Dukan Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken (it's a Paleo recipe too!)

Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken

We have mixed feelings about this one...mostly because we didn't follow the recipe all the way and we're guessing that may be partly why it didn't come out to our liking.

This is a very flavorful marinade, but it was too lime-y for us.  It may be because we used 8 boneless chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken...but one of us doesn't like looking at or touching a whole chicken!  I'm hoping someone else will try it with the whole chicken because the recipe we found, the photo on the blog made the chicken look so yummy!   Here's the original recipe.

Here's what we did:

RECIPE:
Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes plus overnight marinading
Cook time: 6 hours on low

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, most of the fat removed

Dry Rub ingredients:
1 t. pure sea salt
1 t. black pepper
1 t. chili powder
1 t. cayenne powder
1 t. ground cumin

1/2 c. lime juice (about 4 limes for us...if we try this again, we've going to try 1/4 c. lime juice)
2 generous handfuls of fresh cilantro, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 T. extra virgin olive oil (optional if you're on Dukan)

Rinse and pat dry your chicken.  Place in a large ziplock bag (we don't recommend using a crock pot


liner - ours leaked.  Apply the dry rub onto the chicken, make sure to put an even coating on the chicken.  In a food processor, combine lime juice, cilantro, garlic and olive oil.  Pour marinade over chicken.  Seal bag pressing out as much air as you can.

Marinade chicken overnight.  The next day, place chicken in crockpot along with any leftover marinade, cook on low for 6-8 hours.  We cooked ours for 6 hours.

Hope this turns out better for everyone else...maybe one day I'll get over my whole chicken fears!

Dukan Seared Ahi Tuna

Seared Ahi Tuna

We both loved this recipe!

Why we've never tried to make it at home...we just don't know.  Last week we got back in touch with our fish guy...for those new to our blog, we are very lucky to know a guy here in Honolulu who enjoys going to the fish auction.  What this basically means is, we pay his much lower weight for fresh fish which is sometimes less than 1/4th the cost in a market like Whole foods.  The taste is also fresher.

Originally we envisioned baking or grilling our fish but our fish guy was so excited to tell us he just cut some ahi tuna and it sashimi grade...for those not familiar with the term, it basically means it is a very good quality and can be eaten raw.  Our fish guy said "you're not going to cook this are you?!"  So, we decided to have Seared Ahi Tuna.

This is a very tasty and easy dish to prepare.  The fish cooks VERY quickly since you're searing it, not cooking it through.  We used Tom's Blackened Seasoning from allrecipes.com...we used Truvia instead of sugar, but other than that, we used the recipe as is....oh except we made only a quarter of the recipe.   For the ahi, we followed Foodland's recipe...we made the avocado tartare too...that recipe will be coming up on Monday, April 8th!  This can be Paleo - use Stevia as your sweetener for the seasoning.

We are definitely making this again.

RECIPE:
Serves 3-4 (depends what you're having it with, if you're having a starch, etc.)
Prep Time: approx 20 minutes
Cook Time: less than 10 minutes

2 - 6 oz. sashimi grade ahi tuna blocks (we tried to cut ours into 1 - 1 1/2" blocks, try not to cut your fish too thin or it'll cook too quickly)
1/2 T. extra virgin olive oil
blackening spice (see below)

Blackening Spice ingredients:
1/4 T. paprika
1 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 T. natural sweetener (we used Truvia) - use Stevia if you're on Paleo (but I would try less than 1/4 T. first)

Wash and pat dry your fish.  Heat your pan on high heat for a couple of minutes.  Brush fish with olive oil and season evenly with blackening spice (if you're in Attack, omit the olive oil, rub the seasoning on your fish and spray your pan with a little bit of non-stick spray).  We didn't add any more salt but you can season your fish with salt before the blackening spice if you wish.  Place fish into hot pan, sear on all sides until brown on the outside and opaque on the inside, about 1 minute per side.

Remove fish from pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels.  Let fish cool before slicing.  We used this time to make our Avocado Tartare.

The male half of this couple had his fish with our Sesame Cucumber Salad, Avocado Tartare and Okinawan Sweet Potatoes.  I had the same minus the potatoes.    This can be eaten as is - Pure Protein or served with veggies.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Stir Fried Fish with Ginger and Eggs

Stir Fried Fish with Ginger and Eggs

Note: this is a scheduled post.

We enjoyed this recipe, but it probably would have been better with beef or chicken.

It's been a while since we made it so we can't remember if we loved it just liked it!  Must not have been loved since we haven't been wanting to try it again!  We do remember it being a very easy and quick dish to cook.

A few months ago we came across House of Annie's recipe blog.  It's beautiful and everything looks yummy.  They live here in Hawaii, but one of the bloggers is from Malaysia.  We decided to use their Stir Fried Beef with Ginger and Eggs recipe for our fresh shutome (swordfish).  

Our ginger did not come out as pretty as House of Annie's!

Note: We had this as a Pure Protein during our Reboot Attack phase...it does have oyster sauce, so it's up to you!

RECIPE:
Serves 2
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes or so

1 lb. shutome (swordfish) or any other fairly firm fish, slice into thin pieces
1 T. cornstarch
1 1/2" piece of ginger, cut into small strips without the skin
4 green onions stalks, chopped (any size you like)
1/4 c. or less, water
1 egg, lightly beaten (you can use 2 if you like)
1 T. olive oil

For marinade:

1 T. Shaoxing Rice Wine (or dry sherry)
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. oyster sauce
1 t. natural sweetener (we used Truvia)
1/2 t. pepper

Rinse, cut and pat dry your fish.  Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl.  Coat fish with cornstarch, then pour marinade over fish and gently mix, be sure each piece of fish is coated.  Set aside.  Prep ginger, green onions and egg separately.  You'll want to have everything ready...this dish cooks up pretty quickly.

Heat a wok over high heat.  Once hot, add the olive oil and swirl around in your wok.  Add ginger and stir fry...we didn't make ours golden crisp, but will do that next time.  Remove ginger from oil and drain on paper towels.

Add fish to the wok and stir fry for about a minute.  Add the green onions and stir fry for another 15 seconds.  Move the fish and green onions to the sides creating a well.  Add the water, then the beaten egg.  Stir everything together until egg is set.   Plate your fish and garnish with ginger.

The female half had this as is, no starch.  The male half had his over brown rice.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Mini Egg White Quiches

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Very good.
SHE SAID: Delicious!
HIS FRIEND SAID: The quiche's were awesome!

Mini Quiches and grilled asparagus

UPDATED 3/22/2012: Reposting this recipe since we made them this past weekend.  Changed the recipe just a bit, meat free this time and we added cilantro.  Everyone loved it!    See below for the second option.

Quiche is great comfort food - the cheese, the crust...yum!  There's a deli near our office that sells quiche, it's delicious, but it's not Dukan.  We read a couple of Dukan'd Quiche recipes and actually found one on about.com that we liked.  It wasn't a Dukan recipe, just a healthy recipe, but it fits the Dukan plan.  Again, we tweaked the recipe to include what we had on hand and what we could find in the local markets here.

The great thing about quiche is you can eat them pretty much anytime - breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a snack.  You can also put a lot of different things in them - you can make them protein only or protein and veggie....we didn't even miss the crust!

The local markets don't carry a lot of fat free cheeses.  Haven't been to Whole Foods in a while, we have a feeling we will find it there.  We have been able to find reduced fat cheese, but usually only in one or two types.

This is our recipe for a protein veggie quiche recipe, but just omit the veggies for your pure protein days.

RECIPE
Makes 6 small mini quiches
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

1st recipe
3/4 c. egg whites
3/4 c. fat free or reduced fat shredded cheese (we used mozzarella because it's all we could find)
1/4 c. fresh asparagus, chopped into little pieces
1/4 c. red bell pepper, chopped into little pieces
1/4 jalapeno, seeds removed and diced
2 slices low fat canadian bacon, cut into small pieces
1 shallot, sliced
2 dashes of hot sauce (your choice)
Salt to taste

2nd recipe

3/4 c. egg whites
3/4 c. fat free or reduced fat shredded cheese (we used mozzarella because it's all we could find)
1/4 c. red onion, chopped into little pieces
1/4 c. red bell pepper, chopped into little pieces
1-2 T. cilantro, chopped
2 dashes of hot sauce (your choice)
Salt to taste


(for our second batch we added some adobo powdered seasoning)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Stir fry veggies, canadian bacon and shallot (however long you like).  Remove from heat, mix in the shredded cheese.  Pour mixture into muffin pan.  Mix salt and whatever other seasonings you'd like to add into the egg, pour egg mixture into muffin pan.  Bake for 20 minutes or until done.  Knife should come out clean when done.

We served our mini quiches with grilled asparagus (grilled for 3 minutes or so until they are bright green with salt, pepper and lemon juice).

Enjoy!

Dukan Easy Chinese Pork Stir Fry

Easy Chinese Pork Stir Fry with Rice (his portion, mine = no rice)

We loved this recipe.

Happy New Year everyone!  The holidays are over and it's time for us to get back on Dukan.  For us, it'll happen next week :-)

This recipe was quick, easy, and tasty!  You can make this dish with or without veggies, with pork, beef, chicken, turkey or fish.  We took a simple Kung Pao sauce recipe and made some adjustments.  We actually made this before New Year's but haven't had much time to blog.

We were pigging out over the holidays and didn't have many PP days during the last three weeks of December.  Yike!  Decided a PP day was a must and luckily we had two lean, uncooked pork chops left from one of our other meals.  The two small pork chops were actually not quite enough for a PP meal for two people, so we are adjusting the recipe to make a meal for two.  If you're having this with brown rice or quinoa or adding a lot of bulk veggies like broccoli, two thick cut pork chops should be enough for two people.

RECIPE
Serves 2
Prep Time: 45 minutes (30 of those minutes are for marinating)
Cook Time: less than 10 minutes

3/4 - 1 lb. lean pork chops (no bone), thinly sliced (slice at an angle)
2 Thai red chili peppers or something similar (deseeded and cut into thin strips)
5 thin slices of fresh ginger (skin removed)
2 garlic cloves (we used minced since we have the Costco bottle or you can thinly slice your garlic)
1 stalk green onion, chopped (next time we'll probably do two inch strips)

Marinade:
3 t. cornstarch
2 t. soy sauce
1 T. Shaoxing rice wine or your choice of substitutes

Sauce:
1 1/2 T. soy sauce
1 t. natural sweetener
1/4 t. black vinegar (or regular white vinegar)
2 T. water
1 t. cornstarch

Rinse pork slices and pat dry.  Mix marinade ingredients, we usually mix ours in a ziploc baggie, then add meat, mix again (using your hands on the outside of the baggie), then refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Mix your sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.  Heat up a stir fry pan (high heat), spray a little bit of  non stick spray (we use a coated nonstick stir fry pan), cook marinated pork until 70% cooked.  Set aside.  Clean pan, spray with non stick spray again.  Add ginger and garlic to pan, stir fry for a few seconds, then add red chilies.  Stir fry until it is aromatic (about 20-30 seconds).  If your pan starts sticking, spray a little more non stick spray.  Add pork back to pan and continue to stir fry.  For a celebration meal or during consolidation, add cashew nuts or peanuts.  Add in sauce and continuously stir fry until pork is coated with sauce.  Turn heat off, add green onions, stir and serve immediately.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Spicy Tuna (Ahi) Bowls

Fresh ahi

We loved this recipe.

As mentioned in an earlier post, we made spicy ahi (tuna) bowls for the male half of this couple's birthday.   The way we've always made spicy ahi has been with a little bit of Japanese mayonnaise (which seems creamier) and chili oil. Since it was his birthday, we decided to turn it into a Celebration meal and have it the way we usually make it but using low fat mayonnaise.

You can substitute fat free mayonnaise if you can find it in your local market.  Omit the chili oil if you are wanting it to be closer to a Dukan recipe and use just the cayenne pepper.

This is a recipe we usually don't measure, we just add stuff, then taste, add more if needed, etc.  We will try to do our best in guesstimating what we normally use.

RECIPE
Serves 2

3/4 - 1 lb. of raw fish (tuna, salmon, etc, make sure it's fresh) usually feeds the two of us (one eating the fish with rice and the other just eating it without rice or wrapped up in nori or seaweed
cayenne pepper

Spicy Ahi

mayonnaise (Japanese, low fat or fat free)
chili oil

Sauce for rice:
soy sauce (low sodium)
water (only if you want to water your soy sauce down like we do)

Cut fish into desired size.  Sometimes we do small cubes and if we have time we sort of mince the fish, add to a bowl.  Sprinkle a small amount of cayenne pepper on your fish, if you love spicy food, use more cayenne pepper, but keep in mind you will add chili oil too.  Mix fish and cayenne, let sit for a few minutes.  In the meantime, prepare your mayonnaise/chili oil mix.  We normally make 1 T. at a time since we don't like our fish with too much mayonnaise.  Take 1 T. of mayonnaise and mix well in a small bowl until creamy.  Add a couple splashes of chili oil, mix well and taste add more chili oil is desired.  We like ours hot, so we use quite a bit of chili oil.  Add mayonnaise mix into fish.  Make and add more mayo/chili oil mix if desired.  Once you have the spicy taste you want, put your spicy fish mixture into the refrigerator.

If you're eating this over rice, we usually mix soy sauce with water and dab the soy sauce mixture on the rice before placing the spicy fish mixture on the rice.  The amount you use depends on how much rice you are eating and how many people you are feeding.  For two bowls, we normally use 1 - 2 t. soy sauce and 1 t. water.

Since it was his birthday, the male half of this couple got some avocado cubes added to his bowl!

Enjoy...we always do!

Dukan Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo for two

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: It's ok, not a fan though.
SHE SAID: Tastes great with the garlic powder, but it's not creamy.

The male half of this couple prefers tomato based sauces, but after a few tomato based sauces he enjoys a change up.  He used to not really want to eat white sauces because they contained too much fat.  Dukanitout.com posted a Fettucine Alfredo recipe and we decided to try it out with our left over Costco Rotisserie chicken.  On your Protein Veggie days, add some mushrooms!

We omitted the parsley since we could only find large bunches in Chinatown and they are too expensive in the regular markets.  Something went wrong, we thought we followed the cooking instructions to a tee, but ours did not come out creamy at all.  It was pretty watery.  We even made an additional small amount of corn starch paste and added it to the sauce, but that did not help.

Since we're not alfredo fans, not sure we will try this again...but you never can tell!

RECIPE:
Serves 2
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: less than 20 minutes

1 c. chicken stock
1 c. non-fat half-and-half
1 t. corn starch (make a paste out of it, then slowly add to your sauce)
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4. chopped parsley leaves, optional (for garnish)
2 packages House Brean Tofu Shirataki Fettuccine noodles
salt and pepper or red pepper flakes

Boil noodles for five minutes and drain well (add salt to the water), do not rinse.  Cook chicken stock in medium sized pan and reduce by half over medium heat.  Add half-and-half and simmer for five minutes.  Stir in the corn starch paste slowly and cook for two minutes until thick.  Add Parmesan cheese and blend in well.  Add salt and pepper or red pepper flakes to taste.  Add noodles to pan and toss to coat.  Serve immediately.

Dukan Buttermilk Chicken Tenderloins

Looks dry, but it was moist.  This was actually
what was leftover.

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID:
SHE SAID: It smelled so good while we were cooking it!

Decided to try another recipe from Dukanitout.com since everything we've tried from this site has been delicious.  Again, we altered the recipe just a tad to use what we had in the kitchen and what we could find in the market.  We fried these up in our stir fry non-stick wok because the Forman grill seems to make everything way too dry.  Also, we live in two separate households and the female half of this couple forgot to bring her grilling pan.

Still, it smelled so yummy while we cooked the chicken up.  We had this chicken with some green salad which was just right.

RECIPE
Serves 4-6 people
Prep Time: 10 mins, plus 4+ hours to marinate chicken
Cook Time: 10-20 minutes, depending on how large your pan or grill is

1 1/2 lb. chicken tenderloins, skinless
1 c. soy milk
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. dijon
1 T. honey
1 1/2 t. dried rosemary
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. fresh ground pepper

Make buttermilk by combining 1 cup soy milk with 1 T. lemon juice and let sit for 5 minutes.  Then add all other ingredients except chicken, mix well.  Rinse and pat dry chicken, place in a large baggie and pour marinade in the baggie.  Seal and place baggie in a foil pan (just in case) and refrigerate for 4+ hours, but no longer than over night.  Grill or pan fry chicken until done.

We haven't used any spray or oil in our non-stick stir fry pan and everything fries up nicely without sticking..plus, it's been easy to clean.

Enjoy!