All Kinds of Ugly Green Beans

I know these are anything but attractive, but you will just have to trust me when I say they are delicious. Erik and Tanner don't even miss french fries anymore when we make hamburgers and Erik even bought more green beans last week and requested that I make more.

These make a great low carb snack or a great accompaniment to any meal you might normally have fries with.

There are a couple of ways you can bake these...longer time at a lower temp (which I've heard yields better results if you are wanting them a bit crispy) or at a higher temp for a shorter amount of time. I've only done the latter so far and the result is a kind of chewy texture. I'm going to give the other method a try to see how they taste crispy. I'll include instructions for both methods.

Ingredients:

-1 lb green beans (many swear by frozen, but so far, I've used fresh) Canned green beans have too much moisture so don't try them.
-1 to 2 tblsp EVOO
-sea salt
-Tony Cachere's Original Creole Seasoning (this is optional, but it gives them a slight kick that I love!)

Directions:

1. If you are using fresh green beans, snap off the ends and throw in a ziplock baggie. When you are done preparing the beans, pour 1-2 tblsp into the baggie and close and then mix up the beans until they are completely coated with the oil. If you are using frozen, just snip off the top of the bag and pour 1-2 tblsp of EVOO into the bag and mix until coated.

2. Pour onto a shallow metal cookie sheet or baking pan and sprinkle with kosher salt and cachere's seasoning. The Cachere's seasoning has salt in it so be mindful of this.

3. CRISPY BAKING INSTRUCTIONS: If you want to try the crispy method, bake at 275º for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the beans are turning dark and crispy but not burnt. After about half an hour, flip using a spatula and sprinkle with cachere's seasoning and a bit more salt. You can continue to flip every 30 minutes, but I wouldn't season them more than twice. You may need to keep a close eye on them towards the end as they can go from crisp and tasty to charcoal quickly.

FASTER BAKING INSTRUCTIONS: I put the oven at 400. After about 30 minutes I use a spatula to flip them and then sprinkle the other side with Cachere's and a bit of sea salt. Bake for another 20 and flip again until they start to brown. I had a few come out crispy using this method so if you cook them long enough, they might crisp up for you however, I've been told the slower method is great for crisping up the outside and leaving the inside kind of soft and sweet (almost like a fried onion).

4. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in a baggie and microwave for a minute or so to crisp back up.

Number of Servings: 6

Get complete nutritional information for this here

Protein Packed Broccoli Salad

It may not sound like all of these ingredients could possibly come together to make something edible, much less delicious, but I'm here to tell you that you are in for a pleasant surprise! This is another recipe I've looted from All Recipes and adapted to suit those who might be watching carbs, fat, or both.

This has become a favorite of mine because of its tangy sweet flavor and because it allows me to eat some veggies and increase my protein consumption at the same time. As a VSGer, I know that I have to get protein in first and quite honestly, by the time I've done that, I don't have a lot of room for veggies or anything else and I started to miss them. I can actually have a few bites of this without feeling like I'm sacrificing protein for the chance to nibble on something different.

This is a favorite of Tanner's too, he loves it!

Ingredients:
• 10 slices of turkey bacon (I use Oscar Meyer)
• 1 head of fresh broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
• ¼ cup of red onion, chopped
• ½ cup of raisins or green seedless grapes (I prefer the grapes)
• 3 tblsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tblsp splenda
• 1 cup low fat or fat free Mayo (note most of the fat comes from the mayo and the sunflower seeds)
• 1 cup sunflower seeds (optional; it tastes really good without them, but they add protein and good fats)

Directions:

1. Cut broccoli into bite-sized pieces and throw in a cold pot with water. Bring to a boil and then immediately strain and set aside. This will soften up the broccoli, but still leave it firm with a bit of crunch. It will also help preserve all the nutrients in the vegetable.
2. Fry bacon according to the instructions and set aside. When cool, chop it up.
3. In medium sized bowl, combine broccoli, onion and grapes/raisins. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, splenda and mayo (when I make it, I don’t do this, I just throw everything in one bowl and then mix it all together because I’m lazy like that).

If you just LOVE doing dishes and want to be a hot shot chef and do everything “by the book” then by all means, grab that extra bowl and mix the vinegar, splenda and mayo together and then pour over broccoli mixture and toss until well mixed.

Note for Bariatric Eaters: If you are a bariatric eater, you can add some unflavored protein powder like Pure Unflavored Protein Isolate to the mayo mixture. If you are adding the protein powder, then I would recommend mixing the mayo mixture separately, adding the protein powder, mixing it up well and letting it sit for about 5 minutes. Stir it again and then add to the broccoli mixture. Pure will add between 12-24g of protein to the entire recipe depending on how many scoops you use.

4. Refrigerate for at least two hours. The longer the better actually as it allows all the flavors to come together. It is great made the day before.
5. Before serving, toss salad with the bacon and sunflower seeds.

Serves 12
Nutritional Information: 130 calories, 8 carbs, 10g fat, 5.5g protein

If the fat content scares those of you who aren’t eating the minuscule portions Bariatric Eaters are eating, you can try reducing the amount of turkey bacon (which comprises 30g in the whole recipe) or reducing the amount of sunflower seeds (64g in 1 cup).

Using fat-free mayo instead of low-fat mayo may reduce your fat further, but it may also increase the carb count so if you are carb-conscious, you may want to stick with regular mayo or low-fat.