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

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

Low-Carb Cinnamon Vanilla Pancakes

Low-Carb Cinnamon Vanilla Pancakes

I have been craving pancakes like crazy.  I started to feel like it would just be one of those foods that I had to give up for good. I wasn't sure I could come up with a recipe that would satisfy my craving without feeling like I was sacrificing taste or texture.  I'm glad I was wrong.  These turned out amazing.  My husband said that I could serve them to any non low-carber and that they would not know the difference.  I apologize to those of you that are looking for a gluten-free recipe.  This uses Carbquik - which does contain wheat.  We served these with Joseph's SF Maple Syrup. Hope you enjoy!!

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups Carbquik - You can get it here -Tova Carbquik Bake Mix
3/4 Cup Half and Half
1/3 Cup Water
1 Egg
1 Stick Salted Butter - Melted
3oz. Cream Cheese - Softened
4 Tbs. Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup.  I use Toranis - You can get it here - Torani Sugar Free Syrup
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)
 ***We served this with Joseph's SF Maple Syrup*** This was the first time we have tried and and we really liked it.  It did not taste SF to me at all.  You can get it here - Joseph's Sugar-free Maple Syrup.  Also you can always use vanilla extract and a little sweetener in place of the SF vanilla syrup.

DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix using a hand mixer.  Be careful not to over mix it as it will become too thick.

Heat a lightly oiled or buttered griddle or frying pan over medium heat.  Ladle a scoop of  batter onto the griddle.  Brown on both sides.  SERVE AND ENJOY!

This entire batch is only 22 net grams of carbs

Peace, Love, and Pancakes