Category: Recipes

Delicious low-carb recipes, tried and tested.

Jovina cooks Italian: Braised Oxtail Roman Style

kaitiscotland1 Comment

Cooking The Italian Provinces – Rome | jovinacooksitalian

 

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Roman-Style Braised Oxtail

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 pounds oxtail, cut into 2-inch sections
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 small onion, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 carrot, diced
  • 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 28 ounces Italian tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • About 3 cups beef stock
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 cloves

Directions

In a heavy-bottom saucepot, heat the olive oil.

Season the oxtail pieces with salt, browning each side of the pieces. Remove; set aside.

Add the onions and a pinch of salt to the pan. Sweat the onions until they are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the carrots, cooking until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the celery and garlic. Cook 3 minutes more.

Add the oxtail pieces back to the pot. Deglaze with the wine over high heat, cooking about 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes; bring to a boil. Continue boiling to cook off some of the tomato water.

Add the beef stock just to cover the meat, then the pepper and cloves.

Bring to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat to a simmer, cover with a circle of parchment paper, and cook for 4 hours (stirring occasionally).

Once the oxtail is tender, remove the pieces to a serving dish. Cover with aluminum foil; set aside.

Strain the sauce, pressing down on the vegetables to extract all the juices.

Skim all the fat off the top, and pour into a smaller saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook, reducing by 1/4.

Taste for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the oxtail and serve

Hilda’s Fit to Serve: Blueberry cheesecake

kaitiscotland2 Comments

 

 A Blueberry Low Carb Option!

July 27, 2016October 30, 2016

 

low carb cheesecake for national cheesecake day

 

 

Today’s recipe is a lovely marriage between the seasonal blueberry and the creaminess of cheesecake.  Enjoy in good health!

Low Carb Blueberry Cheesecake

Almond Crust Ingredients

1 stick of butter

1 cup almond flour

½ cup of sugar substitute

¼ teaspoon of salt

Directions

In a large stand up mixer add the butter, sugar substitute and mix until fully incorporated. Next add the almond four, cocoa and salt.

Spread the low carb cookie crust in a cheesecake spring pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until crust is fully cooked. Allow to cool.

Low Carb Blueberry Cheesecake Batter

2  8 ounce packages of cream cheese (softened)

1 ½ cups of sugar substitute (I use Swerve)

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 cups of fresh organic blueberries

Directions

Pre-heat oven 325

In a large standup mixer add the softened cream cheese to the sugar substitute and mix until light and fluffy. Next add the four eggs one at a time. Lastly, stir in the blueberries and vanilla extract.

Pour the cheesecake batter into the almond crust and bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. (Note an important step that cannot be rushed is to allow your cheesecake to age for a full 24 hours before eating. This is the key to a great cheesecake)

Sour Cream Topping

Ingredients

½ cup of sour cream

1 tablespoon of sugar substitute

Directions

Combine the sour cream and sugar substitute and spread over top of the cheese cake once it has aged overnight in the fridge.

Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients

2 ½  cups of fresh blueberries

3 tablespoons of sugar substitute

¾ cup of water

½ teaspoon of lemon extract

1 tablespoon of butter

Directions

In a small saucepan add all the ingredients and cook on low-medium heat until the sauce reduces by half. Make sure to mix while cooking.

Allow sauce to cool completely and then store in the refrigerator.

Drizzle the blueberry sauce over the cheesecake before serving.

 

 

 

 

 

Heri’s health points: Great meal planning app for all sorts of food plans

kaitiscotlandLeave a comment

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This was my typical work day a year ago:

  • Grab a bowl of cereal or whatever there is in the fridge for breakfast.
  • Run to the subway and grab a coffee on my way to work.
  • A bagel with cream cheese, a shawarma, a muffin or whatever I could find at lunch. This would coincide with my third cup of coffee of the day. Other times, I went to a restaurant for a business meeting and this would be my main meal of the day.
  • Go to a networking evening event and eat whatever they have. Pretzels, beers, coffee, chips, you name it. If there is no event, I would otherwise pick up a hefty meal from a neighboring restaurant on my way home.

Repeat this five days a week and you have a recipe for disaster. It is a diet composed of processed foods, refined carbs and inflammatory foods that lead to obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, or worse.

The sad state of affairs prompted me to get Mealime, a free app available on Android and iPhone. It is also available on the web, but this 9 months review only covers the mobile app.

I find Mealime is an excellent meal and nutrition planner. Akin to having a training plan, meal planning allows you to have consistent nutrition that you can easily track, and improve later on. This is good for those with serious athletic goals, who want to have good health or those who have chronic diseases.

Without meal planning, you are more likely to improvise, eat out, and deviate from health goals. It also makes food tracking difficult. Who would wish to list all ingredients in their food if every meal was different? No one.

How it works

Mealime asks for your food preferences on setup. Classics is for most people. Low Carb means limited glucides and instead more healthy fats. Vegetarian is zero meat. There is also Paleo, Pesceterian and Flexitarian, options I didn’t know about.

My goal was to control blood sugar and insulin levels so I chose low carb.


Mealime also asks for allergies and ingredients you dislike. I dislike for example turnips.

After choosing a menu type, it then asks you how many meals you wish to prepare.


If you don’t like a dish, you can swipe left, until you have all the meals you want.

The app then shows a summary of ingredients. I find this very practical when doing groceries.


You know exactly what to get and what not to get. This reduces my stress, and I feel like a master chef 🙂

Hey, we are cooking!

Prior to Mealime, my cooking skills were limited to basic omelettes or making batches of kitchen breasts. Naturally, I was apprehensive. Disaster, anyone?

I was positively surprised to find that Mealime dishes are not difficult to make. They take on average 40 minutes to make and never require any special talent or instruments. It takes a good knife, a pan and an oven. And a smile 🙂


Since then, I changed to a better chef’s knife, a good skillet and more spices but you can always manage with what you have at home.

Easy Meal Planning for the week

I do groceries on weekends, then cook a Mealime dish in the evening. I have a delicious dinner and put the rest in containers. They usually last 3 days, and usually I cook again mid-week.

If we take the baseline of 40 minutes for meal preparation, that means every dish takes me 40 / 7 ~ 6 minutes to make. Surely beats going to a take-out restaurant!

If you favorite a dish, it is always available through a shortcut. For instance, I often make wild atlantic salmon with zucchini and carrots. You can then add the recipe in MyFitnessPal, which means food tracking takes only a few seconds. It’s a nice streamlined process to take control of your nutrition intake.

Dramatic Results

By following the low carb option, and commuting by bike, I lost a lot of weight in a few months (~7kgs). The loss was dramatic and many friends and acquittances could not believe it.

The biggest benefit I find however is great overall energy, eating more vegetables, and learning to appreciate good food cooked at home. This is a life skill I underestimated previously and I am glad Mealime helped.

It also makes my life easy, and lets me invest my time elsewhere.

A Perfect App?

I have not used other food apps so I can’t say on how it compares to other competitors. I can say however Mealime is great for those with limited time and want to cook healthy meals. It provides nutritious fuel for my running and daily work and can wholly recommend it. Download it and give it a go !

Jovina cooks Italian: Sea bass Genoa Style

kaitiscotland1 Comment

Cooking the Italian Provinces – Genova | jovinacooksitalian

 

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Sea Bass Genoa Style

Ingredients

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick (omit if you are low carbing)
1 pound tomatoes, cut into large chunks
3/4 cup pitted green olives
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Two 3-pound whole sea bass or red snapper, or cut into fillets
1/2 cup pine nuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425° F. In a very large roasting pan, toss the potatoes, tomatoes, olives and basil with 1/2 cup of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Rub each fish or the fillets with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set the fish in the roasting pan with the vegetables. Roast for about 30 minutes for the fillets or 40 minutes for the whole fish, until the vegetables are tender and the fish are cooked through.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Spoon the pine nuts over the fish and vegetables in the roasting pan and serve right away.

Jovina cooks Italian: Lobster Salad

kaitiscotland2 Comments

Cooking the Italian Provinces – Cagliari | jovinacooksitalian

Cagliari Style Lobster Salad

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Lobster, which is called aragosta in Cagliari, is smaller, clawless and sweeter than New England lobster.

2-3 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound cooked lobster tail meat
  • 10 cherry tomatoes, stemmed, washed and cut in half
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced Italian parsley
  • Grated zest of 1 large lemon
  • 3 tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, or more to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
  • Whole arugula leaves, washed and dried, optional

Directions

Cut the lobster meat up into bite-size pieces and place in a bowl. Gently mix in the tomatoes, parsley and lemon zest.

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Pour the dressing over the lobster mixture and toss gently with two spoons.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

When ready to serve, allow enough time for the lobster mixture to come to room temperature.

Line serving plates with arugula leaves, if using. Divide the lobster mixture evenly and spoon into the center of each plate.

Low-Carb Lunches – Asparagus Soup

Emma8 Comments

asparagusAsparagus – I’m not 100 percent keen on it as a side vegetable, but when you fry it with onions and garlic, add in stock and double cream, it becomes something else entirely…

Try this for lunch. When I have soup for lunch, I always add two boiled eggs for extra protein. It also makes an unbelievably filling dish. You might struggle to finish it all.

Asparagus Soup

  • Servings: 3
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 400g asparagus
  • 2tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1 medium-sized onion, sliced
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1tsp salt
  • Freshly-ground black pepper
  • 600ml water or chicken stock
  • 60ml sour or double cream

Chop the asparagus into one-inch pieces. Fry in a saucepan with the rapeseed oil for five minutes. Add the onion and garlic, cover the pan and cook over a gentle heat for another five minutes.

Add the water or stock, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for ten minutes.

Add the cream or double cream and blend until smooth. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

4-5g net carbs per serving.

Asparagus wee… if you’re someone who gets this (your pee smells really strong after eating asparagus), Asparagus soup is going to give you a bad dose of it. There’s an explanation here about what causes asparagus wee why some people get it and others don’t. 

 

Jovina Cooks Italian: Marsala mushroom sauce

kaitiscotland2 Comments

 

 

mushrooms

 

Once again Jovina shows us how little additions of garlic, herbs and wine can bring a little touch of Italy into your life, wherever that is. 

Garlicky Marsala Mushroom Sauce

This sauce can be  folded into an omelet or served with pan-fried chicken breasts or over pork chops.

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 pound white mushrooms, caps quartered
  • 1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, caps quartered
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 4 large garlic cloves, 2 thinly sliced and 2 minced
  • 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced rosemary
  • 1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 6 Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons minced chives

Directions

In a very large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the white and shiitake mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook over moderately high heat for 5 minutes, stirring once. Uncover and cook over high heat, stirring once, until the mushrooms are browned all over, about 3 minutes.

Add the sliced garlic, the shallot and rosemary and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the Marsala and cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add the vinegar and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in the minced garlic, chives, olives and the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm.

From Cooking The Italian Provinces – Trapani | jovinacooksitalian

Leoni at Low Carb Store: Blueberry and Lemon Loaf

kaitiscotlandLeave a comment

lemon-181650_960_720This recipe is from Low Carb Store and was invented by Leoni, their resident dietician.

 

Ingredients

  • 125g almond flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 75g inulin
  • 100g blueberries
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 45g butter
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp baking powder

Nutrition Per Slice

Recipe makes 10 slices

 

Net (Total) Carbs 2.3g
Fat 8.5g
Protein 4.9g
Fibre 7g
Calories 122kcal

 

Create It

 

Pre-heat your oven to 180°c then grease and line your loaf tin (we used a 12cm x 28cm). In a mixing bowl combine the almond flour, eggs, baking powder, vanilla and butter. Next gently fold in the berries, lemon zest and inulin using a spoon. Pour into your prepared tin and bake for about 25 minutes, until your kitchen fills with a delicious aroma and the loaf is golden brown. Devour hot and buttered!

 

Options – keep a few berries back and add to the top of the loaf before popping in the oven. You could also try adding some dark chocolate chunks if your carbs allow or some cinnamon for a hit of autumnal spice! Get creative and make it your own.

Jovina Cooks Italian: Fruit with Mascarpone and Marsala

kaitiscotlandLeave a comment

strawberries

Strawberries are traditionally used in this Italian dessert from Trapani Italy, but given our seasonal constraints, feel free to use any fruit that appeals. This would make a nice treat for Valentine’s day.

Strawberry, Mascarpone, and Marsala Budini

Budini is Italian for puddings or parfaits.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 8-ounce container mascarpone cheese

  • 6 tablespoons sweet Marsala (preferably imported)
  • 3 tablespoons whipping cream
  • 3 cups sliced hulled strawberries (about 15 ounces)
  • 2 1/4 cups coarsely crumbled amaretti cookies (Italian macaroons; about 4 1/2 ounces)

Directions

Combine mascarpone, 3 tablespoons Marsala, and cream  in medium bowl. Stir gently until well blended.

Combine strawberries, remaining 3 tablespoons Marsala in another medium bowl; toss to blend. Cover mascarpone and berry mixtures; refrigerate 30 minutes.

Place 2 tablespoons crumbled cookies in each of 6 champagne goblets. Divide strawberry mixture with juices among the goblets.

Top berries with mascarpone mixture, then remaining cookies. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Low Carb Side Dishes

Emma8 Comments

diabetes dietHave you been caught out by the vegetable shortage in the shops? British supermarkets have run short of courgettes, spinach and other salad items thanks to bad weather in Spain and Italy.

If you follow a low-carb diet, you probably rely more on such vegetables than the average person. I decided to see what I could do with Scottish ingredients. The Diet Doctor website features a lot of cabbage, including main course and side dishes that use this vegetable. Most supermarkets stock Scottish or British-grown cabbage so there are no issues there with availability.

The Diet Doctor’s Cabbage Casserole can be made exclusively with Scottish ingredients, supporting our farmers and growers. I adapted the recipe slightly and here it is. Allow about 10g net carbs per serving and serve with pork chops, roast chicken legs or steak.

Please note – you’ll need a large saucepan because 450g cabbage is bulky. It reduces in size as it cooks.

Cabbage Casserole

  • Servings: 3
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 450g green or white cabbage, shredded
  • ½ medium-sized onion, sliced
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 150ml sour cream
  • 50g butter
  • 75g grated cheese
  • 75g soft cheese, such as Philadelphia
  • Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the cabbage and onion and mix well to coat in the butter.

Cook gently for about seven minutes. You want the vegetables to be softened but not browned. Add salt and pepper and the garlic and cook for one minute more.

Mix the sour cream and soft cheese. Stir into the cabbage. Place the mixture in an ovenproof dish, top with the grated cheese, a good helping of black pepper and cook in the oven for 15 minutes.

PS – I thought I’d try this on my green vegetable hating husband, convinced that the cream and cheese would convert him. It didn’t work…