Scampified Shrimp Over Smashed Cauliflower

A recent purchase of a pound of large shrimp at my local Hannaford market's fish counter inspired tonight's dinner. The shrimp was wrapped in brown paper and in my freezer for a week, then thawed in my fridge for a day. I had to make something with it tonight. This shrimp happened to be pre-cooked, but you can make this dish with raw shrimp since it cooks in just minutes.

Here I was with this pound of beautiful shrimp, thinking, "What I'd REALLY like to do with this is..." make scampi.  But linguini is not on the low-carb menu.  Rats. I also thought about the shrimp and cheddar grits I had at a great restaurant in Disney World a few years ago. Well, if you look around and see this house, literally sitting in the middle of a northeast forest, you'd probably figure that there are no grits in my pantry, and besides, they're pretty carb-y. I did love the presentation of that meal, shrimp on skewers sitting atop a mound of grits. So I thought, why not make a mound of smashed cauliflower, seasoned and pureed, and put some scampified shrimp on top of that? The flavors of olive oil, butter, garlic, lemon, and white wine are magical together. Well, I have to tell you, it worked. I used a dozen of those shrimp for the scampi, and six for shrimp salad for tomorrow's lunch.  Dinner was DELISH! And it took no time at all!

SCAMPIFIED SHRIMP OVER SMASHED CAULIFLOWER
Serves 2 (maybe)

Make smashed cauliflower:
1 lb. frozen cauliflower florets
4 tablespoons low-fat or non-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Cook cauliflower (steam or cook in an inch of boiling water, covered) 8 minutes or until fork tender.
Drain cauliflower. Then pour out onto clean dish towel and squish to get all the excess water out.

In blender, place cauliflower, sour cream, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Puree, stopping to move it around and continue to blend until it is all incorporated and smooth. Add a little milk (a tablespoon at a time) if it seems too thick, but it will probably be fine without it.

With a spatula, spoon out into a heat-proof bowl and cover with a plate to keep warm while making the shrimp (or microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute when the shrimp is ready).

While the cauliflower is cooking, start shrimp:

1/2 lb. large shrimp, cleaned and de-veined (I used pre-cooked)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Smart Balance or butter if you prefer
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup good white wine
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 teaspoons cold water until dissolved

Another tablespoon of shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish

In skillet over medium heat, melt butter in olive oil. Add minced garlic and cook until garlic gets toasty but not too brown (mine got a little too toasty!). Add lemon juice and wine. Heat to bubbling. Add cornstarch mixture and stir, cooking until slightly thickened. Add shrimp and heat through, for a couple of minutes over low heat, turning shrimp half-way through. If using raw shrimp, cook until opaque and cooked.  It just takes a couple of minutes.

Pour shrimp and sauce over smashed cauliflower, sprinkle with grated Parmesan, and enjoy this healthy version of an otherwise decadent favorite!

And here's the shrimp salad for tomorrow's lunch (shell-fish overload!)

Cut up shrimp, celery, canola mayo and lots of pepper.  That's it.

So, there you go.  Shrimp for dinner, and for lunch!

Enjoy!

A Healthy(er) Double-Chocolate Cupcake!

OK, I just had to get back to baking; after all, this is the Adirondack Baker! For those looking for a healthy(er) dessert option, here's a recipe for a double-chocolate cupcake that can provide a sweet ending or snack without undermining your efforts at eating well.

This recipe is one I adapted from Cooking Light. Their version uses all-purpose flour, butter and granulated sugar. I decided to healthify (is that a word?) this recipe to another level by using whole white flour, brown sugar, and canola oil. I chose to melt the additional dark chocolate rather than give it a fine chop, and I also added a teaspoon of cinnamon because Shannon, my nutritionist, tells me that cinnamon is a wonderful spice to add to any diet, that it's great for the bloodstream. It compliments chocolate in a very simpatico way (like my south-of-the-border reference?).

Since I'm still in carb-detox mode, I won't be enjoying these cupcakes just yet, but my family will.  This recipe makes 1 dozen cupcakes, just enough for a big family dinner or for making your co-workers very happy! One or two might make it to my freezer, for that time when I am able to handle an occasional (and healthier) treat!

HEALTHY(ER) DOUBLE-CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE
12-cup standard muffin pan, with paper liners
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit

Ingredients:
1 cup whole white flour (I use King Arthur), MINUS two tablespoons (whole white absorbs more moisture than AP flour)
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I use Ghiradelli)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brown sugar, light or dark, firmly packed
1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup egg substitute (I used 1 large home-grown egg, and 1 egg white)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 oz. dark chocolate, melted in microwave

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (I use Battenkill low-fat milk and 1 tablespoon vinegar - let sit for a minute or two)

Directions:
In medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, mix brown sugar and canola oil very well, until there are no lumps left.  Add egg and beat well (if using real eggs, beat well after each addition).  Add vanilla extract and melted chocolate, and mix very well.  Beat this mixture at high speed for a good minute.

With mixer at lowest speed, add flour mixture alternately with milk, 1/3 each at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Then beat for one more minute.  Scrape bowl to make sure you got it all incorporated.

Fill muffin cups 1/2 to 2/3 full, using all the batter for 12 cupcakes.

Bake for 18 minutes or until cupcakes test done (toothpick comes out clean, or cake bounces back when gently pressed in the center).  I always use the "press" test.

Sift a little confectioners sugar over top, or frost as desired.  OR (!) frost with a chocolate ganache, also made healthier with eliminating the cream and melting the chocolate with just a tablespoon of canola oil.

HEALTHY DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE

6 oz. dark chocolate, chopped (or use dark chocolate chips - I used Hershey's)
1 tablespoon canola oil

In microwave-safe bowl, heat chocolate with canola oil for 1 minute.  Remove (carefully - my bowl got hot) and stir with fork until all the chocolate has melted.  Mine took just one minute, if you need to put it back in the microwave, try another 20 seconds.

With a tablespoon, stream ganache over center of cupcake and let it spread, but not all the way to the edges.  You want some of that pretty cake to show through!

OK, now who gets them?!!!

Frozen Greek Blueberry Yogurt

The last time I used my ice-cream maker, our peaches were in season. That was almost three seasons ago! I had grand plans of using it all the time, but just never did. It's a terrific appliance and a very nice addition to my kitchen, so last night I decided to call it back to duty, this time for frozen blueberry yogurt. This recipe couldn't be simpler. I used my favorite, Cabot Vanilla Bean Yogurt, along with a quick blueberry sauce that came together in a few minutes on the stove. This frozen yogurt has a texture somewhere between an ice cream and an ice - it's frozen solid coming out of the freezer and needs to sit for about 10-15 minutes at room temperature for easy scooping, but it's cold, refreshing, with that yogurt "tang" that I love. It's your favorite yogurt, only frozen. It is like soft-serve coming out of the ice cream machine, and I think that's the perfect time to eat it! Whether you have it soft-serve-style or frozen through, it's a great way to eat yogurt.

The idea is to use the ice cream maker for healthier desserts, because, as much as we "all scream for ice cream," that's no longer an option for me. There's no reason my ice cream maker should sit idle when it it can help to make life a little cooler right now, and a lot cooler this coming summer!

FROZEN GREEK BLUEBERRY YOGURT

Blueberry sauce:
1 cup water
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
sweetener to taste (1/2 up sugar or substitute to equal sweetness of 1/2 cup sugar)
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Bring water to boil. Add blueberries and sweetener and bring to boil again.  Add dissolved cornstarch and reduce heat. Simmer on low heat until nicely thickened, like a thick pudding (just takes a minute or two). Remove from heat and stir in extract.  Let cool.

2 lbs. low-fat Greek vanilla yogurt  (I use Cabot Vanilla Bean)


While blueberry sauce cools, add yogurt to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Half-way through, add a couple tablespoons of the blueberry sauce (saving the rest for folding in at the end.) Mine froze in just 14 minutes, so watch to see when it seems done and turn it off.

Spoon frozen yogurt (still fairly soft) into freezer-safe container and fold in as much of the blueberry sauce as you like, saving the rest for pancakes or another use.

Freeze for a few hours or overnight.

To serve, remove from freezer and allow to soften for 10-15 minutes before dishing out.  Serve with some of that warmed-up blueberry sauce!

Pepper and Onion Scramble

Just as the day starts, the questions begin. How am I going to give this day a great start? Because I am so necessarily focused on eating well, the standard morning fare won't suffice. Just can't do the English muffin with butter and grape jelly, or  bowl of Life cereal (which I do miss!). No pancakes right now, no waffles.  So, what's quick, easy, and delicious that's going to do the trick?

To maintain my interest for the long-term, this new eating plan has to have elements of excitement and variety. So, breakfast -- how do I take an egg and make it something worth looking forward to? On this morning, the answer was red peppers and onions, sauteed and scrambled into that egg. It is a very satisfying morning meal. Give yourself the 10 minutes it takes to get your morning off to a terrific start! The day will only be better because of it!


PEPPER AND ONION SCRAMBLE
spritz skillet with non-stick spray

1 tsp. olive oil
1/4 onion, sliced and coarsely chopped
1/4 red pepper, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 egg
1 egg white
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Add olive oil to non-stick skillet and bring to a shimmer over medium heat.   Add chopped onion and red pepper and cook until pepper softens and onion begins to caramelize, just getting brown around the edges.  This might take 5 minutes or a few more.

Whisk egg and egg white together.  Pour whisked egg/egg white over onions and peppers and let cook until the egg is almost opaque but there's still a lot of moisture.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with half the Parmesan cheese. Turn off the heat (best tip!) and, with wooden spoon, loosely scramble the eggs and allow to sit for a minute until all of the egg has set.

Spoon into serving bowl and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Eggplant Parmesan Stacks (Baked, Not Fried!)

This recipe is one where I take a Favorite with a capital "F" food and modify it to fit with my new, healthier eating strategy. I have always loved eggplant parmesan, ever since that very first taste in Tina Loviza's kitchen back in the early '70s. Growing up in an Irish household, I had never had anything like it, and it's probably one of the first dishes that truly inspired my interest in cooking. Ever since then, if a restaurant menu offers eggplant parmesan, I usually order it! I've also made big pans of it for family parties over the years, always thinking of that first taste in Mrs. Loviza's kitchen!

So, how do you take something as delicious and rich and fried as this and make it healthier? Well, you start by not frying it. Instead of breadcrumbs fried in olive oil, this recipe has a baked-on coating of steel-cut oats whirled to a fine crumb in a blender with minced garlic and a little bit of parmesan. The addition of more veggies, and switching out the full-fat cheese for a mixture of part-skim and non-fat cheeses (melts better than non-fat alone), results in a nice facsimile of a pretty great meal.

BAKED EGGPLANT PARMESAN STACKS
Oven 425 degrees Farenheit
8x8 baking pan, sprayed with cooking spray
Cookie sheet lined with foil.  Spray foil.
Metal, oven-proof cooling rack placed over foil in cooking sheet.  Spray cooling rack.

Ingredients:

1 good-sized eggplant (how do you figure eggplant sizes?), peeled and sliced in 1/2-inch rounds.  Peeled eggplant is a lot easier to eat than unpeeled - my personal preference.  You'll need 8 rounds for this recipe.  Save remaining eggplant for other dishes.

Crumb coating:

1 large egg white beaten with 4 tablespoons water

In blender, mix together the following until a fine crumb is formed:

• 1 cup steel-cut oats
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Cooking spray

Veggies:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 red pepper, sliced in thin strips
• 1 sweet onion, cut in 1/8ths 
• 1 cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced (if you like mushrooms)

1 1/2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce

Cheeses, mixed together:

• 1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella shreds
• 1/2 cup non-fat mozzarella shreds
• 4 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

Put dish of egg white/water mixture on table, with dish of crumb mixture to the right of it, and prepared cookie sheet/rack to the right of that.  Line them up for easy assembly-line.

Use your left hand ONLY for dipping eggplant slices, both sides, in egg white mixture.  Drop into crumb mixture.  Use your right hand ONLY for spreading crumbs on both sides of dipped eggplant slices.  Placed crumbed slices on rack on cookie sheet.  When all slices are in place.  Spray tops with a spritz of cooking spray.  Flip over and spray other side.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 22 minutes OR until crumbs are beginning to brown nicely.  Remove from oven.

While the eggplant is baking, sauté veggies in olive oil over medium heat until softened and wilted.

Spread a couple of tablespoons sauce over bottom of baking dish.  Arrange 4 slices breaded eggplant to fit bottom of dish.  Spread a generous tablespoon of sauce over each slice.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cheeses over each.  Spoon sauteed veggies over slices. Sprinkle another tablespoon cheeses over veggies, and top with remaining slices of eggplant.  Generously spread remaining sauce over and between stacks of eggplant.  Divide remaining cheese over the tops of the eggplant stacks.

Cover with a piece of foil that's been sprayed (inside surface) with cooking spray.

Bake at 425 degrees Farenheit for 1/2 an hour.  Remove foil and let sit for a few minutes.

Serves 4.

Cabot Greek Yogurt Parfait

Living so close to Vermont, I like to buy Cabot dairy products. This rural and New-Englandy part of New York State is just about 45 miles due west of the Vermont border, and it's an easy and beautiful drive to visit our Green Mountain neighbor. My daughter Katie turned me on to Cabot's products. She's a graduate of Vermont Law School and is very loyal to all things Vermont!

Cabot's cheeses are terrific, and their yogurts are just as good. I've been a fan of their Greek Vanilla Bean flavor, so much so that I buy it in the big, 2 lb. tub. Now that I am watching carbs like a hawk, I decided to try Cabot's plain Greek yogurt, and bought it this week, also 2-lbs. worth. There are many recipes where plain yogurt can stand in for sour cream, with less fat and more nutrition.  I have to be careful with the vanilla bean variety, because I love it so much I could eat it like ice cream. It hits the spot when you're looking for something cold, sweet, and creamy.

In an effort to re-train my tastebuds to a less-sweet focus, the plain can be used in a number of ways. This morning, it takes center stage as the star of a breakfast (or anytime) parfait. It is joined by sliced strawberries, frozen and unsweetened blueberries, and a little bit of crunchy granola. I added a bit of sweetness to the plain yogurt with Domino's sugar/stevia blend (just 5 calories a packet) and citrus flavor with freshly grated lemon rind and lemon extract. Layered in a pretty glass, this parfait is a great way to say "Good morning!"

CABOT'S GREEK YOGURT PARFAIT

1 cup Cabot Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel (if you have a lemon!)
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 packets sweetener of your choice
3 large strawberries, sliced
3 tablespoons frozen unsweetened blueberries (or fresh, if you have them)
3 tablespoons granola (I used Post Grape-Nuts Fit granola cereal, because I have it on-hand)

In mixing bowl, combine yogurt with lemon peel, sweetener, and extract.  Set aside.
In clear glass with at least 1-cup capacity, layer yogurt, berries, granola (1/3 of each per layer).

Admire this pretty and very healthy parfait, and enjoy!

Baked Eggs with Swiss and Canadian Bacon

This morning, I'm baking eggs.  Yep, baking.  This adds a new dimension to my egg repertoire, and a nice change of pace from the typical.  This recipe for two, with eggs, Swiss cheese, and Canadian bacon, is so simple.  It's a great start to my low-carb weekend!  You could change this up with different cheeses, or regular bacon.  If you want to add a nutritional boost, start with a spoonful of sauteed spinach and onions!  (I'll try that next time.)

BAKED EGGS WITH SWISS AND CANADIAN BACON
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
Spray two 4 oz. ramekins with cooking spray

2 eggs
2 slices Canadian Bacon
2 thin slices Alpine Lace Reduced-Fat Swiss Cheese (about 1 oz. total)
2 tablespoons non-fat milk
salt and pepper to taste

Break eggs into ramekins.  Top each with 1 tablespoon milk.  Cut bacon and cheese into small pieces.  Toss together.  Divide and sprinkle half over each egg.  Season top of each with salt and pepper to taste

Place ramekins on baking tray and bake for 15-18 minutes or until whites are opaque and yolk is the way you like it.  Check yolks with a butter knife as you get close to the 15-minute mark.

Pete, my kitchen helper (?)...