Low Carb Caribbean Shrimp Bruschetta

July 11, 2016

Last year at this time my family and I were just coming back and recovering from an amazing trip to Jamaica where we celebrated my sister and brother-in-law’s wedding! There was sand, there was surf, there was a beautiful beach chair and tropical drink waiting for me daily, ahhhh. I’m not gonna lie, it was nice!

Although I won’t be traveling to the Caribbean this year, there is always a vehicle to get me back there if just for a few moments… FOOD Food glorious food can really take you anywhere in the world and with this dish I am transported right back to those white sand beaches and clear blue waters!

If you are looking for a fancy shmancy appetizer to serve at your next cocktail party or if you are having a fun and festive Caribbean style get together, this dish is easy, delicious and can totally be made ahead and built just before serving! AND its low carb, gluten-free and super healthy!

Start with a ripened plantain.

Taking the peel off is not quite as easy as with a banana.

Slice thinly on an angle.

Deep fry in veggie oil.

Drain fried plantains on a paper towel.

Immediately salt.

Grab some bacon.

Cut bacon into three segments.

Sprinkle shrimp with some Jamaican Jerk Rub. This one is by Pampered Chef.

Pan fry in either butter or veggie oil.

Now you have three elements ready to go.

Gather these ingredients for your caribbean style pico de gallo.

I am using my Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor today because I want to be able to control just how processed the ingredients get, I want a small dice, but I don’t want to liquefy.

Dice up your tomatoes, red onion and peppers. For this, I am using sweet peppers, but you can totally use jalapeno peppers or even ghost peppers if you want to really go Jamaican!

Place the onion, tomato, peppers and cilantro in the food processor.

Process lightly.

Add the squeeze of half an orange.

Continue to process. Add in kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

I added in some Portuguese hot ground pepper. (Pimenta Moida)

Cover the fried plantain with the pico de gallo.

Add a piece of fried bacon.

Add a little more pico de gallo.

Add your shrimp right on top and sprinkle with a bit more cilantro.

Low Carb Caribbean Shrimp Bruschetta

Yield 12 Bruschetta

1 ripened plantain, sliced and deep-fried in 2 cups Canola Oil

12 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined with tail on

4 pieces of bacon, cut into thirds and fried until just crisp

For Pico de Gallo:

1 plum tomato, roughly chopped

1/2 red onion, roughly chopped

3 sweet peppers, roughly chopped

1/2 small orange, juiced

1 small handful cilantro

1 Tbs. Pimenta Moida (Portuguese ground red pepper)

1 tsp. Pampered Chef Jamaican Jerk Seasoning, plus more for shrimp

kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Deep fry 12 slices of ripened plantains, set aside on paper to drain. Season shrimp with a sprinkle of Jamaican Jerk seasoning and salt. Pan fry with butter. Set aside. Pan fry bacon until just crisp, set aside on paper to drain.

For salsa, add in tomato, peppers, cilantro, onion, Pimenta Moida and Jamaican Jerk Seasoning and a pinch of salt and black pepper to taste into a food processor. Process until a fine salsa is made.

Build your bruschetta = 1 plantain, 1 tsp pico de gallo, 1 pc. bacon, a little more pico de gallo, top with shrimp. Garnish with more cilantro.

Lisa’s Sausage Stuffed Jalapeños

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015

Today is a very special day! It’s my 100th post here on thePortugueseAmericanMom.com! So in honor of that I thought I would highlight one of my very favorite party aps to celebrate! One of my very best girlfriend’s, Lisa, makes these for me whenever there is a party to be had. She came over last Sunday with her husband Carlos and her daughter Kaedence for the football game and we had our selves some good old-fashioned “home-gating”. And I asked, that instead of her making these for me at home, she make them here so I could document the process and share it with you all! And so she did!

They are a super simple and incredibly flavorful and delicious naturally gluten-free appetizer made with just 5 ingredients! One thing that Lisa asked that I stress and I will stress it in the tutorial as well is to please be sure to have surgical gloves before attempting this recipe. You will be working with very hot peppers and will need to protect yourself from the oils in the pepper. Once done and the peppers are in the oven, remove the gloves directly into the trash and thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water to ensure you got it all.

Let me show you how she does it!

Here are all your ingredients! Yep, that’s it, just 4! (plus olive oil for the pan, so five if we are technical)

Mince your onion.

Heat up some olive oil over medium heat.

Sautée the onions.

Split each Italian Sausage so you can remove the casing. Lisa uses hot Italian sausage and we all love them that way… but if you want to reduce the heat due to the already super hot jalapeño peppers, you could use mild Italian sausage here.

Remove the casing.

This is what they look like without the casing.

Add in the sausage.

Lisa asked me for not only a wooden spoon to mix, but also a potato masher to make sure it all gets broken down!

Brown up all of the sausage meat.

Strain out any grease. There wasn’t too much in this batch.

Return the sausage to the skillet and add in a bar of room temperature cream cheese.

Then work the cream cheese into the sausage meat.

Once most of the cream cheese it distributed, you can continue to work it with a wooden spoon.

Once the cream cheese is all distributed well, turn off the burner and let cool for a minute or two.

Preparing the peppers: You should have time to prepare the peppers while the sausage is cooking, but to keep things simple, I am keeping that separate…

Before we get into the pepper part, I need to mention these handy-dandy surgical gloves again… Lisa says, if you don’t have these, don’t make this dish! So, I would gather they are imperative.

Split the peppers all in half.

Place them into a bowl as you go.

You need to remove the seeds and connective tissue from the inside of each pepper. This is Lisa's technique. Hold firmly an scrape from the top down with your thumb.

You need to remove the seeds and connective tissue from the inside of each pepper. This is Lisa’s technique. Hold firmly and scrape from the top down with your thumb.

Lisa mentioned that the you should look for fatter peppers so they have more stuffing room.

You want to try to get as many of the seeds out to start off with as possible, but you have to go through 18-20 peppers, so you don’t want to spend too much time on it.

Now the peppers need to be washed, but this is more of a technique to get the remaining seeds out.

Fill the bowl with water and let the seeds float around in the water.

Then let them all just flow out in the water. Repeat this process a couple of times until you are satisfied.

Next, take a teaspoon and stuff each.

You want to firmly press in, but build up a little mound at the same time.

This is what you should have.

Line them on a parchment lined rimmed cookie sheet. Pop them in the oven at 350°F for about 30-50 mins or so… but check in on them every 10 mins or so after that first 30 mins. The cooking time will depend on how big your peppers are.

This is what you need to see before you take them out of the oven… They are all a nice golden brown with some crispiness on top.

Lisa’s Sausage Stuffed Jalapeños

Serving size: 10

18-20 plump jalapeños, halved and seeded

1 bar cream cheese, room temperature

1 medium onion, minced

1 package hot Italian Sausage, casing removed

1-2 Tbs. olive oil

Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Sautée the onion in olive oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Add in the sausage. With a wooden spoon and a potato masher, work the meat down into the onions and brown. Once browned, drain fat. Return meat to skillet and add in cream cheese. Again, work in the cream cheese using a wooden spoon and potato masher. Once the cream cheese is worked in, turn off heat and set aside to cool for a moment or two.

Stuff the ingredients into the prepared peppers. Line a rimmed cookie sheet or baking dish with parchment paper and line up the stuffed peppers, stuffing facing up. Bake for 30-50 minutes, check on them every 10 minutes after the 30 minutes. They will be done when they are golden brown. Allow to cool on pan for about 10 minutes before moving to a serving tray. Serve warm or room temperature. Enjoy!

*Note – This is a gluten-free recipe, but as always, check your ingredients in the Italian Sausage.

*Note – This is a low-carb recipe

Buffalo Chicken Salad

May 29, 2015

“It’s yummy!” This is what I got from my husband when I asked him what to write about Buffalo Chicken Salad. And quite plainly put, it is just that, yummy. It’s also very low in carbs and pretty darn healthy. So, when I am looking for a quick lunch that I can pull together in under 15 minutes, I take a little help from my pantry and my freezer!

This is a simple and quick lunch that is filling and super easy!. I keep my freezer stocked with organic individually wrapped chicken breasts. These are great because all I have to do is toss the sealed packages in a bowl of warm tap water and they are defrosted in under 10 minutes. Then I am not having to work with an entire package of chicken every time I want to whip something up!

Two other pretty important pantry staples in this recipe are my buffalo wings sauce. Now, anybody can make buffalo sauce. All it is is hot sauce and melted butter. That being said, I buy the bottle because sometimes I just feel like skipping that step. Also, blue cheese dressing. This recipe is a bit more complicated and honestly, when you’re trying to put a meal on the table in under 15 minutes, a well made dressing is the way to go. Plus, you can skip having to buy blue cheese and constantly wondering if its supposed to be blue or if new blue has developed!

OK… so those are my tricks for this recipe, let me take you through it:

Slice up your chicken breasts… I use one breast for my husband and I to both eat a good hearty salad. If you like two, then use two.

I brown both sides of the sliced chicken getting some good caramelization on both sides. This takes about 4-5 minutes per side.

While the chicken is browning, I like to wash and run my mixed greens through a salad spinner.

Dice up one stalk of celery.

Wash and dry some grape tomatoes.

Toss the celery, tomatoes and mixed greens together. (All of it should be dry at this point)

This is the buffalo sauce I like to use.

Once the chicken is completely cooked through and nicely browned on both sides. Add in sauce. I do this right in the pan. You can transfer to a bowl if you are worried about scratching your pan. (I like less dishes)

Once the chicken is dredged in the sauce, take two forks and shred the chicken right in that sauce. This will allow all the cooked chicken to get coated in sauce.

And with that, the star of this meal is ready! This is what you will be left with after shredding.

Here is my favorite blue cheese dressing… I like the chunky kind so that I don’t need to deal with blue cheese as I mentioned.

Now build your salad. Your greens are already mixed with your celery and tomatoes (If you like, you can add in carrots here too) drizzle with dressing, and then top with chicken. (if you are not trying to keep it low carb, some croutons would be nice here as well)

Enjoy!

Ingredients for Buffalo Chicken Salad:

(serves 2)

1 large chicken breast, sliced

2 Tbl. olive oil

1/2 c. Buffalo Wing Sauce

4 cups mixed greens, washed and spun dry

2 stalks of celery, chopped

10 grape tomatoes, washed and dried

1/2 c. blue cheese dressing

kosher salt

Directions:A quick 15 minute, low-carb, gluten-free meal!

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick skillet. Place sliced chicken in skillet and sprinkle lightly with salt. Brown on both sides, about 4- 5 mins. cooking through.

Turn off heat. Add in buffalo sauce. Shred chicken.

Mix greens together with celery and tomatoes. Assemble salad with dressing and top with chicken.

Enjoy!

Low-Carb Grilled Veggies

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015

Summer time is a great time for vegetables and grilling! I love taking advantage of all that summer has to offer, the fresh air, the sunshine and the fresh produce! Low-carb veggies are a delicious way to replace the old winter stand-by of canned corn or peas. I would so much rather have a healthy ear of corn which has 15-net carbs next my protein and fill the rest of my plate with delicious freshly grilled veggies and I especially love it when my veggies are being grilled over charcoal!

Today’s tutorial is super simple and you can tailor it to your families tastes and preferences like with most recipes. If you love summer squash, but hate zucchini, then swap it. If you love onions, but don’t care for tomatoes, then by all means add more onions! If you want to get your kids to eat more veggies, then take them to the store and let them pick which they like and add that! This recipe is more about being a guide on the method of cooking your vegetables.

I have a bunch of low-carb veggies on hand these days and am always trying new things with them to keep things interesting… This, however, is an old stand-by. The weather has been so beautiful lately that I have decided to do all my cooking outside today, including prep, it’s a great way to let the kids play while getting dinner on the table.

Start with placing some grape tomatoes in a medium sized metal bowl. I like grape tomatoes because they are small, so no cutting required, and they are sweet.

Cut one medium onion into 1/8 chuncks. The goal here will be to cut things about the same size. You don’t want tiny onions and big giant peppers etc.

Cut your bell pepper in half, remove the seeds. I like the orange, yellow and red as I find them to be sweeter than the green. If you prefer green or that’s all you have on hand, use the green.

Cut it up to about the same size as your onions. (I am keeping my zucchini in sliced discs, so the zucchini is really driving how large to cut all the other veggies)

Slice up a zucchini. Since this is being grilled, you will want to cut them pretty thickly as you don’t want the fire to break them down too much. You want them to hold their body.

Mix all your cut veggies together in your bowl.

Add a couple tsp. of olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt.

I got this little pan at the dollar store of all places. So, I thought I would give it a try, and I love it!

Spray your pan with cooking spray before placing in veggies.

Pour your veggies in the pan.

Place pan on over medium heat. You want the vegetables to char up a bit, but you don’t want to burn. You will want to tend to them every few minutes.

See the char they are getting? That’s nice. Let it cook another 5-10 minutes once the reach this point.

Serve with your favorite low-carb dish. Here they are accompanying my Portuguese Grilled Chicken and an ear of corn.

Recipe for Low-carb Grilled Veggies:

(serves 4)

8-10 grape tomatoes

1 medium onion, chopped into 1/8 th chucks

1 orange bell pepper, chopped into similar sized chuncks as the onion

1 zucchini, thickly sliced

2 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. In an outdoor grill veggie pan, add in the veggies coated in oil. Tend to the veggies every few minutes as they cook so they may cook evenly.

Enjoy!

note: this recipe is gluten-free

Portuguese Style Grilled Chicken (Frango Grelhado)

May 13, 2015May 19, 20154 Comments

Summer time is here and the grill is my main source of cooking all summer long! Throughout the summer in Southcoastal MA as well as, I’m sure, in many other Portuguese dense communities across the country, it is feast season. Feasts encompass so much of Portuguese culture not minimally the food. It seems whenever we head to St. Michael, there is one feast or another going on and undoubtably there as well as in feasts across my region here in Massachusetts you will find men grilling chicken over an open pit filled with charcoal.

“Portuguese Style” Chicken depends largely on it’s marinade, but it also is greatly enhanced by it’s method of cooking. This can of course be done with a gas grill, but if you have the time, charcoal is the best way to enjoy it. This chicken does not need an sauce helping it to keep it’s low-carb status.

In this recipe tutorial I will take you through the marinade and show you how I place my coals, but a more extensive tutorial on working with a charcoal grill will come soon. So, keep an eye out!

This marinade is best done 6-8 hours or better yet 24 hours ahead. It’s an intense brine more than just a marinade really. Take a look.

Start by placing a gallon sized zip bag into a large bowl.

Pour a can of beer into the bag.

To that, add two heaping soup spoons worth of ground red pepper. If you don’t have ground red pepper available, finely dice a medium heat pepper such as a red Pablano pepper and add in.

To this add in about 4 cloves of fresh garlic, sliced.

Now, add two large soup spoons full of kosher salt.

Add in about 1/4 of a soup spoon (or 1 teaspoon) of Portuguese Allspice.

This is what your consentrated marinade should look like.

Add your chicken into your concentrated marinade.

Add enough luke warm water into the bag so that most of your chicken is covered in liquid.

Now, a trick to this is to try to remove as much air from your bag as you can. The less air in the bag, the more contact your chicken has with the spices.

Close up your bag and place in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours or overnight.

Be sure your coals are hot and white and you burn off any actual fire as shown here. Also, be sure you have a “hot” side of your grill and a “not so hot” side. To achieve this just place your coals with the majority to one side.

Now, keep your chicken on your medium to not so hot side of your grill and don’t walk away. Chicken cooked over coals needs to be tended to. This doesn’t mean constantly fuss with it, just watch that it doesn’t burn.

Some of your chicken skin will blacken and char… this is part of the flavor, it’s ok. Just be sure that when this starts to happen you move it to the not so hot side of the grill… you want the chicken to cook too… if it chars too quickly you may think it is ready before it really is. This process should take a good 45 minutes, but if you have concerns, just get a meat thermometer and when the fleshy part of your chicken registers 160°F, it is all set to be taken off the grill.

For a delicious low-carb meal, plate with some yummy grilled vegis and a grilled ear of corn.

For a delicious low-carb meal, plate with some yummy grilled veggies and a grilled ear of corn.

Recipe for Portuguese Style Grilled Chicken (Frango Grelhado):

(serves 4)

4 chicken leg quarters

For marinade:

1 8 oz. can beer

4 Tbls. ground red pepper

4 Tbls. kosher salt

1 tsp. Portuguese Allspice

4 cloves of fresh garlic, sliced

1 cup luke warm water.

Directions:

Place a zipper bag in a large bowl and combine all marinade ingredients. Add chicken. Marinate (brine) over night if possible, but at least 6-8 hrs.

Grill over charcoal if possible for about 45 minutes while tending. If using a gas grill, grill on low for about 45 minutes. Meat should register 160°F on a meat thermometer.

Enjoy!

note: to make this recipe gluten-free, just use a gluten-free beer, I would not suggest wine. You could also use chicken stock, but add in 1 tsp of white vinegar if doing so.

Stacy’s Deviled Eggs

May 11, 2015May 19, 2015

My family is heading to Jamaica this summer to attend my little sister’s wedding. It is a very exciting time. It is also a time to think about putting on summer clothes and dreaded bathing suits! So, my husband and I decided it was time to shape up a bit before the trip. Over the years I have found the easiest, most efficient and most effective way to drop some pounds is with a low (not no) carb diet and some healthy exercise! No fun right? Ah, but it could be. These yummy little deviled eggs just go to show ya that eating low-carb can be great.

I have always enjoyed a good deviled egg with its creamy spicy filling, so years ago I developed this recipe that I come back to time and time again whether on a low-carb diet or not. They are quick, easy and inexpensive. And they are great to serve at or bring to a party! So why not bring back this classic American appetizer this summer?

Each of my entries this week will be focused on something especially yummy and low-carb so that you can enjoy eating with your family whether they are following along the low-carb route or not! Each recipe will be great for carb lovers and dieters alike. And with summer BBQ’s starting all around the country, if you are watching those carbs, it’s always nice to have something to reach for other than those evil chips and brownies!

Start with a hard-boiled egg. To achieve the perfect hard-boiled egg just place your eggs in the bottom of a pot, cover with just enough water to emerse all your eggs and turn on your burner to high… once you come to a full boil, shut off and cover pot. Then set your timer for 12-15 mins. Done.

Crack your egg gently to try to avoid making divits in the egg… after all half the appeal of a deviled egg is its presentation.

For this recipe, I am using 8 hard-boiled eggs… but I always make one or two extra in case there is a casualty.

Empty out the yolks… (see there is a casualty, that will have to be the tester egg)

Now place the eggs on the deviled egg plate you will be using… I have one that goes into the freezer for summer parties, but this was for a pink themed spread, so I thought this would be a pretty plate to use.

Place all your yolks in a medium sized mixing bowl.

Mash them up.

I’ve always made this recipe by eye… but, I can give you some general guidelines… two heaping soup spoons of real mayonnaise (a scant 1/4 cup)

One non-heaping soup spoon of yellow mustard. (about a tablespoon)

One soup spoon of relish. (one heaping tablespoon) This provides the vinegar that is in a typical deviled egg, but it also adds some crunch.

one squirt of Sriracha sauce or whatever hot sauce you like. (about one teaspoon)

One dash of cayenne pepper. (about 1/8 teaspoon) Be careful here, you can always add more, but cayenne pepper is hot hot hot.

Mash all your ingredients together. Then taste for salt and pepper. I didn’t add too much salt here, just about 1/8 teaspoon and about 5-6 cracks of black pepper to balance the pepper flavor from the hot sauce and cayenne.

Now, if you want to get fancy (and this was for a party, so I did want to) Place your mixture into a piping bag fitted with a pretty tip.

These are disposable piping bags that I use for my cake decorating… but, if you don’t have a piping bag handy, just use a quart sized freezer storage bag. Be sure it is freezer strength as the regular strength won’t hold up. Then just cut the tip of one corner off and you will still make a pretty design.

Now, fill your eggs. You want to come up just a bit higher than the egg itself.

Now add some garnish. I used a simple caper. I have also used a chopped up pickle in the past and that was yummy too.

And there you have it, a beautiful tray of homemade deviled eggs. Zero carbs and lots of healthy protein.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Stacy’s Deviled Eggs:

(serves 8)

8 hard-boiled eggs

1/4 cup real mayonnaise, scant

1 Tbls. yellow mustard

1 Tbls. dill relish, heaping

1 tsp. Sriracha hot sauce

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

kosher salt to taste

cracked black pepper to taste

Garnish: either capers or sliced pickles

Directions:

Cut and separate egg whites from yolks. Set whites aside. Mash yolks in a medium bowl. Add in all remaining ingredients and mash together. Garnish with capers or sliced pickles.

Enjoy!

*note: This is a no-carb, gluten-free recipe

Lemon Dijon Chicken

May 8, 2015May 8, 2015

Sometimes you just need something quick and easy. It doesn’t get much quicker or easier than my Lemon Dijon Chicken! This recipe has a 10 minute prep time and a 20 minute cook time! And if you have an oven safe skillet, this meal is a one pan meal making clean up time quick too, what more can you ask for right?

It’s also a very versatile dish. My husband and I are living low carb these days so I didn’t pair it with anything. But, at the end of preparation you are left with a little bit of a sauce that can be tossed with pasta or egg noodles. You could also serve the chicken over wild rice or quinoa and top with gravy. Or if you have a little more time on your hands you can mash up some potatoes or cauliflower (to keep it low-carb!) and use the gravy to top it off.

Start with two boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Pound them out a bit, not too much, but just enough to give you a consistent size throughout the breast.

slice about an inch or so thick going against the grain of the meat.

Salt and pepper. Set aside for a minute while you make the sauce.

Mix together 3 Tbls. Dijon mustard and 3 Tbls. olive oil.

Add in the juice of half a lemon.

Put the lemon you just squeezed in along with the rest of the lemon sliced up.

Add in 1 Tbls. Herbs de Provence, 1 tsp. kosher salt and 1/2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper. Mix together.

Now, I made some bacon for my salad earlier today, so I reserved the bacon fat to fry up my chicken. If you don’t happen to have reserved bacon fat around, you can just combine about 2 Tbs. of salted butter with 2 Tbls. of olive oil. Turn your burner to high heat. The goal here is not to cook through, but just to sear and get some browning.

After about a minute or two, turn chicken, this is what you should see. Give it just one more minute and turn off burner. As you can see, chicken is still pretty raw.

Now, just pour the sauce right over the chicken, stir together.

At this point, my skillet is both non-stick and oven-safe. If yours is not, transfer to a greased baking dish.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F. As soon as you take it out of the oven, sprinkle with Panko bread crumbs. Serve.

Recipe for Lemon Dijon Chicken:

(serves 2)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 Tbs. Dijon mustard

3 Tbs. Olive oil

1 lemon

2 Tbs. Herbs de Provence

1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to sprinkle on chicken

1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper, plus more to sprinkle on chicken

4 Tbs. bacon fat (or 2 Tbs. salted butter plus 2 Tbs. olive oil)

2 Tbs. Panko bread crumbs

Parsley

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Prepare chicken by lightly pounding and slicing to about 1″ pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

For the sauce: Combine mustard, oil, the juice of half a lemon, sliced remainder of lemon, Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper.

Brown on pre-heated skillet with burner turned to high. Only brown one to two minutes on either side. Chicken is still raw when done with this step. Pour sauce over chicken. Mix together. Place in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Immediately upon removing from oven sprinkle with Panko and some parsley. Serve hot.

Enjoy.

Simple Chicken Quesadillas

May 5, 2015May 5, 2015

Happy Cinco de Mayo! The day when Mexican-American’s and those who love them celebrate Mexico’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 during the Franco-Mexican War. I say Mexican-Americans because, although also recognized in Mexico, it is a holiday far more upheld for those of Mexican decent living here in the U.S. as more of a celebration of culture and heritage. I happen to love such holidays as they give us cause to look into the beautiful cultures surrounding us and allow us to partake in all they have to offer culturally. For me, that usually means following a traditional recipe or working my own spin on a dish widely identified with said culture.

In today’s case Chicken Quesadillas are on the menu. My husband and I are starting to eat low-carb, so you will see salad is there where rice and beans would normally be and I am using a low-carb whole wheat tortilla. But, the essence of this famed Mexican dish is still here. It is essentially my nod to the Mexican culture and their rich culinary contribution to the American diet.

Thank-you Mexico for such a delicious part of our weekly cooking, as we definitely have quesadillas as a staple in this home. Let me share one of my favorite preparations with you today.

Start with a plain, boneless, skinless chicken breast.

For this recipe, I don’t like to overwhelm the chicken with too much spice… So, as you can see here, I sprinkle on the spices to just one side of the chicken before I slice it in preparation for cooking. Here, I have sprinkled on a couple of shakes of Hungarian Paprika.

Continue by sprinkling on a couple shakes of garlic powder and cumin.

Lastly, I sprinkle on some salt. More salt will be added once the chicken is in the skillet.

Thinly slice the chicken.

Chicken is ready for the pan. Now you can prepare the non-stick skillet over medium heat with about a teaspoon of veggie oil.

Give the chicken a few minutes in the pan. Don’t fuss with it, you are trying to achieve a gentle browning. At this point, sprinkle the chicken with some more kosher salt.

After a few minutes, turn the chicken and do the same to the other side.

Now you will want to work with your cheese. I chose to use two types of cheese today because it’s a special day. Sometimes I just use one and sometimes I use whatever I have in my fridge that melts nicely. My first choice is a hunk of Colby Jack Cheese.

My next choice is a hunk of Pepper Jack.

Shred both.

Place a whole wheat tortilla (in my case one that is high in fiber) on a heated non-stick skillet (med/high) . Then spread half the cheese on one side.

Now, add the cooked chicken on top of the cheese. Add the Pepper Jack on top of that as sort of a delicious glue.

Fold tortilla over the cheese and chicken and cook on high/med heat. After a few minutes, don’t forget about it, this happens fairly quickly, flip and do the same to the other side.

Slice quesadilla into four pieces like so. Serve with salsa and a dollup of sour cream.

Recipe for Simple Chicken Quesadillas:

(serves 2)

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 whole wheat tortillas (shown here are a low carb kind. with only 6 net carbs per wrap)

4 oz Colby Jack

4 oz Pepper Jack

1 Tbs. Canola oil

sprinkle of Hungarian Paprika

sprinkle of cumin

sprinkle of garlic powder

Directions:

Prepare chicken by seasoning with a sprinkle of each of the spices. Slice chicken and cook with canola oil on medium heat to finished. Sprinkle with another pinch of kosher salt once in pan. Set chicken aside.

In a non-stick skillet or cast iron one, heat some Canola Oil on med/high heat. Add in tortilla. Then cover half with 1/2 Colby Jack, then chicken, then Pepper Jack. Fold tortilla in half over the contents. Cook about 2 minutes on both sides until golden brown on the outside.

Cut into 4 wedges and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Enjoy!

the portuguese american mom

stay awhile… have a cup of tea, let's get creative!

Tag: low carb

Low Carb Caribbean Shrimp Bruschetta

Low Carb Caribbean Shrimp Bruschetta

Lisa’s Sausage Stuffed Jalapeños

Lisa’s Sausage Stuffed Jalapeños

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Low-Carb Grilled Veggies

Portuguese Style Grilled Chicken (Frango Grelhado)

Stacy’s Deviled Eggs

Lemon Dijon Chicken

Simple Chicken Quesadillas