Creamy herbal chicken!

Hey!

Don't let the headline fool you. Of course this is not made with chicken. However it used to be. This was one of my favourite meals with chicken and after finding the quorn fillets I used for the Ceasar Salad I noticed it is just as good with them! I originally found a recipe with this creme fraiche mix years back. It was when I wanted to cook meals without making an effort, wanted everything to be done fast. A major dairy company launched a bunch of flavoured creme fraiches and I had two solid favourites, one with shallots and this one, with garlic and herbs. It was so creamy and rich compared to other garlic and herb sauces I tried. After a while, a few years or so, they disappeared from the shelves. I sobbed for quite a while and wondered if I ever would make this dish again.

Then came the day. The company Créme Bonjour had sold the series of sauces and relaunched them under a new name. My beloved shallot was gone, but the garlic and herb one remained. I used to make this with pasta and could substitute it with the low carb pasta I eat now days but I think the greens make up for it anyway. Let's just say I don't miss the pasta bit. I can't remember the original recipe as I've come to make this the same way year after year but I simply love it. So I present you, creamy herbal chicken! I understand it is your loss if this product isn't sold where you live. But this is a shout out to check your dairy section for a cooking base of some sort. There are a lot of low carb ones to buy, at least here. 

RECIPE for two big servings

1 Creme Bonjour Cousine Vitlök & Örter (Garlic and Herbs)
1 zucchini
150 grams of frozen haricots verts
1 smaller red onion
1 package, about 100 grams of feta cheese
2 large or 4 small filets of quorn

Cooking?

1. Chop the greens into desired pieces. Put zucchini in a frying pan on low heat with a bit of olive oil.
2. Chop the fillets into desired pieces. Add to the frying pan and turn the heat up. Cooking time!
3. Then add the haricots verts, I like them non-chopped. Do what you please. Who am I to tell you different? Right?
4. When it all seem to be cooked, add the onions. 
5. Cut the feta cheese into cubes. 
6. Stir in the herb sauce and add the feta cheese. Ones it's heated you're good to season and eat!

Thai Wok!

Hey!

Before I started eating keto I ate a somewhat general low carb diet. As my stomach problems evolved I had to cut out a few specific items from my meal, such as rice. Shortly I found myself eating GI-food (we call it GI here in Sweden, do you call it something else?), you know, the diet where you can eat carbs as long as they are good carbs that keep you full, so called slow carbs. One of my problems with changing diet was giving up Thai Food. I could eat springrolls and fried rice and deep fried chicken all day long if I could afford it. Suddenly, there was only one thing on the menu I could eat without getting cramps. That was fried egg noodles with chicken and vegetables. Every time we had thai food, that was my meal. Number 72. Mmm, I want that so much right now...

But giving up thai food was easier when my mother in law did a homemade wok that tasted great. It sure didn't taste as the one I was used to eat, but it was still awesome. It is a very adaptable recipe as you could swap any ingredient you want as long as the core stays the same. I suppose I could tell you that just this moment, when writing the recipe I noticed I forgot the broccoli and shredded cabbage in my wok :( I blame my pre-dinner meeting that kept me pre-occupied after. But you know what? It was still delicious.

I know that a lot of vegetarians are conservative with stock, broths and such. With all rights. I am new to this diet and even though I noticed my ethics to change over the last month (for example, I planned to eat fish every now and then, but that sort of repulses me now) but the one about stock hasn't changed yet. Therefor this recipe has a bit of chicken fond in it (concentrated stock) but you can swap that to vegetable one of exclude it with no problem. I will next time.

RECIPE for a biiiig bowl of wooked greens. 

Zucchini

Mushrooms

Carrots

Broccoli

Bell peppers

Cabbage

Leek

Red chili

Low carb noodles (optional, I don't feel a need to use them so I don't)

Chicken/vegetable fond

1 tbs mushroom soy sauce

2 tbs sweet chili sauce

But... how do I cook it?

Well. You just toss the stuff in a woking pan and go! Ok, I'll write it down anyway.

1. Chop the carrots and zucchini and put in a heated woking pan (or frying pan if you don't have a woking one, it will do just fine but you'll have to do the blending bits yourself when done!) All the vegetables are listed without amount as I adapt to how many servings I make. I tend to think a handful of each ingredient and two of mushrooms per serving. You'll notice if it is enough for you!
2. Finely chop the red pepper and add into the wok. Adding this early on will bring more heat to the wok than if you add it in the end, as it will cook with all ingredients and not just lay on top.
3. Chop the remaining vegetables and add the ones with longer cooking time first. Keep woking, making sure the vegetables mix with the chili. My order would be somewhat of this:
   Broccoli, mushrooms, cabbage, bell peppers, leek.
4. Once you added the last vegetable, drizzle the soy sauce and sweet chili sauce over the wok and mix it all around. Then add the fond, just a bit to give flavour, not to cook and make the wok more wet than it is (cooking the greens releases a bit of water). Stir around a bit and then let it cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Use a spagetti tool (or other scooping tool that won't bring any water) to fill your bowls. Enjoy!