Bagels with Crab Salad

Well hello, where have you all been?  Oh, that's right.... you weren't  gone, I was gone.  Well it has been a whirlwind this last year but hoping to get back to healthy eating & great recipes.

The age old quest... the best bread to make a sandwich out of is a never ending hunt for the gluten free low carber.  I was browsing some of the archives over at Maria's blog to get back in the swing of things and decided to try her bagel.  What a great find. I even ordered this nifty little bagel pan from Amazon.
I have now made these bagels several times using them for breakfast sandwiches and lunches regularly.  So great to have something so easy to make a quick meal from.  I find that is 3/4 of the battle when eating gluten free, low carb.... just plain healthy.
These are so simple seriously between 5 to 10 minutes prep.

Ingredients:
whisk together to sift
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup unflavored whey protein
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum (I use xanthan, both gives chewy texture)
add desired herbs: I use 1/2 tsp dried parsley & onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 2 TBS parmesan cheese
½ tsp Celtic sea salt
in a separate bowl whisk together
1/4 cup coconut oil or butter, melted
5 eggs

Process:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
After whisking each combine wet with dry ingredients, whisk to blend.  Grease a donut pan with coconut oil spray.  Add batter to pan.  Bake for 15 minutes. Makes 6 bagels.
Maria has some other options and combinations on her site go check it out...



Here's a great crab salad that was perfect with my new bagel.


Ingredients:
8 ounces crab meat
1/4 mayo-(or more to taste)
1TBS lemon juice
½ leek-sliced thin
1 large celery rib-sliced thin
2 tsp dill
1 tsp fennel seed
Pinch red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Process:
Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate for a bit. Spread on your bagel. Add any other condiments: Lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard etc...
                                  You can use this same recipe for chicken salad as well.
                              omit lemon juice and add a few toasted slivered almonds...yum

Crab Cocktail

Living in the desert most of the time motivates me to run not walk to get my hands on the fresh crab when I get back to the northwest. Fresh crab is all but non existant in the desert.



Of course there are no fishing boats cruising past the pool.

The first thing I do when I land in Seattle is grab my cloth bags and head to Pike Place Market. It is literally 1 block from our condo. My favorite things I trek back up that hill home with are fresh crab, brie and other wonderful cheeses from DeLaunrenti's, wonderful meats from their deli, and an array of seasonal vegetables from the huge selection of organic growers that line the streets.
Our dinner that night will always begin with an amazing "Crab Cocktail". This is where the heavens open and the angels sing.....

I know many people use other greens ect... in their cocktails but we love just very thin sliced celery. Feel free to use whatever greens you like for this.
I simply used clear coffee mugs that work great for us however if you have guests just use your fancy stemwear.
Easy and elegant.

Crab Cocktail
3 large celery ribs-sliced very thin
1/4 lb fresh bulk crab

Cocktail Sauce
1/2 cp ketchup SF-GF
1 Tbs Horseradish-or to taste
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp worcestershire-SF 
salt & pepper to taste

Start with a bit of cocktail sauce in the bottom then layer the celery, crab and cocktail sauce.
Make ahead and refridgerate until time for appitizers.

Look up, the angels are singing!!!!

Basic Grilled Romaine

Ok, so I know I already posted a Crabby Grilled Romain but it was not show cased, it was kinda tucked beneath the amazing rib BBQ. Grilled Romain is such a main event in our home now that it must have a top billing. The basic salad is phenomenal all by itself but you can get so creative with whatever you can come up with to top it off with.
Fire up the BBQ or an indoor grill and voila!!! Plain salad into ohhhhh ahhhhh salad.


Grilled Romaine

Basic Grilled Romaine

4 Romaine heads
  Vinaigrette
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Red wine vinegar
2tsp Fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme or oregano) or
1tsp mixed dried herbs
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
    _________
Finishing Salt of choice (I love smoked salts)
Shaved Parmesan or Romano to finish
Lemon wedge

Preperation: Combine vinaigrette ingredients. I like to whip up my dressing in my little bullet blender.
Anything you have will work great.
Take off the loose outside leaves of the romaine heads. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Cut length wise keeping end core intact to hold leaves together.
Flat side down drizzle a bit of the vinaigrette over romaine, rub it over outside of leaves. Turn over to flat side up and drizzle just a bit again to get a little down into leaves.
Grill on BBQ or indoor grill on all sides until charred. Watch this close only takes a couple of minutes.
Drizzle more dressing to taste, sprinkle on finishing salt and shaved Parmesan. Serve with a lemon wedge or two.
We usually love to eat 2 halfs each however if you have guests and a large menu for the meal then 1 half would do.
Serves 4- 2 halfs / Serves 8-1 half

In honor of Mom and Great BBQ

     I have been away from blogging for a bit as we recently had to drive my mother up here to the northwest to place her in a care facility due to progressed dementia. I have flown back and forth for a couple of months now and of course not on the computer much at all during this very difficult transition. My father has now sold their home by us in the Coachella Valley and is in the process of moving up here to be by my mom. We are very blessed that I have a sister who is the director of a wonderful care facility (Rosemont) in Yelm, WA where I grew up. I am so glad my Mom is able to be in such a place where she is being taken such good care of. Although we live in the desert in CA, we work here in the Seattle/Tacoma area so I am able to come up regularly and go visit her and my family that still live in Yelm. I am so very grateful that they are there to see her daily. My mother has been my inspiration in the kitchen in many ways. She was considered the most fabulous cook in our town. We would often have huge crowds of 50 or more people and my mom and dad would have amazing BBQ's with my mom cooking all the fixings to go with. Her pies would go for several hundred dollars at the pie auctions for our church fund raisers. Far more than anyone else's. She was FAMOUS for her cooking and baking.

Now saying all that, she did not know what all the carbs and sugars can do to our bodies. She just knew good old fashioned southern cooking. Then came diabetes. She learned from the doctor to cut out the sugars etc.... and did so, but frankly through mainstream medicine was never told anything about how carbohydrates convert to sugar in our bloodstream. The outcome has been many diabetes complications including the extreme dementia she now lives with.

Seeing what diabetes has done to my mother and knowing it is strongly inherited is what motivated me to go beyond the mainstream philosophies of what causes this disease (and so many more) and brought me to the research of what the wrong carbohydrates will do to our bodies long term. After a few years of Mark and I living a healthier lifestyle and so many of our friends wanting recipes of our way of eating,  "TheLCKitchen" was launched.

MOM...IN HONOR OF YOU...

THANK YOU FOR MY LOVE OF FOOD, FAMILY, FRIENDS AND MOST OF ALL...GOD!!!!

Spare Ribs

Mark and I live in the desert however we work in the Northwest. We build apartment communities in the Seattle/Tacoma area so we as well have a condo downtown Seattle. Since I am used to the 115-120 degree weather at our home in the desert this time of year, it was the best time to be up here in Seattle with a new project starting and to visit my mother.

Between trips down from Seattle to Yelm to visit my mom I broke out the BBQ at the condo in Seattle. The Blue Angels were practicing for Sea Fair while I was out on my 21st floor patio . What a show....I am about eye level with them as they roar by. Wanted to cook outside to watch the show and just enjoy the absolutely wonderful sunny day up here.

Slow Cooked Spare Ribs

2-lg racks spare ribs

Seasoning-I use Jocko's Seasoning

1/4 cp olive oil

1-TB SF Liquid Smoke

1 can light Beer

Seasoning or salt & pepper

Preheat oven 200. Brown spare rib racks on both sides on BBQ'er. Just browned good, not to cook. On the stove add all other ingredients and simmer just a couple of minutes. Place Rib racks in a dutch oven or heavy roasting pan with a tight lid. I cut mine in half. I like to place a small rack in the bottom to raise it just a little out of the juice.( I am wanting it to braise but not boil in the liquid). If you don't have that it is not imperative.
Bast each slab with basting and pour the rest of the basting over the top. Place on lid tight or foil tight. Cook in oven at least 3-4 hours. The longer the better.


Grilled Crabby Salad

3 TB olive oil (I use lemon or lime infused olive oil)
1 TB vinegar choice
1 tsp rosemary
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 lb crab of choice (we love fresh)
toasted almond slices

Cut romaine in half & take off loose leaves. Combine ooil, vinegar, rosemary, salt & pepper. Brush all over romaine half's. Grill on BBQ grill (med/high) on both sides for 1 to 2 minutes each side. Just till it gets grill marks. Place serving plates top with crab, almonds and drizzle desired amount of dressing.

Amazing dinner.

Chicken Quinoa Tabouli

I have been using Quinoa (keen-wah) now for sometime in place of grains. Although, it is not a grain as most of us thought at one time, and actually says "grain" on many packages you buy. It is a seed closely related to the beet and spinach family. Quinoa substitutes nicely for many diverse recipes that call for grain.
   Quinoa-the Gold of the Inca's          Quinoa is 100% gluten-free. If you are allergic to wheat or if you’ve been diagnosed gluten-intolerant, then quinoa is an ideal substitute.

For those of us keeping tight control on our blood sugar, even though quinoa is not low in carbohydrates it is low on the glycemic index because it will not spike most Type 2 diabetics blood sugar. It assimilates at such a slower rate than grains that it causes sugar to be released at a lower rate into the blood thus keeping it level. Of course it is always prudent to test after eating it with your meter to see it's effect on you personally.

I have found that I can eat 1/2 cup as a hot breakfast cereal and not have any spikes.
There are so many reasons to incorporate quinoa into your diet. In ancient times it was referred to as "the gold of the Incas," Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. It is a true Superfood. More on Quinoa here.

Leave chicken out for a side salad

Ingredients
2 cps cooked & chilled Quinoa
2 cps Chicken Breast-shredded*
1 cp Parsley-chopped
1/2 cup Leeks (or scallions)
2 TBS fresh Mint-chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1 Garlic Clove, minced or pressed
1 TBS fresh Basil-minced  (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 cp fresh Lemon Juice
1/4  cp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I love to use Basil Olive Oil)
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
1/2 cp slivered toasted Almonds
Toss all ingredients except almonds together. Chill for 1 hour. Toss in almonds when ready to serve.
Serves 6.
Adapted from: Bob's Red Mill Recipes
*Leave out Chicken for a fresh, lighter side salad.