Creole Spiced Mahi-Mahi with Lime Sauce

I love my air fryer and have, so far, only experimented once with cooking seafood in it. I did Salmon in it, which turned out so yummy! Tonight I was behind the 8-Ball, having forgotten to get something out for dinner, so seafood attempt number two, with frozen fillets no less, is commencing as we speak!

Creole Spiced Mahi-Mahi with Lime Sauce

2 – 6 Ounce Frozen Wild Caught Mahi-Mahi Fillets (I got mine from Whole Foods)
Zatarain’s Creole Seasoning
4 TBLS Butter (room temperature)
Juice and Zest of 1 Lime
Olive Oil Cooking Spray

Lightly spray the inner basket of your air fryer with olive oil spray.

Liberally sprinkle both sides of your mahi-mahi with the Creole seasoning and lay in the air fryer basket. Lightly spray the top of the fillets and close the tray.

Cook at 380° F for 10 minutes then turn the fillets over and cook another 8 to 10 minutes, or until fish flakes and inner temperature registers 145° F.

While the fish is cooking, stir the lime juice and zest into the butter and set aside.

When the timer goes off, remove mahi-mahi from the air fryer immediately, cut each fillet in half, and spoon 1/4 of the lime butter over each serving. Serve with a green salad and a steamed vegetable for a quick & healthy weeknight meal. #ThisGirlLovesToEat

Nutrition Information: (4 – 3 oz servings with 1 TBLS Lime Butter Sauce)

170 Calories
11.5 g Fat (7 g Saturated Fat)
0 g Carbohydrates
16 g Protein

Holiday Bites: Crab & Brie Wontons

If you feel like the dishes have barely been done following Thanksgiving dinner when discussions and planning for December holiday parties and dinners begins, you could be right. For those of us who love to entertain and treat our friends and family to fine meals, there are never enough days to plan the perfect meal. This appetizer, from the December 2019 issue of #EatingWellMagazine, is rich and flavorful while also being surprisingly low in calories, fat, and carbohydrates! #ThisGirLovesToEat

crabandbriewontons

Crab Wontons with Brie

4 ounces Lump Crab Meat, drained & picked over
4 ounces diced Brie Cheese
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
2 TBLS Minced Jalapeno
2 TBLS Minced Chives
1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Salt
24 Wonton Wrappers

Place a rimmed baking sheet in the oven; preheat to 350°F.
Combine crabmeat, Brie, mayonnaise, jalapeño, chives, pepper and salt in a medium bowl. Scoop about 2 teaspoons of the crab mixture into the center of each wonton wrapper. Use your finger or a pastry brush to moisten the edges of the wrapper with water. Carefully lift two opposite points up until they touch. Gently pinch together to seal. Fold the remaining two points up toward the center just to close the opening. Pinch the edges together to seal into a four-pointed star.
Carefully transfer the wontons to the hot baking sheet. Generously coat them with cooking spray. Bake until golden brown, 16 to 18 minutes.

To make ahead: Assemble wontons (Step 2) up to 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size 2 Wontons

Calories – 121
Fat – 7 g
Carbs – 10 g
Protein – 5 g

What’s the White Stuff on Cooked Salmon?

The white stuff on salmon is called albumin. Albumin is a protein that exists in the fish in liquid form when it’s raw that coagulates and becomes semi-solid when you subject the salmon to heat when cooking. As the meat cooks, the coagulated albumin gets squeezed out and becomes a white coating.
The more aggressively you cook your salmon the more albumin will appear on its surface.

Think of what happens when you wring out a wet towel. The water inside the fibers of the cloth is pushed out as you squeeze the fibers closer together. The same principle applies to salmon. As salmon cooks, the flesh contracts, pushing out albumin to the fillet’s surface. The higher the heat, the more quickly the flesh contracts, and the more albumin becomes visible.

To have as little albumin as possible visible on your finished dish, follow these guidelines:

Cook your salmon at a lower temperature for a longer amount of time. It’s gentler on the fillet, resulting in a super-tender piece of fish with less nasty white stuff.
If you are searing salmon (and fish in general), always do so with the skin side down. The skin acts as a protective barrier between the fish and the hot metal pan. **TIP: Even if you plan on taking the skin off, cook your fish skin-side down for 90% of the way, turn off the heat, and then flip the fish so the skinless side cooks on the pan’s residual heat.
Don’t overcook your salmon. You want it medium to medium-rare in the center, still a bit translucent. Overcooking salmon is the easiest way to get albumin everywhere. **TIP: When you can push on the top of your salmon with a fork, and the the layers of flesh separate easily and seem moist, your fish is finished cooking.

Thanks to my friends at Epicurious for the cooking tips! #ThisGirlLovesToEat

Air Fried Coconut Shrimp

You might be able to tell I’m obsessed with my air fryer. It’s so stinkin’ easy to use, clean up, and it’s great for healthy cooking! The best part of having the air fryer is that the possibilities with it are endless. All I’ve had to do so far is go to Google for recipe inspiration. Today’s ingredient: raw shrimp.

airfriedcoconutshrimp

Coconut Shrimp with Honey Lime Sauce

1/2 Cup Bob’s Red Mill Paleo Baking Flour
1+1/2 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 Large Eggs (I use Eggland’s Best)
2/3 Cup Unsweetened Flaked Coconut
1/3 Cup Panko Crumbs
24 Medium Peeled, Deveined Raw Shrimp, Tail-on
Olive Oil Cooking Spray
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
1 Serrano Chile, thinly sliced
2 tsp Chopped Fresh Cilantro (Optional)

Stir together flour and pepper in a shallow dish. Lightly beat eggs in a second shallow dish. Stir together coconut and Panko in a third shallow dish. Holding each shrimp by the tail, dredge shrimp in flour mixture, making sure not to coat tail; shake off excess. Dip in egg, allowing any excess to drip off. Dredge in coconut mixture, pressing to adhere. Coat shrimp well with cooking spray.

Place half of the shrimp in air fryer basket in a single layer, and cook at 400°F until golden, 6 to 8 minutes, turning shrimp over halfway through cooking. If you have larger shrimp it may take up to 10 minutes. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Repeat with remaining shrimp and salt.

While shrimp cook, whisk together honey, lime juice, and Serrano chile in small bowl. Sprinkle shrimp with cilantro, if desired. Serve with sauce. Note: If you are keeping to a Keto lifestyle, skip the honey based sauce and just squeeze a bit of lime juice on instead.

Serving size 6 shrimp. #ThisGirlLovesToEat

Nutrition Information per serving (Shrimp only – no sauce): Calories 213 Fat 11 Carbs 9 Protein 14

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

Buffalo Shrimp Lettuce Boats

I just ate my first true #CheatMeal since going Keto 4 months ago. 3 huge, luscious, cheesy, hand tossed pieces of pizza from my favorite neighborhood pizza place, #NorthwoodPizza. I loved all 3 of them but I couldn’t feel any worse about myself right now. #ThisGirlLovesToEat

I don’t feel bad about myself for eating the pizza. I wanted it so I ate it. I feel bad about myself because I’ve reprogrammed my body to not overeat carbs and now my body feels awful. I’m bloated, I have a stomach ache and my digestion is all out of whack. Tonight just proves Keto is working for me. It’s time to go right back to adapting my favorite cheats so they work FOR my body, not against it.

One of my very favorite meals is deep fried buffalo shrimp eaten alone or in tacos. My take on this recipe, from Delish, allows me to get my buffalo shrimp fix without destroying my diet goals or the improved way my body functions and feels.

Buffalo Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

1 TBLS Butter
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 Cup Hot Sauce, I prefer Frank’s Red Hot
1 TBLS Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Pound Shrimp, peeled & deveined with tails removed
Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Head Romaine, leaves separated
1/2 Small Red Onion, finely chopped
1 Rib Celery, finely chopped
1/2 Cup Blue Cheese, crumbled
1/2 Ripe Avocado Chopped (optional)
Ranch Dressing (optional)

Make buffalo sauce: In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. When melted completely, add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add hot sauce and stir to combine. Turn heat to low while you cook the shrimp.
Make shrimp: In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook, flipping halfway, until pink and opaque on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Turn off heat and add the buffalo sauce, tossing to coat.
Assemble wraps: Add a small scoop of shrimp to the center of a romaine leaf, then top with red onion, celery, avocado (if desired), and blue cheese. Drizzle with additional Hot Sauce and Ranch Dressing if desired.

Quick Keto Crab Cakes

crabcake1 After accomplishing my goal of losing the 33 pounds that 3 foot surgeries and 5 breast surgeries (for a total of 8 in a 5 year span) piled on me, in just 12 weeks, it’s become second nature to convert my regular recipes into #KetoFriendly versions.

See how this quick & easy version of crab cakes compares versus other preparations in terms of net carbs per serving of 1 crab cake:

Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs – 15 g carbs
Panko – 11 g carbs
Almond Meal (or Almond Flour but not super-finely ground) – 1.5 g of carbs

Quick Keto Crab Cakes

1 Large Egg
2 TBLS Mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/4 tsp Ground Pepper
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Cup Chopped Scallions
12 oz Jumbo Lump Crabmeat, drained and picked over
1/2 Cup Almond Meal (or Regular Grind Almond Flour)
2 TBLS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Lime Wedges

Whisk egg, mayonnaise, mustard, pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl. Squeeze in the juice from one wedge of lime and whisk until well combined. Stir in scallions and almond meal. Fold in the crab. Form the mixture into four patties.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the crab cakes and cook, turning once, until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serve with lime wedges and cilantro lime aioli (if desired).

Serving size: 1 Crab Cake Calories 265 / Fat 15 g / Carbs 1.5 g / Protein 22 g

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Cilantro Lime Aioli

1/3 Cup Fresh Cilantro
Juice and Zest of 1 medium Lime
A drop or 3 😉 Franks Red Hot (or your favorite) Hot Sauce
1 tsp Ground Cumin
3/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Large Clove Garlic

Combine all ingredients in your blender container and process until well combined.

Serving size: 1 TBLS Calories 100 / Fat 11 g / Carbs 0 g / Protein 0 g