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.

Flaxseed Crackers

One of the things I miss most when following a low carb diet is the crunch. These crackers are an absolutely perfect way to feed this craving. And they are delicious.

Ingredients

140g milled flaxseed/linseed

50g finely grated parmesan

2 eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
3. Leave to rest for 5 minutes (this is essential)
4. Oil a clean counter or board and cover a rolling pin in clingfilm
5. Form mixture into a ball and place on oiled board/counter
6. Roll out gently as thinly as possible
7. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out as many crackers as possible
8. Gently lift (I use a knife) and place crackers on a greased baking sheet
9. Sprinkle with rock salt
10. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes
11. Turn crackers over and bake for another 3-5 minutes
12. Remove from oven and allow to cool

Pan-fried Hake with Leeks, Broad Beans & Pancetta

Ingredients

2 fillets of hake, skin on
2 large leeks, washed, trimmed and sliced
2 handfuls of broad beans (I use the frozen ones from M & S)
50g butter

1 tbsp cooking oil
100g pancetta, cubed
1 tbsp lemon juice


Method

1. Place frozen broad beans in a saucepan with water and boil for 4 minutes
2. Place cooking oil in a large frying pan and sauté pancetta until crispy
3. Add leeks and cook for about 5 minutes until softened
4. Add broad beans and heat thoroughly
5. In another large pan, melt the butter
6. Place the hake fillets skin side down in the hot butter and fry for about 4 minutes
7. Turn the fish and cook for another 4 minutes
8. Serve the hake on a pile of the vegetable and pancetta mix
9. Place the lemon juice and another knob of butter into the hot pain and stir
10. Drizzle over the hake and vegetables

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

Aubergine Lasagne

Ingredients

400g lean minced beef
500g passata
2 aubergines
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped/minced
12 mushrooms, chopped
2 tbsp dried or fresh basil
2 tbsp dried or fresh tarragon
2 tbsp dried or fresh oregano
3 tbsp tomato purée
200g cream cheese
100g parmesan, grated


Method

1. Fry onion until soft
2. Add garlic and fry for another minute
3. Add mince and fry until brown
4. Add passata, mushrooms, herbs and tomato purée
5. Simmer for 20 minutes
6. Thinly slice aubergine length ways and griddle each slice on both sides for approximately 2 minutes until tender
7. Melt cream cheese in a small pan
8. Place 1/3 of the mince sauce into a square oven dish
9. Cover with sliced aubergine
10. Sprinkle 1/3 parmesan over the aubergine
11. Repeat until all sauce and aubergine has been used
12. Cover last layer of aubergine with the melted cream cheese and sprinkle top with last of the parmesan
13. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 200°C

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.

Barbeque Season

It's finally barbeque season in Ireland! I adore this time of year, when it's warm enough to eat outside. I love the smell and I love the food. And, it's one of the easiest ways to eat low carb.

Here are some of my favourites:

• Chicken skewers - chicken pieces marinated in Frank's sauce
• Chorizo skewers - chorizo, mushrooms and peppers
• Stuffed mushrooms - Portobello mushrooms stuffed with stilton or pâté
• Chicken wings/thighs/drumsticks

Make sure you've loads of homemade coleslaw (shredded white cabbage, grated carrot, onion and mayonnaise) and salads to serve with all that meat!

My friend Emily introduced me to Fire Wires (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stainless-Steel-Flexible-Grilling-Skewer/dp/B00OVLZUAY/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1436190952&sr=1-3&keywords=fire+wire+skewers) a few years ago. They're brilliant as they fit so much and the ends don't get hot so they're easy to handle.

Chorizo, mushrooms and pepper on Fire Wire

Get outside, enjoy that sunshine and stuff your face!

Snacking

What can you eat as a snack on a low carb diet? As long as you're prepared it's quite simple to organise a wide variety of tasty snack foods. Here are some of my favourites:

• Nuts - almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts. These can be home roasted and a little salt added. Do not include peanuts as they are actually part of the legume (peas, beans) family so are not low carb

• Dark chocolate - a little good quality dark chocolate with at least 80% cocoa. The high cocoa content means there is less sugar. Aldi do a lovely 85% one. It's called MoserRoth and looks like a large bar of chocolate but is actually 5 individually wrapped bars. I find these very handy as they stop me eating too much of it!

• Fresh strawberries and cream - I do say not to eat too much fruit but strawberries have one of the lowest amounts of sugar

• Fresh figs and parma ham - figs are very high in fibre and contain as little sugar as strawberries 

• Parmesan crisps - bake finely grated piles of parmesan on a greasproof paper lined tray in the oven (at 180°C) for 5 or 6 minutes

• Carrot sticks and cream cheese

• Carrot sticks and almond butter

• Olives

• Cheese and gherkins

• Mixed seeds - dry fry a mixture of pumpkin and sunflower seeds in a little soy sauce with chilli flakes

Sometimes if we're peckish in the evening, Ronan creates a platter of goodies!

Easy egg muffins

Looking for something to have as a savoury snack or a breakfast that you can have on the go? These simple egg muffins are just the thing.

Ingredients:

6 eggs
cheese
meats
onions or other veg of choice
salt and pepper
chilli flakes

1. Grease a 12 piece muffin or mince pie tin
2. Add a little onion or whatever veg/meat you are using and cheese
3. Beat eggs and season with salt and pepper and chilli flakes if you wish
4. Pour egg mixture over the top of the veg and cheese
5. Bake at the centre of a preheated oven at 200 °C for 20-25 minutes until muffins are golden, puffy and the eggs have set
6. Let the muffins cool slightly before removing from the tin

These muffins can be eaten immediately or placed in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge or freezer.

Suggested flavour combinations:

• Stilton and lightly steamed broccoli
• Feta, pine nuts and  fresh spinach
• Parmesan and fresh basil
• Cheddar and spring onion

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

Why does a low carb diet help chronic pain conditions, such as, Fibromyalgia, CFS and Rheumatoid Arthritis?

No food or combination of foods have been proven to relieve chronic pain conditions. However, it has been widely reported by sufferers that a high protein, low carbohydrate diet has helped to alleviate some of the pain. But how could this be?

One common issue with Fibromyalgia, CFS and Rheumatoid Arthritis is weight gain. This can be caused by reduced mobility, medication and decreased metabolism due to hormone deficiencies brought on by the disease. If you eat a low carb diet, you will lose weight so will therefore be putting less pressure on your joints and muscles.

Another issue is the inflammation in the body. Carbohydrates, particularly sugar actually cause inflammation. By avoiding these in your diet you should theoretically reduce inflammation. Isn't it worth a try?

Breakfast

Wondering what you can have for breakfast on a low carb diet? There are plenty of options!

Here are some of my suggestions:

• Greek yogurt with a tablespoon of flaxseed and a teaspoon of sugar free jam. Make sure that it is true greek yogurt. The only ingredient should be milk

• Oat bran made into porridge by adding milk and heating in a pan or the microwave. Oat bran is allowed because it has a very low sugar content

• Avocado, poached egg and bacon bits

• An omelette using any of the following ingredients: cheese, meat, mushrooms, onions, asparagus, olives, tomatoes

• Bacon and egg

• Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, smoked mackerel or cheese

      Avocado, poached egg and bacon bits

Ronan's Chocolate Buns

Ronan has developed this recipe by trial and error. This is his perfected version but he still tinkers with it occasionally! You may wish to add more Stevia if these aren't sweet enough for you.

Ingredients:

100g chopped walnuts

150g grounds almonds

50g milled flaxseed

12g Stevia

50g cocoa powder

pinch of salt

4 medium eggs

1. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
2. Add eggs and stir well. The mixture should be quite stiff
3. Divide evenly between 12 bun cases
4. Bake for 12-14 minutes in a preheated oven at 200°C

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

Fat vs Sugar

Why do we all believe that fat is bad for you? It has recently been revealed that there is no proper scientific evidence to support this. So why is this belief so widespread?

This article from the Guardian newspaper from February of this year explains:

http://lowcarbhealthily.blogspot.ie/2015/06/cauliflower-saviour-of-low-carb-diet.html

It is fast becoming the belief that sugar and not fat is the leading cause of obesity. In fact, it is being likened to a drug. The more you have, the more you want. Next time you go to the supermarket, read the ingredients of every item you put into your trolley. Nine times out of ten you will read the word 'sugar'. Even ready made coleslaw and the majority of breads contain it. And if you don't see 'sugar', you'll see 'sucrose' or 'fructose' or some other name for what is still, essentially, sugar.

And one last bit of interesting information. In 2003, it was discovered that the sugar lobby in the US blackmailed the World Health Organisation into changing their new guidelines on healthy eating. The new guidelines stated that sugar should account for no more than 10% of your diet. Understandably, the sugar industry did not want this information getting out. So they told WHO that they would get Congress to cut their funding if they went ahead and published the report. This fact terrifies me because if we cannot trust the WHO to tell us the truth, who can we trust?

Bolognese stuffed peppers

This recipe uses the same bolognese sauce as my Leeksagne but I've included it below for convenience. Stuffing the peppers with the sauce was Ronan's idea!

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
10 button mushrooms, sliced
400g lean minced beef
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato purée
1 beef stock cube
1 tsp Stevia
3 red or orange peppers or a mix of the two
2 large buffalo mozzarrella balls, sliced
20g grated cheddar

1. Pan fry onion until soft
2. Add mince and cook until browned
3. Add chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato purée, stock cube and Stevia
4. Mix well and simmer for 10 minutes
5. Slice peppers in half, down the centre
6. Place peppers in an ovenproof dish and fill with bolognese mixture
7. Cover each pepper with sliced mozzarella
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 30-40 minutes until cheddar is melted and browned
9. Serve on their own or with a green salad

N.B. This recipe is not suitable if you avoid nightshade foods.

Leeksagne

Ingredients:

2 large leeks
1 onion, chopped
10 button mushrooms, sliced
400g lean minced beef
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato purée
fresh basil
oregano
1 beef stock cube
1 tsp Stevia
1 tub cream cheese
20g grated cheddar

1. Peel and rinse the leeks. Cut each stalk in half and place in a large saucepan. Boil for 8 minutes. Drain and soak in cold water for 10 minutes
2. Pan fry onion until soft
3. Add mince and cook until browned
4. Add chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato purée, stock cube, oregano, basil and Stevia
5. Mix well and simmer for 10 minutes
6. Remove leeks from water and separate into their layers. Pat dry with kitchen towel
7. Place half the mince mixture into an oven proof dish
8. Cover with leek layers, using only as much as you need to cover the sauce
9. Place the other half of the mince over the leek layer
10. Cover the mince with rest of the leeks. Again, only using as much as you need
11. Melt cream cheese in small pan and pour over the leeks, smoothing it to cover them
12. Sprinkle grated cheddar over the top
13. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 30-40 minutes until cheddar is melted and browned
14. Serve on its own or with a green salad

 Leek layer

N.B. This recipe is not suitable if you avoid nightshade foods.