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.

Spicey Cashew Ginger Chicken

At one time we were a big stir fry family. My kids used to take stir fry leftovers for their lunches several times a week.  At the end of every student teacher conference the new teacher would always want to know how we got our kids to eat veggies. Well, they grew up from the time they could eat real food on stir fry. To this day it is one of the hits in the family.
However through the years it seems to have faded to the wayside until I was browsing Carolyn's site: All Day I Dream About Food and decided to go for it. I have of course thrown my own spin on it and was met with oh's and ahs from my husband and of course the "why haven't we been eating this"? So dust off the WOK.... here we come

Stir fry over Quinoa

Ingredients:
Sauce
4 TBS soy sauce
2/3 cup water
1tsp xantham gum
1 tsp red pepper flakes

set aside, it will thicken while it sits. If it needs to be a bit thicker, add a touch more xantam gum




Stir Fry
2 Tbs oil
2 Tbs sesame oil
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 white onion slivered
1Tbs fresh ginger-grated
1 red pepper-slivered
3 cups broccoli florets-slightly steamed
1 cup crimini mushrooms-sliced (or your favorite)
1/2 cp cashews-toasted

 Preparation: In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients.
Heat half the oil in a wok or large skillet on med-high. add chicken and cook on each side. 3 to 5 min. Remove & set aside.
Add remaining oil. When hot add vegetables except mushrooms and cook stirring frequently, 3 to 5 min until slightly tender.

Add chicken, mushrooms & cashews. Stir sauce, add to pan. Stir to coat, simmer to thicken a bit more up to 1 minute.

        Serve over Quinoa simmered in chicken broth instead of water
(makes it much more delish in a savory dish)

My other Recipes using Quinoa:
  Stuffed Peppers
  Chicken Quinoa Tabouli

Meetballs over Sauted Cabbage

Spaghetti is one of my husband's favorite meals. When you add meatballs...he wants to marry me all over again. When I want him to know he's still #1 in my book I whip out Spaghetti with meatballs or Meatloaf. Since we have been doing a LC lifestyle I have to be more creative and still get the same effect.
I was thrilled as could be when I gave Lisa's 
"Meatballs Roma" a try out of her 24/7 Low Carb Diner Plan E-book. I purchased it some time ago and have been enjoying cooking and tweaking may way through it. I printed it out, put each page into plastic sleeves and binder. If you don't know how to get started on a Low Carb lifestyle, Lisa's E-book is a great way to launch and the recipes are common daily food that are converted to Low Carb...Five Stars from my family.
Of course I tweaked Lisa's amazing recipe a bit just because I can't control myself....

I serve the Meatballs over "Sauteed Cabbage". This is so great that you will never miss the pasta... really!!!!
Ingredients

Meatballs
1 1/2 Italian sausage-bulk
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup dry minced
1 cup Parmesan Cheese (the can)
2 eggs
 Sauce
1 15oz can tomato sauce
2/3 cup water
2 Tbs Italian Seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup equivalent sweetener of choice (Splenda, Swerve, Zsweet)
 Preparation: In a large bowl, combine all meatball ingredients. Get right in there with your hands. Make into meatballs, (I make ping pong ball size).
Bake 375 for 20-25 mins.
 While meatballs are cooking, make sauce by adding all ingredients into a sauce pan and simmer on low until meatballs are done.

*Lisa's version of this makes twice as much and then you are able to serve now and freeze some for later. I have done this many times and it freezes great.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

Bacon & Leek

I have to tell you that this soup makes the most AMAZING base for a cream soup. All by it's self it was a classy hit even for company. Statements like...."this could be on any high priced restaurant menu". But when you begin messin with it and adding this or that.... it morphs into a completely new wonderful delight.
I have made cream of cauliflower soup many, many times but I must say none has ever tasted as amazing as this one. I think the difference is that it is simmered for 90min on the stove before trying to blend it all together.     
WHAT A DIFFERENCE.
I have now made it 3 times and I made enough to be eaten for several meals. Each time I cook the left over soup, I make a different variation of it by adding various things.

I love using finishing oils and salts. Just before serving I add a drizzle of oil such as Lime Olive Oil and a couple pinches of finishing salt such as Smoked Garlic Sea Salt. OVER THE TOP. Fun to experiment.

Now these finishing oils and salts are not cheap by any means but just a few drops and pinches turns a good homey food into an exquisite chefs gourmet special.

Have I said we loved this soup????? I think you get the picture.

I have loved cream soups especially with cheese. Many however usually use some sort of high carb thickener to get that thick creamy feel. This one does not need any at all and has the most creamy thick consistency.

Ingredients
2 cps chicken broth
1 lg  head cauliflower-cut in large pieces
1 stalk celery, chunks
1 carrot-chunks
1 lg onion-chunks
1 cp whole cream
1 cp water-or more to desired thickness
1 1/2 cp shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & pepper to taste

garnishes: finishing oils/salts of your choice, crisp bacon, thin sliced leek, parsley,
optional: bacon,broccoli, kielbasa
                          the options are limitless

Bacon & Broccoli

Preparation: Add all ingredients except cream, cheese and water to a large pan. Bring to a boil and turn down to a low simmer for 90 mins. Ladle mixture into blender and process until very smooth. (May need to do this in 2 batches).
Return pureed mixture into saucepan and stir in cream and water to desired consistency. When hot stir in cheese.

 I have added bacon, broccoli, mini meatballs, kielbasa. All were amazing.

adapted from: framedcooks.com