My latest cooking adventure was making Outback’s Alice Springs Chicken low carb.  A fellow blogger decided to have a blog hop for restaurant recipe redos call Food Unchained.  Have you ever gone to a restaurant and thought that you could make a dish better or wished you knew how to make the dish?  Several bloggers had the same thought and wanted to redo some of our favorite restaurant meals by making them even more delicious right in the comfort of our own homes.  I definitely wanted to redo a recipe to make it low carb and several of my readers wanted a recipe for Outback’s Alice Spings Chicken.

At first glance it seems relatively low carb, but the honey mustard sauce is filled with sugar and carbs and the Aussie fries (french fries) will need to be replaced with a low carb veggie.  This is a perfect dish to make low carb at home.

The post Food Unchained: Alice Springs Chicken (Low Carb and Gluten Free) appeared first on Holistically Engineered.

My latest cooking adventure was Low Carb Roasted Cauliflower and Asparagus Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing. Ever since I found out just how absolutely fabulous roasted cauliflower is I have been thinking of different ways I can use it in recipes.  I have making various salads a lot lately and I decided to combine by two favorite veggies (at the moment) into an epically delicious salad. 

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I used the following ingredients for the stuffed hamburgers:

2 lbs ground beef (I used 80/20)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
4 tbsp of shredded cheese (or 4 pieces of cheese to fit the size of the hamburger–I used cheddar)
5 slice of bacon, diced and cooked (or in pieces)

Mix the garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and Worcestershire sauce into the ground beef.  Divide the ground beef into four equal parts.  Take each of the four parts and divide it in half (it will give you eight total pieces).  Form each piece into a patty 1/2″ thick.  Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of cheese and a quarter of the bacon onto one patty.  Top it with another patty and squeeze the two patties together to form a complete seal.  Repeat this for the remaining patty pairs (you will have four stuffed hamburgers).  Sprinkle the top of each patty liberally with salt (this will help form the crust)**.  Over medium high heat sear each patty (salt side down) for 3 to 4 minutes.  Sprinkle salt on the other side and flip each burger.  Sear for another 3 to 4 minutes or until the desired doneness is achieved.

**Another method would be to sprinkle the salt in the pan before searing the burgers.  Re-salt the pan before searing the other size.  I did not use any additional oil because the salt helps keep the hamburger from sticking to the pan.

Net Carb Count*:
Stuffed Burgers: 5 net carbs (for the entire recipe—add additional carbs for the toppings)

*Note carb counts are estimated based on the products I used. Check nutrition labels for accurate carb counts.

Comments: This burger was so delicious and juicy!  The bacon and cheese helped keep the burger from getting dry and the salt helped create a tasty crust on the outside of the burger. One important rule to remember when making a burger is DO NOT squash the burger while it is searing.  It is best to just leave the burger alone and not touch it until it is ready to flip.  I repeat….LEAVE THE BURGER ALONE!  You’ll thank me later when you have a moist burger because all of the juices weren’t squeezed out by your spatula/hamburger turner!   Feel free to stuff your burgers with your favorite cheese/topping combination.  The possibilities are endless!!  Also, make sure you create a tight seal when you join the two patties together.   Mine came apart a little, but I didn’t lose the filling so it was still delicious.  If you are into grilling, these beauties can be made on the grill also.  I have no grilling advice for you though as I am…..grilling challenged.

Enjoy!

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Tonight’s cooking adventure was “Potato” Skins.  I was inspired by I Breathe…I’m Hungry’s Loaded “Faux-tato” Skins recipe (https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/02/loaded-faux-tato-skins.html). 

I used the following ingredients for my version:

1 medium celery root
1 medium daikon radish
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp heavy cream
1 egg
Bacon pieces and cheddar cheese, to taste

The first step is to make the celery root/radish mash.  Prepare the celery root (Steps for preparing the celery root) and radish by peeling and chopping both into 1″ pieces.   Place the veggie pieces into a pot of salted water and boil until fork tender.  Once cooked, drain the water and return the veggies back to the warm pot to remove excess moisture.  Place the celery root and radish into a food processor and blend until mostly smooth.  Add the parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and heavy cream and blend until completely smooth.

Preheat oven to 375 F.  The next step is to make the “potato” skin base.  Add one egg to the celery root/radish mash and stir to incorporate.  Using a small cookie scooper, place one scoop full into a greased mini muffin tin.  Using the back of the scooper, making a well in the middle of the mash and making sure the mash fills the muffin cup.  Bake for 20-30 minutes or until they are golden brown and mostly firm.  I was able to get 24 “skins”.

Once the “skins” have finished cooking remove them from the muffin tins and place them on a greased cookie sheet.  Fill each “skin” with bacon pieces and top each with cheddar cheese.  Place the “skins” back in the oven until the cheese melts.

Net Carb Count*:
16 net carbs (for the entire recipe)

*Note carb counts are estimated based on the products I used. Check nutrition labels for accurate carb counts.

Comments: When I made the celery root mash I was really impressed with the texture, but I wanted to mellow out some of the celery root flavor.  The combination of the daikon radish and the celery root really made a delicious mash recipe.  I thought the thickness of the mash would help make perfect “potato” skins.  They turned out great!  The “skins” were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.  The bacon and cheese were the perfect toppings.  Of course you could top them with sour cream or any other toppings you prefer.  I dipped my “skins” in homemade ranch dressing.  Yummy!

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Tonight’s cooking adventure was Asian style Chicken Lettuce Wrap with Fried “Rice.” 

I used the following ingredients for Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe:

1 lb ground chicken
1 shallot, diced
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 Tbsp of soy sauce
1 Tbsp of chicken broth
1 Tbsp of peanut butter
1 batch of Teriyaki sauce (found here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9o3Znfilzo from the Atkins Diet Geek)
8-10 lettuce leaf cups (butter lettuce, romaine, etc.)

Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium high heat and cook the ground chicken.  Once the chicken is mostly cooked add the shallot and mushrooms.  Meanwhile, mix the remainder of the ingredients (except of lettuce leave) in a small bowl.  Once the shallots are translucent and the mushrooms are cooked, add the sauce and simmer until heated through.  Serve the chicken mixture in lettuce leaf cups.  Garnish with chopped peanuts or a sprinkle of carrot shreds.

I also made the fried “rice” recipe found here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF2uvYsDOqY&feature=relmfu (also from the Atkins Diet Geek).

Net Carb Count*:
10 net carbs (for the entire Chicken Lettuce Wrap recipe)

*Note carb counts are estimated based on the products I used. Check nutrition labels for accurate carb counts.

Comments: My original lettuce wrap recipe (https://lconeday.blogspot.com/2012/01/low-carb-turkey-lettuce-wraps.html) was very delicious, but I wanted to reduce some of the carbs and I wanted to try it with ground chicken.  Not to mention that I needed to take a better quality picture!  The Chicken Lettuce Wraps turned out very well!.  I used similar ingredients as the first recipe, but I was able to reduce some of the carbs by making the teriyaki sauce.  I also liked the flavor of the ground chicken instead of the turkey.  I served my lettuce wraps with fried “rice.”  It was so scrumptious!  The recipe is definitely a great substitute for fried rice.  I didn’t really make any modifications to the original recipe other than making a smaller batch and I didn’t have any green onions so I used celery for color.  The onions would have given the rice extra flavor though.  Also, I’m not a fan of eggs in my rice so I left it out.  I definitely suggest making this recipe next time you are craving fried rice.

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[Updated 05-09-12]

Tonight’s cooking adventure was a Low Carb Skillet Mushroom Chicken. I loved the flavor of bacon and mushrooms!  This is a quick and easy meal perfect for those crazy weeknights!  I used the following ingredients: 

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