Dukan Pan Seared Tilapia with Parmesan Noodles

We both liked this, but our noodles didn't seem to have enough flavor.

Pan Seared Tilapia with Parmesan Noodles

We found this recipe on allrecipes.com.  It sounded and looked yummy.  The tilapia was well flavored, we used more than a pinch, but our noodles needed a little more flavor...next time.

You'll want to be sure your noodles are dry before you add them back to the pan and perhaps add a little more of each spice to the noodles.  All in all it was a tasty, light dish as we kick off our countdown to vacation (meaning we need to lose a few pounds before we go).

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

2 pkgs. House Brand Tofu Shirataki Noodles - Spaghetti or Angel Hair shaped
3 tilapia filets, rinse and pat dry

For fish:
2 T. lemon juice
1/4 t. dried oregano
1/8 t. dried basil
1/8 t. dried cilantro
1 pinch salt and pepper

For noodles:
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese (fresh is better, but from the can is ok too)
1 t. lemon juice
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. dried basil
1/4 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. dried cilantro
1 pinch of salt and pepper

Boil noodles in salted water for 5-7 minutes.  Drain and dry.  Sprinkle fish with fish ingredients.  Pan sear for about 2 minutes on each side (until flakey and brown). Remove from pan.  Add noodles back to pan, add cheese and stir.  Then add other noodles ingredients, toss and divide noodles onto two plates.  Top with tilapia.

Enjoy!

Dukan Diary Entry #9

It's been a crazy week or so for both of us...we haven't had time to post new recipes lately.  Good news is the female half of this couple is down almost 12 pounds.  Her original goal was 20 pounds, but still considering stopping at 15 pounds...but then again, maybe will stick to the 20 pound goal.  The male half of this couple is feeling good, no alerts from the doctor about high cholesterol.  Bad news is our Cruise phase was supposed to end last week but since we haven't met our goal (well the female's goal) we are sticking to Cruise.

We noticed the simple eating as compared to eating with lots of sauces and cheeses (even though they are non or low fat) really sped up the weight loss.  The female half started some toning exercises so she's noticed some weight gain, but the clothes are still getting looser.

We have an upcoming trip to Vancouver planned so we've been busy researching what we might want to do, etc.  We hope to be in Consolidation by then or should we say, we are setting that as a goal, to be on Consolidation by the beginning of October.  It's an ambitious goal seeing as how our weight hasn't melted off like many of the other Dukan'ers but we're going to try!

We'll probably be making more fish dishes in the next couple of weeks and eating fat-free turkey hot dogs.

If anyone has any Vancouver or Vancouver Island travel tips they would like to share, please do!

Dukan Sake Salmon en Papillote

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID:  Good, but doesn't care for baby bok choy
SHE SAID: Very good, but needed more sake

Sake Salmon En Papillote

This week as Costco shopping week and we love the huge slab of salmon in the "fresh" section of Costco, not the frozen pieces.  The fish is previously frozen, but it tastes great.  This week we also discovered "en papillote" cooking...we've seen it and we did something similar with our foil packet crock pot fish recipes on this site, but we never tried the parchment paper way.  After researching several recipes and "how to's", we decided to cook our salmon this way.  This was another great article about en papillote.

Although we overcooked our packets, these turned out great and we're looking forward to cooking this way with other sauces and flavors.  This recipe was very mild in flavor, if you're looking for something with more flavor try using fish sauce, more spices, miso paste, etc.  

RECIPE
Serves 2
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 8-10 minutes (this is the adjusted time)

3 - 2" wide pieces of salmon filets, rinse and pat dry
4 bunches of baby bok choy or other greens, rinsed and chopped
1 can straw mushrooms (or any other mushrooms), rinsed
salt and pepper
6 T. sake (or dry white wine)
1 inch piec of garlic, sliced thinly
3-5 green onions, sliced
3 - 15 inch pieces of parchment paper cut into heart shapes

Sake Salmon En Papillote (Before)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  In the center of one half of parchment paper is where you want to place your food.  Layer a couple slices of garlic, then mushrooms, then greens.  Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste, pour 1 T. sake on the pile of food then a couple more slices of ginger, the fish, more salt and pepper, another T. of sake, then top the pile with green onions.

Close parchment paper, place in baking pan.  Repeat with the remaining ingredients.  Bake for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Cajun Inspired Chicken Pasta

RECIPE RATING:
We liked the sauce, but it wasn't spicy enough.

Cajun Inspired Chicken Pasta

This recipe needs a little work, but if you want a hint of cajun seasoning and are not big on spicy food, you may enjoy this.  We decided to give the House Brand Tofu Fettuccine shaped noodles another try and at first we were ready to swear them off.  We made this dish last night to take to work for lunch today....we sampled it last night, the noodles were rubbery like our first Fettuccine dish.  However, after microwaving the dish for almost 4 minutes on medium high heat, the noodles softened a bit and don't taste too bad.

The strange thing about the House Brand tofu noodles is they are a bit chewy and we're used to that taste/texture since as Asians we grew up eating konnyaku/shirataki noodles in Asian dishes.  We guess it's a mental thing!  Not sure we'll run out and buy more Fettuccine shaped noodles :-)

We were going to add 1/2 a red onion sliced, but we forgot to pick one up.  Also, the original recipe called for a medium tomato chopped, but since the male half of this couple doesn't care for chopped tomatoes, we left those out.

RECIPE
Serves 2
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken (thighs or tenderloins), cut into strips or 1 inch cubes
2 pkgs. House Brand Tofu Fettuccine Shaped Noodles, boiled for 5-8 minutes
Cajun seasoning (we should have used 3 t.), see below for recipe
1 small red bell pepper, sliced or chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c. fat free evaporated milk
2 t. cornstarch

Boil pasta and drain.  Toss chicken with 3/4 of the cajun seasoning mix.  Stir fry chicken with a little bit of olive oil spray until no longer pink.  Remove and keep warm.  In the same pan, saute peppers (if you're using onions, saute them with the peppers) for about 1 minute.  Add garlic and saute another minute.  Stir in 3/4 c. of milk.  Bring to a boil.  Combine remaining cajun seasoning with milk and cornstarch until smooth.  Gradually stir milk mixture into peppers.  Cook for about 1-2 minutes or until thickened.  Return chicken to the pan, heat.  Add pasta and toss.

Cajun seasoning recipe
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/8 t. cayenne pepper

Enjoy!

Dukan Broiled Lobster with Ginger Soy Sauce

RECIPE RATING:
We enjoyed this also.

Lobster Tails

The female half of this couple has always liked her lobster plain, no butter...enjoyed the pure taste of lobster.  We went to dinner at a teppanyaki restaurant the night before and the chef let us take some of their shoyu (soy sauce) ginger dipping sauce.  It was so good.  It probably had a little bit of sugar in it also, we decided to use the sauce any way.

These lobster tails came from Costco and were broiled in the oven for about 8 - 10 minutes.  Spray them with a little bit of olive oil spray, salt and pepper, a splash of lemon juice and a splash of dry white wine.  It was great....but then again, we like our lobster very plain.

Dukan Baked Tilapia

RECIPE RATING:
We actually enjoyed this.

Baked Tilapia

We were a bit skeptical about using oat bran as a coating even though other Dukan-ers have used it successfully.  It just didn't sound appetizing.  We found a recipe for Baked Tilapia on a low fat recipe website which we Dukan'd by changing the breadcrumbs out for oat bran and adding some italian seasoning instead of just oregano as the recipe called for.

This recipe is simple and you can use a variety of spices...not just italian seasoning.   You can also use different types of fish for this recipe.

RECIPE
Serves 2
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 8-12 minutes (425 degrees Fahrenheit)

4 tilapia filets (ours were very thin)
1/2 c. fine oat bran (if you have a grinder, grind your oat bran up)
1/4 c. parmesan cheese, grated (the kind from the can)
1 t. garlic powder or garlic salt
1 t. italian seasoning (next time we will use 2 t..we love this stuff)

Mix all dry ingredients (we put our mixture on a plate).  Rinse and pat dry fish.  Spray fish lightly with olive oil spray, coat fish with oat bran mixture, spray fish lightly again, coat one more time with oat bran mixture.  Place coated fish in a foil lined pan (spray foil lightly with olive oil spray).  We sprayed our coated fish lightly.  Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-12 minutes or until fish flakes easily.

We sprayed our fish a little too much so some sections were soggy, but it still tasted great.

Enjoy!

Dukan Pan Seared Scallops

RECIPE RATING:
We loved these scallops.

Pan Seared Scallops

We actually prefer eating our fresh scallops raw on sushi rice...mmmm.  These were frozen scallops from Costco and they made a great pan seared addition to our dinner.  It was simple and light although we still prefer our scallops raw.

We had these on a pure protein day (with a lobster tail each), but the leftovers went well on our protein veggie day with some stir fried red bell peppers.  If you don't like raw scallops, you may want to cook these a little longer.

RECIPE:
Serves 2
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: approx 6-8 minutes

16 scallops, thawed and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
dried chives, approx 1-2 t.
1/4 c. dry white wine

Use high heat on stove top.  Spray pan with a little bit of olive oil spray.  Season scallops with salt and pepper.  Place scallops in pan, sear scallops approximately 3 minutes per side, if you prefer your scallops cooked, pan fry them longer.  When almost done, pour in wine and chives, toss.  Serve immediately.

Enjoy!