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Thai Beef Salad

If you have any leftover beef from the slow roast beef recipe that I posted a while back you can make this Asian salad quickly. All you need are Asian condiments, greens, cucumbers, bean sprouts and red onions ( if you are Scott Conant, then you can omit the red onions) .

Thai Beef Salad (adapted from the New York Times)

8 ounces eye of round beef, thinly sliced

6 cups salad greens (I like Costco's Spring Mix)

1 cup torn fresh herb leaves (mint, cilantro, Thai basil or a combination)

1/4 cup minced red onion

1 medium cucumber, peeled if skin is tough, cut in half lengthwise, seeded and diced

1 cup bean sprouts

Dressing

Juice of 2 limes

2 teaspoon Siracha Sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce or soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon splenda

1 tablespoon water

Toss greens with herbs, onion, bean sprouts and cucumber. In a bowl, combine all remaining ingredients with 1 tablespoon water; dressing will be thin. Use half of this mixture to toss with greens. Remove greens to a platter.

Slice beef thinly, reserving its juice; combine juice with remaining dressing. Lay slices of beef over salad, drizzle remaining dressing over all, and serve.

Nutritional Info (Whole Recipe)

Protein

79.6 g

Fat 13.4 g

Carbs 30.4 g

Lighter Cheat Day Cheesecake

(Espresso Swirl Cheesecake)

CHEAT DAY TREAT!!! It's gonna be legend-wait for it & I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second 1/2 of that word is DAIRY! (if you get that reference, then you've made me really happy)

Compared to a regular cheesecake (which has roughly about 264 g of fat/588 g carbs/72 g protein ) this cake has macros that any bodybuilder can appreciate during a cheat day. It freezes well, so don't be tempted to eat the whole thing in one day.

(Lighter) Authentic New York Cheesecake

adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen

Crust

9 whole low fat graham crackers

4 tbsp fat free milk

1 tbsp Splenda

Filling

1-lb 1 percent cottage cheese

8-oz fat free Greek-style yogurt

1-lb light cream cheese, room temperature (these are usually the ones sold in tubs)

1 1/2 cups splenda

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp lemon zest

1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs, room temperature

******To make espresso swirl cheesecake, omit lemon zest and substitute ¼ cup espresso or strong coffee***
For the crust: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Process the graham crackers in a food processor to fine, even crumbs, about 30 seconds. Add in milk and splenda and pulse or stir to combine, then pour crumbs into a 9‑inch springform pan and press into an even layer using the flat bottom of a measuring cup or glass. Bake the crust until fragrant (and browned around the edges), 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

For the filling:
1. While the crust cools, increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees. Line a medium bowl with a clean dish towel or several layers of paper towels. Spoon the cottage cheese into the bowl and let drain for 30 minutes (this can also be done in a fine strainer).
2. Process the drained cottage cheese in a food processor until very smooth and no visible lumps remain, about 1 minute, scraping down the bowl as needed.

3. Add the cream cheese and yogurt and continue to process until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. (Yogurt can be added with cottage cheese if you drained them together).

4. Add the splenda, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt and continue to process until smooth, about 1 minute. With the processor running, add the eggs one at a time and continue to process until smooth.

5. Being careful not to disturb the baked crust, coat the inside of the pan with vegetable oil spray. Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the cheese mixture into the cooled crust and place in the oven. (If making espresso swirl, carefully pour coffee into batter and swirl it around with a fork)

6. Bake for 10 minutes at 500F. Without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue to bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the cheesecake reads 150 degrees, about 1 hour and 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

7. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and run a paring knife around the edge of the cake. Let cool until barely warm, 21/2 to 3 hours, running a paring knife around the edge of the cake every hour or so.

8. Wrap the pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours. To serve, wrap a wet, hot kitchen towel around the springform pan and let stand for 1 minute. Remove the sides of the pan. Blot any excess moisture from the top of the cheesecake with paper towels. Let the
cheesecake stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.

Nutritional Info (Total Cake!!!!!)
Protein 134g
Fat 94 g
Carbs: 182 g
Approx cal 2,277

Guac this way (also known as my late Cinco De Mayo Post)

I love using avocados as a source of fat and I usually eat it along side my meatloaf or grilled chicken. It's also a great accompaniment with taco salad (note to self, write out taco salad recipe!).

Rick Bayless's Guacamole

-makes about 1 1/2 cups

2 medium ripe avocados

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

Salt

*I like to add a dab of Siracha, some cilantro, about 2 tablespoons of green or red peppers and about 2 tablespoons of finely chopped onions to it

Cut the avocados in half, running your knife around the pit from stem to blossom end and back up again. Twist the halves in opposite directions to free the pits and pull the halves apart. Dislodge the pits, then scoop out the avocado flesh into a medium bowl.

Mash the avocado with a large fork or potato masher. Stir in the garlic and about ½ teaspoon salt, plus any other sets of ingredients you've chosen. If your list includes the white onion, rinse it first under cold water, then shake well to rid it of excess moisture, before adding to the avocado. (This reduces the risk of having onion flavor overwhelm the guacamole.) Taste and season with additional salt if appropriate. If not using immediately, cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate—preferably not more than a few hours.

Nutritional Info (per recipe using 2 avocados)

Protein 6.9 g

Fat 50.7 g

Carbs 29.5

Cajun Turkey Meatloaf

1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey (I normally use Jennie O lean ground turkey 93/7)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregeno
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 Tablespoon Creole mustard or other spicy mustard

½ Tablespoon Zatarain’s concentrated shrimp and crab boil (or subsitute 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Creole or Cajun seasoning)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tablespoon Soy sauce

*optional- top with ½ cup fat free cheddar cheese*

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium pan, saute onion, green pepper, celery and garlic until translucent. Add oregeno and mustard and mix with vegetables. Saute all for about a minute then remove from heat and cool.

In a large bowl, mix ground turkey, shrimp and crab boil (or substitute with Creole or Cajun seasonings), fresh parsley, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. When vegetable mixture is cooled, mix with turkey mixture and place in 9x5-inch nonstick loaf pan. Cover and bake 20 minutes. Bake uncovered another 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cut into slices.


Nutritional Info for whole recipe (using Jennie O’s lean ground turkey 93/7)
Protein 134 g
Fat 48 g
Carbs 35 g

*if adding ½ fat free cheddar cheese to top, add additional 4 g carbs and 18g protein**

Slow Roast Beef

If you have a couple of hours to spare (or if you want, make this the day before), then this slow roasted beef recipe has your name on it. The recommended cut for this recipe is eye round roast which is great for those who eat a low fat, high protein meal. Usually, this cut of beef is really though but America's Test Kitchen (I love them waaaaaaay too much)'s method of slow roasting yields a very tender beef.

Slow-Roasted Beef (adapted from America's Test Kitchen)
****Notes***

• -Season the beef overnight (or if you are in a jam, at least an hour before the searing step)
• -Not recommended cooking this roast past medium.
• -Open the oven door as little as possible and remove the roast from the oven while taking its temperature.
• -If the roast has not reached the desired temperature in the time specified in step 3, heat the oven to 225 degrees for 5 minutes, shut it off, and continue to cook the roast to the desired temperature.
• -For a smaller (2 1/2- to 3 1/2-pound) roast, reduce the amount of kosher salt to 3 teaspoons (1 1/2 teaspoons table salt) and black pepper to 1 1/2 teaspoons.
• -For a 4 1/2- to 6-pound roast, cut in half crosswise before cooking to create 2 smaller roasts.
• -Slice the roast as thinly as possible
• 
  
• Ingredients
• 1 boneless eye-round roast (3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds) (see note)
• 4 teaspoons kosher salt or 2 teaspoons table salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper

• 
  
• 1. Sprinkle all sides of roast evenly with salt. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 18 to 24 hours (or 1 hour before searing in step 2).
• 
  
• 2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 225 degrees. Pat roast dry with paper towels; rub with 2 all sides evenly with pepper. Using non stick cooking spray, heat 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until starting to smoke. Sear roast until browned on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer roast to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Roast until meat-probe thermometer or instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 115 degrees for medium-rare, 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 hours, or 125 degrees for medium, 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 hours.
• 3. Turn oven off; leave roast in oven, without opening door, until meat-probe thermometer or instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 130 degrees for medium-rare or 140 degrees for medium, 30 to 50 minutes longer. Transfer roast to carving board and let rest 15 minutes. Slice meat crosswise as thinly as possible and serve.
• 
  
• 
  
• Nutritional info for a 4 oz serving of beef
• Protein: 33.9 g
• Fat: 6 g
• Carbs: 0 g

Protein Packed Cake Pudding

After much experimenting, I finally found a way to make casein pudding cake-like!

1 Scoop Casein Powder (32 g)

5 Tablespoons water

1 Tablespoon Egg Substitute

3 Strawberries

2 Tablespoons Splenda

*optional- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar*

Preheat oven 400 degrees

Mix casein, water, egg substitute and 1 tablespoon Splenda in a small bowl. Dice strawberries and mix with 1 tablespoon Splenda (and balsamic vinegar if you choose). Place strawberry mixture in a ramekin and mix in the batter.

Place ramekin in a baking sheet and bake for about 15-18 min. The pudding cake will be done if you stick a toothpick in the middle and the toothpick comes up clean. Let cool for about 5 min or until cake is cool enough to eat.

Nutritional Info

Protein: 26 g

Carbs: 5 g

Fat: 1g