Bootcamp Recipe Thread

[BIWI]

Asparagus Frittata (serves 2)

250g/9oz asparagus, trimmed and cut into 5cm/2in pieces
4 eggs
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
225g/8oz spring onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil

• Cook asparagus in boiling water until tender (7-10 minutes)
• Whisk the eggs and add the cheese and the spring onions
• Pre-heat the grill
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan that can go under the grill
• Put in the asparagus; stir-fry for a minute, then pour in the eaten eggs, moving the asparagus around gently to make sure the egg mixture gets right through, and that the grated cheese is well distributed
• Let the frittata cook over a moderate heat for a few minutes until the underside is cooked and lightly browned, then put the pan under a hot grill for a minute or two until the top is set and golden brown

5.5g carbs per serving

Recipe from Rose Elliot's "The Vegetarian Low-Carb Diet Book"

Makes a lot, over a litre.

I made it without pickles and ketchup and it was nice as for carb count, not sure but I only made 100mls so a tenth of the recipe and used a couple of Tbsp.

Egg-Fried Cauliflower Rice

Serves 1 (as a main dish)

• Half a head of cauli, grated or blitzed in a food processor until it resembles rice
• Butter and oil for frying
• Clove of garlic
• Stirfry veg (eg broccoli, peppers, beansprouts)
• 1 egg
• Chinese five-spice seasoning
• Salt & pepper
• Dash of soy sauce (Kikkoman is low-carb, apparently)

Heat butter and splash of oil in pan
Gently fry garlic
Add grated cauli and other veg
Add 5-spice powder, stir fry mixture for 3-4 mins
Add egg and stir quickly into cauli/veg mixture until cooked
Season and add splash of soy sauce to taste

Easy-peasy and surprisingly delicious! This works great on its own but would also do as an accompaniment to other Chinese food. Swap the 5-spice and soy for curry powder for Indian food.

Thanks teaandthorazine

Stirfry for tea tomorrow night!

I've always been a bit about cauliflower rice as well, but it does sound worth a go!

I had this for dinner. I used one of those posh shallots instead of the onion and coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and it was absolutely gorgeous and so quick to prepare. It's definitely going on my rotation of frequent meals. I had it with cauliflower rice.

A rather nice veggie dish I made the other day.

The sauce:
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
A couple of cloves of garlic
1 banana shallot or two standard shallots
Some fresh or dried basil

The filling:
500g ricotta
500g frozen spinach
1 egg
1 pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

The pasta substitute:
1 large or 2 medium aubergines
butter or ghee

The topping:
1 or 2 mozzarella balls

1: Finely chop the shallot and garlic then fry in some butter or ghee (olive oil should not be used for frying due to it's high non saturated fat content making it form unhealthy trans fats at high temperatures).

1. Add in the tin of chopped tomatoes and simmer.

1. Defrost the spinach in the microwave.

1. Cut the aubergine into thin slices then fry in batches in butter or ghee until softened and browned

1. While the aubergine is frying put the defrosted spinach, ricotta, egg, nutmeg and salt and pepper into a mixing bowl and then mix them with a hand mixer or with a fork.

1. Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with the spinach and ricotta mixture then cover that with a layer of aubergine slices and repeat until you've run out of both.

1. Blend the tomato sauce with some basil (fresh if possible) then pour on top of the rest of the dish.

1. Grate the mozzarella then spread it on top.

1. Bake at 180 for 20 minutes.

The whole thing has about 60g of carbs so it's not too bad if you eat a sixth of it with some salad and pretty good for a veggie dish.

That sounds lovely!

Just had cauliflower rice - can highly recommend. Did it with curry powder with homemade curry. Yum!

ALMOND MUFFIN LOAF
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups almond flour
3 eggs
1/4-1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup dry curd cottage cheese, packed (or cream cheese made from homemade yogurt) strain the liquid from the cottage cheese.
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven 180 deg. C

1. Grease a 4 inch x 8 inch loaf pan with butter and coat bottom with almond flour.

1. Use food processor to mix eggs, melted butter, dry curd cottage cheese, baking soda, and salt. Process until thick and resembles butter in texture.

1. Add almond flour and process until mixed thoroughly. If too stiff for processor, remove and knead with wet hands to evenly distribute almond flour. (Mine was wetand it was great)

1. With wet hands, shape dough into loaf and press into greased pan.

1. Bake at (180-200 C) for about 1 hour until lightly browned on top. There will be a crack on the top of the loaf. Check doneness by inserting knife and seeing if it comes out clean.

1. Remove from oven, loosen from sides of pan with spatula.

1. Invert onto rack to cool thoroughly, so it will be firm enough for cutting.

ooooh oooooh did the turkey cakes and wasabi guacamole last night. really good, except my wasabi was Use By oct 2011, so wasn't as potent as I would have liked.

Is almond flour the same as ground almonds?

Yes almond flour and ground almonds are the same thing.

Roasted Tenderstem Broccoli with Shallots and Chilli

An easy, peasy but very yummy side dish - serves 2-3 generous portions

1 pack of Tenderstem broccoli
2 echalion/banana shallots
chilli flakes
sea/rock salt
olive oil

Wash the broccoli then put into a baking dish/tray
Cut the shallots in half lengthways, and then again into quarters, and put on top of the broccoli
Drizzle with olive oil
Sprinkle on salt and chilli flakes to taste

Roast in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes until the florets are just starting to go crispy (keep an eye on them as they can go from crispy to burnt very quickly!)

Broccoli soup -

Roughly chop head of broccoli into small pieces and put in large pan with hot water. Add stock cube (I use ham but veg one good too). Boil till broccoli is tender.

Add cream and spoonful of cream cheese and some fresh herbs.

I use this soup as white sauce ersatz when making lasagne.

Fry minced beef in oil, with some leeks and diced courgettes (or other veg) then add tomato purée and beef stock. Simmer as long as you can.

Slice courgettes or aubergines thinly and use instead of lasagne sheets.

Put one ladle full of soup into small pan, add cream and reduce by boiling.

Layer bolognese, sliced veg and broccoli sauce and a sprinkle of cheese.

Devour

Aha!

Hello!
Sorry about coeliac diagnosis, btw

Marks place

Thanks mate. It sucks, tbh. But hopefully I'll get better in general now so thinking positively.

I suppose it's good to have a diagnosis - and presumably a treatment plan?

Treatment is simply avoiding all gluten. Even a tiny amount makes my body go crazy now. So it's researching where it's hidden and what you can eat in it's place.

TBH with a family of hungry boys I already have my hands full cooking meals already so this really is a PITA. But my bloating has gone, my skin is clear, my headaches and lethargy are leaving me slowly. It's like taking off a heavy blanket - that's how it feels. Absolutely worth it :)

My GP reckons up to 25% of people have a gluten intolerance even if only 1% are Coeliac. So 1 in 4 people are feeling sluggish, heavy and generally ill due to gluten in their diet. I do wonder if that's part of the attraction of a low-carb diet - where you feel lighter and fresher. And of course those 1 in 4 have no idea that it's not normal to feel so bleurgh all the live long day.

Pinot, my mum and sister both have coeliac. It's a pain, isn't it? My sister follows the diet all the time, whereas my mum gives up easily, and stops and starts. She's been trying out lots of recipes with gluten free flour lately though, and I know she said a couple were really nice- I shall ask her what worked and what didn't. I'm pretty sure she made muffins that everyone enjoyed, and she said the yorkshire puddings were flat, but not bad. The bread tastes better toasted or fried, apparently it's dire in normal sandwiches!

If you do want to go down the gluten free bread/ flour route, it's worth enquiring about prescriptions. It's stupidly expensive normally, it works out cheaper to buy a years prescription card, and get a prescription for them from doctor. You get a certain allowance of loaves and bags of flour each month (or my sister does anyway).

My IBS is definitely better when I'm low carbing, so I suspect you're right about that. To be honest, I find it easier just to do without bread/flour - I don't bother to look for subsititutes. I don't really miss it most of the time. Nor pasta or rice.

I have discovered shirataki noodles though, that I have linked to further up the thread - they're actually made from a Japanese vegetable and are zero calorie/zero carbs, unbelievably. They make a reasonable substitute for pasta if I really find I want some.

Fab thread, BIWI, I only just spotted it! I shall peruse it in more detail later.

Meanwhile, I shall share what I had for dinner this evening - it was very tasty:

Salmon with Feta and Mint

Crumble a block of Feta cheese, and mix in the zest of a lemon, some chopped fresh mint, salt & pepper, and a slosh of olive oil.

Pile the mixture on top of a side of salmon (or salmon fillets) and bake in the oven at 190C for about 25 minutes.

Serve with sauteed cabbage.

That sounds gorgeous!