Cheesy Bacon "Potato" Bake

This bake is the most luscious, cheesy, flavorful way i've ever eaten cauliflower! I have always liked cauliflower prepared in any way, but this dish blew me away. A good friend who HATES cauliflower stopped by and had two big servings! It is a great side dish to chicken or steak and it's good enough for company. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 medium head of cauliflower, cleaned and separated into florets
5 slices of thick cut bacon cooked and crumbled
3 green onions including green tops, sliced finely
4 oz cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
1/4 cup sour cream (I used Daisy)
1 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
paprika to sprinkle on top, optional but adds a pretty color



Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. In a large pot with half a cup of water, steam cauliflower until tender (about 15 minutes) Turn off the heat.
3. This is a very important step please don't skip it! Drain the cauliflower and add back to the hot pot. There will still be residual heat on the pot and that heat will help dry the excess moisture from the cauliflower. Mash the cauliflower roughly. It's better if it's not completely smooth.
4. Add the cream cheese to the cauliflower and stir until completely combined. Add the sour cream, green onion, bacon, and extra sharp cheddar. Mix until completely combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add the mashed cauliflower to an oven safe pan. And top with paprika.
6. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until it is hot and bubbly. Serve.


This recipe yields 6 servings each with 3.1 Net carbs.

I used fresh cauliflower for this recipe because I prefer the taste and texture. But you could use frozen if you wish.

This bake would be fantastic with chopped ham instead of bacon.

I think the extra sharp cheddar makes a huge difference to the quality and flavor of this recipe.

This dish would also be great as a main dish!

Chinese Green Beans

If your tired of eating steamed green beans, try them this way next time! They're savory, slightly sweet, and slightly spicy. Delicious on the side of grilled chicken or steak or Chinese chicken wings. These are similar to the green beans served in Chinese buffets. If you can find them you can use those long Chinese green beans cut into 2 inch pieces. My new favorite way to eat green beans!

Ingredients:

6 oz  fresh breen beans, cleaned, trimmed, and cut at an angle into 2 inch pieces
1 green onion, including the green tops, sliced at an angle
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp Chinese chile paste (I used garlic chile paste)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger minced
1 tsp Splenda
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp oil, (peanut, vegetable, or coconut)


Directions:

1. Heat a wok or medium pan to high heat. Add 2 tbsp of oil.
2. Add the green beans and stir fry for 6-7 minutes until they start to get a brown color but are still tender crisp, remove the green beans to a plate.
3. Add the remaining tbsp of oil to the pan. Add the garlic, ginger, and green onion. Lightly stir fry for a minute. Add the green beans back to the pan. Add the chile paste, soy sauce, Splenda, salt and pepper. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add sesame oil and serve.


This recipe yields 2 servings and can easily be doubled for more servings.

Each serving has 4.7 Net carbs

Adriana's Low Carb French Onion Soup

One of my favorite dishes to have on the side of a nice juicy steak is French onion soup. Once upon a time my favorite French onion soup was from Outback Steakhouse, but i've decided to come up with my own version which is much lower in carb, has no bread, is much more delicious and I can make it whenever I want for a fraction of the cost! Woop!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, sliced in strips
1  15 oz can of beef broth or stock (standard can size)
1/2 tsp dried ground thyme
3 tbsp butter
4 oz of Provolone, Gruyere, or Swiss cheese
salt and pepper to taste
4 oven safe ramekins


Directions:

1. Preheat the broiler to high.
2. Heat a medium pot to medium high heat, add the butter until melted.
3. Add the onion to the pot and cook for 15 minutes, until deep golden brown. It is important to keep an eye and keep stirring the onions to prevent them from burning. After 15 minutes add the thyme, salt and pepper. (Go easy on the salt because the beef broth is already salted)
4. Add the beef broth or stock and cover.
5. Simmer on low for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust salt if necessary.
6. Turn off heat and divide soup between 4 oven safe ramekins. Top with one ounce of cheese of choice and place under broiler for 2 minutes until the cheese gets golden and bubbly. Please keep a close eye on the broiler as the cheese can burn very quickly. I placed the ramekins on a cookie sheet for ease of putting in and taking out of the oven.


I used smoked provolone. I got the presliced kind at the grocery store and it was the perfect size to cover the ramekins.

This soup makes a wonderful side to a steak!


Recipe yields 4 servings, each with 3.04 Net carbs

Deluxe Mashed Cauliflower

I've made mashed cauliflower several times before with different results. I've made it smooth in the food processor and chunky with a vegetable masher. I've used frozen and fresh cauliflower. And of course I much MUCH prefer the fresh cauliflower taste and texture. I think it's personal preference, frozen cauliflower is more convenient and sometimes less expensive. If you've made mashed cauli with frozen cauliflower and have had good results go ahead and use it. But if for some reason you haven't liked the mashed cauli using frozen cauliflower, then give it one more chance using fresh it makes a big difference.

Ingredients:

1/2 large head of cauliflower, broken up into florets
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup water
salt and black pepper


Directions:

1. In a medium pan add the 1/4 cup of water and the cauliflower. Cover and steam on medium heat until the cauliflower is soft. About 15 minutes. Drain
2. Important Step: Add the cauliflower back to the pan and mash it with a vegetable masher. Let it cook in the pan for another 5 minutes stirring occassionally. This is to help the water dry off of the cauliflower so it won't be soggy and watery.
3. Add the butter, sour cream, salt and pepper. Serve


This recipe yields 4 servings with 4.5 Net carbs each

Deluxe Fried "Rice"

I made some perfect steamed cauli rice a few days ago and had leftovers. I used them to throw together this quick and delicious deluxe fried "rice" It's not much of a recipe because I used what I had on hand, it's more of an example of what you can do with leftover cauli "rice" Perfect for when you get a Chinese food craving!

I Used:

3/4 cup leftover cauli "rice"

1 egg

2 fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 green onion, including green part, sliced

1 tbsp green bell pepper, chopped

1 tbsp red bell pepper, chopped

1 oz leftover steak

1 oz leftover chicken

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp oil



Directions:

1. In a small bowl, beat egg

2. Add 1 tbsp oil to pan and heat to medium

3. Add egg to pan and cook until set but still a bit wet, remove and set aside, wipe pan clean

4. Add other 1 tbsp oil to pan, heat to medium-high heat. Add the meat, stir fry for  a few minutes.

5. Add vegetables in with meat stir fry for 3-4 minutes but leave them tender-crisp.

6. Add cauli rice in with meat and vegetables, stir fry for 2 minutes then add soy sauce and egg. Cook for another 2 minutes.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Obviously the carb counts will vary depending on what vegetables you use, but here's the carb count for this recipe the way I made it:  6.9 Net carbs

You could also make this with shrimp! Yum! Or just throw any leftovers in and it'll still be delicious!

Perfect Steamed Cauli-Rice

Since starting low carb I have tried several times to make cauli-rice. You know when you take cauliflower and rice it, shred it, or chop it finely to look like rice? Sometimes also called faux rice.
All the times i've made it before i've done it with frozen cauliflower and the results weren't as good as I hoped. The cauliflower is too watery and mushy when thawed. So please if you want to see the difference try this recipe out. It is really good. Very subtle cauliflower flavor and excellent texture.

Ingredients:

1/2 head fresh cauliflower
salt to taste
Food processor, magic bullet, or Ninja.  I personally own the Ninja and I love it! I use it almost every day. I used it to make this rice and in a few seconds Voila!
medium, microwave safe bowl


Directions:

1. Cut the cauliflower into florets
2. Add the florets to the Ninja and pulse until riced (I did it in two batches)
3. Add the riced cauliflower to microwave safe bowl, add salt
4. Microwave for 3 minutes, stop and stir the rice every 1 minute
5. Ready to serve!

You do not need to add any water to the cauliflower, it steams with its natural water and comes out perfect.

I got 2 cups of rice from half a head of cauliflower


Recipe yields 4    1/2 cup servings with 2 net carbs per serving

Low Carb Holiday Green Bean Casserole

I cheated a little bit preparing this casserole by using a canned soup. Unfortunately it is not induction friendly this way, but it is certainly acceptable for OWL. It was a very good casserole. I used caramelized onions on top instead of those french fried onions which are breaded and have corn syrup in them.  It was just as good or better than the "traditional" casserole!

Ingredients:

A 16 oz bag of cut frozen green beans, thawed and drained
1 can of Campbell's cream of chicken and mushroom soup (this soup has less carbs than the original cream of mushroom soup)
1 medium onion sliced in strips
4 oz can of mushrooms, drained
1 tsp olive oil


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Mix the thawed and drained green beans with the mushrooms, and the soup. Pour into a small casserole dish.
3. In a small pan add the olive oil and onions and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes stirring constantly until caramelized.
4. Top the casserole with the caramelized onions and bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.


*TIPS*

I don't normally use canned soup but I made an exception for Thanksgiving and it was still low carb and much healthier than the original.


This recipe yields 8 servings

5.96 Net carbs per serving

Adriana's Low Carb Coleslaw

I've never been a huge coleslaw fan. I mean I did like it and eat it once in a while from fast food chicken places, but I had never made it at home. With this recipe I have to say i've made it at least 5 times in the past month. My mom loves it and even a few friends who "hate" coleslaw have requested specifically that I make it. It's definitely better than any coleslaw ive tried and I hope you'll like it too!

Ingredients:

1/2 small head of cabbage, finely chopped
1 small carrot shredded
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp yellow mustard
2 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (I like it tangy, but you could add a tsp at a time to the sauce and see how you like it best)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp sweetener (I used a total of 2 drops of liquid Splenda)


Directions:

1. In a medium bowl mix the mayo, sour cream, mustard, apple cider vinegar, Splenda and heavy cream.  (Some celery seed would be nice in here too but I didn't have any)
2. Taste the sauce and see if it's sweet enough or tangy enough for you.
3. Add the shredded cabbage and carrot and mix.
4. Chill before serving


*** Please note:
Carrot is definitely NOT induction friendly but the good news is you can still have this coleslaw on induction, just leave the carrot out and make it exactly the same way.

Leftovers taste great!

Recipe can be doubled.


This recipe yields 6 servings of approximately 1/2 cup each

Net carbs per serving: 2.8