My latest cooking adventure is Low Carb Chili Lime Shrimp Tostadas. I used the following ingredients for the tostada shells:

1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
4 Tbsp butter, melted
2 egg whites
2 Tbsp sour cream (optional)

I also used the following ingredients:
1 lb shrimp (either small sized shrimp or larger shrimp cut into pieces)
1 tsp chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced
Zest of one lime
Juice from 3 limes
Salt and pepper, to taste
Shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and sour cream for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  In order to make the tostadas combine the dry ingredients  and mix until the spices are incorporated.  Add the wet ingredients and stir until dough is formed. Freeze for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, roll out the dough until it is 1/4″ thick. Cut out circles using a cookie cutter or glass (about 5″ in diameter). Lift each circle using a spatula and place on the cookie sheet.**  Bake for 5-10 minutes.  After 5-10 minutes flip each tostada and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Heat a skillet with 2 Tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat.  Seasoning the shrimp with salt and pepper.  Add the shrimp to the skillet and sprinkle the chili powder over the shrimp.  Saute until almost pink.  Add the garlic clove, lime juice, and zest and saute until the shrimp are cooked through. 

Top each tostada shell with shrimp and the toppings of your choice!

Net Carb Count*:
Tostadas: 29 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: **The dough does come apart when you work with it. Also it may be helpful to split the dough in half and work in batches. Place the second half of the dough back in the freezer while you work with the second half.  Using a spatula helps keep the dough from breaking. I made 6 medium size tostadas.  Double the batch of dough to make 6 large tostadas. 

The tostadas were crispy and had great flavor. I used large sized shrimp cut into three pieces to fit on the tostadas.  We loved the flavor combination of chili and lime.  They can be topped with any of your favorite taco toppings (salsa, taco sauce, etc.) 

This would be great served with Mexi-Rice.

The post Low Carb Chili Lime Shrimp Tostadas appeared first on Holistically Engineered.

My latest cooking adventure is Low Carb Mini Taco Bowls with Mexi-Rice. I used the following ingredients for the taco bowls:

1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
4 Tbsp butter, melted
2 egg whites
2 Tbsp sour cream (optional)

I also used the following ingredients:
2 cups of cooked chicken or beef (I used salsa chicken: https://paleoperfectly.blogspot.com/2011/03/paleo-crockpot-mexican-shredded-chicken.html)
Shredded Cheese, to taste
Shredded lettuce, diced tomato, diced olives, and sour cream for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.  In order to make the taco cups combine the dry ingredients and mix until the spices are incorporated. Add the wet ingredients and stir until dough is formed.  Freeze for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, roll out the dough until it is 1/4″ thick. Cut out circles using a biscuit cutter or glass (about 3″ in diameter).  Lift one circle using a spatula and line the muffin tin with the dough.**  Repeat for each additional circle (re-roll the dough after making the first set of circles.  I was able to get 12 taco bowls.)  Bake for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Once golden, place the bowls on a cookie sheet and fill each cup with chicken/beef and then top with cheese.  Place the bowls back in the oven and bake for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.  Top with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream as desired.  Serve with Mexi-rice (recipe below). 

Cauliflower Mexi-Rice
1 shallot or small onion, diced
2 cups of riced cauliflower
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
Black olives, to taste (optional).

Heat 1 Tbsp of oil over medium high heat.  Sautee the shallots/onions until translucent.  Add the cauliflower.  Next combine the taco seasoning and water.  Pour the mixture over the cauliflower and stir to combine.  Cook until the water and evaporated and the cauliflower is tender.  Top with black olives, as desired.

Net Carb Count*:
Taco Bowls: 20 net carbs (for the entire recipe—add additional carbs for meat, cheese, and toppings)
Mexi-rice:  12 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:  **The dough does come apart when you work with it.  Also it may be helpful to split the dough in half and work in batches.  Place the second half of the dough back in the freezer while you work with the second half.  I cut the dough into circles in order to estimate how much dough was needed for each muffin tin.  Line the muffin tin with each dough circle and fill in any holes.  Excess dough can be removed.  The sour cream adds some additional moisture to the taco bowls. 

The mixture had a corn taste to it which reminded us of corn tortillas.  We loved how these turned out!  They can be topped with any of your favorite taco toppings (salsa, taco sauce, etc.)  These would make great appetizers!  I didn’t try it, but you could probably use two whole eggs instead of just egg whites.  Let me know if it works! 

The Mexi-rice was a great side dish to go with the taco bowls.  You can use a food processor or a cheese grater to rice the cauliflower.  Use either homemade taco seasoning or your favorite low carb version. 

The post Low Carb Mini Taco Bowls with Mexi-Rice appeared first on Holistically Engineered.

My latest cooking adventure is Low Carb Enchiladas.  I used the following ingredients to make the sauce:

Enchilada Sauce (makes 3-4 cups depending on thickness):
6 dried guajillo chilies (or dried ancho chilies for more spice)
7 cups of water
4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp Goya all purpose seasoning (or season salt)
1/4-1/2 tsp of xanthan gum

I also used the following ingredients: 
6-8 low carb tortillas (I made these https://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-tex-mex-tortillas-and-taco-seasoning/#axzz1ry8NlppC with the following modifications:
~Used just egg whites
~No lime juice
~Added 1/4 tsp coriander
~Added 1/4 tsp season salt
2 cups of cooked chicken or beef (I used salsa chicken:  https://paleoperfectly.blogspot.com/2011/03/paleo-crockpot-mexican-shredded-chicken.html)
Shredded Cheese, to taste
Diced onions and black olives (optional)

The first step is to make the enchilada sauce.  This can be done ahead of time.  Remove all of the seeds from the dried chili peppers.  Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until the chili peppers have broken down and the sauce turns a deep orange color.  Pour the mixture in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Once the sauce has come to a boil reduce the heat to simmer and allow to reduce by half.  Once the sauce has reduced by half add 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum and stir to combine.  Allow the mixture to thicken.  If the sauce is not thick enough add another pinch of xanthan gum until the desired consistency is reached. 

Assembling the enchiladas:
Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix the chicken with 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce and heat if necessary.  Next, brush (or dip) the tortillas on both sides with enchilada sauce.  Place a heaping spoon full of chicken onto the tortilla.  Top with cheese, onions, and black olives.  Roll the tortilla and place seam side down into a baking dish.  Repeat for the remaining tortillas. 

Top all of the tortillas with an additional 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce and top with cheese.  Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted. 

Net Carb Count*:
Enchilada Sauce:  25 net carbs (for the entire recipe—about half of the recipe will be used to make the enchiladas)
Low Carb Tortillas:  7 net carbs (for the entire recipe with modifications–makes 4 tortillas)

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

Comments:  I used the recipe for low carb tortillas to reduce the carb count since most packaged low carb tortillas have about 4-5 net carbs per serving.  The low carb tortillas are difficult to flip and are very delicate.  I used 1/4 cup of the mixture for each tortilla and carefully flipped each one to prevent them from ripping.  Also I allowed the tortillas to cool slightly as they are easier to work with once they have cooled and firmed up.  I just want to warn you that it is easy to get frustrated and rip the tortilla when making these so be cautious.  Also, you will need a double batch for 8 tortillas. 

The enchilada sauce is the way my mother makes it.  She usually uses bacon grease and flour to thicken the sauce, but I replaced it will xanthan gum.  If you don’t use xanthan gum then make sure you allow the sauce to reduce even more to thicken (would make 1.5-2 cups).  I found the chilies at my local grocery store in the international foods aisle (picture below).  These peppers weren’t very spicy, but using ancho chiles or leaving some of the seeds will make it spicier.   Also, replacing some of the water with low sodium chicken broth would also probably be good, but be careful as this might make it too salty. 

This was a perfect recipe to satisfy my craving for Mexican food.  Yum!

The post Low Carb Enchiladas appeared first on Holistically Engineered.