Cooking and baking has been happening around these parts, but it's been under duress of sorts as I've been battling Strep Throat as well as busy with wedding planning. But mealtime happens... three times a day... so life goes on. I just haven't been posting, or even really, remembering to photograph.
But this afternoon I've committed myself to updating An American Housewife and I have a meal I threw together quickly and easily using a store bought product to help me out. This is a meal that happens to be low carb but everyone can love it as if it isn't!
The first step though is to purchase already made crab cakes. I buy mine from Sam's Club not only for the better price than purchasing the same thing at my local grocery store, but because they aren't made with all the fillers that up the carb count. The crazy thing is, in all the years of making crab stuffed mushrooms, I've never really thought about using already purchased crab cakes to do it! Maybe because until I started to buy the Sam's crab cakes about 4 or 5 years ago, I've always made mine from scratch. Either way, this is a time saver that tastes amazing!
QUICK AND EASY Low Carb Seafood Dinner:
Scallops in Garlic Butter
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Riced Cauliflower
Cheddar Biscuits
I've posted the biscuit recipe previously but here it is again to make it easy to find for this meal:
Low Carb, Keto Cheddar Biscuit
1 c almond flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
3 T wheat protein isolate 5000 (I buy from Netrition)
1 T baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
3 T real butter, cold from the refrigerator; grated if you have one or just dice up small
1/2 cheddar cheese, grated or shredded
3 egg whites, beaten stiff
optional: 1/2 - 1 t fresh minced garlic
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the butter and whisk it in, use a fork, or use your fingers, to cut it in until its incorporated into the dry ingredients and is crumb like. Add the garlic and the egg whites and fold gently and slowly so you don't break down the whites too much. Lastly, fold in the cheese.
Use a spoon or small 1 1/2 inch cookie scoop to form mounds on a greased, foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 12-14 minutes.
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms: Buy medium to large sized, white, fresh looking mushrooms. Rinse, rub and pat dry your mushrooms if you normally do so. Twist and pull the stem out (you can reserve that to use in another dish if you wish - I waste nothing). I like to use a small spoon to gently scrape out the 'gills' on the underside and scrape the center a bit to make it just a tiny bit deeper to hold more stuffing. Place them cap side down on a lightly sprayed or oiled baking sheet. Using thawed, prepared crab cakes (or your own homemade stuffing), spoon a heaping spoonful into each cap. Gently press down just a little to hold it in place but don't 'smoosh' it too hard or your mushroom will crack. Season the tops if you wish. I like a light sprinkle of lemon pepper but you could use salt and pepper or whatever you usually like on your seafood. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown - about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your mushrooms and how hot your oven runs. You can bake the biscuits along with the mushrooms as they can both be baked at 400 degrees.
Scallops: For the scallops, heat 1-2 tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium high. Add fresh chopped or minced garlic according to how much you love it (about a clove or two is typical). Cook for 1 minute to start to saute and then add your rinsed and patted dry scallops. Single layer. Cook on one side to sear them a bit, then flip over, cook the second side. It only takes a few minutes to get that golden brown color, caramelized garlic flavor and cook them done. Add a dash of dried or fresh parsley and remove to your serving platter.
Riced Cauliflower: In the SAME PAN add a package or about 2 cups of riced cauliflower. This is cauliflower that has been put through the S-blade in a food processor and pulsed just long enough to chop the cauliflower into rice sized bits. Quickly cook this stir-fry style more-or-less in the saucepan you took the scallops out of. Do not over cook or it will be mushy. You want to only cook it for 2-3 minutes so it has the texture of rice. Remove from heat and place into your serving dish.
