Val's Kid-Friendly Broiled Zucchini Rounds with Cheese

I'm still finding new ways to cook zucchini, and it's a darn good thing since it's multiplying beyond belief in my garden, and everybody else in Utah's garden too, judging by how hard it is to get rid of the stuff. This past weekend I visited my sister Valerie, who lives in a small town in central Utah. Val is a great cook, and this is a dish she made with zucchini that was easy to make and tasted delicious. This dish is kid-approved, since Val has eight incredibly cute kids to feed. (Can you tell that I am the proud aunt?)

Val's Kid-Friendly Broiled Zucchini with Cheese
(about 6 servings, recipe from my sister Valerie)

3-4 zucchini, 8-10 inches long
(same size zucchini works best)
your favorite season salt (I like Spike seasoning)
finely grated cheese, enough to cover zucchini

Preheat broiler and put rack into middle position. Wash zucchini and cut off ends. Cut into crosswise slices about 3/8 inches wide. It's important that all zucchini are equal size and slices are same width.

Spray a large round or rectangular baking sheet with non-stick spray. Cover baking sheet completely with zucchini rounds, putting them as close together as possible. Sprinkle zucchini with season salt, and any other seasonings desired.

Completely cover top of zucchini with grated cheese. Broil until cheese is browned and zucchini is barely tender, about 5-7 minutes. Serve immediately.

This is a perfect side dish for the South Beach Diet, any phase. It would be great with Kalyn's Best Meat Loaf, Beef and Sausage Meatballs with Tomato Sauce, or Parmesan Chicken. For phase two or three, add something like Lake Powell Spicy Rice.

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Roasted Zucchini with Feta Cheese from Pumpkin Pie Bungalow

(Edit August 2007 - I am editing the recipe to reduce the amount of olive oil and feta cheese, and this is still a rich dish even with these changes.)

The average person looking on the internet for a few good recipes probably has no idea how many food bloggers there are out there, writing about food, taking great photos, and reading what other food bloggers write. They are a talented bunch, these food bloggers, and I often see recipes that sound fantastic. When I saw this recipe on a great blog called Pumpkin Pie Bungalow I knew I had to try it. It was so delicious that I wrote to Ana, the Canadian woman who writes PPB, and she graciously allowed me to reproduce it here. I should tell you that Ana got her inspiration from another great blog, Lex Culinaria, which originally published a similar version of this recipe to make roasted mushrooms.

ROASTED ZUCCHINI WITH FETA CHEESE
(about 6 servings, recipe from Pumpkin Pie Bungalow
with inspiration from Lex Culinaria. )

4 medium green zucchini
2 yellow green zucchini
(called yellow squash in the U.S.)
2 bunches green onions
6 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons sea-salt, or more to taste
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled (or less)

Preheat oven to 350. Wash and cut zucchinis down the middle and then cut each piece into four lenghtwise. Clean the green onions and slice into about 1/2-inch slices. Put into a square pan.

In a mortar mash peeled garlic and salt until all the cloves are roughly mashed. Add the olive oil and mix well. Drop the oil mixture over the vegetables and mix well with a wooden spoon until it covers all the vegetables. Pour over the crumbled feta cheese.

Put the pan into oven and bake, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Mix the vegetable-cheese mixture once or twice while it is baking.

Ana ended her recipe by saying "Enjoy" which I surely did when I tried this. I used garlic puree when I made it, which was easy to mix with the salt and olive oil. I think this was as good as Block Island Zucchini, and I'm not sure which of these will become My Favorite Zucchini Recipe of 2005. Maybe I will have to have two favorites this year.

This is a good side dish for any phase of the South Beach Diet, but keep in mind the amount of fat here when planning other meals for that day. For phase one, combine it with something like Curried Chicken on the Grill with Cilantro Chutney, Rosemary Mustard Grilled Chicken, or Steak and Mushroom Kabobs. For phase two or three, add something like Brown Rice with Cashews and Herbs.

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Block Island Zucchini

For many years I catered houseboat trips at Lake Powell, so I'm not shy about cooking for a crowd. In fact, one thing I love to do is what I call "creative cooking", which means taking whatever ingredients are available and seeing what I can make out of it that will be unusal and tasty. This is especially fun when there is an appreciative crowd to cheer me on, that is if the dish turns out, which it usually, but not always, does.

This dish is something I made in a burst of "creative cooking" energy when I was at Block Island in early August. It turned out to be delicious, even though some of the ingredients I used there were a little strange. I refined the recipe at home and came up with the version below. If you have fresh basil or oregano, please substitute it for the dried but use twice as much and be sure it is very finely chopped.

BLOCK ISLAND ZUCCHINI
(4 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

3-4 medium green or yellow zucchini

(about 8-10 inches long)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or less)
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 T Spike Seasoning
1 T Johnny's Great Caesar Garlic Seasoning
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup or more fresh grated parmesan cheese

Wash zucchini, cut off ends, and cut each lengthwise into 3 pieces. You should have pieces nearly 1/2 inch wide. Place zucchini pieces in glass casserole dish.

Mix olive oil, vinegar, Spike, Johnny's Garlic Seasoning, basil and oregano. (This will be the consistency of a runny paste.) Using a pastry brush, brush some of the mixture on each side of zucchini pieces and let sit 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can stack up the zucchini if you need to, but be sure the marinade mixture is coating both sides.

Preheat grill to medium high. Put zucchini on grill and cook about 5 minutes on each side, until it is barely starting to soften. It should not be mushy. While zucchini cooks, scrape marinade mixture out of glass casserole dish and save. When zucchini is done, cut crosswise to make strips about 3/8 inch wide. Toss with 1-2 T. of reserved marinade and parmesan cheese and serve warm.

This is a perfect side dish for any phase of the South Beach Diet. I think it would taste great with Almond and Parmesan Baked Tilapia, Sauteed Scallops with Garlic, Janet's Mustard Chicken, Parmesan Chicken, Very Greek Grilled Chicken, or Sauteed Chicken Cutlets with Capers and Sage.

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Grilled Skinless Chicken Thighs with Asian Marinade

If you've looked through my blog at all, you must have noticed how much I love grilled meat that's been marinated all day. Now that school is starting and I have to go to work again (big sigh) I love to mix up a marinade at night, throw the meat in the next morning, let it marinate all day, and then grill it that night when I come home. I have lots of great marinades for chicken breasts, but I created this particular marinade specifically with chicken thighs in mind. This had lots of different Asian ingredients in the marinade, and the end result was delicious.

I think thighs are an especially tasty part of the chicken, and when you buy them with the skin and bones they are amazingly cheap. I like to keep the bones in when I'm grilling chicken thighs, although the chicken takes a little longer to cook. If you don't like the job of removing the skin and trimming the chicken thighs, you could buy boneless-skinless thighs for this recipe. Whichever way you buy them, thighs are great for anyone who is cooking on a budget.

GRILLED SKINLESS CHICKEN THIGHS

WITH ASIAN MARINADE
(5 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

10 skinless chicken thighs

Marinade:
1/8 cup peanut oil
1/8 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce (Kikkoman preferred)
1 T Asian sesame oil
1 T garlic puree
2 tsp. ginger puree
3 T fresh lime juice
1 tsp. Madras curry powder or hot curry powder
salt, pepper to taste

Trim chicken, removing visible fat and tendons. (Thighs have a little pocket of fat on the back side that I always remove.) When I am grilling I trim the thighs into a compact shape.

Mix marinade ingredients. Arrange chicken in single layer in zip-loc bag, pour marinade over and marinate 6-10 hours in the refrigerator. If you are going to be home, turn it a few times, but it is not essential.

To cook, bring chicken to room temperature while you preheat grill to medium high. Put chicken on grill top side down and grill 8-10 minutes over medium high heat, turning once, then lower heat to medium-low and grill 10-15 minutes more, turning several times. Chicken is done when all pieces feel firm but not hard to the touch and are golden brown.

This would be great with a green salad with Cardini's Caesar dressing and Cauliflower Fried in Butter. If you are on phase two, you could replace the cauliflower with Georgette's Really Lemony Greek Pilafi or brown rice.

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Southwestern Ranch Dip for Bell Pepper Strips or Veggies

When I visited my friend Tia's house in Rhode Island, she served a delicious spicy veggie dip made by T. Marzetti. It had only 2 carbs per serving and was really tasty, but when I got back to Utah I couldn't find it at any of the stores where I normally shop.

I came up with this version, which was delicious. Food snobs may turn up their nose at the ranch dip mix, but maybe I can redeem myself with the ground Chipotle pepper which gives this such a delicious kick. Chipotles are smoked jalapeno peppers, and they're pretty spicy, so use the ground chipotle sparingly. I used ground red Chipotle pepper from Penzeys to make this. If you don't want to buy the Chipotle pepper you could use regular chile powder with a tiny amount of cayenne pepper.

SOUTHWESTERN RANCH DIP

FOR BELL PEPPER STRIPS OR VEGGIES

16 oz. light sour cream
2 cups mayo or light mayo (not fat free)
1/2 tsp. ground red Chipotle pepper
(or use 1 tsp. regular chile powder and pinch of cayenne)
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. taco seasoning (comes in a packet, sold near spices)
1 pkg. ranch dressing mix (Hidden Valley Ranch brand preferred)

Combine all ingredients in food processor. Chill for a few hours before serving. This is great on red, orange, yellow or green bell pepper strips. It's also good on raw zucchini, celery, carrots, snow peas, broccoli, or cauliflower.

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Joseph's Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Flour Pita Bread

I recently stayed with some friends on Block Island, a beautiful and charming island get-away off the coast of Rhode Island shown in this photo. I knew that on Block Island we would be having lots of good food, and I wanted to be sure I had some low carb options available, so in Portsmouth I picked up a package of low carb pita bread to take with me. This was absolutely without a doubt the best pita bread I had ever tasted, low carb or not! I used it to make "sandwiches" with cheese and lunch meat and enjoyed it every time I ate it. We had a delicious tomato spread that everyone was eating on french bread, and I happily spread it on my pita.

The pita bread was so delicious that I bought several packages to bring home and put in my freezer. Joseph's Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Flour Pita Bread has 1.5 grams fat, 0 cholesterol, 334 mg sodium, 10 total carbs (5g diegary fiber, 1 sugar), and 7g protien. That means each pita has a total of only 5 net carbs. The bread is made by Joseph's Middle East Bakery, Inc. in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

I haven't had time to do an exhaustive web search, but I didn't find them on my first try. I'm planning to visit some specialty stores in Utah with the package in hand and see if I can convince one of them to order it for me, it's that good. If anyone knows how to get this product on-line I would love to hear from you.

Edit 7-17-07: Someone from Joseph's Middle East Bakery left a comment today and the company now has a website, which you can find at that link. Sadly, I didn't see a way to order their products online, but if you live in the Eastern U.S. you might be able to get your store to order them now.

Edit 3-27-2008 Someone left a link in the comments today with information that these can be ordered from Netrition.)

Update: I wrote about Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran, and Whole Wheat Tortillas and Pita Bread in April 2008.

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Greek Dressing for Spring Mix Baby Lettuce Blend

Costco sells a great blend of baby lettuce and greens that is called "Spring Mix" (also often called Mesclun Salad Mix). Although I love the lettuce, and eat it often with my friend Mary's dressing mix (olive oil, lime juice, splash of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper) I longed for another dressing blend that would be good with this. (Ok, so I didn't actually long for it, but I did think of it several times.)

This dressing is adapted from a recipe that I saw in Yankee Magazine when I was on Block Island, and I think it tastes fantastic with the very flavorful lettuces in the Spring Mix. The original recipe called for Greek Seasoning, which you could certainly use if you had it, but I wanted to create a recipe that didn't need any specialty ingredients. For a new take on Greek Salad, serve this with the Spring Lettuce Mix and some crumbled feta cheese on top.

GREEK DRESSING FOR SPRING MIX

BABY LETTUCE BLEND
(makes about 3 cups, original recipe by Kalyn)

1/3 cup lemon juice (I used fresh lemon juice)
1/2 cup mayo or low fat mayo (not fat free)
4 tsp. garlic powder
4 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups olive oil

In food processor blend together lemon juice, mayo, garlic powder, oregano, marjoram, pepper and salt. Keep processor running and drizzle olive oil in through feed tube, blending until dressing is completely emulsified. It should look slightly green from the dried herbs being blended in. If you don't have a food processor, you could do this by hand with a wisk, but the food processor was easier. Chill at least 1 hour to let flavors blend.

This keeps well in the refrigerator, but you need to bring the dressing to room temperature before serving.

If you have Greek Seasoning, substitute 3 T Greek Seasoning for the garlic powder, oregano, and marjoram.

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Block Island Breakfast Casserole with Fresh-From-the-Garden Green Peppers

I recently returned from a fabulous trip to Rhode Island, where I stayed with a good friend in Portsmouth and then visited some other good friends at their summer house on Block Island. At the island house, I was the only South Beach Diet eater, but everyone enjoyed this casserole I made for breakfast one day. Again, in this dish the sum was greater than the parts.

Sometimes I don't like adding green peppers to things because the green pepper flavor can be overpowering, but in this case we used small garden green peppers and they were fantastic. If you don't have a garden, look for the lightest green peppers you can find, or reduce the amount to one green pepper. Red, yellow, or orange peppers would also be good in this.

BLOCK ISLAND BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
WITH GARDEN GREEN PEPPERS
(about 10 servings, original recipe by Kalyn)

18 eggs
1/4 cup cream, milk, or half and half
1-2 T Spike Seasoning
salt, pepper to taste
1/4 cup sliced green onion
10-12 oz. deli ham, diced in 3/8 inch pieces
(do not use honey ham)
12 oz. low fat sharp cheddar, diced in 3/8 inch square pieces
2 small green bell peppers from the garden, diced in 3/8 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 10 X 14 glass casserole dish with nonstick spray. In bottom of casserole dish layer ham, cheese, green onion and green pepper.

Beat eggs with cream, Spike Seasoning, salt, and pepper until whites and yolks are well combined. Pour eggs over ham mixture, then stir gently with a fork so that all the ingredients are evenly distributed in the eggs.

Bake 45 minutes, or until eggs are firmly set and top is lightly browned.

In the spirit of full disclosure, let me say that we cut the cheese into cubes for this dish because we couldn't find a cheese grater, but the result was fabulous. Having the cheese in cubes created little pockets of melted cheese throughout the mixture, which was delicious.

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Kalyn's Garden Tomato Pasta Sauce with Italian Sausage and Basil

(In August of 2006 I posted a recipe for Sausage and Basil Marina Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes which is an improved, slightly revised version of this recipe. That post has step-by-step instructions with photos. To see it, click on the link above.)

Every summer when my garden starts bursting with tomatoes, I make this pasta sauce and freeze it. It's great to serve over Dreamfield's low carb pasta or sauteed zucchini, or to use as the base for minestrone soup during the winter.

This makes 4-5 quarts of sauce, which I freeze in 2 cup containers. It's a very flexible recipe; when I have more tomatoes, I use less canned tomato sauce and tomatoes. I hate peeling tomatoes, so I pulverize them in my food processor which completely grinds up the skin. Be sure not to skip adding the fresh basil and garlic at the end because that's what makes this taste really good.

KALYN'S GARDEN TOMATO PASTA SAUCE
WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND BASIL
(this makes a lot, cut it in half if you don't have freezer space)

10 links (2 19.5 oz. pkg.) turkey Italian sausage
2 T olive oil
1 can beef broth
20 medium red tomatoes, any type
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
3 T dried basil
3 T dried oregano
3 T garlic powder
2 T ground fennel
2 T fennel seed
6 bay leaves
3 T Italian seasoning (optional)
3 T dried parsley
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (like the kind you sprinkle on pizza)

To add the last 20 minutes:
3 T olive oil
2 T fresh garlic puree
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1 T ground fennel

Heat olive oil in very large nonstick frying pan. Squeeze turkey sausage out of the casings and add to frying pan. Brown sausage well, breaking it into small pieces with a potato masher or the back of a metal turner. (Don't rush this step.) When sausage is well browned, add beef broth to deglaze the pan. Pour sausage and broth into large soup pot and turn heat on low.

Wash tomatoes and cut out stem end. Cut each tomato into 6-8 pieces and puree in batches in food processor. Be sure to process them long enough that the skin and pulp is completely liquified. As you finish each batch, add to sausage/broth mixture.

Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano, ground fennel, whole fennel, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, parsley, and red pepper flakes to pot and stir. Let simmer on low 4-8 hours, stirring every 20 minutes and scraping off the side of the pan to get off the carmelized tomato that sticks to the side. (You can let this simmer in a crock pot and then reduce it when you get home if you prefer.)

Simmer until the sauce is reduced by about 1/3 and mixture is desired thickness. (I like it thick, you can always add water when you thaw it out.) Then add olive oil, fresh garlic puree, fresh chopped basil and additional 1 T ground fennel. Simmer 20 minutes more. (Do not cook it longer than that at this point, because prolonged cooking destroys the flavor of fresh basil and garlic.)

You can give this to your neighbors for Christmas gifts and you'll be very popular.

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Zucchini and Basil Strata

I recently returned from a trip to Rhode Island and Block Island, and when I got back my garden had punished me for being away by producing some monster zucchini. Here's something I made out of one of the really huge ones. This recipe was one where the sum exceeded the total of the parts, it was really delicious. I ate it as a casserole, but it would also make a great side dish with something grilled. If you don't have fresh basil, you could probably get a pretty good result with dried basil since the basil is sauteed with the zucchini.

ZUCCHINI AND BASIL STRATA
(6-8 servings)

1 monster zucchini, 14-16 inches long

(or use several smaller ones)
2 T olive oil
1-2 tsp. Spike Seasoning
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
6 eggs
1/8 cup cream or half and half
1/2 cup + 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan or asiago
3/4 cup grated Monterey Jack
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Use a 10 X 12 glass casserole dish for this and spray with nonstick spray.

Wash zucchini, then cut in half crosswise, then cut each half into fourths lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape away the seeds and most of the white inside, leaving about 3/8 inch of white attached to the skin. After seeds and white have been cut off, cut each zucchini piece crosswise into pieces about 3/8 inch wide.

Heat olive oil in large nonstick frying pan, add zucchini and saute 2 minutes. Add Spike and fresh basil and saute 2-3 minutes more. (Zucchini should be barely starting to soften.)

Put zucchini into casserole dish, add Monterey Jack cheese, and season with salt and pepper. In bowl, combine eggs, cream, and 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan or asiago and beat well. Pour egg mixture over zucchini and Jack cheese and gently stir so it is well combined, with some zucchini pieces "peeking" out of the egg. Sprinkle other 1/2 cup parmesan or asiago over top. Bake 35-45 minutes, or until well set and slightly browned on top.

I ate this for lunch with a small salad and it was fantastic.

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Chicken Fajitas in the Crockpot from MomFood

I originally got this recipe from a blog called MomFood. It was written by a woman with a sense of humor, judging by her "photo" which was a drawing of a housewife from the 60s. "Mom" (aka C. Jones) had some great recipes on her blog. She graciously agreed to let me republish it here. Now, MomFood has closed down, so I guess I can't get any more good recipes there. I hope C. Jones is doing ok, whereever she is.

Chicken Fajitas from Mom Food
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, or combo of breasts and thighs
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 each red and green bell pepper, sliced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (or more)

flour tortillas

(Note from Kalyn: I recommend Carb Chopper or Mission Brand Low Carb Tortillas to serve with this.)

grated cheese
sour cream
guacamole
lettuce and tomato

Cut chicken into 1 inch slices. Place chicken in crockpot. Top chicken with onion and peppers. Squeeze lime juice over all. In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin and salt. Stir in broth. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours (3-4 hours on high) or until tender. Spoon chicken into tortillas and serve with toppings.

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Cuban Pork Chops Mojo

I've been lucky enough to visit Miami several times, and when I was there I always loved the Cuban food. Beef or pork marinated in lime juice was one type of Cuban cuisine that I loved the very first time I tried it. I developed this recipe to capture some of the flavors I remembered from Miami, and it turned out great. Be sure to serve it with limes cut lengthwise into fourths, so each person can squeeze lots of fresh lime juice over their pork chop.

CUBAN PORK CHOPS MOJO
6-8 thick boneless pork top loin chops

Marinade:
2/3 cup orange juice (can use 1 small can)
1/3 cup lime juice (fresh is best)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 T garlic puree
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. Penzeys pork chop seasoning (optional but recommended)
1 tsp. minced onion
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. Penzeys Trinidad Lemon Garlic Marinade (optional but recommended)

Mix all marinade ingredients. Trim visible fat from pork chops and pound until they are between ½ - 3/4 inches thick. Place chops in single layer in zip loc bag and marinate 6 hours in refrigerator. Cook over medium heat, about 20 minutes or until evenly cooked through and slightly brown. Serve with fresh lime pieces to squeeze on the meat.

This would be a perfect phase one recipe for The South Beach Diet. It would be great with Roasted Broccoli with Garlic, Slow Roasted Asparagus, or Cauliflower with Garlic and Lemon. For phase two, add something like Lake Powell Spicy Rice or Brown Rice with Cashews and Herbs.

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Chicken Sausage, Zucchini, and Red Pepper Kabobs

Obviously I'm eating a lot of zucchini these days, since my garden is overflowing with it. Here's something I whipped up for dinner on a day when I didn't really plan ahead. If I'd planned ahead, I would have marinated the zucchini and red pepper all day in some Italian salad dressing, but this was still very tasty.

CHICKEN SAUSAGE, ZUCCHINI, AND RED PEPPER KABOBS

4 links pre-cooked chicken sausage (see note)
3 small zucchini (8 inches long)
1 large red bell pepper

Preheat grill to medium. Cut zucchini, red pepper, and sausage into pieces about 2" square. Alternate on skewers, ending each skewer with a sausage piece (less likely to fall off). Brush all sides of skewers with olive oil (unless you thought ahead and marinated the veggies). Grill over medium heat about 15 minutes, turning every 3 minutes. (When you first put them on the grill, the olive oil might flame up. If that happens, squirt out the flame with a spray bottle.) These are done when sausage is heated through and veggies are starting to brown. They taste best when veggies are still a tiny bit crisp.

If you have "double" skewers, they are perfect for this. If you only have regular skewers, be sure to put the skewer through the skin of the zucchini and push everything together tightly, because zucchini will spin around on the skewer otherwise.

Note: I used Casual Gourmet Red Pepper and Basil Chicken sausage from Costco to make this, and it was fabulous, but you can use any pre-cooked chicken or turkey sausage that you like, or even pork or beef sausage would be good. The Casual Gourmet Chicken Sausage comes in three flavors, but this is the only one I've tried. It has only 1 carb and only 4 grams of fat in each sausage. I'll definitely be buying that sausage again. If anyone has tried the other flavors, leave a comment and tell us how they are.

This is a perfect dish for any phase of the South Beach Diet. Kabobs would taste great with Grilled Asparagus with Parmesan or Roasted Broccoli with Garlic for phase one. For phase two or three, add something like Brown and Wild Rice with Pine Nuts and Thyme.

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Grilled Salmon with Maple Syrup Glaze

My friend Susan and I are both seriously addicted to those frozen salmon filets they sell at Costco. They come in a bag with each piece of salmon individually shrink-wrapped. Susan likes to just cut the corner off the shrink-wrap package and put the salmon in the microwave. Since I'm fond of grilling, I usually cook my salmon on the grill. Often I put a piece of frozen salmon in the fridge before work and grill it that night.

Now remember, we're in Utah, where fresh salmon is something you just can't buy on a teachers budget. If you live where fresh salmon is readily available and affordable, so much the better.

Sometimes you can find a great low carb recipe in the most surprising place. I adapted this recipe from one that I saw in Cooking Light Magazine, most decidedly not a low carb source. Even though brown sugar and maple syrup both have significant carbs, you are using a teensy-weensy bit of both for flavor. I don't think that sugar-free maple syrup would produce the glazey effect you want here, but you could try it.

GRILLED SALMON WITH MAPLE SYRUP GLAZE
4 salmon filets (6 oz. size)
2 tsp. paprika or smoked paprika
1 tsp. chile powder
1 tsp. ancho chile powder (optional)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. maple syrup

Preheat grill to medium high. Brush grill with olive oil or spray with nonstick spray. Combine paprika, chile poweder, ancho chile, cumin, and brown sugar. Rub fish on both sides with paprika mixture, then sprinkle with salt. Put maple syrup into small bowl and have pastry brush ready. Grill salmon on first side 4 minutes, then turn gently. Cook 2 minutes on second side, then brush with maple syrup and cook 2-3 minutes more or until fish feels firm, but not hard to the touch.

This is a perfect dish for any phase of the South Beach Diet. Salmon would taste great with Grilled Asparagus