Keto Green Beans with Parmesan

Y'all know how I love to roast vegetables in the oven with the simplest ingredients.  This dish will become another family and friend favorite.

1 lb. fresh green beans

olive oil

garlic powder

onion powder

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 - 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  

On a large rimmed baking sheet, spread the green beans in an even layer.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Season the beans with the garlic and onion powder, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.  Using tongs, toss the green beans to coat with the olive oil and seasonings.

Roast the green beans in the oven for 15 minutes.

Using tongs, toss the beans again and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and roast for an additional 15 minutes.

When removing from the oven, you can serve immediately, or sprinkle with MORE Parmesan before serving.

Place in a pretty serving bowl or tray.

Did I mention these were Keto?  😁

Cauliflower Au Gratin

When I'm going through my low carb phase(s), I struggle sometimes with my side dishes.  I always want the potatoes!  Always.  

I found a recipe online for cauliflower au gratin and did some work on the ingredients AND the process of putting the ingredients together to make it mine.  

This dish almost fooled my brain into thinking I was looking at macaroni and cheese or hashbrown casserole.  The flavor was complex and satisfied my need for carbs in a low carb side dish.

If you're looking for a way to enjoy a comfort food side dish without the worry of carbs, give this one a try.

This serves six easily.  If you want to reduce the amount of servings, feel free to half the ingredients.

2 lbs. cauliflower

6 oz. bacon, diced

2 small leeks, dark green removed, halved lengthwise, washed carefully to remove any grit or dirt, then thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz. block of mild cheddar cheese, shredded, divided

8 oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

salt and pepper to taste

chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with olive oil spray.

Break the cauliflower into florets, removing hard stems, and wash thoroughly.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil and lightly salt the water.  Boil the florets for 5 - 6 minutes, drain, and set aside.

In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crispy.  Remove the bacon from the pan to a paper towel lined plate.  Set aside.

Add the leeks to the bacon drippings, lower the heat to medium low, and cook until leeks have softened.  Stir occasionally during the 4 - 5 minutes for the leeks to cook.  Add in the garlic and cook for 1 - 2 minutes.  

Set the heat to low.  Add the bacon back to the skillet and stir in the cream cheese and all but 1/4 cup of the cheddar cheese.  When cheese has melted, add the heavy cream and stir to combine.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  

Carefully add in the cauliflower and stir to thoroughly coat the florets.  

Pour into the greased baking dish and top with the remaining cheddar cheese.  Bake for 25 - 28 minutes until the gratin is browned and bubbling.  

Remove from oven and top with chopped fresh parsley.

Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry

It's time to get back on the low(er) carb way of eating for a bit!  This meal was not only gorgeous on the plate, but delicious and healthy as well.

Start to finish, the time to prepare this meal was 20 minutes!  You can't order take out and get it delivered in that amount of time.

For the salad, I purchased an Orange Sesame Chop Salad Kit.  If you haven't tried any of these kits, there are many variations and are filled with a mixture of greens, vegetables, and have a small pouch of complementary dressing and toppings.  The orange flavor was outstanding and the toppings included sliced almonds and crunchy sesame sticks.  This was the perfect side dish for the Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry!

Here's a picture of the bag if you want a reference when you go grocery shopping!

Now let's make the stir fry.

1 lb. boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" cubes

1 T. olive oil

1 t. Kinder's Japanese BBQ seasoning, divided

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, seeded, thinly sliced

6 - 8 large white button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 T. minced garlic

2 T. Kinder's Teriyaki Sauce and Glaze

1/2 t. sesame oil

white and black sesame seeds for garnish

I cubed the chicken, drizzled with the olive oil, and sprinkled on 1/2 t. of the Kinder's seasoning.  I stirred to give it all a thorough coating.

You'll need a wok or a large skillet.  Place the wok over high heat and get it very hot.  Add the chicken all at once and cook, stirring constantly, until the chicken has browned.

Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Add the onions, mushrooms, and peppers to the work and sprinkle on the remaining seasoning.

The veggies will need to be cooked down for a few minutes, stirring constantly.  After 3 - 4 minutes, add in the garlic.

After a minute or so of constant stirring, add the chicken and any juices that are in the bowl back into the wok with the vegetables.

Next, lower the heat to low and stir in the Teriyaki Sauce.  Cook for another minute and remove from heat.

Drizzle with the sesame oil and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.  Serve immediately.

Served with the orange sesame salad, this was a meal that made Sweet Harold very happy.

Dining Out South Atlantic State: Sterling Drive-In, Welch, WV

 

Our fun in Welch, WV continues!  At the BBQ judging this morning, I questioned some locals about where to enjoy a meal for supper tonight.  They were unanimous in their suggestions that we should try Sterling Drive-In.  

Sterling Drive-In has been in business here since 1945!

You can still request car hop service by parking and "flashing your lights."  A server will deliver menus to your vehicle for your ordering convenience.

We elected to dine in and we're so glad we did!  This is the neatest place.  I'll share pictures of the interior a little later in this post.  Let's get to the food!

Here are pictures of the menu:

Our server, Becky, greeted us warmly with a smile and told us we could choose wherever we wanted to sit.  We found a nice booth and ordered our sweet tea and 1/2 and 1/2 tea while we looked over the menu.

We decided to start with fried mushrooms.

These little goodies were served EXTREMELY hot and were just what we needed to start our meal.

Before I go any further, I'll note now that the prices for this meal were absolutely amazing.  The size of the portions was beyond generous.  The food was so delicious.  Neither of us were able to finish our meals.  To say we were happy with our dining experience would be an understatement.  The entire dining area was spotless.  Becky was so nice and put up with us with smiles and kindness.  

Now on to the main courses.

I was tempted to try a burger, but when I spied the "Italian Feast" on the menu, I knew I had to order the spaghetti.  My meal came with a side salad, garlic bread (2 slices!), and a plate of spaghetti with meat sauce that could easily have fed three people.  No exaggeration!!

The salad was nice and crisp and had bell peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes.  A very nice start to the Italian Feast.

Oh my.  Look at this plate of spaghetti with meat sauce.  No skimping on the meat in this sauce.  The flavor was excellent, the noodles cooked perfectly, and plenty of parmesan for topping.  My Italian Feast was $12.25!

Sweet Harold spied chicken livers on the menu and his decision was made.  Becky asked if he would like onions with them and he decided that yes he would like those.  He chose mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans as his side dishes.

He was happy with his green beans and finished those.

Now on to this GENEROUS meal of fried chicken livers, onions, and mashed potatoes and gravy.

The potatoes were homemade, not instant, and whomever was in the kitchen must love brown gravy as much as I do.  They were happy to top those potatoes right!

Now, I don't eat chicken livers, but even I realize that's a happy serving.  SH reports that they were fried perfectly, seasoned well, and the addition of the onions was fantastic.  His meal was only $11.25!

The dining room was bright and colorful and the walls were filled with pictures that made me smile.

Thank you to Becky and the kitchen staff for giving us a wonderful dining experience.  What a treat!

Dining Out South Atlantic States: Rosco's Soul Food, Welch, WV

 

We traveled most of the day to reach Welch, WV.  We are going to participate in a BBQ judging event tomorrow.  We're excited to try the difference in regional BBQ and to compare and contrast the flavor profiles of what we normally judge.

But for this evening's meal, we drove a few miles to Rosco's Soul Food.  Again, one of the best parts of traveling and getting out of one's comfort zone is to taste the differences in flavors, cooking techniques, and regional favorites.

Here's the menu.

We were starving so I requested some jalapeno poppers while we decided on our meals.  Unfortunately, they were out of those, so we ordered some fried okra instead.

These little nuggets of goodness were FRESH out of the fryer.  They were too hot to eat without waiting for a few minutes.  They had a nice and crunchy exterior and you could taste that the oil they had been fried in was fresh.  Y'all know that "old oil" taste.  Nope.  I don't like that a little bit.  These were delicious.

We placed our orders and I was able to catch my breath and take a few pictures of the interior.

I told our nice server we were in town to judge BBQ tomorrow. She smiled and disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a sample of their brisket, ribs, and pulled pork.

Now while this is somewhat a different version of each than to which I am accustomed, they were all delicious in their own way.

The brisket was heavily sauced with a thick and slightly sweet sauce.  The smoke flavor was present in the meat.  

The rib was also heavily sauced and you could smell the smokiness.  The rib was extremely tender.

The pulled pork had more of a vinegar based sauce.  See the difference in the color?  It also had that smoke flavor that is sometimes surprisingly missing from BBQ.  

I really appreciated her letting us try their versions.  I knew if we ate an entire BBQ meal tonight I wouldn't be able to give my best to judging tomorrow.  This was just enough!

Our food was delivered hot and fresh to the table.  

Sweet Harold chose the fried catfish plate with collard greens and yams.

The catfish had a perfect crust thanks to a crunchy cornmeal coating.  Again, no "old oil" taste!

When it comes to greens, my favorite is spinach, followed by mustard, turnip, with collards and kale bringing up the rear.  However, SH loves him some collards.  He ranked these some of the best he's ever eaten!

His second choice for a side was the candied yams.  These were perfectly cooked and had just the right amount of sweetness.

I also chose the fried catfish plate with macaroni and cheese and coleslaw.

I loved this catfish!

Now let me tell you about this macaroni and cheese.  THIS is what mac and cheese is supposed to be.  Rich and cheesy, baked to perfection, and served hot so all that cheesy goodness can show out.

Yes, I told them I'd drive back from Alabama to eat this M & C.  Seriously.

The coleslaw was freshly made and had the crunch you expect from a good slaw.  Yes, SH snuck several bites.

Our server made another surprise visit to our table and told me she wanted me to try their cornbread!

Okay.  Y'all know I prefer a non-sugar cornbread.  I've been very vocal about that for years.  HOWEVER, if I did like sweet cornbread, this would be a personal favorite.  

So all of you sweet cornbread lovers, take note.  I tried this version and I enjoyed it very much.

As we were finishing our meal, who appeared but The Man Himself:  Rosco!  He sat down and chatted with us for a few minutes and told us he will soon be opening another restaurant in nearby Tazewell, Virginia.  

He's a very nice gentleman and we enjoyed meeting him and are thankful he gave us a few minutes to visit.

And here's a new friend I made tonight, our server Nan.  I also learned she is the magic behind the macaroni and cheese!  She was so friendly and made us feel like we had known her for a long time.  

Thanks to Rosco's Soul Food for an enjoyable and delicious meal.