Dukan Grilled Balsamic Chicken

Grilled Balsamic Chicken

We didn't care for this recipe...but we're posting it in case others may want to try it and hopefully improve it!

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't for us.  We love balsamic vinegar...especially when we're dipping our bread into the vinegar/olive oil mix at an Italian restaurant so we thought we'd love this recipe.   First of all, ours didn't look as good as 'For The Love of Cooking's' chicken did.  Ours started to char a lot.  The chicken ended up juicy and tasty, but perhaps we should have used less balsamic vinegar or something.

We followed the recipe with the exception of the flour and butter...oh and of course, we cooked ours in our grill pan.  The sauce was a bit too strong for us.

If you try this recipe and it comes out better for you or you tweak it in some way, please do share!  The nice thing about this recipe is we ate it during Attack.

Good luck!

Dukan Pork Tofu

Pork Tofu

This is a scheduled post...we are away on a business trip. We'll be back shortly!

We loved this recipe and it's so easy to make!

Pork Tofu is another local Hawaii favorite.  We believe it's actually an Okinawan dish.  Next time we make this, we'll definitely add vegetables like bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage, bamboo shoots, etc.

We've had this at several restaurants here in Hawaii, most cut their tofu into larger pieces than we did...we cut ours smaller since the male half had his dental surgery the other month.  The size of your tofu is up to you...but try not to cut it too small or it'll fall apart while cooking.

On another note, the male half of this couple bought us a Prime Lens which is great for taking portrait shots...which also takes great food pics!  These pics were taken with this lens.  It's a bit tricky to use, but after some practice we hope to be better at it!

RECIPE:
Serves 2 (he had red rice with his and I had mine plain)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes or so

1 lb. lean pork, thinly sliced (you can use less pork if you are using a lot of veggies)
1/2 medium onion, sliced (you can use the whole thing)
8 to 10 stalks of green onions, cut into 1 1/2" lengths (ours were pre chopped)
1 pound tofu, drained and cubed (we used the extra firm one)

Sauce:
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce (we filled our 1/3 c. measuring cup about 2/3's full, then filled the rest of the cup with water...it was perfect for high blood pressure people like us)
2 1/2 T. natural sweetener or to taste (we used Xylitol, if you use Truvia, you may want to start off with less)
1 t. grated ginger

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.  Stir-fry pork and onions in a small amount of olive oil until pork is almost cooked through.  Pour sauce over pork mixture and simmer for 5 minutes.  Gently stir in tofu cubes until they are well coated and warmed up.  Serve as is during Cruise or over quinoa, brown rice or red rice during Consolidation and Stabilization.

Add a cup of veggies like watercress, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, green beans, etc and no additional liquid.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Mongolian Beef

Mongolian Beef

This is a schedule post...we are on the road again!  It may take us a while to respond to comments...thank you!

We loved this recipe!

We'll probably try it with chicken since the beef was a bit dry and we're trying not to eat beef.  This is another recipe from our archives...just didn't have the energy to post it.

We love cooking Chinese stir fry type of dishes...they are flavorful and cook up pretty quickly.   We had this during Cruise even though it has a small amount of oyster sauce and sesame oil....it's up to you.  We didn't experience any weight gain from eating it.

RECIPE:
Serves 2 (he had red rice with his and I had mine plain)
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes, plus 30 minutes marinating time
Cook Time: Just a few minutes

1 lb. lean beef, sliced into small pieces
2 stalks of green onion, chopped (or sliced)
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

Marinade:
1 t. cornstarch
1 t. soy sauce
1 T. water
1 t. Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing)

Sauce:
2 t. oyster sauce
2 T. low sodium soy sauce (we used 1 1/2 T. plus 1/2 T. water)
2 dashes pepper
1/4 t. sesame oil
1 T. natural sweetener or to taste (we used Xylitol)

Marinate beef for 30 minutes.  Heat up wok with a small amount of olive oil.  Stir fry beef until halfway done.  Remove beef from wok and set aside.  Add more olive oil if needed, saute garlic and ginger until fragrant (a minute or two).  Add beef back to wok, then sauce and stir fry until beef is almost done, then add green onions.  Stir a couple more times and serve.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Low Fat Korean Quesadillas

Korean Quesadilla

We loved this!

From our archives...we made this during our first time going through Consolidation.  We just threw it together since we had tortillas and cheese leftover from our Low Fat Filipino Bistek Quesadillas.   It was tasty!

RECIPE:
Serves 2
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

2 fat free tortillas
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken, fat removed
8 - 10 slices of cucumber, you can slice them thinner than we did
1-2 T. gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste, contains some sugar)
splash of sesame oil
1 c. fat free cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 c. low fat Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese cut into small pieces (we got ours at Costco) - optional

Chicken mixture after stir frying

In a wok, stir fry cucumbers with a splash of sesame oil.  When cucumbers start to soften, add chicken and gochujang.  Stir fry until hot.  Remove from heat and cover.  In the meantime, heat a grill pan, spray with a little bit of non stick spray and place one tortilla on the pan.  Toast tortilla on both sides, approximately 2 minutes on each side.  Sprinkle some cheese on half the tortilla, spoon half your chicken mixture over the cheese.  Sprinkle more cheese on the chicken mixture, then fold tortilla in half.    Grill both sides of the quesadilla until cheese is melted.  Remove from pan, cut in half and serve.

We had ours plain...but you can serve this with salsa, hot sauce or more gochujang paste.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Shoyu Chicken

Shoyu Chicken

 This is a scheduled post.  If we do not respond to your comments right away, it's because we are on the road!  Thanks!

We loved this recipe...and our Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker.

This is the first savory dish we've made in our Deep Covered Baker and we are definitely going to use it again.  Our boneless skinless chicken thighs came out moist!  This recipe can be made on the stove as well.

The Deep Covered Baker in the microwave

In Hawaii, the 'plate lunch' is a big thing.   It's something we grew up with as children...as a matter of fact, our parents did too.  We remember when plate lunches came in a box while others came wrapped neatly in butcher paper.  The plate lunch was always 2 scoops of rice (or as the local people say '2 scoop rice'), 1 scoop macaroni salad (no potatoes in the salad) and your main entree which many times would be covered in brown gravy or something not too healthy.  The plate lunch like many other restaurants across the U.S. and probably the world has evolved.  Most restaurants serve their plate lunches in styrofoam or 'green' containers and offer healthier selections along side their 'heart attack on a plate' selections.

Shoyu chicken is on most plate lunch menus and we don't really order it due to the amount of soy sauce and sugar used.  Plus, most restaurants will leave the skin and fat on the chicken thighs.  This is an easy, tasty dish to make and it really only takes 20 minutes in the microwave (Deep Covered Baker) or on the stove in a regular pot.

This recipe came from Rainbow Drive In in Kapahulu near Waikiki a very popular local style restaurant.

RECIPE:
Serves 3-4 people
Prep Time: 10-20 minutes (it took us longer since we removed all the fat from our chicken)
Cook Time: 20 minutes

2 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (fat removed)
1/2 c. natural sweetener (we used Xylitol)
3/4 c. low sodium soy sauce (we watered ours down)
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/8 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. pepper
1 clove garlic
1 inch ginger, crushed

Wash and drain chicken.  Place in Deep Covered Baker or pot.  Combine sauce ingredients.  Pour sauce over chicken.  If using a Deep Covered Baker, cover and cook on high in your microwave for 20 minutes.  If cooking on the stove, bring to a boil and cook for 20-30 minutes.

We didn't thicken our sauce, but if you would like to, use some cornstarch.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Vietnamese Beef Salad

Vietnamese Beef Salad

We loved this recipe...but we're using chicken thighs next time.

We made this back in July...it was a perfect addition to our salad on a humid summer day.

We haven't mastered the art of cooking lean beef...it usually comes out on the drier side...not beef jerky dry though.  We try not to eat beef, but the female half was in a beef mood!

This recipe comes from one of our other favorite recipe sites, Noble Pig.  Noble Pig has a great looking site and of course, everything looks yummy.  Everything we've tried from this site has been delicious.  Their recipe isn't a salad recipe, but we had it over a bed of romaine and didn't need dressing.

RECIPE:
Serves 2-4 (4 if you serve it with rice or quinoa)
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutes or so

1 lb. lean beef, sliced into small pieces, fat removed
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T. olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
1 small red onion cut into 1/4" wedges
2 green onion stalks, chopped (we forgot to add ours in!)

For Sauce:
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 1/2 T. splenda brown sugar
1 T. fish sauce

In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine the garlic, oil and pepper.

Season the beef with salt and pepper.  We cooked ours in a wok over medium high heat using some non-stick spray.  When wok is hot, add 1/2 the beef in a single layer.  Cook without turning until browned, 1-2 minutes.  Using tongs, turn beef and brown the other side, 1-2 minutes.  Transfer to a boil or plate and cook the other half of the beef using the same method.

Spray wok or add a small amount of olive oil and heat until shimmering hot.  Stir fry onions until tender, a couple of minutes.  Add garlic mixture, stir constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Return beef with juices to wok and stir to combine.  Add soy sauce mixture.  Stir until sauce thickens.  Remove from heat and serve with quinoa, brown rice, over a salad or by itself.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Temporary Plan

Well, it's been a very busy month so far!  A good kind of busy this time though.

We just got back from a nice long vacation and will be on a business trip next week, so Dukan is going on hold.  Well, it's been on hold since August.  We've trying to still eat lower fat, less carbs, less refined sugar...similar to the Consolidation Phase actually.

Our vacation started off with healthy eating...salads, broccoli with hummus, etc.  Then it slowly moved towards 'vacation eating' as we like to call it!  We had to try things we don't have here in Hawaii!

Once we get back from our business trip at the end of September, we're going back to the Attack Phase.  Hoping to get to our original Dukan goal by the end of December and according to the Dukan website, it's doable!

It's still been pretty hot and humid in Hawaii, so salads are usually our first choice...especially for lunch.    This weekend we're going back to healthier snacks, lower fat meals and we're not going to make rice...not even our red rice.

The nice thing is, we really did not gain any weight on vacation!  We didn't indulge in too many desserts and often times we were able to pass up on carbs or just take a bite of the homemade mashed potatoes and pasta dishes.  We must note, the four days right before our vacation, we did 4 days of Attack and it seemed to help curb our carb and sugar cravings.

Hope everyone is having a great September!