, they are also a good potato substitution and are even lower in carbs than rutabaga.

Oven Roasted Ranch "Potatoes"

Oven Roasted Ranch "Potatoes"

So obviously these aren't really potatoes.  If delicious potatoes were actually low-carb we would probably all be doing a little happy dance.  This recipe is made with rutabagas.  I love to take food and transform it to be as close to it's carb-laden counterpart as possible.  I have a new found love for this underrated root vegetable.  This recipe honestly couldn't be any easier.  You can lower the carb count quite a bit by making your own dry ranch mix.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lb Rutabaga

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

1 Packet Dry Ranch Dressing Mix

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°

Wash rutabagas, trim ends off and slice into wedges.

Add rutabaga wedges, olive oil and ranch seasoning to a zip loc bag and shake until all wedges are evenly coated.  

Baked on a lightly greased baking sheet for 40 minutes.  

Peace, Love, and Root Vegetables

Makes 6 servings:

Per Serving:

Calories -  89

Protein -  1  g

Carbs -    9 net g 

Fat -   10  g

***Nutritional info can vary greatly by brand.  Please be sure to check the labels of all of the ingredients you use***

Grilled Portobello Caprese

Grilled Portobello Caprese

INGREDIENTS

4 large Portobello mushroom caps

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil 

_1/2 tsp sea salt 

_1/2 tsp onion powder 

1/8 tsp black pepper 

8 oz fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese 

2 beefsteak tomatoes

12 fresh basil leaves, chopped

5 kalamata olives, sliced

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

De-stem mushrooms and rinse thoroughly. 

In medium bowl, combine balsamic vinegar, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and onion powder.  This will be your marinade.

In a large dish with sides, place the mushrooms in a single layer, gill side up, and pour the marinade over the mushrooms.  Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.  Keep excess marinade that seeps from mushrooms.

Heat a lightly oiled, grill pan over medium heat, grill mushrooms gill side up 10 minutes.

Chop fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil and combine in large mixing bowl.  Mix in any remaining marinade.  Divide mixture among the 4 portobellos.  Pour any remaining marinade over top before serving.

Garnish with sliced kalamata olives.

Peace, Love, and Caprese

Makes 6 servings:

Per Serving:

Calories -  186

Protein -  12  g

Carbs -    8.75 net g 

Fat -   16.75  g

***Nutritional info can vary greatly by brand.  Please be sure to check the labels of all of the ingredients you use***

Roasted Rep Pepper, Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Roasted Rep Pepper, Spinach and Artichoke Dip

This warm, deliciously rich dip is very easy to prepare.  Serve it alongside mixed, fresh vegetable or with my Garlic-Parmesan baked tortilla chips.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 - 14 oz. Can of Artichokes

3.5 oz. Roasted Red Peppers

10 oz. Package Frozen Spinach - Thawed and drained

8 oz.  Cream Cheese - Softened

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese - Divided

1/3 Cup Mayo

4 Tbs. Garlic - Minced

Salt and Pepper - To taste

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350*

Chop artichokes and roasted red peppers.

In a large mixing bowl, combine artichokes, roasted red peppers, spinach, cream cheese, 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (Save remaining 1/4 cup to bake on top of the dip), mayo, garlic, and salt and pepper.  Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.

Place mixture in a glass baking dish.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese on top.  Bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the Parmesan on top is a nice golden brown.

SERVE AND ENJOY!!

Makes 6 servings:

Per Serving:

Calories -  286

Protein -  9.5  g

Carbs -    5 net g 

Fat -   24  g

***Nutritional info can vary greatly by brand.  Please be sure to check the labels of all of the ingredients you use***

Peace, Love, and Dips

Bacon, Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onion Stuffed Mushrooms

Bacon, Blue Cheese, Caramelized Onion Stuffed Mushrooms

I know the title is a mouthful but so are these mushrooms... A mouth full of goodness. Here is a little tip for cooking these beauties.  Use a mini muffin tin to cook the mushrooms.  It will hold them snugly in place and keep them from falling over and losing their toppings..  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. Cremini Mushrooms

2 Small Vidalia Onions

4 Slices Thick Cut Bacon

8 oz. Cream Cheese - Softened

1/2 Cup Blue Cheese Crumbles

1/4 Parmesan Cheese - Shredded

3 Tbs. Butter

2 Tbs. Garlic - Minced

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

Thoroughly wash mushrooms and remove stems.  Finely chop the stems.

Thinly slice the onions.  Saute over medium heat in butter and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until onions are nice and caramelized - About 30 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, cook bacon until crispy and chop.

In a large mixing bowl, combine chopped mushroom stems, caramelized onions, chopped bacon, softened cream cheese, and blue cheese crumbles.  Mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Stuff each mushroom with the mixture.  Bake at 350* for 25 minutes.

Take mushrooms out of the oven and top each one with a little shredded Parmesan.  Bake 10 additional minutes.

SERVE AND ENJOY!!

Makes 4 servings:

Per Serving:

Calories -  245

Protein -  10.3 g

Carbs -   6.3 net g 

Fat -   18 g

***Nutritional info can vary greatly by brand.  Please be sure to check the labels of all of the ingredients you use***

Peace, Love, and Shrooms

Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs

Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs

When this idea came to me I wasn't sure if I was about to embark on some genius new creation or perhaps the oddest combination ever.  The end result was incredibly delicious and just seemed to make perfect sense.  I hope you like them as much as we did.  

INGREDIENTS

6 Large Eggs

6 oz. Cooked Chicken - Chopped

1/4 Small Vidalia Onion

1/4 Cup Blue Cheese Crumbles

1/4 Cup Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/2 Rib Celery

2 Tbs. Blue Cheese Dressing

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

Hard boil the eggs.  This is how I make perfect hard boiled egg.  Put the eggs in a large sauce pan with cold, salted water.  Add enough water that the eggs are fully submerged.  Over high heat bring water to a rolling boil.  Once the water is boiling, remove the pan from the heat, cover and let sit for 12 minutes.  

While your eggs are boiling, chop up the chicken and the celery.

Peel the eggs and slice in half lengthwise.  Scrape the yolks out into a large mixing bowl.  To the bowl add the rest of the ingredients except for the onion.  Use a microplane to grate the onion over the bowl.  The juice from the onion will add a lot of flavor to the mixture.  

Mix all ingredients together.  Put mixture into a ziploc bag.  Squeeze the mixture to one corner of the bag and snip off the corner of the bag.  Use this to pipe the mixture into the eggs.  

***You can garnish with any leftover celery or green onions as I did***

SERVE AND ENJOY!!

Makes 6 servings:

Per Serving:

Calories - 112

Protein - 7.5 g

Carbs - 1.3 net g 

Fat - 8.5 g 

Peace, Love, and Crazy Creations

Mexican (Spanish) "Rice"

 

 

Spanish (Mexican) "Rice"

I honestly can't believe I didn't think of this idea sooner.  Once I did, it's like a light went on in my head.  The good news was that I had everything in the house to make it.  I keep experimenting with cauliflower recipes.  Cauliflower can simulate so many different foods... pasta, potatoes, rice.  This recipe was the first time that I truly felt like I was eating rice and not riced cauliflower.  Serve it to your non low-carbing friends and see if they can identify it...  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

3 Cups Cauliflower - Riced - I use my cheese grater to rice the cauliflower 

2 Cups Chicken Stock

1/2 Can Stewed Tomatoes with Mexican Seasoning (I used S&W stewed tomatoes with mild chili and mexican seasoning)  They are great but any variety will work 

1/2 Cup Onion - Diced

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

2 Tbs. Garlic - Minced

2 Tbs. Cumin

2 tsp. Chili Powder

1 tsp. Garlic Salt

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

I cooked this in my non-stick wok but a large saute pan will work just fine. Heat your pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil, onion, and minced garlic.  Saute for 5 minutes.

Add riced cauliflower, cumin, chili powder and garlic salt - Let cook 5-8 minutes - Stir every minute or so.

Add chicken stock and tomatoes.  Use a rubber spatula to break up the tomatoes.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer 30-40 minutes or until all the liquid has reduced.

SERVE AND ENJOY!!

Makes 6 Servings - 4 net carbs per serving.

Peace, Love, and Rice

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

I can't believe I did not think of this sooner.  I'm not going to lie, as soon as the idea came to me, I felt like a culinary genius. :)  If you can't tell by now, I like finding creative vessels for my dishes.  I have had a lot of fun with avocados with this same concept.  These pepper are great for lunch, dinner or even as an appetizer.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!!

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. Thinly Sliced Roast Beef

8 Slices Provolone Cheese

2 Large Green Bell Peppers

1 Medium Sweet Onion

6 oz. Baby Bella Mushrooms

2 Tbs. Butter

2 Tbs. Olive Oil

1 Tbs. Garlic - Minced

Salt and Pepper - to taste

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

Slice peppers in half lengthwise, remove ribs and seeds.

Slice onions and mushrooms.  Saute over medium heat with butter, olive oil, minced garlic and a little salt and pepper.  Saute until onions and mushroom are nice and caramelized.  About 25-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400*

Slice roast beef into thin strips and add to the onion/mushroom mixture.  Allow to cook 5-10 minutes

Line the inside of each pepper with a slice of provolone cheese. 

Fill each pepper with meat mixture until they are nearly overflowing.

Top each pepper with another slice of provolone cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese on top is golden brown. 

Serve and Enjoy!!

Makes 4 servings -  6 net carbs per serving 

Peace, Love, and Phillys