Chicken, Cauliflower and Pesto Bake

Ingredients

8 oyster (chicken) thighs
250 ml double cream
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp fresh pesto
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large cauliflower*, divided into small florets
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
10 cherry tomatoes
200g grated cheddar
Salt & pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C
2. Mix double cream, pesto and lemon juice together. Add salt & pepper
3. Season the chicken thighs and fry in olive oil for approximately 15 minutes
4. Place thighs in a large baking dish
5. Pour in cream mixture
6. Add scallions, cherry tomatoes and cauliflower (as picture above)
7. Sprinkle the cheese over the top
8. Bake in the oven for approximately 40 minutes

*I have also used baby spinach in this dish instead of cauliflower.

Chicken Kozani

Ingredients

10 chicken oyster thighs
1 litre of water
1/2 tsp saffron
large glug of olive oil
4 red onions
2 tbsp smoked paprika
20 prunes, stones removed
salt & pepper

Method

1. Place oyster thighs and saffron in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes
2. Remove thighs from pan and put aside. Do not throw away the water
3. Heat olive oil in a large pan and gently cook the onions until soft
4. Add the paprika to the pan, mix well
5. Add thighs, prunes and 500ml of the cooking water to the pan
6. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until sauce reduces and thickens
7. Serve with cauli rice

Note: 

It is important to use thighs and not breast with this recipe because a lot of the flavour comes from the stock created from poaching the meat and bones in the water. If you really want to use breast, I would suggest that you poach the breasts in stock instead of plain water

Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry

This has become a regular dish in our house. It's so simple; I prepare it the night before and then switch it on in the morning before I leave for work. The house smells divine when I get home! I serve this with either cauli rice or wholegrain basmati rice.

Ingredients

1 large carrot, sliced
1 large onion, diced
1 large red pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
10 white mushrooms, quartered
Generous handful of raisins
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 chicken thighs (meat only), cut into strips
1 400g coconut milk
2 tbsps tomato purée
1.5 tbsp garam masala
1.5 tbsp curry powder
2 tsps turmeric
salt and pepper


Method

1. Put carrot, onion, garlic and pepper into your slow cooker dish
2. Layer chicken on top
3. Add mushrooms and raisins
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the coconut milk, tomato purée, garam masala, curry powder turmeric and salt and pepper
5. Pour over the ingredients in the slow cooker dish

Chorizo, Cauliflower, Chickpea and Tomato Cassoulet

I concocted this last night and it made for a very easy and tasty dinner.

Ingredients

1 x large head of cauliflower, grated
1 x 400g chickpeas, drained and rinsed
225g chorizo ring, sliced
400g passata or tinned tomatoes
1 x large onion, chopped
1 x tbsp coconut oil

Method

1. In a large skillet/wok, fry onion in coconut oil until soft
2. Add chorizo and cook for a couple of minutes until oils are released
3. Add grated cauliflower and stir well for one minute
4. Add chickpeas and passata and heat thoroughly
5. Serve

Cauli Kedgeree

Ingredients

2 x tbsp coconut oil
1 x large cauliflower, grated
200g smoked mackerel
3 x garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 x onion, chopped
1 x thumb sized ginger, grated or finely chopped
1 x tbsp curry powder
2 x tsp chilli flakes
1 x tsp mustard seeds
4 x tomatoes, chopped
4 x hard boiled eggs, quartered
2 x tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

Method

1. Using a stick blender or food processor, pulse ginger, onion and garlic until paste
2. Heat coconut oil in a large frying pan. Add ginger, garlic and onion. Fry for 2 minutes
3. Add grated cauliflower and cook for 10 minutes
4. Add curry powder, chilli flakes, mustard seeds and tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes have softened and broken up
5. Flake the fish with your fingers, add to the pan and stir
6. Season with salt and pepper and add lemon juice
7. Add eggs and serve

Cottage Pie with Caulicannon Topping

As it's very close to Halloween now, and I had a dental implant inserted today, which means I need mushy food, I have made cottage pie but with a caulicannon topping.

You'll find my caulicannon recipe here:
http://fibrofood.blogspot.ie/2015/09/colcannon.html

and my cottage pie recipe here:
http://fibrofood.blogspot.ie/2015/06/cottage-pie.html

Caulicannon

Hallowe'en is coming and there is nothing more traditional in Ireland at this time of year than Colcannon. Usually made with potatoes, I have of course used cauliflower instead! Here's my recipe:

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower
4 large handfuls of curly kale
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
Butter
salt and pepper

Method

1. Chop and boil the cauliflower for approximately 5 minutes
2. Purée
3. Steam curly kale until tender
4. Add to cauliflower along with the scallions, butter and salt and pepper to taste

We tried this for the first time last night and it was delicious! I served it with another traditional Irish food, corned beef (not to be confused with the mushy tinned or deli sliced variety!) which I cooked in the slow cooker for 5 hours.

Who needs a recipe?

You don't always need a recipe to create delicious healthy low carb lunches and dinners. You can grill any type of meat or fish and serve it with a pile of tasty vegetables or salad. If you miss your potatoes, replace them with cauliflower purée. A fillet steak served with garlic butter (always make your own - just add crushed or sliced garlic to softened butter - to avoid hidden additives) and a salad is gorgeous and perfect for when you need fast food. Or what about salmon darnes, oven baked with lemon in tinfoil parcels.

We eat a lot of salads in our house, particularly during the Summer. Not just as an accompaniment to meat or fish but as a complete dish in their own right. Sometimes we cook a ham and serve it sliced with mixed leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, nuts and seeds. Or for lunch I might have lettuce with pears, stilton and walnuts. If you're particularly hungry, have a Niçoise salad because it contains tuna, egg and olives.

We tend to have a roast dinner on a Sunday. We serve it with roasted vegetables, mashed turnip or carrots. You can't have normal gravy as it is made with flour but you can make an alternative sauce using sour cream and stock, heated gently together. Another favourite of ours is to spatchcock a chicken, marinate it in Frank's sauce and then roast it. We serve it with homemade coleslaw.

Steak and salad

Spatchcock roast chicken with homemade coleslaw

Fish Pie

This is a recipe that I have adapted from one of Jamie Oliver's. We have this for dinner regularly as it's so delicious but also easy to make. I get the fish in Aldi as it comes with the skin removed and the packets are a good size for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 large cauliflower, puréed (see http://lowcarbhealthily.blogspot.ie/2015/06/cauliflower-saviour-of-low-carb-diet.html)
1 large carrot
100g cheddar cheese
20g parmesan
250g cod, diced
250g smoked coley, diced
200g crème fraîche
handful of fresh spinach
Tbsp lemon juice
Tbsp parsley
Tbsp olive oil

1. Peel and grate carrot directly into the dish you are using to cook the fish pie
2. Grate the parmesan and half the cheddar into the dish
3. Add fish, crème fraîche, spinach, lemon juice, olive oil and parsley
4. Mix well
5. Top with cauliflower purée
6. Sprinkle remaining grated cheddar on top
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 30 - 40 minutes
8. Serve

Chicken, Chorizo and Prawn Paella

I created this recipe yesterday and Ronan and I tested it for dinner. It's more 'saucy' than proper paella made with rice but its just as tasty.

Ingredients:

1 medium cauliflower, grated (cauli rice)

1 onion, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, sliced

2 chicken breasts, diced

150g chorizo, sliced

10 large prawns (raw if possible)

2 tbsp tomato purée

1 chicken stock cube

2 pinches of saffron

fresh chilli or chilli flakes to taste

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 cup of white wine

salt and pepper

1. Fry chicken in the coconut oil at a low heat until cooked
2. Add sliced onion, garlic, pepper and chorizo and sauté for 5 minutes
3. Add grated cauliflower and stir to coat with the chorizo oils
4. Add wine, stock cube, saffron, tomato purée, salt and pepper, chilli and 2 cups of water
5. Add prawns and keep stirring until cooked (they will go pink!), adding more water if required
6. Serve immediately

N.B. If you choose not to eat nightshade foods, exclude the red pepper, chilli and tomato purée

Cottage Pie

This is the easiest thing in the world to cook. Just use your usual cottage/shepherd's pie recipe and top with cauliflower purée instead of mashed potatoes. If you don't have a recipe, here's mine!

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
400g lean minced beef
1 beef stock cube
4 tsps Worcestershire sauce
10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 large cauliflower
20g cheddar, grated

1. Sauté onion in a large frying pan until soft
2. Add beef and cook until thoroughly browned
3. Add mushrooms
4. Crumble in stock cube, Worcestershire sauce and about 4 tablespoons of boiling water
5. Mix well and simmer for 10 minutes
6. Transfer the meat mixture into an ovenproof dish
7. Chop cauliflower into florets and steam or boil for 8 minutes
8. Drain and purée (I use a stick blender)
9. Cover meat mixture with the cauliflower
10. Sprinkle grated cheddar over the top
11. Cook in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 200°C or until heated through and cheese has melted and browned
12. Serve with steamed green beans and carrots

Low carb 'pasta' bake

This is such an easy recipe. It's a great use for left over roast chicken and it's my partner's new favourite dinner!

Ingredients:

1 large cauliflower
4 chicken breasts or left over roast chicken
4 handfuls of fresh spinach
1 slice Le Roulé or 1 whole Boursin cheese
75g cheddar cheese

1. Chop cauliflower head into small florets and steam for 5 minutes. Drain immediately and place into large mixing bowl
2. Pan fry diced chicken breasts in a dessert spoon of coconut oil until cooked through. Add to mixing bowl
3. Grate cheddar and place 50g into the bowl
4. Add spinach to the bowl
5. Put Roulé or Boursin into a small saucepan and heat, stirring constantly until melted into a smooth sauce
6. Add sauce to the bowl and mix all ingredients well
7. Season with salt and pepper
8. Pour mixture into baking dish, sprinkle remaining cheddar over the top
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 30 minutes until cheddar is browned and bubbling
10. Serve with a green salad.