Brussels Sprouts Awesome – Fall Edition

Posted on by Sam Boyd

This is a very similar recipe to the Broccoli Sprouts Awesome recipe.  The difference is that it focuses on some more Autumnish flavors, meaning Thanksgiving leftovers are ingredients here.

Ingredients

  1.     3 cups shredded brussels sprouts. (You can either take a long time to do it yourself, or pick up two bags at TJ’s or whereever)
  2.     5 ouces of diced Thanksgiving turkey (or turkey breast if you don’t have leftover turkey)
  3.     2 ounces of unroasted pepitos (these are shelled pumpkin seeds)
  4.     2 ounces of monterey jack cheese (shredded works well, sometimes I dice it into 1/2″ by 1/2″ squares, that’s fun too)
  5.     2 tablespoons of vegetable broth
  6.     1 tablespoon of smoked paprika

Recipe

  1.    Put the pepitos in a large frying pan on medium heat.  This is a way to get some of the oils out of them, which gives it a bit of a nutty flavor in the overall dish.  The way you can tell if they are done or not is to smell them.  If you are about 2 feet above the pan and it smells nutty, it’s done.  If you are the bathroom and they smell nutty, they are overdone.  Toss them and start over.  There is no timing this as pepitos are not uniform in size.  They are done when the smallest one is done, not when the largest one is done.  You would rather have 75% underdone pepitos and 25% perfectly done pepitos, than the other way around.
  2.     When you smell the nutty smell, pour the veggie broth, turkey and paprika all in.
  3.     Saute all for about 3 minutes, then add all the brussels sprouts in.  (you see why you needed a medium saucepan)
  4.     Brussels sprouts are done when they are done. Mine usually take about 8 minutes of stirring fairly often.  But brussels sprouts can be finicky and are awful when overcooked.  Do your best.  They do not need to be soggy to be done.  A bit of crunch is desirable.
  5.   Cut the heat and stir in your cheese.  Some people stir it in to melt it, some people cover it and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Either way is fine.  I like to stir it in so it gets all melty and awesome.

Let me know what you think of this variation.  We cook with brussels sprouts a lot and find them to be a hearty and great substitute for a starch in a dish.  This dish also works well with cauliflower as the base as well.  (Riced of course)

Clean Beef with Broccoli

Posted on by Sam Boyd

This is a great one for a Chinese food craving.

Ingredients:

1.  10 ounces of tenderloin, sliced as thin as you can and drenched in soy sauce

2.  Approximately 5 cups of broccoli florets (about 1 large broccoli bunch)

3.  1/4 cup soy sauce (see #1)

4.  2 cups vegetable broth + 2 tablespoons vegetable broth, kept separate

5.  1 medium orange or yellow pepper, julienned

6.  1 medium onion, sliced thin

7.  1 tablespoon minced garlic

8.  1 teaspoon dried basil

9.  1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional) substitute for the 2 tablespoons of veggie broth in #4

10.  1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)

11.  2 tablespoons date paste.

Recipe

1.  Heat up a pan to hot, really hot, really really hot.  A wok would be best, but any pan works really.

2.  Put, in this order, into the pan, 2 tablespoons veggie broth, onion, pepper, date paste and garlic.

3.  Stir briskly and do not let sit still, for about 3 minutes.  Some of the pieces will brown on the corners.

4.  Reduce heat to medium and add the soy-sauced meat.

5.  Stir to coat everything and put lid on for 2 minutes.

6.  Take this time to reflect on the great cultural contributions of China.  Good.

7.  Pull off the lid, add the vegetable broth and basil, kick heat to high and lid till boiling.

8.  Pull lid off and cook on high for 10 minutes to let some of the broth evaporate.  Stir it a couple of times.

9.  Add all the broccoli to the pan.  Stir it as much as you can, it’s not that important.  Lid the pan, and reduce heat to medium.

10.  You should turn this off after about 10 minutes, the broccoli will be done.  This will make 4 servings.  Eat 2 now with someone you have warm feelings for, and then pack the other 2 up for lunches.

Important Point:  This will not make traditional beef with broccoli that has the thick brown sauce, that sauce has tons of starchy substances and lots of sugar in it.  This is brothy and hearty and really quite awesome.  Please email with questions, suggestions or other ideas.

 

Pork Fried Cauliflower “Rice”

Posted on by Sam Boyd

This one allows me to have chinese food.  The flavor profile is dead on, with 0 net carbs and lots of protein and vegetables.  The most unhealthy thing in this dish is the sesame oil and maybe the pork, depending upon how you feel about swine.

Ingredients:

1.  1 whole cauliflower, riced.  What this means is you take, leaving it raw, and put it into a food processor or grater and blitz it.  It creates a substance that is a little smaller than white rice but still have some body.  It is important to leave it raw, otherwise you will make paste, which is another blog post.

2.  2 medium onions, chopped as big or small as you like

3.  16 ounces of pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1″ squares/chunks.

4.  1 cup of frozen peas.

5.  1 tablespoon of sesame oil

6.  2 tablespoons of minced garlic

7.  1 teaspoon of ground ginger

8.  1 teaspoon of dried basil

9.  4 tablespoons of soy sauce (low sodium is a good idea)

10.  2 eggs, lightly beaten

Recipe:

1.  In large skillet or wok, put the wok with 1/2 of the sesame oil over high heat.

2.  When the pork is about 1/2 cooked, add the onion and garlic with the rest of the sesame oil.

3.  When cooked through, add the peas.

4.  When heated through, push to one side and add the lightly beaten egg and scramble,

5.  When eggs are scrambled, add the whole mixture together and add all the spices, soy sauce and cauliflower rice.

6.  Stirring near constantly, move the entire mix around until most of the soy sauce either absorbs or evaporates which should only take about 30-40 seconds.  If there is still a bunch of liquid, then keep going till it is gone.

This should serve 4 people.  Or as usual, two people with two leftovers.  This dish is pretty awesome and allows for a chinese craving to be met without a lot of the MSG and extra calories.

Smoothies

Posted on by Sam Boyd

Sorry for being away.  I have been busy.

There are no pictures to go with these recipes, simply because I usually am too busy stuffing these down my gullet to stop and take a picture.  Plus, we have ugly glasses.

 

Chocolate Covered Almond Smoothie

1.  3oz coconut milk

2.  3oz skim milk

3.  3oz of frozen water (also known as “ice”)

4.  1tblspoon unsweetened baking cocoa

5.  1 scoop of vanilla flavored protein shake/nutrition shake (I use the TLS Vanilla for this, but any brand vanilla will work fine)

6.  1.5tblspoons of almond butter

Blend the hell out of this.  We do it in a single serving cup with our Ninja and blend on “single serving” for about 40 seconds.  The wait is worth it.  Great for breakfast and if you need a desserty type thing and its snack time.  If you look at the ingredients, there is no added sugar, the coconut milk and almond butter will trick you into thinking there is a lot more sweetness going on than there is.  (Phase III)

 

Hawaiian Smoothie

1.  1oz coconut milk

2.  3oz frozen pineapple

3.  1 banana

4.  1/4 cup milk powder

5.  tablespoon coconut flour

6.  1 peeled orange

7.  1 teaspoon ground ginger

8.  3oz plain water (you may not want to do this, but trust me you should.  The coconut flour will turn this into paste if you do not make it thin enough in the beginning.

Blend the hell out of this as well.  The coconut flour will turn this thick as much as you want, plus will reduce the smoothie will separate out later.  I highly recommend frozen pineapple as the temperature of this is best served cold.  Ice is difficult to use because of the coconut flour.  The reasoning behind the coconut flour has to do with the fact that there is about 3gm of protein and 4gm of fiber in a single tablespoon.  Use this with caution and be prepared to do it a couple of times before you get the hang of it.  When it goes bad, it’s quite awful, but fun to give unsuspecting spouses with a sheepish grin.  (Phase II-III)

The Green Smoothie

1.  3 stalks of celery

2.  3oz of cucumber

3.  3oz of spinach leaves

4.  tablespoon ground ginger (minced fresh ginger is better, but I am not a chef, I work with what I got, and I gots ground ginger)

5.  1 banana

6.  1/4 cup milk powder

7.  2 pitted dates

8.  1 teaspoon of chia seeds

This one is an acquired taste.  If you do not like vegetables, then you will hate this.  But also, why are you looking at a blog about eating healthy?  There is enough sweetness to make this work well but it will be loose and will be “fibrous” in feel.  If you grew up hating tons of pulp in your juice, then this will probably not sit well with you. (Phase II)

 

These are just 3 of the ones in rotation in my life right now.  Any suggestions for others, let me know.  Did you try one and it was awful and I am lying about them, let me know that too.

Parmesan Tilapia

Posted on by Sam Boyd

This is a super simple recipe that falls square into Phase III.  It takes a little practice but keep in mind that tilapia is a very forgiving fish and parmesan is a very forgiving cheese.

Ingredients

1.  24oz of tilapia, thawed rinsed and pat dried

2.  8oz of shredded parmesan cheese

3.  1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, dried basil, garlic powder and onion powder

Recipe

1.  Liberally salt every piece of fish with the spice mixture.  Do both sides else it will end up bland.

2.  Bake the tilapia in a broilable pan/sheet at 325 for about 15 minutes or until the flesh is between translucent and white.  It will not be finished.

3.  I suggest draining any liquid off the pan.  Place all the cheese on the fish.  If you have 3oz filets, then you should have about 2oz for each filet.

4.  Turn the oven to broil and give it about 1 minute to get to temperature.  Put the fish in.  This is something that gets tricky, but gets better with experience.  It generally only takes about 90 seconds under the broiler to get the cheese all melty and awesome.  I usually pull it out and rotate the pan 180 degrees to get the most even meltiness.

5.  Pull it out and put a couple of lemon wedges with and yummy.