Low-Carb Recipe: Tomato Mushroom Chicken Skillet

This simple but tasty recipe is great for those on a low-carb diet, as well as those who need to avoid gluten. Breading the chicken with almond flour eliminates grain from the meal, while still allowing the chicken to brown nicely. This one is easy to throw together, but has a lot of nice flavors along with healthy veggies (good carbs) and protein.

Tomato Mushroom Chicken Skillet
(Serves 4.)

Ingredients:

2 to 3 lb organic or naturally raised chicken parts
salt and pepper
1/4 cup almond flour
3 Tbsp light oil, for frying
1 can (28 oz size) diced tomatoes
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1  medium onion, sliced thin wedges
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup soy Sauce 

Directions:

• Season the chicken well with salt and pepper.
• Coat the chicken completely with almond flour.
• Heat the oil in large heavy skillet and fry chicken until well browned; remove to platter as it browns, then add more chicken.  Don't crowd skillet.
• When all chicken is browned and removed from skillet, add the tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, onion, olives, and soy sauce, stirring to combine.
• Arrange chicken pieces over the top of the ingredients in skillet.
• Cover the skillet with lid or foil and seal.
• Turn heat down to low and simmer gently for 40 to 45 minutes or until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through.
• Serve by scooping veggies onto plates and topping with chicken.
• May add mixed green salad to plate before adding hot veggies on top.

Low-Carb Recipe: Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

You may be excited to learn that some of your favorite fancy meals - such as chicken cordon bleu - are actually low-carb. This tasty and easy recipe lets you splurge on a delicious gourmet meal at home, without cheating on your diet! Serve alongside a simple spinach salad, lightly dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
(4 Servings.)

Ingredients:

4 thin chicken cutlets
4 thin ham slices
4 oz Bleu cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and oil a shallow baking dish.
• Lay chicken cutlets out on work surface, lay one piece of ham on each cutlet, then place even amounts of the Bleu cheese on top of each slice of ham.
• Roll the cutlets up and secure with a toothpick.
• In a shallow bowl, whisk together the olive oil and egg.
• In a shallow bowl, put the Parmesan cheese.
• Take each cutlet roll and first dip in egg mixture, then roll in Parmesan cheese and place in prepared baking dish.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  (Cooking time will depend on how thin the cutlets are.)
• Remove and allow to cool slightly at room temperature before serving.

Low-Carb Recipe: Chicken Capers Piccata

Chicken is a great choice for a low-carb diet; it's high in protein, tasty, and can be used in literally thousands of different dishes. Its firm but tender texture, and mild flavor means it goes well in everything from spicy Indian curry, to Mexican stew, to Italian casseroles. This delicious low-carb recipe is simple to make, and tastes absolutely divine.  To cut the carbs even more, use almond flour, but usually a couple of tablespoons of whole wheat is fine - unless you're gluten-sensitive. (Without the wheat flour, this also makes a great choice if you're trying to go gluten-free.)

Chicken Capers Piccata
(Serves 4-8.)

Ingredients:

Chicken piccata. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise so you have 8 thin cutlets
black pepper to taste
3 Tbsp whole-wheat or almond flour
3 Tbsp cooking oil
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp capers
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 thinly sliced lemon for garnish (optional)

Directions:

• Season chicken to taste with black pepper.
• Put the flour in a plastic food bag, add the chicken cutlets, and shake to coat.
• Put a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the cooking oil, and when pan sizzles, add the cutlets, browning both sides (about 3 minutes each side or until nicely browned.)
• Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
• In the same skillet over medium-high heat, add the lemon juice and broth, bring to a gentle boil, stirring to bring up the fried pieces from bottom of skillet; turn heat to low and add the capers; stir.
• Arrange the chicken evenly into the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove and sprinkle parsley over chicken.
• Serve by putting chicken on plate and pour sauce over chicken.
• Garnish with lemon slices if desired.
• You can serve 2 cutlets on each plate to feed 4 a full meal, or 1 cutlet on each plate to serve 8 a light lunch.
• May be served over a bed of mixed greens to stretch your low-carb meal.

Low-Carb Recipe: Crockpot Pot Roast And Vegetables With Savory Gravy

This classic comfort food, the pot roast, is good old-fashioned low-carb cooking at its best! An easy dish to make in the crockpot, with this one, you can have a delicious dinner waiting for you when you get home from work - just prep the vegetables the night before, and put everything in the crockpot before leaving in the morning. It will cook slowly all day, releasing the nutrition form the meat, and creating its own savory gravy. Yum - I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!  (Note: If you don't have time to brown the meat, it's fine to put it in the crockpot uncooked - it just won't have quite the same depth of flavor.)

Crockpot Pot Roast And Vegetables With Savory Gravy
(Serves 6.)

Ingredients:

(Photo credit: sundaykofax)

3 lb boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat and tied with butcher string to secure
coarse black pepper to taste
light oil for browning meat
3 large carrots, peeled and coarse cut
3 stalks celery, coarse cut
1 large yellow onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dry red wine or beef broth
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp crushed dried thyme
2 large bay leaves
salt
* (Optional: 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp cold water, or substitute almond flour mixed with water.)

Directions:

1. Sprinkle roast all over with black pepper. (Add salt if desired.)
2. Spray a heavy non-stick skillet with cooking spray or coat with oil. Put skillet over medium-high heat.
3. When skillet is hot, add the roast and sear until browned well, flipping after side is browned - do not flip continually, just once per side. Brown all over, not just 2 sides.
4. Arrange the carrots on the bottom of the crockpot, then the celery, then the onion, and sprinkle the garlic over all evenly.
5. Set the browned roast on top.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wine, tomato paste, Dijon mustard, thyme, and bay leaves, then pour gently over the roast and vegetables. 
7. Cover the crockpot, set the heat to LOW, and cook 8 to 9 hours or until beef is fork tender.
8. When done, remove beef and vegetables to a platter.  You may thicken the gravy at this point if desired.  Turn heat on crockpot to high.  Mix the cornstarch and cold water (or almond flour and water) in a cup until dissolved, then stir into the crockpot and stir until liquid thickens; turn heat off.
9. Spoon vegetables on each plate and serve thin slices of beef alongside.  Spoon the thickened gravy over all. 

* (Note: Cornstarch is not low carb, but the almond flour option is low carb. Another low-carb option is to add okra to liquid and allow to cook together for 5 minutes.  Eggplant is another low-carb thickener.)

Recipe: Red Thai Curried Fish - A Low-Carb Flavor Treat

If you're looking to eat healthier this year, you may want to incorporate Thai food into your diet. Thai is one of my favorite cuisines - it features lots of bright, fresh flavors that come alive on your palate, without having to add much fat or sugar to your meals, and it's typically made with just a few, fresh, healthy ingredients, which are increasingly easy to find at just about any grocery store these days. Many Thai dishes include rice or noodles, but you can omit these, or choose from the plenty that don't, if you are following a lower carb diet.

This recipe uses Thai red curry (a distinctive flavor all on its own), coupled with fresh cilantro and tangy lime juice, which marry well with the light flavors of white fish (use sole, tilapia, cod, or other mild-flavored white fish for this recipe). Coconut oil and curry paste can be found in most supermarkets, in the Asian aisle. (Thai Kitchen is a major brand found just about everywhere, and it has a great flavor - but beware if you use this brand - it is VERY spicy! I would start with about half what it calls for in the recipe below, then add more if needed. If you make your own curry paste it's usually less potent, so you can use more. It's not that hard to make your own curry paste - check back Friday for a video showing how!) Fish sauce can be found in some supermarkets, and most Asian grocery stores. (The Squid brand is probably the most easy to find, but unfortunately doesn't have a great flavor, so I'd suggest a different one if you can find it.)

Thai Red Curry Fish
(Serves 4.)

A pack of red curry paste (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp red curry paste (or less)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp Asian fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp fresh lime juice
4 filets white fish
salt and pepper to taste
coconut oil for sauteing

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• In a small bowl, mix together the red curry paste, vinegar, oil, cilantro, fish sauce, and lime juice; set aside.
• Put an oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat, add enough oil to saute fish - about 1 TB if using coconut oil.
• Season the fish filets with salt and pepper to taste, then put in skillet when the oil is hot and cook until fish is browned lightly, then flip and cook until second side is browned; this will take about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake fish until thoroughly cooked and fish is flaky, about 8 to 10 minutes depending on thickness of the fish.
• Remove the skillet from the oven, and pour the curry sauce over the fish in the skillet; let sit 1 minute.

Some of My Favorite Thai Cookbooks: