Meatless Fridays: Mediterranean Shrimp & Quinoa Salad/Cajun Tuna Burger

So I had my blog post all written and then I realized something. It was tuna. And last week was tuna. I don’t want you all to think Meatless Fridays is ALL about tuna. It’s just my go-to for quickie meals and lunches. So while I am going to post my original recipe which is what I’m having for lunch, I will also post what I am having for dinner. To get out the tuna box. Mind you…this is Mediterranean and last week’s recipe was too but that’s more a testament to the fact that I actually USE my ingredients until they are gone. I am many things peeps…in the position to waste food is not one of them!

This salad is made with quinoa. If you’ve never tasted quinoa you should. It’s not rice, it’s a grain and it’s a complete protein source (meaning it’s got at least 8 out of 9 of the essential amino acids in it). It can stand in the place of rice, couscous, orzo, or risotto in a dish. It’s got a different texture than rice or even wild or brown rice (it’s chewier) but it takes on flavors well, works great in cold salads and gives you a lot of fiber and protein for what you spend in carbs. So…without further adieu…

Nikki’s Mediterranean Shrimp and Quinoa Salad

1 cup of cooked quinoa
1 lb. shrimp, tails off, deveined and cut in half
10 grape tomatoes, halved
¼ c. chopped red onion
6-8 kalimata olives, pitted and chopped
¼ cup reduced fat feta cheese
½ cup Ken’s Light Northern Italian Dressing
A few shakes of oregano and dried basil
A bit of Parmesan cheese for the top


Basically you just put all this in a bowl, mix it up and refrigerate. The longer you let it linger in the fridge, the more intense the flavor. This is really filling and good to make in batches and eat on throughout the week.
Ok…so with that out of the way…here is the original recipe I was going to post.

One of my favorite things to make when I don’t want to fuss in the kitchen is tuna burgers. They come together easily (seriously…they take like 5 minutes to mix up a batch), are simple to cook and the only limit to the flavors is your own imagination.

I personally can’t do hamburgers (not even turkey…something about the coming together of ground meat seems to offend my pouch). I can do bites of a hamburger but even if I make a teeny one it doesn’t go so well. Tuna burgers give me the opportunity to sandwich something between two pieces of (low-carb, whole-grain) bread and eat it.
So for my offering today I present:

Nikki’s Spicy Cajun Tuna Burger

1 can of tuna (do not drain)
¼ cup textured vegetable protein (TVP), dry (if you are saying to yourself, “what is TVP?” click here)
1 egg white
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tbsp Cajun spice blend
Optional: chopped onions or scallions
Directions:

Empty the contents of tuna can into a bowl and add TVP. Mix well and let stand for a few minutes so that the TVP can soak up the excess moisture

Add all spices and mix well again.

Add egg whites and mix again. If mixture seems too wet, add a tablespoon or so more TVP and mix

Heat a sprayed skillet. Take up some of your tuna mixture and form a patty. There will be some excess liquid and the mixture will be somewhat loose, Trust me, it’ll hold together.

Place the patty in the skillet and cook about 2 minutes or so. GENTLY flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

Remove from pan and serve!

I eat mine on a whole-wheat Arnold Sandwich Thin with shredded cheese of some sort (sort of a tuna melt type deal) but it is also good as a wrap and you can also make tuna “meatballs” if you are newer post-op and can’t eat a whole patty. I think it’d also be fun to do tuna sliders…but that’s because I’m weird like that.

Irish Coffee Protein Shake

St. Paddy's Day is still a ways away, but I am in the mood to be Irish for a minute. Indulge me.

This protein shake reminds me of the Bailey's Irish Creme ice cream I used to eat when I was a kid. Interestingly enough, I have only had real Irish coffee (made by Irish people no less) once in my life. I can't do the full throttle thing now that I am on the "modified gut" plan, but I have the memories...

Irish Coffee Protein Shake

1 c. skim milk
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
1 tbsp instant decaf coffee
3 or 4 pumps SF Irish Creme syrup

And...this may sound strange...but if you want it to taste REALLY boozy...

1 pump SF Butter Rum syrup (I know that rum and whiskey aren't the same thing but until Davinci makes whiskey flavored syrup...this is what we have...)

Directions: Put it in a blender and whiz it. If you like monster sized shakes like I do, throw in a few cubes of ice and whiz again. Pour in a pretty glass and top with whippage.

Enjoy!

Meatless Fridays: Mediterranean Tuna

So I'm not doing the meat thing on Fridays. Which means I gotta get protein without meat (scary).

This idea came from Whole Foods. I was there one day and bought some mediterranean tuna salad ($4 for 4 oz.) and thought "I could make this myself for way cheaper."

It utilizes a bunch of stuff you probably already have in your kitchen and it is good. These are served with a side of Kay's Naturals Parmesan protein crisps, but these days I much prefer Glenny's Soy Crisps (lightly salted flavor for this recipe).

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

1 can of tuna, drained
3-4 large black olives, pitted and sliced (or 1 tbsp already sliced black olives from the can)
2-3 tbsp unflavored greek style yogurt
1 tsp (not tbsp...tsp) low-fat mayonnaise
2 tbsp (1 oz.) chopped tomato
2 tbsp (1 oz.) crumbled feta cheese (I used fat free feta...I dare you to say that five times fast!)
2 tbsp onion (any kind you like. I like vidalia), diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put everything except greek yogurt and mayo in a bowl and mix together

Add yogurt and mayo and mix it in to thoroughly coat.

Serve over a lettuce garnish (as shown), in a Flatout wrap, on an Arnold Thin or any other way you might like it!

I promise...

Well it's Lent kids. For all non-Christians or non-spiritual people, Lent is the Christian season leading up to Easter. One Lent tradition is to sacrifice something for the 40 days of Lent to make you more mindful of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Every year I lament on what to give up. I don't necessarily do this because I am a devout Christian (have you heard my life story lately???? Single mom of two kids who has little to no interest in ever being anybody's wife...), but because I often get so bogged down in my own issues that I forget to care about my fellow man. Sacrificing makes me more mindful of people out there who don't have as much as me and I like that yearly reminder, even if I do forget it two days after Easter.

Last year I gave up peanut butter. It nearly killed me. But I got through it and the exercise did what it was supposed to do. This year I lamented for a long time of what I should give up and I have decided, after much contemplation, to give up noshing. For those unfamiliar with how I use this term, noshing (to me) = grazing. Grazing is generally bad for WLS patients. Some of us do it anyway. It hasn't had a negative impact on the scale (yet) but it is something I came to enjoy doing (a little too much). 

All this is to say that you should expect report-backs--most likely very comical ones--as I try to keep faithful to my Lenten promise. Also I'm going to try to report on my "meatless Fridays" (a harkening back to my days as a Catholic gal) because it is entirely possible to have high protein/no meat days.

So stay tuned kids. I'll make this the most entertaining Lent season you ever had!

My mind is telling me noooooo....

But my tongue...my tongue is telling me YESSSSSS!!!! (get your minds outta the gutta! Well...for all you R. Kelly fans, your mind is there with good reason but still...this is a family friendly blog...)

So Valentine's Day. Not a big fan. Love should be celebrated every day in all its forms--not just romantic. So I get a little salty on V-day...so my choco-fix this weekend was perfect.

I'm all about giving credit where credit is due. This is NOT a BF invention (although we really, really wish it was because it is GENIUS) but the concoction of a fellow RNY'er who goes by the name of Jupiter6 who, discontent to accept the calories, fat and carbs in her fave Starbucks drink, decided to take action and DO something about it! Fight the power girlfriend!

Her website is forthcoming and even though we like you to use our recipes (because we seek total bariatric nutrition domination bwahahahaha!!!!) we will be sure to pass along Jupiter6's web site with her recipes once it's all up and ready.

Until then...you have GOT to try this...this drink is especially helpful if you are a) sex deprived or b) PMS'ing...

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

8 oz Hot Water
4 oz Hood Calorie Countdown Fat Free Milk
2 teaspoons Cocoa Powder
Big splash DaVinci or Torani Caramel
Fleur de Sel or table salt (a couple shakes)
3 packs Splenda

Directions:
Pour DaVinci into BIG cup, add dry ingredients and stir until disssolved. Add milk/hot water. Stir and drink! Add whippage if you can afford it! And these 'bucks numbers are with nonfat milk AND no whipage!)

This version:     vs.                    Starbucks Version:

Cals: 52                                     Cal: 400
Fat: 1.7g                                    Fat: 15g
Carbs: 8.1                                 Carbs: 60g
Protein: 6.4                                Protein: 11

Bariatric Foodie Verdict: ...um...we can't talk right now...drinking cocoa...call back later!!!

While many have expressed the desire to put protein in this, we like it as is. Sometimes a drink can just be a drink, right?

Anyway, enjoy!

Ranch Cottage Cheese

Well...not really. The below recipe is a cross between a "happy accident" and "necessity is the mother of all invention." Here's what had happened:

I live in Baltimore and it was decided (by God, Mother Nature, or whomever you personally hail to) that Baltimore should get a gabillionty seven inches of snow over the course of a week. Before the snow hit I, like everyone else, flocked to the grocery store to get my necessities, one of which being plain cottage cheese, which I usually like to eat mixed with Splenda and PB2 (go ahead and say it...ewwwwww). S'anyway...I grabbed what I thought was plain cottage cheese and went home to settle in for the storm.

Well...a few hours and a few thousand inches of snow later I realized that I had NOT gotten plain cottage cheese but cottage cheese with chives. I was so PISSED! I wanted peanut buttery, proteiny, cottage cheese (ewwwwww...ok, ok, GET OVER IT!!! It looks gross but tastes yummy, k?). So what's a gal to do?

Nik's Cottage on the Ranch

4 oz. cottage cheese with chives
2 tsp (or to taste) dry ranch dressing mix
a few shakes of black pepper

I did this up and wanted to make it purdy (you would think so I could take a pic but noooooo...that would have made too much sense), so I got out two whole wheat Wasa crackers and sliced up some roma tomatoes and put them on top. Spooned my cottage cheese mixture on top of that and topped with a sliver of oven roasted onion (I roast veggies every week and just leave a bunch of them in a covered bowl in the fridge. They are my potato chips).

Verdict: Oh my YUM!!! I used to be very anti-savory cottage cheese. I have been more open minded lately though and I am so glad I was. Anyhoo...if you're looking for a new way to jazz up your plain cottage cheese...try this. You won't be sorry!