Banting Friendly Dinner Ideas: Salmon, Spinach & Mushrooms

After our recent trip to Borneo (where the slabs of Cadbury's chocolate gave me a shove right off the Banting bandwagon) I am back on track again thanks to meals like this one that Farmboy put together. It's quick and simple to prepare and doesn't require anything too fancy (you could substitute the salmon steaks for any fish and sub the blue cheese for whatever you have in your fridge) but the flavors would then change.

These flavours blended together perfectly and made for a very yummy meal.

Directions

1. Place a pot of water on the boil and steam your spinach.

2. Fry the fish in a blob of butter and roughly chopped garlic until cooked through.

While your fish is frying in the pan, heat up your oven & place button mushrooms onto a tray with chunks of cheese on top of each mushroom. Place into the oven for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted 

Serve your salmon with a slice of lemon &  topped with the spinach (and don't forget to drizzle the garlic butter sauce from the frying pan over your spinach).

Zucchini Noodles: Low Carb Banting Pasta Recipe

One thing I really miss since I started Banting is PASTA! I used to eat a lot of pasta, mostly because it was an easy meal to put together no matter how domestically challenged I may be in the kitchen. My friend and fellow blogger, Komodoness, made these noodles for me one night and I was shocked at just how 'pasta' like they tasted. I mean, they don't taste exactly like pasta, but with zero calories they are as good to your hips as your taste buds and will most certainly satisfy those carb cravings.

You could use these noodles with any pasta sauce (they would taste just as good with the lasagna and cream cheese mince from my Banting Lasagna recipe). 

This recipe is super easy and can be modified in so many ways. Once you have your zucchini noodles (or zoodles!) you can chop and change with whatever toppings you have available in your fridge or pantry. For this particular recipe I made a white sauce (adapted from The Keto Diet Blog), added bacon and some chopped up dried garlic and onion flakes.

How to make Zucchini Noodles

You need:

2-3 large zucchini's

Peeler/Grater (you can either use a regular cheese grate and hold the zucchini on it's side to create longer noodles, or you can use a Julienne peeler. I use the Verimark Shogun Peeler which I brought over with my from South Africa)

Directions

Simply peel your zucchinis, placing the 'noodles' in a large bowl. Depending on how crunchy you like your noodles you can either add them as they are now to your sauce, or if you want them softer you can steam/microwave them for a few minutes. Keep in mind that Zucchinis hold a lot of water which will be released when cooking/steaming. 

Banting White Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream 
• 2 tbsp butter
• ¼ cup cream cheese or soft goat cheese 
• ½ cup grated cheddar or hard goat cheese
• 1-2 tbsp water or more cream if you need to thin it down

Directions

1. Place the cream and butter into a small sauce pan and gently heat up. Grate the cheddar cheese and keep aside
2. Once heated, add the cream cheese into the sauce pan
3. Stir until melted and bring to a simmer. Once you see bubbles, take off the heat
4. Add grated cheddar cheese and mix until smooth and creamy. If you prefer a thicker sauce, cook for 3-5 more minutes while stirring. If too thick, add a splash of water or cream.
5. The sauce should be eaten immediately or kept at room temperature before serving. Once refrigerated and reheated, the butter separates and the cheese clumps which you want to avoid.

Bacon & Cream Sauce Zucchini Noodles

1. Prepare your Zucchini noodles following the recipe above
2. Fry your bacon in a large pan big enough to hold all your noodles
3. With the bacon fat, prepare your sauce with the cooked bacon, stirring to ensure the bacon doesn't burn
4. Add noodles and stir on high hight for a few minutes until your noodles are coated in sauce. For crunchier noodles serve right away with a sprinkle of parmesan, salt & pepper. If you want softer noodles, leave noodles on the heat and keep stirring for a few more minutes before serving.

Happy cooking!