Frozen Vegetable Main Dishes

I use frozen veggies all the time for stir frys. You can add meat or tofu if you want.
I don't have a recipe, I just use whatever veggie mix I have in a large frying pan or wok with meat (usually chicken or shrimp) and add in whatever sauce I like, usually a bottled Asian-style sauce.
Its my go-to lazy, after-work, too-tired-to-really-cook, too-hungry-to-wait-long, kind of meal.

Cheat's soup au pistou. Bring several handfuls of mixed frozen veg to a boil with a chicken or vegetable stock cube. Make or buy some pesto. Before serving the soup, throw in a rounded tablespoon of pesto into each bowl. To make this a filling meal, throw in a tin of white beans.

This is a great way to use up spinach that has been in the freezer for awhile. The spices add so much flavor they will mask any freezer taste the spinach may have picked up over time in the freezer.

Indian Chicken Saag (creamed spinach)


I first tasted this delicious chicken dish when a new Indian restaurant opened here in my town. I had eaten Saag and Saag Paneer many times before, and make it often at home. However we had never seen it served as a combination with meat included, like an entrée curry. Needless to say, we both loved it! It was served with a cup of basmati rice and was enough to serve both of us generously. The chef served it with the saag already spooned over what appeared to be butter-seared chicken breasts, but it was not very attractive served that way, to be quite honest. I could clearly tell the breast meat had been seared first in butter as a bit of meat was peeking out from under his spooned over saag in the pretty copper & brass serving dish. I chose to serve the butter-seared chicken slices on top of the saag at home, for a little nicer photographic effect. I think you Indian food fans are really going to like this one!

This recipe is suitable for most ketogenic diets. Paleo followers will need to sub in coconut milk for the cream and omit the cream cheese entirely. won’t be quite as authentic, but still pretty good, I imagine.

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz. skinless chicken breast, cut into 6 servings

2 T. unsalted butter + 1 T. extra light olive oil

16 oz. frozen chopped spinach

Water to just cover spinach

3 oz. cream cheese

1/3 c. heavy cream

Dash each salt and black pepper

1 tsp. my Garam Masala spice blend below

½ tsp. finely minced ginger root

½ c. cilantro, chopped

¼ tsp. onion powder (2 oz. fresh onion if you prefer)

½ large jalapeno, seeded, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350º. Melt butter with oil in large skillet. Sear chicken pieces in pan over high heat for about 5 minutes on a side or until golden as shown. When fully done, remove meat to a paper plate. Drain off all grease but 1 T. Add spinach and water to the same pan. Bring to simmer and cook until done, or about 5 minutes. Pour into a sieve to drain off water. Press with back of spoon to get as much out as possible. Replace spinach in skillet. Add cream cheese and with back of your spoon, press it out to melt it and stir well into spinach. Add all other ingredients and let simmer for about 4-5 minutes. Now it’s time to place the seared pieces of chicken on the top of the bed of saag. Pop into 350º oven for about 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve at once. I serve mine over steamed cauliflower pressed slightly with a fork. Non now-carbers at table can enjoy over a bed of 3/4 c. basmati rice. This dish pairs nicely with my Mint-Cucumber Salad.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 6 servings, each contains:

326 cals, 16g fat, 11g carbs, 2g fiber, 9g NET CARBS, 29g protein, 226 mg sodium

6 T. coriander seeds
3 T. cumin seeds
2 T. black peppercorns
1 T. whole cardamom pods (outer part and seeds inside)
5 small cinnamon sticks broken into small pieces
2 tsp. whole cloves
1 whole grated nutmeg (about 1 tsp.)

DIRECTIONS: In a dry skillet, over low heat, heat the first 6 spices until they become very fragrant. This step is most important, so do not skip it or your results won’t be as good. When fragrant, turn off heat and remove pan from stove. Using a spice/coffee grinder (I have a cheap dedicated coffee grinder for spices only), grind all toasted spices to a pretty fine grind, but it doesn’t have to be as fine as salt. Add grated nutmeg at this point. When adding this spice to curry recipes, I once again heat the dry skillet and reheat these until they become fragrant and then proceed with whatever recipe I’m making. This is outstanding in all chicken, beef and fish curries. It’s great on charcoal grilled, buttered fish and chicken, too!

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION: Each teaspoon contains and is already included in the above stats for the total recipe:

6 calories, 0.31g fat, 1.1g carbs, 0.6g fiber, 0.23g protein, 0.5g NET CARBS