Thanksgiving Done Healthy: Apricot Brussels Sprouts

A bushel of Brussels Sprouts

I've talked about Brussels sprouts before.  I bring them up again, because they are something we have at Thanksgiving, even though they're normally the slimy fish head ones and nobody really eats them.  It reminds me of my Thanksgiving as a kid.

I was, surprise, a picky eater.  We went to my aunt's house for Thanksgiving every year, and I loved it. She lived on a "farm" with turkeys, chickens and goats.  I think she had a cow at one point.  I loved playing with the chickens and the turkeys.   One year, some of my out of state family came a few weeks before Thanksgiving.  We went to visit my aunt early so we could see them.  I chased the turkeys around and played with their softball (they thought it was an egg, I remember my aunt remarking how incredibly stupid they were for sitting on it like it was an egg).  Then we went home.

A few weeks later, on Thanksgiving, I noticed that one of the turkeys was missing.  I normally only played with the animals on Thanksgiving, so I never remembered from year to year how many turkeys there were. I asked and was told, in a nice way, that he was in the oven.  Once I realized what this meant, I cried.  My aunt apologized and said that was just the way things were on a farm.  Where did I think turkey came from?  To be honest, I had never really thought about it.  We got ours from Kroger.  They weren't fun to chase at Kroger.

That Thanksgiving, and for a long time after, I would barely eat anything my aunt cooked.  I didn't care if it was a vegetable tray.  I assumed my aunt had murdered whatever it was on the plate.  I never liked to play with her animals again.  I assumed they were just there to be lunch.  I remember asking, "Did this come from a store or from your yard?" before I ate anything (for some reason, I still thought food from a store was different than food from her lawn). 

We started bringing a dish to Thanksgiving and I'd eat that.  My mom was no murderer.  That's a tradition I carry out today whenever I go to someone's house for a big dinner party.  Even though I'm no longer a strict vegetarian or a vegan, I know I'm still picky.  I always mention my diet to people, but they normally make something I don't like anyway.  It's not their fault.  Besides, I don't expect non-vegetarians to think of things like beans, broth or gelatin being non-vegetarian.  They just don't.  It's not being hateful to serve me pan gravy or mashed potatoes cooked with chicken stock, because they didn't think about it being non-vegetarian. So, I always ask if I can bring a dish (if appropriate), or just shut up eat what I can.  I can always eat something else later.  There's no sense in making a scene and ruining their dinner.  My diet is not really their problem.  Especially on Thanksgiving.  People have Thanksgiving traditions that are bigger than my dietary constraints.

If I were bringing a dish to Thanksgiving dinner this year, I think I'd bring these Brussels sprouts.  We sometimes make a dish with green beans and apricot sauce for Thanksgiving.  It's divine, but I love green beans.  I decided to try the sauce on Brussels sprouts, something most that people don't give a fair shot.  It's delicious and I think the apricot bits would be tempting to even Brussels sprouts haters.

The crunchy roasted Brussels sprouts and the bits of apricot are divine.

Apricot Brussels Sprouts
4 ounces dried apricots
1 cup orange juice
1 bushel of Brussels sprouts

1. Roast Brussels sprouts (here is how).
2. While they are roasting, place the apricots and orange juice in a sauce pan and simmer until the apricots are tender.
3. Puree the orange juice and apricots until smooth.  If you want chunky sauce, as pictured, remove 3-4 apricots and chop them.
4. Remove the Brussels sprouts to a serving bowl and toss with the apricot sauce. 

Easy! Great tasting too.  These would be a much bigger hit than those slimy ones.  Since I roasted them first, they still have that roasted flavor, with a hint of sweetness from the apricots/orange juice.

I think I'm kind of obsessed with Brussels sprouts.  I found a stalk of Brussels sprouts at the store the other day for just $3.79.  The stalk keeps the sprouts fresher, so they store longer.  They're easy to remove from the stalk.  You just twist them and pop them off. 

Another recipe for Brussel sprouts that I've tried recently is cheesy Brussels sprouts.  I subbed them in a green bean dish my mom makes for Thanksgiving.  She puts a can or two of french cut green beans in a casserole dish and pours heavy cream in the casserole dish until it covers the bottom.  She sprinkles it with a generous amount of Parmesan cheese, mixes it all together and bakes until it's brown.  I used Brussels sprouts instead of green beans, and it was heavenly. It would be a Thanksgiving hit for sure.

Yup, I'm having Brussels sprouts this year.

Cold Weather Comfort: Vegetarian Lasagna Soup

Lasagna in a bowl and a cheese crisp

I've went off my whole foods diet a little with Halloween. I ate more than my fair share of candy and cupcakes.  However, I'm sworn off unhealthy foods until Thanksgiving.  I think I should eat whatever I want to on the day of a holiday, so all bets are off on Thanksgiving day.  I'll write more about that later.  Now that the weather is getting cooler and fresh, local produce is harder to find I think it's soup season.

I saw a recipe for a soup that was supposed to taste like lasagna in a bowl.  Yum!  However, the soup was made for meat eaters (it was mostly meat, pasta and tomatoes).  I modified it and made it vegetarian and cut back a bit on the pasta.

I think modifying recipes is one of the things you need to learn to do when you're trying to eat healthier.  You can't be afraid to experiment in the kitchen, and soup is an easy thing to experiment with.  A lot of people still act shocked when I tell them I didn't use a recipe or that I modified a recipe.  A friend said, "You might as well just throw some crap in a bowl if you're not going to go by the recipe exactly."  Well, I agree with her.  You might as well throw some crap in a bowl.  What's the worst thing that is going to happen? You'll waste a few ingredients? The best thing?  You might end up with an awesome dish.

My problem is that since starting this blog, I've had to write down what I do.  Which is good, I guess. It means if I make something good I can repeat it.   For this soup, I just made a soup of what I normally put in my lasagna.

Instead of the goupy cheese the original recipe had on top, I made a crispy cheese "cracker."  I like a crunch in my soup.  I love goldfish crackers in soup, but they don't fit a healthy diet.  When I was a junk food vegetarian, I lived on goldfish.  I always had a bag around.  Straight Parmesan cheese "crackers" satisfy that goldfish craving nicely.  It's not the wheat I loved, but the crunchy, cheesy, saltiness.

My onions are big because I pick them out, but I like the flavor. I'm weird.

The first time I made this soup, I made it without the pasta.  I found adding just a little bit of pasta gave it more body (it mostly disintegrated and just made the broth more substantial). You could leave the pasta out entirely if you wanted to be gluten free, and it would still taste good.  I cooked my soup in a crockpot.  I love crockpots for soups.  The pasta would hold up better in a regular pot.


Vegetarian Lasagna Soup

2 tsp olive oil
3 cup chopped onions
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 chopped bell pepper
1 cup of chopped broccoli florets
1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes (try to find one without sugar added, they do exist)
2 bay leaves
6 cups vegetable stock
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 handful of crushed lasagna noodles
2 cups of spinach

1.  Add everything except the noodles and the spinach to your pot or crockpot.  It's that easy to make soup. Really.
2. In a crockpot, cook on low for 3-4 hours.  In a regular pot, you probably only need to cook it for an hour or so.
3. Throw the noodles and spinach into the pot in the last 30 minutes for the crockpot or the last 15 minutes in a regular pot.  
4. Remove the bay leaves before serving.
5. Top with a cheese cracker (below).  You can also toss in a tablespoon full of cottage cheese before serving if you want even more cheese.  Ricotta will work too, but cottage cheese is a little healthier and much better at satiating you.  For the amount here, it won't matter much. 

Cheese "Crackers"
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Flat mounds

1. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
2. Mound the cheese in 4 separate areas. Flatten the tops so the piles look even.
3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, until starting to brown.  
4. Because of the mozzarella, these won't get "hard" like crackers, but I like them for soup.  If you want a harder cracker, straight Parmesan will crisp up. (just use a whole cup of Parmesan). 

This is how brown they should be.

It really does hit the lasagna spot, and look how healthy it is.  As with everything, these nutrtional values depend on the products you use.  I read the labels on a bunch of broth and canned tomatoes when I was at the store last.  The carb and calorie content varies widely between them.  Some of the canned tomato brands are loaded with corn syrup or other sugars.  I used my own stock (vegetable stock is easy to make), but canned tomatoes are one thing I buy.  There's no sense in making your own if tomatoes aren't in season, and not all canned tomatoes are loaded with junk.  You just really need to read the labels.

Nutrition Facts for Vegetarian Lasagna Soup

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Amount Per Serving (serves 6)

Calories:  192

Total fat: 10.7 g

Protein: 9.3 g

Total carbohydrate:  17.5 g

• Dietary Fiber: 3.3 g
• Sugar: 3.9 g

Nutrition Facts for Cheese Crackers

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Amount Per Serving (serves 4)

Calories:  105

Total fat: 8 g

Protein: 8 g

Total carbohydrate:  1 g

You've Got Peanut Butter in My Chocolate: Low Carb, Gluten Free Reese's Brownies

Peanut butter and chocolate? Yes!

I used to love marble peanut butter brownies when I was a kid.  Peanut butter and chocolate just go together.  When I started thinking about what kind of healthy holiday treat I wanted to make for Simply Sugar and Gluten Free's holiday recipe sharing session, I thought about brownies.

I attempted this recipe with a cool product that was recommended by a friend who is on Weight Watchers, Bell Plantation's PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter.  It's a pretty good find, but it didn't work well with this recipe.  I've been using it in smoothies and it's awesome for that.  The brownies in the photos were made using the PB2.  The recipe uses normal peanut butter, since I normally use regular peanut butter for these brownies. The PB2 didn't bake quite as well as regular peanut butter, so it's not as pretty.  Still tasty!

It comes in chocolate peanut butter too.  That's my fave.

The reason PB2 is so cool is that it's only 45 calories a serving with just 5 grams carbs.  Regular peanut butter is 188 calories and 6 grams of carbs.  That's a big difference in calories.  That being said, sandwiches with it are not quite the same.  I have a problem with weird textures, and this is weird.  You're supposed to mix it with water and turn it into "peanut butter," but I can't stand it.  For the same reason,  it's not good on celery.  It was ok in some cupcakes I tried it in, but not stellar.  I thought it would work well in this prep, but it was just so-so.  If you're really looking to shave calories, it might be worth trying.  For me, I think I'll reserve it for smoothies.  It tastes great in those, especially the chocolate and peanut butter variety.

Everyone has a low carb brownie recipe, but to keep this within the theme of the gluten free holiday, I made them low carb and gluten free using almond flour. It gives the brownies a nutty flavor.

Freshly ground almond flour.

Let's talk about making almond flour.  It's one of my favorite flours, because it's so easy and I always have almonds in the freezer.  If you have a fancy blender, it only takes a few seconds to make a batch of it.  If you have a food processor or coffee grinder, it might take a little longer, but you'll get something useable.

Making almond flour really is as easy as putting some almonds in the blender and blending until they become flour.  You have to keep an eye on it.  If you blend too long, they'll become almond butter (also delicious).  I use a Vitamix.  Since it gets hot, I use frozen almonds to make my flour.  I find the results are better, and they don't go as easily to almond butter.  After grinding the flour, I always push it through a strainer to be sure I have any big pieces or butter out.  After straining, it comes out almost as fine as processed almond flour.  You'll notice you still get some nut pieces (you can see them in the brownie photos).  You wouldn't get those with commercial flours.  You could process your flour twice, or in smaller batches, and eliminate those, or just enjoy the nut pieces.  I'm lazy.  I enjoy them.

Because of the almond flour, peanut butter and eggs, these things are protein packed!  It's like eating a delicious protein shake.  Each 2 by 1.5 brownie is about 5 grams of protein (a normal 2 by 1.5 brownie has 2.7 grams).  A person of my size requires 44 grams of protein a day, and I don't get even half that on most days.. That means I should an entire pan of these, right? No?  Oh well, worth a shot.

Low Carb, Gluten Free, Reeses Brownies
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup of stevia mix for baking (Fructevia)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (optional)


Peanut Butter Topping*:
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoons stevia mix for baking (Fructevia)
1 tablespoon almond flour
1 egg

The consistency of the batter.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 8 by 8 pan with parchment.
2. Mix butter with cocoa powder, vanilla, almond flour and salt.  If you're using baking powder, add it now.  If you add baking powder, your brownies will be more cake-like.  They'll be denser and moister if you don't. Please note that baking powder is not always gluten free.
3. Beat eggs with stevia until doubled.
4. Mix chocolate mixture with eggs until just combined.
5. Pour into prepared pan.  Spread out evenly.
6. To make peanut butter mixture, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.  *Please note, when I used powdered peanut butter, I used 4 tablespoons.  You also need to add water to get the right consistency (it should be the consistency of brownie batter).   
7. You have two options.  You can spread the peanut butter mixture evenly on top of the brownie mixture (pictured). If you want them to look marbled, drop the peanut butter mixture by spoonful about 2-3 inches apart.  Use the back of a spoon or knife to "swirl" the peanut butter mixture into the chocolate.  *I couldn't get the powdered peanut butter to marble like regular peanut butter (it doesn't get as creamy) so you may be stuck with layering if you use it.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  
9. Cut into pieces.  I cut mine into 20 small pieces, but I like a bite sized brownie.
   

These use powdered peanut butter.  Low calorie, but not quite like real peanut butter.

Nutrition Facts for Peanut Butter Brownies

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Amount Per Serving (makes 20)

Calories:  140

Total fat: 12 g

Protein: 4.5 g

Total carbohydrate:  2.5 g

• Dietary Fiber: 1.7 g
• Sugar: 0 g

If you use the powdered peanut butter, one serving is 119 calories, with only 2.2 grams of carbs.  If you're eating a small serving, it doesn't really cut that much out, so I saw go for the gusto and use the real stuff.  If you're eating Panera Bread sized brownies, it might make a difference.

It's probably worth pointing out that a regular brownie of similar size (a small one, not Panera Bread size) is 243 calories, 39 carbs and 10 grams of fat.  That's not even for a peanut butter covered brownie.  We have more fat here, but I bet it's mostly because of the peanut butter (2 tablespoons of peanut butter has 15 grams of fat).

Get Steamed: Steamed Banana Pudding

Yum, but not good for dieters because bananas are full of natural sugars.

I had 2 overripe bananas sitting on my counter, ready to go bad.  I didn't feel like a smoothie (I bought them for that purpose, but it's too cold).  I don't like eating overripe bananas raw.  I hate throwing them away.

So, I googled for quick banana recipes.  I found a few, but this warm pudding sounded just right for a cold night.  I modified the super easy "sexy banana" recipe I found on Modern Paleo Warfare (original) to make it dairy free.  It's not low calorie or low carb.  Bananas are calorie and carb dense.  Every banana has 27 grams of carbs and 118 calories, so it's hard to find a low carb banana recipe.  Bananas are one of the few fruits people trying to lose weight should avoid.

Moist and kind of bread like, similar to spotted dick.

Since I'm just trying to eat whole, healthier foods, bananas are fine with me.

Steamed Banana Pudding  

(makes 2 servings)

1 egg

2 large bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup of almond flour

3/4 cups of coconut milk

cinnamon to taste

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a blender.
2. Pour the mixture (it will be runny) into greased ramekins. It doesn't rise much so you can fill them almost to the top.
3. Bake at 200 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
4. Turn out of pan like you would an upside down cake.  You can top with whipped cream.  There actually is a dairy free whipped cream that's only 1 carb per serving, but a serving is much smaller than pictured in the photos.

I think next time, I might throw in a handful of chocolate chips.  That would be divine.  

Fresh out of the oven.

Nutrition Facts for Steamed Banana Pudding

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Amount Per Serving (makes 1)

Calories:  485

Total fat: 31.2 g

Protein: 15.4 g

Total carbohydrate:  40 g

• Dietary Fiber: 9 g
• Sugar: 19 g

Build Me Up Buttercup, Squash Broke My Heart

That's a weird looking pumpkin.

To try to be a little bit healthy, I've decided to sample all the winter squash I can find this year.  Someone told me they all taste the same.  Doubtful.  The local grocery is full of them this time of the year, and they come in all shapes and sizes.  They had one that weighed almost as much as I do.  I'm not sure what variety it was, but it was larger than most jack-o-lantern pumpkins and bright green.  Since they were charging by the pound, and it was more squash then I'll probably eat my lifetime, I passed.

I did buy a few other varieties.  One was buttercup squash. Most squash are low fat and good sources of vitamin C.  Buttercup has vitamin E and some B vitamins too.  It's a low calorie, filling food.  The downside is that each cup has 14 grams of carbs.  It's a bit sweeter than other winter squashes.  Most of the recipes I've found for it call for dousing it with even more sugar.  That's one way to make a healthy food bad.

Buttercup squash should be firm, heavy for their size and have an even cream color.  The ones at my store were quite large, probably about twice the size of an acorn squash.  They look green, squatty pumpkins. 

Buttercup squash taste similar to acorn squash, but are a bit earthier and creamier.

Seriously.  All this work for that?!

I have to be honest.  My experience with this squash was not that great.  I found buttercup squash to be almost impossible to cut into and peel, or at least not worth the effort.  Acorn squash is hard to cut too, but once you cook it, you can easly remove the flesh.  I found this one was even difficult after it was cooked.  I spent a few minutes cursing the squash, but finally got some flesh out.   After all that trouble, there wasn't much flesh.

Maybe I'm a lazy cook.  I preferred the creaminess of buttercup squash to acorn squash, but I think I'll stick to butternut.  It's creamy too, but has more flesh and less problems.

Simply prepared

I roasted it simply with some butter and a bit of cinnamon.  I left the sugar out.  It was good, but not really worth all that effort.  I did have some leftovers.  I think I'll make them into a soup and see what that tastes like.  The creamy nature of this squash should lend itself to soups really well.


With just the butter and cinnamon, 1 cup of buttercup squash has 116 calories, 3 grams of fat, 22 grams of carbs and 4 grams of sugar and 7 grams of fiber.

Oopsie Veggie Burgers: Low Carbing on Work Days

Low Carb Veggie Cheeseburger

It's hard to pack a healthy, robust vegetarian lunch. It needs to hold up to packing, fill you up and be low carb. I work long hours (12-13 hour shifts). It's too easy to run by the vending machine for a bag of chips halfway through my shirt, and sometimes even grab some trail mix or crackers later. I work at a hospital, so there's always free bagels, nutri-grain bars, candy, trail mix, crackers and everything else. If I'm hungry, I go for those quick snacks, so I try to pack a filling lunch.

One of my go to meals has always been either a cheese sandwich or a veggie burger. Now that I'm cutting back on carbs and eliminating grains, those are not an option. Or are they?

I tried Oopsie rolls for the second time and they turned out great. The first time I followed Cleochatra's recipe exactly and I thought they were a bit too creamy and soft for me. This time, I doubled the eggs and used less cream cheese.

My recipe:

6 large eggs
dash of apple cider vinegar (or cream of tartar. I don't keep that on hand)
4 ounces of cream cheese (the original recipe would use 6 ounces).

This makes about 12 "rolls" of induction friendly, gluten free, carb friendly "bread." These things are 74 calories, 4.3 grams of protein. 6.2 grams of fat and only 0.3 grams of carb each. It does take two to build a sandwich, but even then it's an amazingly healthy snack.

Oopsie rolls don't taste exactly like bread, but they are durable enough to make a sandwich, and the cream cheese makes it moist and delicious. Check Cleochatra's site to find the exact proccess. They are super easy. The hardest part is beating your eggs until they are stiff. They have to be super stiff, like you're making meringue. It took me less than 10 minutes to make them.

Oopsie rolls are perfect for lunch

I've found these hold up pretty well to packing. I store these on the counter. I tried the first batch in the fridge and they got a little moist (setting them in a warm oven for a bit helped).   You can freeze them and then heat them up in a warm oven once they're thawed.  If you're not going to eat a whole batch within a day or two, freeze them or refrigerate them.  You risk making yourself really sick otherwise.

The first day I made them, I used them as a meal side dish. When I had to work the next day, I tossed 2 into a plastic bag for lunch, and packed a cooked veggie patty and some cheese. I didn't refrigerate or microwave the oopsie buns, but I did stick the patty and cheese in the fridge. When lunch time rolled around, I heated the patty and assembled my burger.

These things are delicious with veggie burger and it held up well. I could have probably eaten two or three.  They do get a little smushy as you eat them, but so does bread.  In some ways, the little pockets of cream cheese really compliment the burger and make it even better than dry bread. Veggie burgers tend to be dry anyway.  

They hold up surprisingly well

These rolls are very versatile.  You can slather these with some garlic butter and cheese and pop them under the broiler for garlic bread.  You can flatten them out and make pizza.  They take well to molding. If you wanted them to look more bun like, you could use a small cake pan.  You could probably even fashion some sort of hoagie roll out of them.

Here's the breakdown for the whole veggie burger. Cutting out the cheese or using a lower carb cheese (I used American) would really cut the carbs.

Burger:
6.0 grams of fat
15 grams of protein
5.0 grams of carbohydrates

Cheese:
8.8 fat
0.5 grams of protein
6.3 grams of carbohydrates

Oopsie Rolls (2):
12.4 grams of fat
8.6 grams of protein
0.6 grams of carbohydrates

Total:
27.2 grams of fat
24.1 grams of protein
6.1 grams of carbohydrates

Mocking Macaroni: It's not a Laughing Matter

The real thing, it's not healthy.

My favorite meal of all time is probably macaroni and cheese.  I like mine best crispy on top, creamy in the middle and made from scratch.  I love it so much that even the Kraft blue box will do. I've been known to consume an entire box in one sitting.  I used to get those Easy Mac bowls and I would eat 2-3 of them before I felt like it was enough macaroni and cheese.

The USDA would probably consider macaroni and cheese a healthy food.  The box proclaims it to be a good source of calcium.  They even make whole grain mac and cheese.  If it's whole grain, it must be healthy, right?

Let's look at the facts:


Nutrition Facts for Kraft

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Amount Per Serving (makes 4) of Kraft Whole Grain Mac and Cheese (prepared as directed)

Calories:  390

Total fat: 17 g

Protein: 8 g

Total carbohydrate:  49 g

• Dietary Fiber: 5 g
• Sugar: 6 g

Amount Per Serving (makes 4) of Kraft Deluxe Blue Box Mac and Cheese (prepared as directed)

Calories:  320

Total fat: 10 g

Protein: 12 g

Total carbohydrate:  45 g

• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Sugar: 3 g

Both of these "healthy" meals are almost your entire carbohydrate intake for the day (or over it if you're doing Atkins style induction).  One cup of macaroni as my entire daily ration doesn't sound great.  When I eat a whole box, I'm getting 180 grams of carbohydrate.  I can hear my pancreas cursing me for torturing it.

To give my poor pancreas a break, I decided to try mockaroni and cheese.  I admit, it doesn't look as tasty as the real stuff, but it's partially because I was too hungry to photograph it well.  It is a good way to cut those carbs down and still get a similar flavor and mouth feel as real macaroni and cheese.

It doesn't look like macaroni and cheese, but it tastes reminiscent of it.

Mockaroni and Cheese
(Serves Four)

• 1 head of cauliflower, steamed and chopped
• 4 ounces cottage cheese
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 ounce of mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Salt and pepper to taste

Optional:

• Some people like to add things like onion, cayenne, oregano, tomatoes and whatever else to their mac and cheese.  You can add those, but I prefer mine plain.
• You can really use whatever cheeses you want
• You can use frozen, chopped cauliflower instead of fresh if you want to
• I've seen some recipes that use cream cheese instead of cottage cheese.

1. Combine all of these ingredients, except a handful of cheddar, into an oven safe bowl. Make sure they are mixed well.  
2. Sprinkle the handful of cheddar on top.  
3. Place the bowl into an oven that's been preheated to 350 degrees and cook it for about 30 minutes, until it's your level of brown.  The top will get crispy just like traditional mac and cheese.

This is what it looks like before baking.  It tastes better than it looks.

It really makes a convincing substitute.  None of these substitutes have the gluteny goodness of real pasta, but I don't really miss it in this dish.  The mouth feel of the cauliflower is very similar to the mouth feel of pasta.  With mac and cheese, the pasta is just a sauce delivery system anyway.

I served mine here with a feta and tomato salad and some roasted kale.

Nutrition Facts for Mockaroni

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Amount Per Serving (makes 4)

Calories:  166

Total fat: 10 g

Protein: 12 g

Total carbohydrate:  9 g

• Dietary Fiber: 3.6 g
• Sugar: 0.2 g

You see a lot of the values we like (fat and protein) stayed the same.  That's because they came  from the cheese.  We didn't cut that.  However, the values we hate (carbs and calories) came way down.  Calories are more than halved and carbohydrates decreased by 80%.  Eight-percent makes a big difference to your pancreas. It's still yummy too.

Transformers, Pasta in Disguise: Spaghetti Squash

Low Carb Spaghetti? For real? Heck, yeah!

I don't like most fake pastas.  I've tried those shirataki noodles that Hungry Girl raves about and they made me sick.  I just can't take the weird mouth feel of them.  I'm not even a big fan of wheat pasta.  I like Dreamfields, but my blood sugar reacts to that almost like it does normal pasta so why pay the extra for it?  I often make my own pasta, but it's really not much healthier than the store bought stuff.  It just tastes better.

I hadn't tried spaghetti squash until my mom decided to go low carb.  I've always seen them in the grocery store and thought, "What kind of demon vegetable claims to transform into spaghetti?  That thing has to be the results of some kind of dark magic."  That and I thought it would taste like eating pasta sauce over yellow squash.  Yuck.

Since I'm challenging my perceptions of vegetables, I bought one and I can't believe I've lived all these years without them.  I've eaten it every week since then, because pasta is my weakness.  To me, spaghetti squash are just as easy to prepare as regular spaghetti, and almost as tasty.  The squash has a little bit of a crunch that pasta doesn't, but other than that, I find it quite nice.

I'm not going to give you a recipe for sauce in this post.  I've found this squash takes just about any type of sauce you can throw at it.  I've made it with regular marinara, chunky marinara, pesto, tossed it with vegetables and olive oil, tossed it with olive oil and herbs ... the only thing I've found it didn't taste great with is Alfredo sauce and other cream sauces (some people like it with Alfredo too).  That is awesome for low carb dieters, because you have almost all the variety of meals that pasta can give you, but it's low carb and low calorie.  Woo!

Squastimus Prime: Ready to transform.

When buying a spaghetti squash, choose one that is heavy for its size.  The smaller ones generally taste better, but even a small spaghetti squash should be large, compared to most squashes (except pumpkin).  They are generally about 8 inches by 5 inches.  They should be uniform in color without too many blemishes and no soft spots.  You want to feel it to make sure the flesh is firm all around.  The one picture is a little ugly, but it's still a good squash.  The flesh is firm, and a few blemishes are ok.

This thing is so amazing.  It lasts forever.  If you store it in a root cellar, it can last up to 6 months before it goes bad.  Even at room temperature, you have a few weeks before it starts going bad.  It also freezes well.  I can't eat a whole spaghetti squash.  It makes about 4-5 servings.  It tastes fine reheated too, but I don't like to eat the same thing every day.  I cook it and shred it (see below) and then put the spaghetti in a freezer bag.  It reheats and tastes about the same.  I've never frozen it with sauce, but I guess that would be ok too.  I use the sauce to heat the frozen squash up for 4-5 minutes.

I always give you the nutritional information, but the fact is that the spaghetti squash isn't really that nutritious.  It's mostly water.  Other winter squashes are better for you.  It's what it's lacking that makes it a great substitute for regular spaghetti.    According to the USDA, 1 cup of spaghetti squash has 42 calories, 0.4 gram of fat, 10 g of carbs (4 grams of sugar) and 2.2 g of fiber.  Compare that to regular spaghetti.  One cup of spaghetti gives you 220 calories, 1.3 grams of fat, 43 grams of carbs (0.8 grams of sugar) and 2.5 grams of fiber.   I can have a whole spaghetti squash for one serving of spaghetti.


You also have to factor in your sauce.  It can be low carb, high carb, low calorie, high calorie, nutritious or not.  The choice is between you and your pancreas.

You can cook spaghetti squash in a variety of ways from crock pots to pressure cookers, but the easiest and quickest way is to stick the whole thing in the microwave.  I was once told by a professional chef that a true food lover would never have a microwave in their house.  How pretentious. Microwaves are perfect for certain tasks, and cooking spaghetti squash is one.

To microwave the squash, you just poke a few holes in it with a knife (so it won't explode) and pop it in a microwave whole for about 12 minutes.  Let it cool for another 5-10 minutes before you split it open.  Baking and boiling a whole squash takes about an hour.  Sticking one in the crock pot takes all day.  A pressure cooker takes about 12 minutes too.  Alternatively, you can speed up the cooking by cutting the squash into cubes before you cook it, but these guys are hard to cut when raw.  The cubes makes shredding it a lot less fun.

After it's cooked and cooled, the next step is to cut it in a half and remove the seeds and the pulp, the slimy stuff that holds the seeds in.  You're going to think you've been gypped.  It doesn't look much like spaghetti at all.   It looks like a pumpkin.  Like pumpkin, that slimy stuff is not tasty, so even if you have to remove a bit of the flesh, get it all.  The seeds can be saved and roasted.  They taste a little like pumpkin seeds. 

What the...That doesn't look like spaghetti.

The next step is the most fun part.  You get to make spaghetti.  Invite your friends over and show them how awesome you are.  Just take a fork and rake up and down the cleaned flesh and you'll get "noodles."  I generally prop mine up in a bowl and shred the spaghetti squash over it.

That's more like it.

 I find that spaghetti squash taste best cooked with the sauce.  It's ok if you just pour the sauce over it, but cooking them together makes it really shine.  Most recipes serve the sauce over the squash, so I may be in the minority. You should try it with a variety of sauces and techniques and see what you like best.  You can pretty much do anything with it you can do with normal spaghetti, including baking it in a casserole. I've even seen a recipe for a mock lasagna with it.  The spaghetti squash was layered with lasagna ingredients.  My favorite way to eat it is sauteed with some fresh vegetables, olive oil, garlic and herbs.  I get the vegetables going first and add the squash in the last few minutes.  Yum!

"Noodles" close up.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (1 cup of spaghetti squash, cooked with no sauce)

Calories: 42
Total fat: 0.4 g
Protein: 1 g
Total carbohydrate: 10 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g
• Sugar: 4 g

Kohlrabi : Bake me to Your Leader

I think most grocery store produce departments have what I call the "wtf section."  I just imagine that the poor produce manager hits a key and accidentally orders something like lycee fruit or nopales.  When then these things show up to the store, they exclaim, "WTF is this stuff?"  The people at the cash registers exclaim similar when you decide to buy the item.

This is the section of the store where I saw these guys, kohlrabi.  I knew nothing about it, except it reminded me of an alien spaceship.  Aliens spaceships and delicious food don't really go together, but I decided to try it anyway.


Turns out kohlrabi is a cultivar of cabbage, but is known as the German turnip (because it kind of looks like a turnip).  It was created from the wild cabbage plant, like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens and Brussels sprouts.  Coincidentally, it has a cabbage-like taste.  It comes in green or purple, but both are said to taste similar.  The purple variety is said to be sweeter.

It can be eaten raw, roasted, stir-fried, braised or any number of cooking preparations.  Some people slice the kohlrabi thin like carrot sticks and use them raw for dipping.  Some people eat them like an apple.  I've heard the best way to eat them raw is sliced with a little salt.  I tasted it that way.  It reminded me of a raw potato, but with a slight cabbage taste.  It also reminded me of a slightly less spicy radish.  Some say it tastes like broccoli stems, but I tasted more cabbage than broccoli.  


The greens are also edible.  They can be eaten raw or cooked like any other greens.  Raw, they taste a little bitter, reminiscent of raw kale.  They need to be cooked like turnip or collard greens (low and slow) to get rid of that taste.  I tried my greens at 5 minutes in and at 30 minutes in.  The 30 minute cook time was primo!


According to the University of Illinois, kohlrabi has the mildest and best flavor when small.  The greens are also not as bitter when they are young.  Larger ones tend to be woody.  I saw an episode of "Chopped" recently featuring kohlrabi (the day I cooked the stuff.  I'm surrounded by kohlrabi now).  The judges' complaint to all the contestants was that the kohlrabi was woody because it wasn't cooked long enough.  I think mine are a little larger, but they did not taste woody.  The University of Illinois says 2-3 inches across is ideal. 

The greens are edible, but taste better cooked than raw.

One cup of raw kohlrabi has about 84 mg of vitamin C and it also supplies some of the B vitamins.  It's also high in potassium and low in calories.  It's pretty high in protein for a vegetable too.  The downside for low-carb dieters is that a cup contains 11 grams of carbs.  That's pretty high, especially since 5 grams are from sugar.  It only has 2 grams of fiber.

Since I only had three (and there weren't more at the market when I went back), I decided to saute the body of the plant and prep them like I would turnip greens.  They tasted almost exactly like turnips and greens to me.  The kohlrabi was a little sweeter and not as strongly flavored as a turnip, but really reminiscent of it. 

I'm not crazy about turnips, but if you are these would be a great addition to your diet.

They are completely white inside

Here's a tip about peeling them.  They are white under all that green.  You want to peel past the green.  I took a photo of these before I realized it was white underneath.  I should have peeled these a little bit more.  The green skin is tough.  Use a good peeler or, preferably, a knife.  


Sauteed Kohlrabi and Greens

• 3 kohlrabi (with greens)
• 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seed (or to taste)
• 1/2 tablespoon of garlic
• 1/2-1 cup of water
• Olive oil

1. Remove the greens from the kohlrabi and set aside.  Peel the kohlrabi and remove all stems.  Dice into cubes.
2. Chop the kohlrabi greens into bite sized pieces, removing any tough stems.  Wash them well (I always do at least 2 soaks with greens, most of the time three), and drain them well.
3. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to your pan, put on medium heat and get it hot.  Saute the garlic, red pepper and mustard seen in olive oil for a few seconds before adding the kohlrabi.
4. Get some nice brown on your kohlrabi (maybe 3-5 minutes).
5. Add 1/2 cup of water and greens.  Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring and checking occasionally to make sure you have enough liquid.  These should have the consistency of turnips and turnip greens.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (1 cup of kohlrabi)

Calories: 48
Total fat: 0 g
Protein: 5g g
Total carbohydrate: 11 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Sugar: 5 g

If You Can't Beet Them, Enjoy Them

Beets are another one of those foods that I think people only hate because they haven't really had them prepared properly.  I remember those pickled, salad bar type beets of my youth.  They tasted like dirt to me and made a big mess.  We ate them a lot in my house, and I'm not sure why.  I remember scarfing them down first, so I could get it over with.  Whenever I saw beets in the store or on a menu, all I could think of is that super earthy, nasty flavor.

They actually shouldn't taste like dirt at all.  They have a mild, sweet flavor, and the consistency of a cooked carrot.  However, cooking them is very messy and beets will stain everything they come in contact with.  I generally operate on beets on only glass cutting boards and right over the sink.

Beet greens are delicious, and I hate most greens.  They're something that I was never served as a kid, but I think I saw Paula Deen make a batch on television once.  I thought to myself, you can eat beet greens?  I didn't think I'd like them, but I tried them anyway.  They have a milder flavor than most greens and a little bit of sweetness.  They are the only greens that I actually like quite a bit.  Now, when I look for beets I try to find ones that have lots of leafy greens.

Besides healthy greens, beet should be firm, colorful and free of blemishes.  I prefer smaller beets.  I think they have a sweeter, more punchy flavor.  The larger ones, like many vegetables, don't have as strong a flavor.

Beets are actually pretty good for you.  We could all stand to eat more of them.  Ancient Romans used them as medicine, mostly for digestive problems and as an aphrodisiac.  Today, we know they're packed with antioxidants, particularly betanin, which gives them their red color.  Interestingly, it's a different red pigment than you find in most red fruits and vegetables.  Most have anthocyanins.  Overcooking can destroy the betanin.  I'm pretty sure it was destroyed in those sludgy beets from my youth.  A correctly cooked beet still has some texture to it. Beets are also high in folates, vitamin C and potassium.

Beet greens are high in oxalate, which can lead to kidney stones.  If you're prone to kidney stones, the health benefits of beets might not be as seductive.

Beets are relatively low in calories with just 27 calories per half cup.  They are also relatively low in carbs and high in fiber, with about 7 carbs per 1/2 cup and 2 grams of fiber.

Beet greens are delicious, and they add a great punch of color to a plate.

Roasted Beets

Beets

Olive oil

Salt

1. Wash beets well and trim the tops, leaving about 3 inches of stalk.
2. Drizzle the beets with olive oil and a few pinches of salt
3. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to an hour, or until tender.  Time depends on the size of the beets.  Start checking them around 30 minutes in.
4. Let the beets cool.  When cool enough to handle, slip the peels off.  I normally use a paper towel or vegetable scrubber, but the peelings easily come off if you just rub them with your fingers or you can use a peeler or paring knife.
5. You can serve the beets whole or you can slice and serve in a salad.

Beets are delicious by themselves or in a salad

Beet Greens and Onions 

Modified from simple recipes

1 pound beet greens
1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 cup chopped onion or to taste
1 large garlic clove, minced

3/4 cup of water

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/6 cup of cider vinegar

1. Chop the greens into the bite size pieces.
2. Saute the onions in olive oil for about five minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for another minute.  Add water, sugar and red pepper.
3. Toss in beet greens.  Mix well.  Cook, covered, for 15 minutes or until tender. Stir in vinegar.

The vinegar is just a splash, really.  Don't make the mistake of adding too much.  I normally just add a few slices of onion.

Beet greens.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (0.5 cup each of beets and greens)

Calories: 74
Total fat: 3.6 g
Protein: 2.6 g
Total carbohydrate: 9.6 g

• Dietary Fiber: 3.2 g
• Sugar: 4.3 g

Parsnips Attacked: The Scared Carrot

Looks like a carrot with its blood removed.

Before my mom started her low carb diet, I had no idea how many potato substitutes there were.  It seems like everything in the grocery store wants to masquerade as a potato for a day.  There's celery root, cauliflower and jicama to name a few.  Low carb dieters must crave french fries and bacon more than anything.

Today's masquerader is parsnip.  Someone told me that parsnip was the best potato substitute.  I consider myself pretty educated in food, but I thought parsnip was something green.  I had no idea it was a root vegetable related to the carrot. When I went to find one for myself, I was reminded of a book I read when I was a kid: Bunnicula.  It's about a vampire rabbit that, instead of blood, sucks the juice of vegetables leaving a path of white carrots in his wake. This guy looks like he's seen a vampire bunny.

Parnsips are slightly sweeter than carrots, and also slightly more nutritious.   A half cup of parsnip has 50 calories, 11 grams of carbs and 3.2 grams of fiber.  It's a good source of fiber and potassium.

Choosing a parsnip is very similar to choosing a carrot.  The one difference is that you want a parsnips to be free from color.  The whiter the flesh, the sweeter the parsnip.  Much like carrots, you want parsnips to be firm, heavy for their size and free from blemishes.  The smaller ones are sweeter. 

I decided to really test the parsnip's ability to imitate the potato and make parsnip fries.

Sliced parsnips

 Parsnip Fries
2-3 parsnips
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel the parsnip like you would a carrot.  Julienne it to french fry size.  I used a mandolin. 
2. Toss the parsnip with minced garlic and olive oil.
3. Spread out on a baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees.  You should flip the fries a few times during cooking.
4. Toss with Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper before serving.

They almost look like real fries.

These I would definitely eat again.   They taste like a sweet french fry, but not too sweet.  I find sweet potato fries a little too sweet.  These are just perfect. With something like a cajun spice blend, they'd be to die for.  I tried adding rosemary my second attempt at these and it was great.  I think I'll be making these instead of sweet potato fries from now on.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (makes 4)

Calories: 175
Total fat: 10.7 g
Protein: 6.3 g
Total carbohydrate: 14.3 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2.9 g
• Sugar: 3.8 g

The Muscles from Brussels: Getting to know the Belgium Sprout

Fish heads?  They do look more like baby cabbages I guess.

I was reading over my first few blog posts and I noticed it's full of pasta, fried okra and pizza.  I'm trying to live healthy and whole here.  It's easy to slip into old habits, I guess.  Today, this entry is 100% healthy.

I have a bad history with Brussels sprouts.  My mom says I liked them when I was little.  I don't remember that.  I do remember that my sister told me they were little, slimy fish heads at dinner one day.  I haven't really eaten them since then. I always see their little slimy lips and eyes just peering at me.  Yuck.  I know they're not really little, slimy fish heads, but it still grosses me out.

What Brussels sprouts are is cultivar of cabbage. They are named after Brussels, but the origin is unclear. They were believed to be first grown in Belgium in the late 1500s, though some believe they were enjoyed as early as the 13th century.  Brussels sprouts taste similar to cabbage, but are generally more nutritious than cabbage. 

Brussels sprouts have twice as much protein, vitamin C and folic acid than cabbage and more vitamin A, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium than cabbage.  They also have twice as many calories and 1/3 more carbs than the same serving size of cabbage, but neither has enough to really worry about (cabbage has 17 calories and 4 grams of carbs per 1/2 cup, Brussels sprouts have 28 calories and 6 grams of carbs).  Brussels sprouts and cabbage are both high in fiber.

Brussels sprouts contain sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol, like broccoli and cabbage, if you eat them steamed or stir-fryed.  This is why people claim they have anti-cancer properties.  There is some real, randomized study data on the consumption of cruciferous vegetables and cancer risks.  The data seems to indicate that there is some decreased risk with daily servings of cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts.   However, boiling or blanching the vegetables destroys the compounds. Raw is the best way to go, but a quick cooking method preserves many of these compounds.

To pick out fresh Brussels sprouts, look for the bright green ones.  The brightly colored ones with the fewest brown leaves are best.  They should be firm, compact and tightly packed.  It's best to choose sprouts that are similar in size. Avoid any with an odor.  I think the smaller ones are better because they require less prep, and taste sweeter.

This one really does look like a fish face.

I have a theory that most people don't like vegetables because they've never had them properly cooked or fresh.  It seems that whenever I try something I "hate" at a restaurant with a really good chef, I'm always shocked.  I actually like it.  People, including myself, don't like Brussels sprouts because we're used to the slimy, boiled and nasty type we were served as kids. 

Fresh Brussels sprouts taste fresh.  They don't have the bitter taste of the frozen, over-cooked variety.  Over-cooking releases the bitter, sulfur compounds, making them less healthy and less delicious.  Fresh Brussels sprouts have a sweet, almost buttery taste.

As always, the best way to try a vegetable out to see if you really like it is a plain preparation.  Here, I tried roasted Brussels sprouts.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
About a dozen Brussels sprouts
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

The core.

1. Clean the Brussels sprouts well and remove any outer leaves that look brown or yellow.  Cut the bottoms off and you can remove the core, if they're bigger.  See the photo on the right.  The white part in the center is the core of the sprout.  Smaller ones have a softer core that is easier to eat.  It's tough on larger sprouts, in my experience.
2. I like to cut mine into halves or quarters so I get more browning, but you can roast them whole. 
3. Toss them with a few tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper.
4. Arrange the sprouts on a sheet pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until tender and barely brown.
5. Taste them, you can salt again if needed.

Even I like the simplicity of roasted Brussels sprouts, and they don't look anything like fish heads.  Well, maybe a little like a fish head.

Roasted and ready to eat.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (makes 2)

Calories: 165
Total fat: 14.1 g
Protein: 3.2 g
Total carbohydrate: 8.9 g

• Dietary Fiber: 3.4 g
• Sugar: 2.2 g