Broiled Sea Scallops

First of all, I am going to share my wonderful news!!!! The scale was nice to me today and I finally hit the 130's! I am exactly 139 lbs! Yay! It has been a long time since I saw that number. Now my next mini goal is to hit 129 lbs and then on to my final goal of 125 lbs. I can see it coming in mu near future!!! Just stay on plan and the weight will come off! :: Happy Dance ::

Ok, enough dancing for me... this recipe is soooo simple and soooo yummy! It is funny that I think it is delicious because yesterday when I tried scallops for the first time, I wasn't exactly excited about the texture of those little sea creatures. I preferred shrimp a whole lot more. Well, today I broiled them and I have to say "I like! I like!". These little suckers actually taste really good broiled. Maybe it was the butter or the seasonings. I don't know. I did try out a new seasoning from Starport Gourmet called Hot and Spicy Seasoning. You get 2 separate 1 lb bags of that seasoning for $9.99, but I gave one bag to my mom. It has a shelf life of 18 months so I put some of it in a plastic spice jar I bought from ebay with the sifter lid and stored the rest of it sealed tightly in the cabinet. It really tastes good, but you can always use a different spice in place of it such as cayenne pepper or five spice blend, etc. I threw these scallops into a nice big salad consisting of lettuce, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes. I poured some yummy Walden Farms Sesame Ginger dressing and I was in heaven. In the photo below, I just placed the scallops on a few lettuce leaves because I wasn't sure what I was going to eat them with at the time. Then I figured, I had the lettuce already out so why not make a salad. I am so happy I did! Enjoy!

Broiled Sea Scallops

Ingredients:

9 oz Dry Sea Scallops - should yield 7 oz (1 Leanest Lean)

1 tbsp Land O' Lakes Spreadable Light Butter with Canola Oil (1 Healthy Fat)

1 tsp Olive Oil (1 Healthy Fat)

1/4 tsp salt (1 Condiment)

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder (1/2 Condiment)

1/4 tsp Onion Powder (1/2 Condiment)

1/4 tsp Paprika (1/2 Condiment)

1/8 tsp Ground Cayenne Pepper (1/4 Condiment)

Directions:

Combine seasonings in a small bowl. Sprinkle seasoning over scallops and toss to coat all sides. Combine olive oil and butter in another small bowl. I used spreadable butter so it blended nicely with the olive oil without me having to microwave it. Pour butter and olive oil mixture over scallops and stir to combine. Place scallops on broiler pan. Broil on high for about 12-14 minutes or until done; turning every 4 to 5 minutes. Temperature should reach 160 degrees if you want it well done but medium well is 145 degrees. They should be milky white or opaque and firm when done. Make sure you do not over cook them, otherwise they will be rubbery. Serve with your favorite veggies. I served them on top of a salad with Walden Farms Sesame Ginger dressing. It was delicious! Enjoy!

1 Leanest Lean with 2.75 Condiments and 2 Healthy Fats

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Sandy's Kitchen

Seared Scallops in Coconut Curry Sauce

I am down 3.4 lbs for the week. Yay! All I need to do is lose 1 more pound and I will be saying good bye to the 140's and hello to the 130's. Wow, I haven't seen the 130's in ages! Thanks to Medifast for making that possible! Now for the dish...

This was my first attempt at making scallops and eating them. Not so bad for my first time. I will say that I prefer the texture and taste of shrimp more than I do scallops. I loved the seasoning blend and the sauce, but I like shrimp so much more than I do scallops. Not to mention shrimp is a lot cheaper than scallops, but I wanted to give them a try since I never had them before. You never know what you are missing until you try it right? I used sea scallops for this recipe. I learned that bay scallops are a lot smaller than sea scallops. I really have never been much of a seafood lover, except for the love of shrimp :) You do need to get this sauce or any coconut curry sauce that you can find in your area for this recipe. No homemade sauce here today. Make sure to check the label for how many carbs are in the sauce because one of the ones I checked out had too many carbs to fit the criteria of being a condiment. This one only had 2 grams of carbs for 1 tbsp.

You can purchase this sauce at Starport Gourmet. Pretty good sauce if I do say so myself. I added 1 tbsp of chicken broth to the 1 tbsp of sauce and it worked out perfectly. Next week, I am going to try my own coconut curry sauce, but with chicken and see how it compares to the store bought one. I served the scallops with cooked cauliflower and broccoli that was grated. A little variety to add to my lean and green meals. Thanks Robin for sharing all your delicious recipes! If you like scallops then you would probably like this! Enjoy!

Seared Scallops in Coconut 
Curry Sauce

Slightly adapted from Robin Seidel

Ingredients:

9 oz. dry scallops (1 Lean)

1/8 tsp Lemon pepper (1/4 Condiment)

1/8 tsp Curry Powder (1/4 Condiment)

1/8 tsp Coriander (1/4 Condiment)

2 teaspoon olive oil (2 Healthy Fats)

 1 tbsp Starport's coconut curry sauce (2 Condiments)

1 tbsp low sodium chicken broth or water

Scallions, thinly sliced

Directions:

Rinse, then pat the scallops dry. Combine lemon pepper, curry powder, coriander and salt. Sprinkle both sides of scallops with seasoning blend. Place olive oil in a non-stick skillet, heat over medium-high heat until sizzling then add the scallops. Sear until nicely browned on one side, flip and cook on the other side. Touch them to gauge their level of doneness; they need to have a little give but not too much, take care not to overcook to where they’re hard to the touch. Remove to a plate, cover.

Combine coconut curry sauce and chicken broth in a very small bowl. Spoon over top of scallops. Sprinkle sliced scallions over the top. Serve over grated and cooked cauliflower.

1 Serving with

1 Lean, 3 Greens, 2.75 Condiments and 2 Healthy Fats

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Sandy's Kitchen

Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Ribbons

Shrimp has always been one of my favorite leans to eat off plan or on plan. I especially love shrimp scampi, but as you already know if you order it in a restaurant, be prepared to have a heart attack because it is usually drenched in lots and lots of butter. This is a more healthier alternative with only a tbsp of light butter that is only 5 grams of fat (which is one healthy fat) for one tbsp. I used land o' lakes light butter spread with canola oil. Land o' lakes makes the best butter so I suggest using that butter! Normally the sauce would have white wine, but since it isn't on plan, a good substitute is chicken broth. With a little bit of lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and parsely it came out really good! I needed one more healthy fat besides the butter when using shrimp so I added the two wedges of light laughing cow cheese. It made it even better! Nice and creamy. A true shrimp scampi isn't creamy at all but it still tasted good. If you would like to make this dish with chicken, you only need one health fat so I would use a half tbsp of butter and 1 cheese wedge to make the sauce. It would still make a nice buttery sauce. This was delicious! The zucchini ribbons make a nice substitute for pasta too! One more variation I did since my shrimp cooked down to 5.25 oz (3/4 lean) and I didn't have any more shrimp, I added 1 oz Sargento Italian Cheese Blend (1/4 lean) to complete the lean. Cheese makes everything better in my opinion! Enjoy!

Shrimp Scampi and Zucchini Ribbons

Ingredients:

9 oz shrimp, deveined, tails off - should cook down to 7 oz (1 Leanest Lean)

1 1/2 cup zucchini ribbons (3 Greens)

1 tbsp light butter (1 Healthy Fat)

2 wedges light garlic and herb laughing cow cheese (1 Healthy Fat)

1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (1/4 Condiment)

1 clove garlic, minced (1 Condiment)

1 tsp lemon (1/2 Condiment)

1/8 tsp salt (1/2 Condiment)

1 tbsp fresh Parsley (1/4 Condiment)

1 tsp grated parmesan cheese (1/3 Condiment)

Directions:

Peel the zucchini with a potato peeler until you reach the core with the seeds. The seeds will make it mushy so try not to include them. (save the core for your salads or another use). I find that the best way is to weigh the zucchinis to get the best measurement. I peeled the zucchinis and weighed them until it reached 270 grams which is 3 servings of cooked zucchini. I find that when I use 3 servings of the cooked weight from the Vegetable Weight Conversion Chart, it comes pretty close to 1 1/2 cups after it is cooked. If you just measure 1 1/2 cups of  raw veggies, the veggies will shrink when cooked and you actually are cheating yourself.  Set aside.

Heat the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the garlic, parsley, lemon juice, chicken broth, laughing cow cheese, and salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Add zucchini ribbons and cook stirring frequently just until the zucchini is about to get soft about 2-3 minutes. Toss in shrimp and heat until warm. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Serve. Enjoy!

1 Lean, 3 Greens, 3 Condiments and 2 Healthy Fats

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Sandy's Kitchen

Shrimp or Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice

This is one of my favorite easy low carb meals to prepare! It is perfect for when you are craving fried rice! Using grated cauliflower instead of traditional rice keeps the carbs and calories at bay while enjoying a classic Asian dish!

Add your favorite protein such as chicken or shrimp with the appropriate amount of Healthy Fats and you have a complete Lean and Green meal that is oh so delicious!

Shrimp or Chicken 

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Ingredients:

2 and 3/4 cup grated cauliflower (5 1/2 Greens)

1/4 cup green onion, chopped with whites and greens separated 

(1/2 Green)

1/4 tsp garlic powder (1/2 Condiment)

1/4 tsp powdered ginger (1/2 Condiment)

3 tbsp lite Soy Sauce (3 Condiments)

2 eggs, beaten (2/3 Lean)

9.3 oz shrimp or 8 oz chicken, cooked weight (1 1/3 Lean)

Dash of red pepper flakes (optional)

1 tsp sesame oil or olive oil - if using chicken or 2 tsp sesame oil or olive oil - if using shrimp (1 or 2 Healthy Fats)

Directions:

Cook eggs in a nonstick skillet lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Scramble eggs until done, but still moist. Set aside. 

In a wok or large skillet, heat 1 tsp sesame oil or olive oil if using chicken or 2 tsp sesame oil or olive oil if using shrimp over medium high heat. Heat oil and add the finely diced white part of the green onions for approximately 1 minute. 

Add grated cauliflower and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add soy sauce, garlic powder, ginger, diced green onion tops, pre-cooked shrimp or chicken, and eggs. Mix well and cook for an additional 3 more minutes. Sprinkle red pepper flakes lightly over the top (optional).

Makes 2 Servings

Each serving provides

1 Lean, 3 Greens, 2 Condiments and 2 Healthy Fats if using shrimp or 1 Healthy Fat if using chicken

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Sandy's Kitchen

Swiss Tuna Melts

I had to wait a few days for nutrition support to give the approval for this recipe and now that I got the go ahead, I am sharing it with you now. I love those guys over there! I used to love tuna melts made with swiss cheese as a child and as a matter of fact, I still do LOL! It is my all time favorite sandwich and I really did not think I could have it on the Medifast plan, but yes we can!  Well, to a certain extent anyhow. We can't have the bread, but you can make toast using pancake mix. You don't know how you say? Well click here for the pancake toast recipe and see what you are missing. This recipe uses a sliced tomato instead of bread. Enjoy my childhood favorite sandwich!

Swiss Tuna Melts

Ingredients:

2 Slices Sargento 2% reduced fat Swiss Cheese Slices ~ 4 g fat and 60 Calories per slice

8.8 oz Tuna, drained

1 hard boiled egg, chopped

3 tbsp light mayonnaise

1 tbsp reduced fat cream cheese

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp dried dill

1 oz dill pickle relish

1/8 tsp pepper

1/4 cup celery, chopped

2 Tomato Slices ~ 1/4 cup tomatoes

Directions:

Combine tuna, egg, mayonnaise, cream cheese, lemon juice, dill, pickle relish, pepper, salt and celery in a medium sized bowl. Arrange tomato slices on a baking sheet. Divide tuna evenly over the two tomato slices. Add a slice of cheese on top of each heaping of tuna. Broil until cheese is melted.

2 servings with
3/4 Lean, 1/2 Green, 1 Healthy Fat, and 1.66 Condiments per serving, 1/2 Optional Snack

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Sandy's Kitchen

Shrimp and Pepper Stir Fry with "Rice"

This is one of my favorite lean and green meals to make next to the cauliflower pizza and cauliflower bread sticks. Everybody has their own special way of making a stir fry and this is my way. I love shrimp, but you could also try chicken or beef as well. I would suggest marinating longer than 1 hour when using beef or chicken just because shrimp seems to absorb more of the flavorings in a shorter amount of time. This is one of those recipes you are going to love because it is quick and easy to make. You can also substitute with your fave veggies instead of peppers. Also, I chose to reserve 1/2 tsp of the marinade before adding my shrimp so that the veggies will have some marinade as well while cooking. The cauliflower rice is a great substitute for rice. This is because cauliflower doesn't have a lot of flavor to me. It actually even resembles rice if you look at the photo below. I used frozen cauliflower and boiled until tender. Then I put it in my food processor and used my shredder disc. If you do not have a food processor, you can use a hand grater. I love how the cauliflower absorbs the flavor from the sauce. Very yummy!

Shrimp and Pepper Stir Fry with "Rice"

Ingredients:

9 oz shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined (1 leanest lean)

1 tsp low sodium soy sauce (1/3 condiment)

1 tsp teriyaki sauce (1 condiment)

1 clove garlic minced (1 condiment)

1/8 tsp ground ginger (1/4 condiment)

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (1/4 condiment)

1/4 cup green peppers, sliced (1/2 green)

1/4 cup red peppers, sliced (1/2 green)

1 cup cauliflower, cooked and grated (2 greens)

2 tsp olive oil (2 healthy fats)

Directions:

Combine soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, ginger, red pepper flakes, and shrimp in a medium sized bowl. Let marinade for at least 1 hour. Discard marinade.

Over medium high heat, add olive oil to skillet. Then add garlic and cook until lightly browned. Next add red and green peppers and saute for about 3 minutes. Add shrimp to the pan with peppers and garlic. Saute for a few minutes, just until shrimp is warm.

Serve over 1 cup of grated, cooked cauliflower.

1 Lean, 3 Greens, 3 Condiments and 2 Healthy Fats

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Sandy's Kitchen