Chile Chicken

100g chicken

1 T red chile paste/sambal oelek

1 T ACV

3 cloves minced garlic

1 t oregano

1/2 t cumin

1/2 t granulated sugar substitute

salt

crushed red pepper (optional)

1. In ziplock bag, add all ingredients except chicken. Mix.
   
2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and add the chicken to bag. Seal & shake to coat.
   
3. Place in refrigerator to marinate at least 1 hr.
   
4. Cook chicken on George Foreman or under broiler until done.
   
5. Top with crushed red pepper (optional) and serve.

TIP: This tastes great served fresh from the grill with a veggie, or even shredded in tomato soup.

Spicy Crab Cucumber Salad

100g crab - shredded

cucumber - peeled, seeded, and julienned (allowed amount)

1 T liquid aminos

1/2 T rice vinegar

1/2-1 T spicy mustard

1/2-1 t wasabi powder

grissini - coarsely ground

1. Combine liquid aminos, rice vinegar, spicy mustard, and wasabi powder. Stir.
   
2. Add remaining ingredients, toss & serve.

NOTE: This includes your meat, veggie, and grissini portion for this meal.

Cinnamon Curry Chicken Soup

100g chicken - cubed

diced onion (allowed amount)

2 c broth

3 cloves minced garlic

1/2 t curry powder

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

salt/black pepper to taste

1. In saucepan, combine all ingredients.
   
2. Bring to a boil.
   
3. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 45 mins.

TIP: The chicken can go straight from the freezer to the saucepan or crockpot on this one. If frozen, I place the breast in whole, and then when the soup is finished, I cube or shred the chicken. Very flavorful!

Spicy Cilantro Whitefish

100g fish

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 c cilantro - pack measuring cup with cilantro leaves (remove from stems)

3 cloves minced garlic

1 T sambal oelek

1 T water (as needed)

red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400.
   
2. In food processor, combine cilantro, garlic, and sambal oelek.
   
3. Start to pulse and add water as necessary until reaches desired consistency.
   
4. Place fish in baking dish or non-stick baking sheet.
   
5. Squeeze on fresh lemon juice, then top with cilantro mix.
   
6. Bake for 10-20 mins depending on thickness, until fish flakes.
   
7. Top with red pepper flakes (optional).
   
8. Serve.

Crockpot Roast

100g steak

onion soup mix

1 c beef broth

black pepper to taste

1. Add steak to crockpot.
   
2. Cover with remaining ingredients. I sometimes add a splash
   of liquid aminos as well.
   
3. Cook for several hours until reaches desired doneness.
   
4. Serve.

TIP: Besides being delicious any day, this is a great one for those mornings when I realize I completely forgot to take something out to thaw. You can take the steak straight from the freezer into the crockpot and eat a flavorful, tender steak later in the day.

Onion Soup Mix

1/2 c dehydrated minced onion

1 T onion powder

1/2 t celery seed

1. Combine all ingredients.
   
2. Store in air-tight container.

TIP: This is wonderful to use dry in your ground steak for hamburgers, etc. It's an easy way to perk it up.

Shrimp Stuffed Tomato

100g cooked shrimp

tomato(es) - allowed amount

juice of half lemon

1 T parsley (and any additional seasonings you like)

salt/pepper to taste

tabasco (optional)

1. Place cooked shrimp in food processor. Pulse a few times to chop up shrimp. Or, simply chop with sharp knife.
   
2. In small bowl, combine chopped shrimp, parsley, lemon juice, salt/pepper.
   
3. Cover and refrigerate 30 mins-1 hr.
   
4. When ready to serve, cut off top of tomato. Scoop out inside of tomato.
   
5. Chop & combine inside of tomato with shrimp mix. (You may discard seeds if you like.)
   
6. Fill tomato with shrimp mix.
   
7. Top with a couple dashes of tabasco (optional) and serve.

TIP: This is great using baked fish as well.

Lemon Chicken Soup

100g cooked chicken breast (diced or shredded)

chopped spinach (allowed amount)

2-3 c broth

Juice of 1 lemon

1 t thyme

sea salt to taste

ground white pepper to taste

1. Preheat saucepan over MED heat.
   
2. Combine all ingredients.
   
3. Bring to a boil, then simmer 20 mins.
   
4. Serve.

TIP: This is an easy way to use up that boiled chicken you used to make your broth. You can even make this in the crockpot using uncooked or frozen chicken cut into cubes.

Orange Ginger Chicken

100g chicken - cut into chunks

black pepper

orange - cut in 1/4s

2-3 cloves minced garlic

1 T fresh ginger root (about 1/2"-1" long piece, peeled & minced)

1/2 t basil

juice of half lemon

1. Preheat pan over MED heat.
   
2. Sprinkle chicken with pepper.
   
3. Add chicken to pan and stir fry until brown on all sides, about 5-10 mins.
   
4. Add garlic and cook for 1 min.
   
5. Squeeze juice of orange quarters over chicken.
   
6. Peel & separate orange into sections. Add orange sections, ginger, lemon juice, and basil. Stir well.
   
7. Cover and simmer for about 20-30 mins.

NOTE: This includes your meat and fruit portion for this meal.

Tip O' The Day

These sorts of tips most likely won't be a regular occurrence, but I have received this particular question via email a few times so I thought I would address it here for others that might want a helpful tip. :)

Soup

All of the soups on HCG Recipes can be prepared in advance and frozen for 3-6 months. When making a batch, I usually have 2 or 3 pots going so I can keep my portions separate (only because I'm a bit anal). That way I can easily fix a meal in the future with no hassle.

Simply cool the soup after cooking it and place it in an air-tight container. You can use tupperware, etc - but what I prefer using is freezer bags. You roll the top of the bag over itself about an inch (this leaves air space and keeps the top from getting messy). Then fill up the bag, seal, and set it on its side to freeze. This allows you to take up much less freezer space as they are easily stackable. Also remember to label it.

When ready to serve, you can take it out the night before and set it in the refrigerator to defrost. OR, my personal favorite, bring a pot of water to boil, set the freezer bag full of soup in the pot (leaving it sealed!) and let it thaw through for 5 mins or so. Then you can simply dump the water, then put the thawed soup in the pot & warm. Easy stuff.

I hope that helps. As the weather keeps cooling, I'll be posting more & more soup/stew/crockpot type of recipes as they are a lifesaver for me.

Happy Eating!