A Friday Dinner to Impress…Black-Pepper-Crusted Tuna with Red-Onion-Worcestershire Dressing and a steamed White Asparagus

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Malin

Earlier this week I read this recipe in a magazine and I guess was created by Chris Rendell, Whitehall executive chef. The recipe has ketchup in it and as you probably know ketchup has a LOT of sugar, so I decided to make my own.

1 lbs Fresh Tuna

Salt and Pepper

White Asparagus

Spinach

Red Cocktail tomatoes

Ketchup

¼ cup Tomato Paste

1 chopped Garlic

1 tablespoon Olive oil

Pinch of Cinnamon

Almost ¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar

Chili Flakes

Salt & Pepper

How to: Mix everything in a bowl.

Red-Onion-Worcestershire Dressing

¼ of a Red onion slices and put in a glass of cold water for 10 minutes

2 tablespoons of olive oil

¼ cup Ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoon chopped Tarragon

2 tablespoon chopped Cilantro

2 tablespoon chopped Chives

sprinkle some Tabasco sauce

Salt

How to: Rinse the water from the onion and chop it up. Mix the rest of the ingredients and add the onion.

Chop of about an inch of the Asparagus and steamed cook them for 15 minutes. When the asparagus is almost done fry the Tuna with grounded pepper and salt and pepper for a minute or two on each side. Be careful so you don’t cook them for to long or they will taste like they came out of a can.

Serve the tuna on a bed of spinach, cocktail tomatoes, asparagus and the dressing…Very simple and very luxurious dinner…

Ginger marinated salmon wok with prawns.

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Malin

I met Laura three years ago when Knut and her oldest went to kindergarten together and ever since we have been very good friends and so have our the kids. As we no longer belong to the same school district the kids don’t get to hang as often anymore but we try to get together so the kids to play and for us to chat over a glass of wine…or a cup of tea these days! So this evening she and the boys came over for dinner and I thought I let her try one of the low carb recipes…

500 grams/1 lbs. salmon

150 grams/5 oz. cooked and peeled prawns

2 scallions

100 grams/3.5 oz. chopped mushrooms

10 cocktail tomatoes cut in half

Chopped spinach

Marinade

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce (gluten-free)

½ lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fish sauce

Salt and pepper

Noodles

Chopped cabbage

Soy sauce (gluten-free)

Salt and chili pepper

How to: Start with chopping the salmon in small squares and marinate them in a plastic bag. Fry the mushrooms, scallions and tomatoes till they are soft and put them to the side.

Fry the cabbage and mix in the soy sauce and salt and chili till the cabbage is soft and put it to the side. Fry the salmon in a very hot frying pan till it has a nice browning to them, but not to long so they get dry. Wok the “noodles” and the vegetable together with the prawns and the spinach until the prawns are warm. Serve the noodles with the salmon on top and garnish with a slice of lemon.

Chicken burgers with a sesame seed crust, roasted vegetables and an avocado salad

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Malin

I have not yet been to the groceries store so tonight I worked with whatever I had at home and this is how it turned out…

2 Chicken file 600 grams or 1.3 lbs. (or minced chicken)

1/3 cup chopped leek

¼ cup chopped Cilantro

1 chopped garlic clove

½ limejuice

2 tablespoons Soy sauce (gluten-free)

½ teaspoon Paprika powder

Salt and Pepper

1 Egg

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Sesame Seeds.

Start by putting the chicken in a food processor and make a mince. Mix in all the other ingredients except the sesame seeds. The minced chicken gets really messy so it is easier to form burgers if your hand are wet. Before you but them in the frying pan sprinkle the sesame seed on one side and before you flip them the other side. Make sure your burgers are well done as raw chicken may get you sick.

I just used whatever vegetables I had left over, I love the anise flavor of fennel and that went really well with the Brussels sprouts, yellow zucchini and bell pepper. Some fun fact about fennel; it was actually used by the ancient Greeks to help to loose weight, as it is good for your metabolism.

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I also chopped an avocado with some cocktail tomatoes and sprinkled over some lime juice.

Asian chicken and a fake noodle wok

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Malin

1 lbs. Chicken of File

Lime sauce

1 big Lime Juice

1 tablespoon ginger

½ cup Soy sauce (gluten-free)

Salt and Pepper

Marinate the chicken in the Lime sauce.

Vegetables

Brussels Sprouts

Broccoli

Olive Oil

White Wine Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Roast the Vegetables in the oven 350 F. till they have a browning.

Fake Noodles

½ Cabbage grated

Chopped Cilantro

Chopped Cashew nuts

½ chopped Red Chili

Take the chicken out from the sauce and fry it till it is thoroughly cooked and have a nice browning. Put the chicken to the side and do the same with the cabbage. Use the leftover Lime sauce and mix it with the cabbage. Make sure you heat everything properly so you don’t get uncooked chicken juice in your food. Mix in chicken and the vegetables and sprinkle Chopped Cilantro, Cashew nuts and chili on top.

I also made egg noodles for the rest of the crew and I served it with a splash of sweet and sour sauce.

Turkey Meatloaf with an Olive and Basil Crust

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Malin

If yesterday’s dinner was a success this was an even better one. If you planning not to eat too much cook something else, because this is just heavenly!

Turkey meatloaf

1.5 lbs. Minced Turkey

1 Egg

1 tablespoon Worcester Sauce

1 tablespoon Paprika Powder

1 tablespoon Tomato Pure

1 chopped Garlic

¼ cup chopped Onion

Salt and Pepper

Dijon Mustard

½ cup chopped Olives

Chopped Basil

Mix everything together for the meatloaf and coat the loaf with the mustard and sprinkle the basil and olive mix on top. Put the loaf in the oven for 30-40min at 350F, make sure it is thorough cooked.

Vegetables

Asparagus

Mushroom

Eggplant

Brussels Sprouts

Cocktail tomato

Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

½ tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 Pressed garlic clove

Salt and Pepper

I actually mixed the vegetables with the vinaigrette before I put them in the oven to be roasted. When they had a nice browning to them I mix them with halved cocktail tomatoes.

Snack time…

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Malin

I have been a much better eater today. After my workout I had my protein drink. I drink the unflavored Whey Factors from Whole Foods; it has no added sugar, no growth hormone, no wheat or yeast. It tastes like s**t but I knock it back before I get in the shower, it’s not really that bad you get use to it :).

Yesterday’s dinner was a success and Freddie claimed it as his lunch so I grabbed a bag of pre-chopped meat from the freezer. I mixed it with olive oil, salt and pepper and a little white wine vinegar. If you wonder why I use a lot of vinegar is because it has a positive effect on keeping the blood sugar stable. I ate half of the meat with half an avocado and saved the rest as my snack around five-ish.

Weigh in Wednesday 1/23/13

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Malin

Today I am going to be much better than yesterday when it comes to my diet. There is no fun starving yourself as well as the only thing you will end up doing is to cheat yourself. Even if you eat smaller portions you should eat every 3 hours so you body gets the energy it needs and also so it doesn’t start breaking down muscle tissue.

I have started to notice some differences in my body since I started mainly in my face, around my collarbones and the upper ribs.

Since I started I am down 3.3 kg or 7.4 lbs.

Today’s measurement

Weight: 57.6 kg 127 lbs.

Thigh: 55.5cm, 21.8”

Hip: 95 cm, 37.4”

Waist: 69 cm, 27.1”

Belly: 79 cm, 31.1”

Upper arm: 26cm, 10.2”

Keep in mind I am doing this with a measurement tape and trying to measure the same places every week. I am weighing myself at the warehouse on the same scale every time so that should be accurate.

Grilled Curry Chicken with Hot and Spicy cabbage wok

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Malin

This evening I got stuck at Knut’s practice and ended up making this dish that was fast and easy and was made up from what I had in the fridge. To be honest I was not sure what my picky eater would think of this but she loved it…Absolutely a winner that I will do again!

1 Grilled whole Chicken

1 tablespoon curry

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon water

Salt and pepper

Chop the chicken into smaller pieces and mix the ingredients for the marinade and let the chicken sit till you are ready to fry it quickly in a frying pan. You don’t have to over cook it has it already is cooked but make sure its warm all the way through.

½ Cabbage

½ chopped Red Chili

1 chopped garlic clove

Salt and pepper

Thin-slice the cabbage with a knife and fry it together with the chili and the garlic till the cabbage is soft and warm. I like it if it gets a little bit of a browning to it.

I served this with spinach, cucumber and tomato. The rest of the family was also served some rice and some soured cream. Next time I will buy some Mango Chutney that I will mix with the soured cream, I think that will marry well with this dish!

Monday Beef fajita

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Malin

1kg/1lbs. Beef

Marinade

2 garlic cloves

1 limejuice

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chilli (more if you want to)

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt and Pepper

Fajita

1 egg

1 egg white

Cumin

Chili

Salt and pepper

Guacamole

1 avocado

2 tomatoes

1/3 red onion

½ limejuice

1 garlic clove

Chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper

Red and Green bell pepper to be roasted in the oven till they are warm but still has a texture to them.

Mix everything for the marinade and let it sit in the marinade for an hour (if you don’t have time let it sit for as long you can wait). Meanwhile mash the avocado, chop the tomato, onion, garlic and cilantro mix together. Add limejuice and salt and pepper and store it the fridge.

Fry the meat, not too much at the time because it will start to boil and you will not have the tasty browning. Just before the meat is ready mix together everything for the fajita and fry it like an old fashion omelets 🙂

I served this with spinach, cucumber, tomato and bell pepper. The rest of the family had traditionally tortilla bread with corn, sour cream, taco sauce and cheese.

Oven baked Salmon with Crispy Vegetables and an Orange Vinaigrette

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Malin

Salmon

500 gram or 1 lbs. Salmon

Lemon pepper

Salt

½ lemon Juice

Dill

1 deciliter or ½ cup Water

Roaster Veggies

Broccoli

Asparagus

Brussels sprouts

Olive Oil

Lemon Juice

Salt and pepper

Spinach

Orange Vinaigrette

½ Orange zest

1 tablespoon Citrus Champagne vinegar (I found this at Dominic’s)

1 tablespoon Olive oil

A splash of white wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Put the salmon in a oven safe dish and sprinkle lemon pepper, salt, lemon juice, dill and water over the salmon. Place the salmon in the oven with a temp of 190 C or 350 F for 20-30 min. Scope the water over the salmon frequently, it will avoid the salmon to get dry. The salmon is ready when you can separate the meat.

Mix all the ingredients for the Vegetables except the spinach and roast it till it gets a crispy crust.

Grate the orange peel and mix it with the rest of the ingredients for the vinaigrette.

Place the Vegetables over the Spinach and Sprinkle the Orange Vinegrette over the Vegetables.