Scallops Fit for a Queen (or King)

Sunday night and I am making scallops with vegetables for myself (above) and bangers and mash for the boys (below). Not familiar with it? That's because it is a British dish, David's mother was Welsh, and now Cooper is a British Citizen, you gotta eat like your people!

Mash are mashed potatoes; bangers are pork sausage with bread in them, very mild, but highly loved by the British. They are pan fried, and served with gravy and peas.

I did not eat this!

I fed it to the boys and they were pleased as pie! I made them a nectarine crostada for dessert too.

Below is another view of mine, half eaten so you can see the broth and the colors and the great dish I made.

I had slices of Italian squash that had been sauteed, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, sauteed leeks and 2 ounces of Maria's "sweet pots". Those are sweet potatoes that have been chunked up, and tossed with small amount of olive oil, cinnamon, splenda and pepper and then roasted until tender. 


I put all the vegetables, which had been previously cooked, onto a plate, then warmed it in the microwave (I use mine a lot).


I then heated a cast iron pan and placed a small amount of coconut oil in it, and seared the scallops (I had salted and peppered) for 2 minutes a side. I placed the scallops on top of the warmed vegetables then added some water to the very hot pan, to deglaze the juices. 

Now the last touch: Taste #5 Umami Paste! What is Umami?
For a long time, scientists debated whether umami was indeed a basic taste; but in 1985 at the first Umami International Symposium in Hawaii, the term Umami was officially recognized as the scientific term to describe the taste of glutamates and nucleotides. 


Now it is widely accepted as the fifth basic taste. Umami represents the taste of the amino acid L-glutamate and 5’-ribonucleotides such as guanosine monophosphate (GMP) and inosine monophosphate (IMP).


Although it can be described as a pleasant "brothy" or "meaty" taste with a long lasting, mouthwatering and coating sensation over the tongue, umami has no translation.


Umami has a mild but lasting after-taste difficult to describe. It induces salivation and a furriness sensation on the tongue, stimulating the throat, the roof and the back of the mouth 

YUM! I added a small squeeze of Umami paste and whisked it around, then poured the broth over my dish. One of the biggest problems with diet food is the dryness, lack of sauces and condiments, but a nice tasty broth can change everything.


I bought the paste in Santa Cruz, and have seen it in several gourmet shops since then. I bet Whole Foods even carries it now! Try some!

Salmon Poached in Herb Broth

David asked if I would make “the salmon in the broth”…I knew what he meant, I love the dish. You really cannot eat anything that is as tasty and healthy as this in the springtime, a perfect lunch or dinner.  This was the dinner we had after my birthday lunch at Chez Panisse, even Cooper loved it.

This recipe can be altered to fit a pre competition (not less than 6 weeks out for me) or a dieter, or a non dieter, just by not adding the olive oil.

Don’t let this recipe scare you, in fact, I have made this with almost completely different ingredients and it has been wonderful. I have used chervil instead of tarragon, shallots instead of green onions,  fava beans instead of peas, because I believe that cooking is an art, not a science and you shouldn’t worry about measurements or specific ingredients too much!

This is salmon that is poached in an herb broth, served with spring vegetables such as sweet peas, favas or asparagus (I use all!)

For 3

½ bunch tarragon (1 tablespoon chopped and set aside)

½ bunch chives (1 tablespoon chopped and set aside)

1 ½ cups water

½ cup white wine

½ cup parsley leaves

2 medium green onions, white and light green parts cut into thirds

1 celery rib, cut into thirds

1 garlic clove, smashed

1 large thyme sprig

½ teaspoon coriander seeds

¼ teaspoon black peppercorns

1 ½ by ½ inch strip lemon zest

Kosher salt

3 6 ounce skinless center-cut salmon fillets

½ cup fresh shelled peas (or frozen)

½ cup blanched asparagus, cut into ½ inch pieces

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a medium saucepan, combine the unchopped tarragon and chives with the water, wine, parsley leaves, green onions, celery, garlic, thyme, coriander seeds, peppercorns, lemon zest and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to moderate and simmer the broth for 20 minutes.

 Strain the vegetable-herb broth into a very large skillet; discard the solids. 

Bring the vegetable-herb broth to a simmer. Season the salmon with salt and carefully add the fillets to the skillet, skinned side up. Bring the broth back to a simmer. Cover the skillet and reduce the heat to moderately low.

Cook the salmon for 3 minutes, then turn the fillets and add the fresh peas. Cover and cook until the peas and asparagus (or favas) are bright green and the salmon is barely cooked through, about 4 minutes.  (Yes I have an extra piece of salmon, it was a funny shaped piece and it was removed very quickly and eaten as a snack!)

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the salmon to shallow bowls and scatter the vegetables on top. Whisk the olive oil into the broth. Pour the broth over the salmon, sprinkle with the chopped tarragon and chives and serve. 

Curried Chicken and Cauliflower Soup

This recipe is from the January issue of Clean Eating magazine. I enjoyed it quite a bit! 

I added more curry than the recipe called for, I seem to like things spicier than the average person.

I am a sucker for coconut milk and will make just about any recipe with that as an ingredient. I have never purchased the full fat version, there is no need to, the lite is just fine. 

Even then, it does have a large number of calories but this uses just a small amount. Not wanting to open a can and then throw everything but a couple tablespoons away, I decided to get an ice cube tray and fill it up with coconut milk! Each cube is 1 tablespoon. I froze them then popped them out and filled up a zip lock bag. I was actually quite surprised at how much flavor just a small amount adds to a dish. I will try this trick with other soups, especially since I have a bag full of frozen coconut cubes!

This serves 6 (makes 8 cups)

Total time is 25 minutes, a real quick dish.

Ingredients

• 1/6 cup Coconut Milk, Light
• 12 oz Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
• 4 cups Cauliflower,raw
• 1 cup Red Bell Peppers
• 9 oz Potato
• 4 cups Chicken Broth-fat Free, Low Sodium
• 4 tsp Spicy Curry Powder
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• Plain fat free Greek yogurt

Directions

In a 4 qt pot heat coconut milk over medium heat, do not let it boil. Add cubed chicken breast and curry powder. Cook for about 6 minutes until lightly golden. Add cauliflower, bell pepper, potato and broth, cook on medium high until it boils. Cover pot and reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes.

When cauliflower and potatoes are tender, uncover & simmer for 1-3 minutes to thicken slightly. Season with black pepper,

Spoon into soup bowls, top with green onion and cilantro cilantro. Finish with 1/4 c nonfat plain Greek yogurt.

One serving is 1 1/2 cups soup and 1/4 cup yogurt

Calories: 186
Total Fat 4 grams
Saturated Fat 2 grams
Carbs 15 grams
Fiber 3.5 grams
Sugars 3 grams
Protein 24 grams
Sodium 131 mg
Cholesterol 33 mg

Halibut Soup

I love soup! I made this and enjoyed it quite a bit. It is an adaptation from a recipe from my cookbook "Gourmet Nutrition" by Dr. John Berardi.

I love his recipe but didn't have all the ingredients and I rarely run to the store for something when a craving hits, I just make due with what I have.

So how did I make this?

I first started out by hitting the fish market on the way home from work for some halibut, one of my favorites. Then I went home and looked in the fridge to see what jumped out at me.

I sauteed some chopped onion in coconut oil, then added garlic, smoked Spanish paprika and a few tablespoons chicken broth.

I added a few cups more chicken broth and an 1/8 cup quinoa and then simmered about 10 minutes, until the quinoa was cooked.

I added some chopped carrots, some peas and lots of chopped dried kelp. The kelp is a fantastic flavor! Then I let is simmer about 5 minutes.

I sauteed my halibut in a separate pan until just cooked through and then poured the soup into a huge bowl, pulled the fish apart into large chunks and added it to the soup.

Soup is so easy to make, by using some strong flavored ingredients such as onions, garlic and paprika, you are guaranteed a great broth.

The peas and quinoa serve as the starch, get used to eating your soups without bread!

Artichoke Chicken Shiritaki Pasta

I came up with this on Sunday evening and I loved it! I was in need of some greatly reduced carbs due to the massive amounts that I ate the previous evening at a party. There were enough in my stores, I needed a hearty dinner but not a lot of carbs.

I have written many times about shiritaki pasta, it is a tofu and yam flour pasta. It takes some getting used to, but it is wheat free and has almost no carbohydrates.


This was easy to prepare, I assembled or pre-cooked most of it then microwaved it when I was ready to eat.

This serves one person and the ingredients are:

1 package shiritaki pasta
4 ounces cooked, cubed chicken breast
1/2 cup roughly chopped canned artichoke hearts

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

black pepper

Rinse the shiritaki well, then boil 2 minutes and rinse and drain again, set aside until ready to use.

Combine all remaining ingredients except the cheese and pepper with the pasta, stir to mix. Warm in the microwave about 2 minutes. Top with cheese and pepper.


Nutritional breakdown is as follows:
Calories 224
Protein 33 grams
Fat 2.5 grams

Carbs 12.5 grams

Sodium 636 mg.

Yam Noodles

I have written about Shiritaki noodles already, and these are similar, but they are made with yam flour and no tofu. They come in white or "black", although black is really brown as you see here above.

I didn't notice much difference in taste or texture and bought these because they were a bit thicker and I wanted some variety.

I was looking for a low to no carb meal and a quick one, so I made some chicken soup and it was good, not stellar but filled me up on a cold rainy day.

1 package yam or shiritaki noodles
4 ounces cooked ground chicken
2 cups Chicken broth

I  chose the ground chicken because I had it in the freezer and wanted to use it up. Cooked, cubed chicken would be just fine. I used chicken broth in a box, but homemade would be best, I don't always have homemade in my freezer though. Any kind of cooked vegetable would be great thrown in, but like I said, I was really, really hungry and needed food fast.

End result:

 

I will make it again, but allow myself a little time so I can add some more ingredients. Chopped green onion, slivered jalapenos and basil, maybe some sliced carrots, almost anything and it will become almost pho-like.

What was the breakdown?

Calories: 190
Protein: 27 grams
Fat:8 grams

Carbs: 7 grams

Basically the noodles are free food, hardly any calories or carbs...

Butternut Squash and Turkey Soup

This soup was very nice, creamy (yet no cream), spicy and very healthy.

It is from the Precision Nutrition Cookbook by Dr. John Berardi.

I love soup. I usually tend to make the broth based soups because I just cannot eat the cream, so having one with a creamy texture is great!

This is one I would make again, and it was easy to do.  This serves 8 ( a big guy gets double)


Soup Base:

1 Tbsp coconut oil
5 cups butternut squash (skin removed, roughly chopped)
1 cup roughly chopped onion
1 Tbsp grated or minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp nutmeg
5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup water

Soup Garnish:

1 lb, 10 ounces ground turkey
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

Olive Oil cooking spray

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

 

Soup base:

Preheat large pot on medium high heat, add coconut oil and squash, saute until lightly browned. Add onion, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 Tbsp of broth; saute for 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Add remaining vegetable broth and water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until squash is soft (approximately 30 minutes). Prepare garnish while soup base is cooking. Let soup cool a few minutes. Puree in blender or food processor until smooth and pour back into pot.

Soup Garnish:

Season turkey with salt, pepper and cumin. Preheat large non-stick frying pan on medium heat and lightly coat with spray. Saute turkey until lightly browned and completely cooked, breaking up meat into small crumbles. Add cooked turkey and cilantro to soup base. Reheat and serve immediately or portion soup into storage containers. To maintain tenderness of meat, avoid bring soup to a boil after meat has been added.

I make one batch, and do not add the garnish. I divide the base into 8 servings (7 containers and 1 small pot), and then mike the turkey and cilantro together, and divide that equally between the 8 containers. I have one bowl for dinner and other 7 go in the freezer for later.

Calories 219.8

fat 9.8 grams

carbs 14.3 grams

sugar 2.6 grams

protein 18.8 grams

Shirataki Pasta

This looks fabulous doesn't it?! Doesn't even look like "diet" food, but it sure is.

"R" and I went to do a little shopping at Mitsuawa market today, it is my favorite Japanese grocery store.

Among other things, I found some beautiful scallops, I can eat them this week then no more for a few weeks due to the sodium content.
 

I also picked up a few packages of Shirataki pasta- it's made from tofu and yam flour. If you follow Hungry Girl, you read about this years ago, it's actually available at almost any grocery store, in the refrigerator section. I tried it then and didn't care for it, but after tonight I have decided it had to have been my method of preparation that failed me previously.

It has a gelatinous texture, so it is crucial to prepare it correctly so that is almost eliminated. The pasta comes in water, drain it and rinse it very well, using tongs or your hands to clean it all off. Then boil it for 3 minutes and drain well again.

Now this is the most important part, lay it out on paper towels then dab it with more towels to get it as dry as possible.  Now let it sit till you plan to toss it in your dish.

I heated a cast iron skillet till very hot, then sprayed it very quickly with olive oil cooking spray. Salt and pepper on the scallops, and seared them on each side for 2 minutes.

I added 1 Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (it can give sauces a meaty, rich flavor if used sparingly), it quickly cooked off, and I removed the scallops from the pan. I then added 5 ounces diced up fresh tomatoes, 1/4 cup chopped green onion, 2 Tablespoons julienned basil, a dash red pepper flakes and let it cook a couple minutes, then added salt, pepper and 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar.

Simmer a few minutes longer, then add 1/4 cup chicken broth. Add the pasta to the sauce, stir and warm a minute then add the scallops back in, stir.
Serve in a bowl with a few shreds of fresh basil on top.

 Now the good part-  An entire package of shirataki pasta is supposed to serve 2, I ate all of it. The whole package has the following nutritional breakdown:

Calories 40
Carbs 6 grams
Fiber 4 grams

Fat 1/2 gram

Protein 2 grams

Sodium 30 grams

So, when you add the other ingredients to this, the total breakdown was:

6 ounces (uncooked weight) scallops

5 ounces tomato

1/4 cup green onions

2 Tbls Basil

1 Tbls + 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 package shirataki noodles

258 calories

16.6 grams carbs (tomatoes have a lot)

28 grams protein

3 grams fat

To put this into perspective, if you were to use 2 ounces dried pasta (the recommended serving on the box, that's 1/8 of a box), instead of the shirataki noodles,  the breakdwon would look like this:

418 calories

51.6 grams carbs

33 grams protein

3.5 grams fat

That's a HUGE difference, I rarely ever eat a meal with that many calories, and the only meal I eat with that many carbs is immediately following a heavy training session.

I am making turkey meatballs next and shall try a meat based broth with just a few tomatoes and will let you know how it is!