South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-up: March 2008

Photo of Seared Jumbo Scallops with Cauliflower Puree and
Grilled Asparagus by Kirsten of Kirsten's Home Cooking

I'm always thinking about what to feature on Kalyn's Kitchen, and recently I found myself flashing back to when I used to spotlight South Beach friendly recipes from other blogs for South Beach Recipes of the Week. Even though I got tired of doing that every week, recently I've noticed people using those pages. I know that for many people, what's challenging about South Beach is the first few weeks when you can't eat fruit, bread, pasta, rice, or other starchy foods or grains. I just started doing phase one myself (to lose a few pounds before summer!) which got me thinking about how once-a-month collections of phase one recipes could be really useful. So here's the first phase one recipe round-up, with links to all the phase one recipes I've posted during March, plus tasty-sounding phase one recipes I've found on other food blogs. Of course, phase one recipes are things you can eat for any phase of the diet, and even if you're not dieting I'm betting you'll find some tasty-sounding recipes here.

Easy Recipe for Cabbage and Blue Cheese Salad with Sunflower Seeds

If you're the kind of food-obsessed person who loves searching for recipes on food blogs, you may be surprised to hear that overwhelmingly the most popular category in my recipe archives is Easy South Beach Recipes. It seems lots of people love these low-glycemic recipes with only five main ingredients and simple preparation methods, and occasionally I'll get e-mail asking for "more easy recipes." When I made this salad and loved it, I realized I couldn't remember writing about sunflower seeds for Weekend Herb Blogging, so I decided I should share how I made this easy salad.

Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Ziploc Twist 'n Loc Food Storage Containers

I first discovered Twist 'n Loc storage containers by Ziploc last summer when I was making and freezing lots of fresh tomato sauce. Now I've been using the containers all winter to store things like chicken stock and soup in the freezer as well. Let me say that these are absolutely fantastic freezer containers. They're sturdy enough to stand up to many trips through the dishwasher, they never leak, and they're completely air-tight, so the frozen food always tastes fresh when it's thawed out. I love these containers so much, I decided to add them to Kalyn's Kitchen Picks, the list where I gush over the foods and kitchen products that make me smile. (No, Ziploc has not sent me any containers or paid me to write about them, in case anyone is wondering.)

100% Whole Wheat and Bran Bread Recipe (This bread recipe is a work in progress!)

(Edit: In 2009 I made 100% White Whole Wheat Bread which is an improvement on this recipe from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by the same authors.)

Recently when I posted about Irish Soda Bread, I mentioned that the authors had sent me a copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, along with assurances that I could use the innovative break-making method to make 100% whole wheat bread. This is the bread post I promised was coming, and I decided I should call this recipe a "work in progress," because I'm still experimenting with getting the ingredients exactly right for bread made with white whole wheat flour, although I was very satisfied with the taste of the bread.

Egg Salad and Cheese Quesadillas Recipe from a Kalyn's Kitchen Reader

I can tell by how many people are reading my post about making perfect hard-boiled eggs that left-over hard-boiled eggs are on the menu this weekend, so it's the perfect time to share a recipe for egg-salad quesadillas, sent to me by someone who reads Kalyn's Kitchen. I thought this was a delicious new breakfast idea, but I can't find the original e-mail, so I hope the person who shared it will see this post and leave a comment so we can properly thank them.

Black Bean and Lentil Salad Recipe with Red Bell Pepper, Cumin, and Cilantro

This salad with black beans and lentils is something I used to include on nearly every menu back in the days when I organized catered houseboat trips at Utah's Lake Powell. I used brown lentils in those days, but now that food bloggers have tipped me off about the small green French lentils which hold their shape a little better in a dish like this, I prefer using the green French lentils in the salad. At Lake Powell I would have served this as a side dish with something like grilled chicken or fish, or it could be a good vegetarian main dish.

How to Make Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs and Recipes Using Hard-Boiled Eggs

This easy method will guarantee that your hard-boiled eggs are always perfect!

(Updated March 2008 with many more ideas from bloggers for using hard-boiled eggs.) It's close to Easter, and all over America that means families will be boiling eggs until they are cooked hard and then dying them bright colors to go in Easter baskets. For years I just put eggs in a pan, added some water, and boiled them, often with mixed results. Imagine my surprise when I learned last year there's a right and wrong way to make hard-boiled eggs. If you use the correct method, your eggs will turn out perfectly every time, with firm yellow yolks, and no tinge of green or gray to the yolks.

Recipe for Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans) Roasted with Tamari and Sea Salt

I can feel my chickpea obsession waning a bit, but before it completely ends I wanted to share another version of roasted chickpeas I tried, just as good as the Crispy Roasted Chickpeas with Moroccan Spices I made about a month ago. Chickpeas with soy sauce isn't something I've ever thought of combining before, but they really did taste great together. I used Tamari, a smooth tasting natural soy sauce which comes in several types. It can be wheat free, although most Tamari sold in the U.S. contains wheat. If you're lucky enough to have the wheat-free kind, use a bit less because it's more concentrated.

White Whole Wheat and Oatmeal Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Even though St. Patrick's Day is Monday, I didn't start the weekend planning to make Irish Soda Bread. Since I don't eat white flour, I don't make bread too often, but now that I've discovered white whole wheat flour and due to the arrival of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day in my mailbox, that may be changing. I've been experimenting with recipes from that book after the author assured me you can make bread with all whole wheat flour. That bread post is coming soon, dedicated to Tanna, who's been so sweet about encouraging me to try yeast bread. In the meantime, it's St. Patrick's day weekend and even though I've always been a bit baking impaired, I suddenly felt like making some Irish Soda Bread.

Soy-Braised Pot Roast with Carrots Recipe

When I made White Bean Soup back in October, I shared a photo of my new blue enamel covered cast-iron dutch oven by Chantal, the pan that may be responsible for my current love of pot roast. I think I've been waiting my whole life for a pan like this, where you brown the meat well, add a bit of liquid, and let it simmer away to perfect tenderness while you're busy doing something else. Besides, this pan matches my kitchen, and looks nice sitting on top of my circa 1940 gas stove, which is where I usually store it.

Kalyn's Kitchen Picks: Carb Chopper Whole Wheat Tortillas

Many people don't realize that the South Beach Diet isn't really a low carb diet. Instead it's based on the glycemic index, a measure of how quickly foods turn to glucose when they're digested. Foods that quickly turn to sugar (like white flour, starchy white rice, potatoes, and of course sugar) are considered "bad carbs" on South Beach. Other relatively high carb foods like dried beans, whole wheat bread, and brown rice digest more slowly and are considered "good carbs."

Recipe Favorites: Greek Meatballs

(Updated March 2008) This recipe for Greek Meatballs was the first thing I tried from the The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook back in 2005, and I'm finally getting around to updating the photo and including it as one of my Recipe Favorites. I love all the Greek flavors like Feta cheese, oregano, and red wine vinegar, and those ingredients really bump up the taste of these meatballs. However, I do want to warn you that the meatballs look like a mess for about 2/3 of the time they're cooking because some of the cheese and vinegar oozes out during the cooking process. If you're patient and keep browning them, all those things nicely carmelize and the finished meatballs are delicious.

Roasted Italian Sausage Soup Recipe with Garbanzos, Lentils, and Roasted Tomatoes

You may be thinking this is nothing more than a soup recipe, but actually it's a Public Service Announcement for cooks in the Southern Hemisphere, where summer is winding down and it's time to be focused on making slow roasted tomatoes. Tossing fresh garden-ripened tomatoes with olive oil and a few herbs and then slowly roasting them all day concentrates the tomato flavor in a wonderfully delicious way that reminds you of summer again when you eat them (even when you're in Utah and it's snowing again.) Of course, this soup would still be good if you made it with canned tomatoes, but the slow roasted tomatoes really make it fabulous.

Cottage Cheese and Egg Breakfast Muffins with Mushrooms and Feta Cheese

Last weekend I came up with another variation of the Cottage Cheese Muffins I found a few months ago on 101 Cookbooks. Although I do still like my regular phase one egg muffins, I'm now hooked on the slightly crunchy texture of these new muffins with eggs, cottage cheese, almond meal, and just a touch of flour. I've already posted muffins with bacon and green onions and ham and cheddar, but a friend asked me to come up with a vegetarian version that had feta cheese. These muffins combine brown crimini mushrooms with the feta for a delicious breakfast option.

These Are Products Featured as Kalyn's Kitchen Picks

I like discovering new food products and kitchen items, and when I find something I love, I'm always raving about it to my friends. Kalyn's Kitchen Picks is a blog feature that grew out of my natural inclination to share recommendations for products I'm excited about.

Everything featured on Kalyn's Kitchen Picks is a product I've tried myself and loved and some are things I've used for many years.  Because I want my readers to know my opinions are completely unbiased, I no longer accept sample products of any kind.  (In the past if I did occasionally feature a product I first tried as a sample, I always disclosed that information in the post,  and you can be sure I would never be writing about anything unless it's something I would have happily purchased myself.)

Recipe Favorites: Whole Wheat Protein Pancakes

(Updated March 2008) I confess I'm not a big pancake fan, and even though these are South Beach Diet friendly low carb pancakes, this is something I probably wouldn't ever make for breakfast just for myself. Still, I'm choosing this as a Recipe Favorite because these pancakes have been such a hit with visiting kids, making this a great breakfast option in any household where some people are dieters, and others just want pancakes.