Spaghetti Squash "Pad Thai"

 

OK.  So it's not quite Pad Thai.  Those aren't rice noodles.  And there aren't any peanuts.  Or soy sauce.  Because those are all explicitly no-no's on the Whole30.  But it worked.  And along with the Thai Salad and Pineapple Coconut Chicken fulfilled my Thai cravings that week.  Plus I got to bash open a coconut which is (shocked?) right up my alley...

Makes: ~6 servings

Per serving: 109 calories,

11g protein,

4g fat,

7g carbs

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

2 cups bok choy, coarsely chopped

8 oz sliced mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup carrots, thinly sliced

40g almonds, ground (~1/4 cup)

1 T vinegar

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tsp Chili powder

juice from 1/2 lime

1/2 lb grilled chicken breast cut into 1" pieces

Directions:

Prepare the spaghetti squash however you'd like. I roast mine whole (because cutting that sucker in half raw almost always ends up with my knife stuck halfway through and me pretty sure I'm going to lose a finger) in the oven at 375 on a foil like baking sheet until it is easily pierced with a fork.  Depending on size, usually about 45 minutes.

* Saute bok choy, carrots, mushrooms and garlic. Saute over medium heat until tender.

 

* Add chicken broth, ground almonds, lime juice, vinegar and chili powder.  Simmer for 10 minutes.

 

* Stick it on top of your squash or toss to mix & dig in!

Thai coconut salad

 

Makes: ~6 servings

Per serving: 152 calories,

7g protein,

7g fat,

16g carbs

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut water

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup ground almonds or almond butter

1/2 T sesame oil

2 clove garlic, chopped

1/8 tsp ground cayenne

1 small onion, thinly sliced

6.5 oz mushrooms, sliced

6.5 oz bok choy, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1/2 T dried cilantro

1/2 bunch red leaf lettuce

8 cups shredded cabbage

6oz coconut 

1 chicken breast grilled and shredded

Directions:

First up, the dressing... 

Simply put everything together and puree it.  I used by food processor. You can use whatever you'd like!  Mix coconut water, chopped ginger, juice of 1 lime, 1/4 almonds, 1/2 T sesame oil, 2 clove garlic, 1/8 tsp cayenne.

  

Grill chicken breast and shred.

Saute together the onion, mushroom, bok choy, carrots and cilantro. 

   

I was excited about the mason jar packing idea so I split the ingredients evenly in 6ths and layered all of my ingredients in 6 jars as follows and had a small jar of dressing left over for later. 

-- 1.5T dressing

-- chicken

-- sauteed vegetables

-- cabbage

-- coconut

-- lettuce

Mason jar salads

I eat a lot of salad.  A lot.  It's my go to choice for lunches and portable, packable foods.  My fridge is often stocked with pre-cut produce and chopped lettuce, spinach, etc. so I can throw a combination of vegetables or fruit on something green and leafy and head out the door.  The problem with this is that I have to constantly go shopping for fresh produce.  This is not a terrible problem because for some reason I love grocery shopping but can be difficult when working long hours.  I've read a fair bit about vacuum sealing salads in mason jars and they're just so pretty I figured I'd give it a try.  Rumor is vacuum sealed lettuce with last for more than a week staying nice and crisp.  I'm not sure about that, and I don't know how salad making interferes with that longevity but I'll report back later.  

From what I've read the mason jar salad is pretty straight forward itself.  Basically wet things on the bottom and greens on top. From bottom to top:

Dressing (I use salsa).  

Tomatoes if they're chopped

Wet vegetables or those that may benefit from 'marinating' -- zucchini/squash, mushrooms... 

Vegetables that are crisp and serve as a barrier between wet and dry -- whole tomatoes, carrots, peapods... 

Protein or grains -- eggs, chicken, rice, pastas...

Lettuce or other greens

Finally any seeds nuts or final dry ingredients

I just used my standard go to produce and we'll see how these compare to my usual "day of" packed salads as we go through the week.  I had every intention of adding my grilled chicken and red onion but that seems to be forgotten.

1.  Mango salsa... One of my recipes I have apparently not yet shared here, but I often use salsa in place of salad dressing.  

 

Next veggie layers of chopped roma tomato, diced zucchini, sliced mushrooms and cucumber. 

Then a layer of carrots...

Followed by a ton of lettuce.  It's amazing how much it packs down...

Then sealing... I used the super cheap MacGyver method. Mostly because my stores don't sell the nifty vacuum sealing attachment.  More's the pity really.  I apparently can't get my fill of kitchen gadgets.   My method just requires jars and some vacuum sealer.  I used a Ziploc one I got for about $4 at Walmart.

First you'll need a hole in the top of the lid.  I poked a hole with a knife.  Then cover the whole with tape.  Something like electrical tape will probably hold up better.  I used masking tape because it's what I had in my kitchen and it worked.

     

 Then cover the taped hole with the vacuum sealer and suck out the air.  This should seal the jar so the lid is sucked down, is not easily lifted off the jar and "indented" rather than popped up and no long depress-able.  Repeat, repeat, repeat....

And, voila.  A weeks worth of neatly packed salads. 

 

To make 6 I used 6 wide mouth quart jars, lids and bands.  And added the following divided between the 6 jars in this order:

1 1/2 cups of mango salsa

1 small zucchini, diced

1 roma tomato, diced

10 oz sliced mushrooms

1/2 cucumber, sliced

 8 oz sliced carrots

1 head of iceberg lettuce

1 head of red leaf lettuce

Turkey and vegetable casserole

 

  

I thought about making meatloaf.  Then I got a whole bunch of vegetables into the mix.  And this turned into more of a vegetable medley with a little meat thrown in.  Somehow that seems to keep happening. 

Makes: 9x13 pan (12 servings)

6g carb, 11g protein, 1g fat per serving

 

Ingredients:

1 lb (16oz) ground turkey

1 egg or 3T liquid egg whites

3 large roma tomatoes halved (~300g)

2 large carrots, sliced (~200 g)

1 Anaheim pepper, sliced

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1 small zucchini, cubed

1 small onion, chopped

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 325 F

* Place tomatoes, peppers and carrots on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Spray or coat lightly with olive oil.  Place in oven and cook for 40-45 minutes.

 

* After 45 minutes, place mushrooms, zucchini and onion on baking sheet and add place in oven with other vegetables.  Continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes.  

* Increase oven temp to 350F

* Chop tomatoes and peppers into small pieces.  

* Mix vegetables with ground turkey and egg in large mixing bowl.   

* Spread evenly in a 9x13 pan. 

 

* Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. 

 

Variation... 

* This holds together moderately well.  You could easily double the meat and it would hold together much better and be more "loaf" like.  

* Add some seasoning.  I did not season this since I have 12 servings of it to eat myself I like that I can top it with some of my Apple BBQ Sauce one day and herbs the next.  If you wanted something more 'ready to eat' you could easily add it BBQ sauce, A1 sauce, ketchup, etc. or herbs and seasonings of your choice. 

* Mix and match your vegetables.  I picked an assortment of what I had on hand.  They went well together and are to my taste (thus what I keep on hand...) but is by no means the only way to do this.  Note that I resisted adding pumpkin (though it was a close call and I baked some to go with it...)