Margaret's Lower Sugar Zuchini Bread (featuring Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb)

his is the last of the Laughing Cow recipes and for this one we didn't put the cheese in it but on it!

Like I said before, the original plan was to have an exotic pork smashed meatball topped with the cheese but alas the recipe went terribly wrong somewhere. It was dry and crumbly and just didn't taste very good (PLEASE NOTE: See? Even I have recipe fails sometimes!).

Thankfully Margaret had two loaves of wonderfully yummy smelling zucchini bread on which we could try our Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb cheese. Now, I know what you're thinking. "Nik, traditional zucchini bread is sweet. You put garlic & herb cheese on it???"

Notice that in the recipes I suggested for the cheese (Savory Cheesecake w/ Sausage & Crab Topping and Grilled Pear with Herb & Cheese topping, respectively) I've played with the notion of how sweet, savory and salty go together. Many folks see "cheesecake" and think dessert, but my savory cheesecake is more like a healthy, comfort food dinner. And many people might scrunch their noses at a pear stuffed with cheese and basil then drizzled with caramel but then you'd be missing out on some intense culinary pleasures.

So bottom line: Play With Your Food, people! It can be very rewarding.

Again, I'm going to send you to Margaret's blog, Feed My Sleeve, for the full recipe BUT I wanted to provide a few swap notes:

• You can use an equivalent amount of Carbquik or Atkins Mix (note this product is being discontinued by Atkins! I'm so sad! But that is to say the price in that link is NOT the normal price. If you come across a bag locally, grab it!) for the flour she suggests, although it's noteworthy that she made hers with wheat flour which would be acceptable if you are making it for the family. Again, your guts, your home, your choice!
• If you use CQ or Atkins alone you do not need to add the baking powder called for in Margaret's recipe. It already contains baking powder.
• However, if you want to replace any part of the CQ/Atkins with protein powder (in this case I think 2 or 3 scoops in place of 1/2 c. of flour would probably work fine) you need to leave that baking powder in!
• For my dumpers: Splenda Brown Sugar Blend does have some real sugar in it. Take heed! If you want to avoid all sugar, get your favorite sugar substitute for baking. Since Splenda measures 1:1 for sugar just measure your sugar substitute against sugar and you should be fine. You don't necessarily need a brown sugar substitute (although you may want one for the sake of color). In traditional recipes, brown sugar is used when a certain texture is desired (the molasses in brown sugar can make things more dense, surfaces more crispy, etc.) or for color. 

Since Margaret endowed me with a HUGE zucchini from her garden that's held up well through my recent travel, I think I actually might try my hand at making mini-zucchini loaves (much like my mini-banana loaves) out of Atkins Mix. If I do, I shall report back!

Stuffed Portabella Mushroom featuring Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Cheese

Dear Foodies who hate mushrooms:

While I do not apologize for this dish, I understand. You feel about mushrooms the way I feel about… … (trying to think of something I don’t like…) … oh, terragon! I hate terragon. So yes, I can empathize!

But rest assured the other Laughing Cow recipes I developed are mushroom free and delicious. Check back throughout this week as I share how Bariatric Foodie imagines the possibilities with The Laughing Cow!

To everyone else:

So I bought this Portabella Mushroom. And I’d never cooked one before so I was a bit nervous about the whole thing. I mean I’d eaten one before and loved it but never cooked one. I asked for suggestions on Facebook and Twitter but finally I decided, you know what, I’m gonna use what’s in my refrigerator! I have an abundance of veggies that need using and it seemed wasteful to go out and buy more food, especially considering I’m leaving town in two days!

So here’s what I came up with.

Nik’s Baked Stuffed Portabella featuring Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Cheese

Ingredients

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 1 Portabella mushroom, cleaned, stemmed and “spongy part” gills removed
• 2 tbsp. diced onions
• 2 tbsp. finely diced zucchini
• 2 tbsp. finely diced yellow squash
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 wedges Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb cheese
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp. Herbs de Provence (or fresh herbs of your choosing work well too!)
• 1 heaping tablespoon your favorite shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Clean outside of mushroom with a damp paper towel and then spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Use salt and pepper as desired.

Spray down a small skillet and sautee the onions, squash, zucchini and garlic until just tender.

In a bowl, thoroughly mix together Laughing Cow wedges and egg. Add vegetables.

Place mushroom in a baking pan that’s been coated with nonstick and pour egg/cheese/veggie mixture in. Top with shredded cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until egg mixture is set, cheese is brown on top and the mushroom has flattened considerably.

I garnished with fresh diced tomatoes (I liked the pop of color).

WARNING: A full-size Portabella is going to yield more than one serving. My advice? Let it cool for a few minutes and slice it like a pizza. It keeps for 2-3 days in the fridge and if you’re ok with reheated food, this reheats well in the microwave. If you’re not good with reheated food then you might consider either halving the filling recipe and using baby bellas OR sharing this recipe with someone you love, who also loves mushrooms.

Enjoy!

BF Cook-along: Butter Garlic Herb Tilapia w/ Squash and Cheesy Cauliflower

Obligatory "Fed" Disclaimer: When clicking links in this blog post related to products, you will be redirected to sites where those products are available for purchase. If you purchase products through those links, a portion of the sale price is paid back to Bariatric Foodie. 

I really enjoy doing these cook-alongs on Facebook. It holds me accountable to cooking lunch for the week and gives you guys a look into my warped thought process!

So this week I got some beautiful stuff at the farmer's market, including HUGE zucchini (I always overbuy), some yellow squash (my grandma called them "crook-necks"). Since I had such an abundance I decided to start my cook-along there.

Indulge me a memory. As a kid my now late mother (who I call "Mama Foodie") did not believe in kitchen machinery. Food processors offended her sensibilities and a mandolin slicer? Get outta here! Nope. Instead...she had me.

Now when I was younger I resented this, especially because my brothers got to watch tv while I was being forced to chop veggie after veggie after veggie. But the good part about this (for you and for me) is that I can chop darn near anything, any way, really fast! These days I do so to honor my mom's memory. It almost feels like we're still cooking together.

S'anyway, that's all to say that when I looked at the whole squash and zucchini, in my mind's eye what I saw was this:

And I knew that I wanted to do a "flavor build-up" as I call it. In my world, this is where you layer flavors so that when they cook in an oven they all come together in a glorious marriage of nummyness! To start I made the world's simplest butter garlic herb sauce:

Nik's "Really Simple" Butter Garlic Herb Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter (if you don't use butter...use what you use)
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp Herbs de Provence (if you don't have this French herb blend handy use the herbs you like. Italian seasoning also works!)
• Salt/pepper to taste
• Optional (but I used) A splash (I'd estimate about 2-3 tbsp) white wine

Directions:

Set a pan over a medium flame and add your butter.

Once it melts, throw in the garlic and herbs and mix it with a whisk or a fork.

After it gets to a simmering boil, add the wine and cook an additional minute or two.

NOM! Once I tasted it I poured it over my veggies and I knew just what protein I wanted to stick on top. TILAPIA!

I love tilapia although I don't eat it very often (don't ask me why, there is no good reason!). So I put a few frozen filets on top of the veggies and seasoned them with salt, a generous dose of black pepper (I am a fan) and a sprinkle more of Herbs de Provence. And into a pre-heated 350 oven they went for 35 minutes! It came out looking (and smelling!) lovely. Check it:

Now, I'm all into eating healthy but I also whole-heartedly believe that every meal should have some little indulgence. One might argue that the butter in the fish is indulgence but considering the butter made up 200 calories, split among four portions, I think I have room to play with my food!

I had a bag of cauliflower I'd thawed then promptly forgot about it so I needed to use it. I wanted cheesy mashed cauliflower but my original recipe calls for more cauliflower than I had and, frankly, I didn't want to get stuck eating it for two weeks! So I worked out a quickie version.

Nik's Quicky Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 shredded cheese of your choice
• 1 bag cauliflower florets, cooked and mashed
• An additional sprinkle of cheese over the top

Basically you make a simple pan cheese sauce by letting your milk come up to a slow simmer in a pan. Add the cheese once the milk is hot and stir well. I used the same pan I'd made the butter garlic herb sauce so I had that good pan crud (and residual butter!) working for me. You may have to stir a few moments to get it to melt down completely but eventually it should look like this:

Transfer your cauliflower to a pan (I used an 8x8) and pour the cheese on top. Sprinkle a little extra cheese on top (and to keep with the Herbs de Provence theme, I sprinkled some of that on too). Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes or until cheese on top is browned!

Who stole a bite???

I love these kinds of dinners. They confuse my kids because it feels like they have had a starch when they have not! But it's still good! 

If you wanna join in on the cook-along fun, be sure to tune into Bariatric Foodie's Facebook Page on Sunday nights. That's when I usually do a cook-along. If I do one during a different time I usually send out an event invite.

Until then, keep playing with your food!