Stuffed Chile Rellenos

Spicy low carb deliciousness.

Recipe at lowfatlowcarb.com

Spinach Pesto

A great, quick, no cook pesto sauce. It's goes wonderfully with zucchini noodles and other thinly sliced or spiral sliced vegetables for a delicious cold salad.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1/2 cup mushroom
• 1/4 cup green onion
• 1/4 cup tomatoes
• 1 large clove of garlic, or to taste
• 1/8 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp dried basil or other green herbs, as desired or to taste
• 1 tsp olive oil

Directions:
Put all toppings into food processor, puree until everything is blended together. Add water if you find that the consistency is too thick.

Optional Additions:
Walden Farms Alfredo
hot peppers, to taste

Pizza Burger Casserole

Another great recipe from Janeva!

Look for the recipe at lowfatlowcarb.com

LillyPad Shepherd's Pie

This warm and comforting recipe makes 2 dinner servings if you're on Phase 1.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cauliflower, in 1 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups celery root, in 1 inch cubes
• 2 tsp olive oil 
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 16 Oz ground beef
• 3 Tbsp Garlic Box steak splash (or to taste)

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef in a pan.
2. Add mushrooms, celery, and steak splash. Cover and cook on medium low for 10 minutes. 
3. Steam the cauliflower and celery root for 15 minutes on high.The mash in a bowl with olive oil.
4. You can serve by placing the meat in bowl then covering it with a layer of mash or by layered the meat and mash in a casserole dish and baking at 350 in an oven for 15 minutes until heated through.

Mushroom Masala

A delicious Indian inspired low carb dish that goes well with almost any protein.

Ingredients

• 2 cup button mushrooms, cut in half
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ginger, grated (or paste)
• 1 tsp garlic pressed (or paste)
• 1/2 cup tomato, chopped
• 6 green chilies, finely cut
• 1/4 bunch, fresh coriander, chopped
• 1 tsp crushed red chili
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 2 tsp ginger, finely cut
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp grapeseed oil
• green chili and ginger (sliced) for garnishing

Directions

1. Heat pan on medium and add the grapeseed oil.
2. Add mushrooms, ginger, garlic, crushed red chili and cook for a 5 minutes.
3. Add salt and black pepper. Stir, cover, and cook.
4. When the liquid has evaporated (and the pan is dry) add tomato, green chili, ginger and fresh coriander. Mix it and cook until tomato water dries.
5. Serve, garnished with green chilies and ginger.

Low-carb Vietnamese style Pho

This LillyPad adapted Vietnamese Beef-Noodle Soup is a wonderful warm option to add some variety to your soup choices.

LillyPad Pho

Ingredients:

• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 star anise pods
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 package Miracle Noodle Angel Hair - rinsed
• 3/4 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup bok choy, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup green onion for garnish
• (optional) add lime juice, fresh cilantro, hot thai chilies to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the beef broth along with the anise, ginger, and onion powder, to a simmer in a soup pot for 20 minutes.
2. Add the fish sauce, and soy sauce. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
3. Ladle the hot soup into a serving bowl and add noodles, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and bok choy. 
4. Garnish with green onion and serve.

Optional
For additional protein, add thinly sliced beef that has been browned.

Crab Stuffed Portabella Mushroom

This savoury mushroom dish is packed with flavour and protein, making it a satisfying entree.

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

• 2 large portabella mushrooms
• ¼ cup dill pickle, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup celery, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 4 ounces crab meat, chopped
• 1 pkg Ideal Protein Potato Puree
• 2 Tbsp egg whites

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.
2. Remove stem and gills (scrape the brown frills off) from the mushrooms.
3. Place mushrooms scraped side up on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before using a paper towel to absorb any moisture.
4. In a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients. Fill the partially cooked mushrooms, splitting it evenly between them.
5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the size of mushrooms).
6. Broil/grill for an additional 5 minute to brown on top. Enjoy. 

Savoury Mushrooms

Not sure what to do with those bags of dehydrated mushrooms you see hanging in the grocery store? Try one of the options below to create delicious mushrooms for combining with ground meat or serving on top of other dishes.

Garlic Soy Rehydrated Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic paste (no added sugar)
• 1 cup rehydrated mushrooms

Directions:
Combine ingredients. Serve or allow to marinate in the refrigerator for an hour.

Rehydrated Mushrooms stewed in Tomato

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp grapeseed oil
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 cup dried mushrooms (500mL)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp ketchup (0 carb type like Walden Farms) or tomato paste
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Re-hydrate mushrooms according to package.
2. Saute mushrooms with grapeseed oil, onion powder, and garlic for 5 minutes.
3. Add ketchup and continue cooking until heated through.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Learn more about dehydrated mushrooms here.

Garlic Mushroom Chicken with Sage

This chicken recipe is a wonderfully warm dish for the fall weather. The mushroom broth also keeps it very moist and goes great with cauliflower rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs chicken breast, skin removed
• 8 oz of mushrooms (white or cremini), sliced
• ½ cup chicken broth 
• 8-10 large garlic cloves, peeled 
• ¼ tsp onion powder
•  ¼ tsp ground dried sage
• ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• ¼ tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Mix the broth and spices in bowl. 
3. Place the chicken breast in a baking dish and pour the broth and spices over top. Add the sliced mushrooms and garlic cloves (spreading evenly around pan).
4. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink inside.
5. To make the garlic mushroom sauce: separate the liquid, garlic and half of the mushrooms from the chicken and place it in a blender. Pulse until you get the consistency of gravy.Spoon it over the chicken and enjoy!

Marinated Mushrooms - Lemon, Parsley and Sage

These marinated mushrooms make for a great salad topper. You can even use the additional marinade and juices remaining after they soak as a dressing.

If you are on Phase 1, they do not count as part of your 2 cups of vegetables because they are raw mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 6 cups white button mushrooms, sliced ¼ inch thick
• ½ cup white onion, thinly sliced
• ½ cup  parsley, chopped  
• 2 Tbsp sage, chopped
• ¼ cup lemon juice (½ lemon)
• 1 Tbsp Olive oil
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½  tsp. black pepper

Directions

1. Combine lemon juice, oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Place mushrooms in a large ziploc bag. Add the onion, parsley and sage.
3. Pour the marinade into the ziploc bag, making sure contents are evenly coated. Seal after squeezing out air, laying lat to marinate.
4. Refrigerate mushrooms for 4 hours, turning bag hourly to mix contents.
5. Enjoy!

Mushrooms

Wild or cultivated, there are many varieties of edible mushrooms available in our area. All need to be stored in paper bags, not plastic, and pair deliciously with almost anything.

Oyster, white, brown cremini, enoki (the thin white ones) and shiitake mushrooms, with portabella in the back

The most popular cultivated mushrooms are:

• white
• button
• cremini or brown
• shiitake
• portabella
• oyster
• enoki
• king oyster

Morels

You can find edible wild varieties in local farmers markets (make sure the mushrooms have been properly identified) or dried in stores. These may include:

• chanterelles 
• morels 
• puffball
• porcini
• lobster

Mushrooms Canada has some great information on varieties and more.

How to Prepare Mushrooms

For the most commonly used mushrooms, like white and brown, sautéing in oil or butter and salt is a simple and delicious method. Make sure they aren't too crowded in pan though, or they will steam instead of brown.

Asparagus and Mushroom Frittata

This Phase 1 Asparagus and Mushroom Frittata offers a nice dinner option for egg lovers and vegetarians.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp grapeseed oil
• 2 cups asparagus, trimmed and cut to 1 inch pieces
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 8 eggs
• 2 Tbsp dried chives, chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• Adjust or add spices to your taste (onion powder, garlic powder, etc)

Directions:

1. Arrange an oven rack 6 inches from the broiler. Preheat broiler to high.
2. Heat 2 tsp of the grapeseed oil in an 8-inch, ovenproof, nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. 
3. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the asparagus. Cook for 2 minutes more.
4. While the mushrooms are cooking, in a bowl whisk together the eggs, chives, parsley, salt and pepper.
5. Pour the egg mixture over the mushrooms and asparagus and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 2 minutes.
6. When the eggs are set, put the pan under the broiler for 2 & 1/2 to 3 minutes or until frittata is golden brown. 

Makes 2 servings (protein + 2 cups vegetables) for Phase 1.

Parsley and Paprika Raw Vegetable Paella

This refreshing raw paella has a smoky flavour and makes for a perfect accompaniment to fish or grilled asian dishes.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 dash sea salt
• 1/2 cup mushrooms
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (namashoyu)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 11/2 cups turnip, chopped
• 1/4 cup bell pepper
• 2 tbsp onion
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1/4 cup parsley

Directions

1. Mix apple cider vinegar, soy sauce and paprika. Marinate the the mushrooms in this mix.
2. Pulse turnips, bell peppers, onion, and garlic in food processor until grainy rice-like consistency.
3. Stir in parsley, lemon juice and olive oil.
4. Top with drained marinated mushrooms.

Low Carb "Stuffing"

This mock stuffing makes a great addition to any big dinner and is a delicious way to add in some vegetables and flavour, while reducing carbs and sugars.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cauliflower rice
• 1/4 cup celery, chopped small
• 1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped small
• preferred spices like onion powder, poultry seasoning (sage, savoury, etc), salt, and pepper.

Directions:

1. Prepare the Cauliflower Rice separately.
2. Saute the celery and mushroom over medium high until softened. 
3. Stir in the cooked cauliflower rice. Stir in the spices and mix well. Serve immediately.