How to stock the perfect refrigerator for diabetics…and others.

Eating a healthy diet, even if you’re not a diabetic, requires discipline and dedication. Having a ‘fridge full of the right foods is the first step to that success. Here’s what to look for:

Proteins: hard-boiled eggs, grilled chicken strips, chicken salad, tuna fish, three bean salad, hummus or sugar-free yogurt, string cheese, nuts and seeds. Make as many salads and you can to control as many fats as possible.

Seafood: eat at least three seafood meals a week. Keep an assortment of frozen seafood, shrimp, scallops, pre-portioned fish on hand, but make a point of buying as much fresh fish as you can, as often as you can. Then learn how to saute for fast, simple, delicious fish dishes.

Snack foods: how many of us have failed on a diet because of snack foods? Keep the demon pre-packaged snack foods to a bare minimum, and then buy only the healthiest items possibles…and the more nuts, the better.

Spices and herbs: Yes, both add flavor and interest to just about every dish, but most come with some impressive health benefits, especially herbs which are packed with antioxidants and other disease-fighting properties. As much as possible, buy fresh herbs, basil, thyme and parsley to start, as they can be used in a wide variety of dishes. Dried spices should be purchased in the smallest quantities possible and whenever possible, in the whole state. Use ratio: 1T fresh herbs = 1t dried.

Fruit: In the refrigerator, on the table…put fresh, low-glycemic fruits (apples, peaches, pears, plums) in your path, as they make great, healthy grab-n-go snacks. Fruit does contain natural sugars that can raise your blood glucose levels, so watch your portions and always test.

Information, courtesy dLife.com

Kent McDonald is a Certified Personal Chef specializing in diabetic diets, living and working in Phoenix, AZ. (c) All rights reserved, 2013.

Gazpacho…because it’s too hot to cook.

I threw in the towel around 110F.   Preheat the oven? Boil? In this heat? Fat chance.

I can be quite content eating salads. Crisp, green, crunchy mash-ups of  fresh veg, an interesting cheese and hard salami of some sort and I’m good.  From salad,  it’s a short jump to Gazpacho, one of my favorite summer recipes.

Gazpacho
Serves 6ish

3 slices day old French bread, no crust
2 pounds canned Italian-style whole tomatoes, seeded, coarsely chopped
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1T sugar
2C tomato juice, good quality
1T paprika, Spanish if available (Everyone should have this in their pantry. Seriously.)
Kosher salt, ground black pepper to taste
1/2C extra virgin olive oil
1/4C sherry wine vinegar
Juice of half a lemon
Handful, chopped parsley

Soak the bread in 1C cold water for 5 minutes. Squeeze out as much water as possible, then combine with tomatoes, cucumbers, pepper, onion, garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Puree until almost smooth, leaving some texture.  Empty into a large bowl,  then stir in the juice, sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice and parsley. Stir to combine well. Chill for at least 2 hours. Season again with salt and pepper before serving.  Serve garnished with any of the above veggies, diced small. And there’s always the hard-boiled egg garnish.

This dish is better made the day before.

Notes: at first taste, the vinegar-lemon combination packs some punch, but mellows over time. You might want to play with the amounts to suit your taste. The amount of onion shown here is half the amount called for in the original called for, and that’s fine for my palate. Again, feel free to improvise.

Gazpacho photo, courtesy milescollins.com

Kent McDonald is a Certified Personal Chef, living and working in Phoenix, AZ. (c) All rights reserve, 2013

Fat-free potato chips. Seriously.

I read food blogs for the same reason you do…to see who’s cooking what. Cooking blogs, baking blogs, diet, paleo, raw, nutrition blogs – at some point in the day, most will generate a “boing” signal, announcing their arrival in my inbox. And I do read them, some eagerly, most not. Rarely does one stop me in my tracks.

Until yesterday. A fairly new blog to me showed up. I scrolled down some and was stopped by the headline “Quick, Easy and Fat-Free Potato Chips??????”.  Could it be?

Yup.

7 Minute, Fat-Free, Insanely Good Potato Chips

A russet potato
A mandolin
A bowl of water
Salt
Paper towels
A microwave oven

Wash off your potato, towel dry. Set your mandolin blade to thin – potato-chip thin – and slice, putting the slices into the bowl of water. (This helps remove some of the starch and prevents discoloration).

Drain, then rinse and drain the slices thoroughly.

Remove the glass turntable from your microwave, wash it and dry it. Cover it completely with a layer of paper towels.  Place the potato slices on the paper towels in a single layer, not touching each other. Gently towel dry. Then salt the slices to your liking.

Return the turntable to the microwave carefully, then cook the potato slices for 7 minutes on high. Using pot holders, carefully remove the turntable. Count slowly to 50 (trust me on this, ok?) then put one in your mouth and chew.

Try not to eat all of them in one sitting.

Recipe, courtesy Baby Lady @REMcooks.com
Photography, Quinn McDonald

Kent McDonald is a Certified Personal Chef, specializing in diabetic menus, living and working in Phoenix, AZ. (c) All Rights Reserved, 2013.

Chewy Dessert for Diabetics

My squeeze is a major dessert freak. Dinner is not complete until something sweet, ideally containing or coated with chocolate, lands on front of her after the entrée. But we’ve both found the dessert options for those of us following a diabetic diet to be…ah…limited at best. In the end, Jello is to pudding what carob is to chocolate…sorta similar, but not at all the same. The perfect dessert is a combination of flavor, texture and mouth feel.

Like this one.

CHEWY ALMOND BARS
Makes 12

1/2C almond butter (peanut, cashew butter work well too)
1/4C honey (or maple syrup or coconut sweetener)
1 large egg
1 pinch salt
1C almond flour
1/2C sliced walnuts
1/4C sunflower seeds, raw
1/4C flaxseed meal
1T chia seeds
1T sesame seeds

Preheat your oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 8″x8″ baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine the nut butter, honey, salt and egg. Stir until smooth and completely combined. (Note: this is a thick stiff mixture. Start with a big wooden spoon, finish with a strong whisk).

In a large bowl, stir together the almond flour, nuts, flax seed meal, chia seeds and sesame seeds. Pour the nut butter mixture into the almond flour mixture and stir until combined.

Press mixture evenly into prepared baking dish and bake 18-20 minutes, until golden brown around the edges. Cool before cutting into bars.

Calories: 108, Satfat: .83g, Carbs: 7.84g, Fiber: .38g, Sugar: 0

Photo, courtesy Quinn McDonald

Kent McDonald is a Certified Personal Chef, specializing in diabetic diets, living and working in Phoenix, AZ. (c) All Rights Reserved, 2013.

Cauliflower as a side dish for diabetics?

Yeah, I know…cauliflower? Who eats cauliflower? My Dad didn’t like it so cauliflower never showed up on our dining room table, nor on mine during my college years and after. A few of my personal chef buddies would tell me how they’d use it to make “mock mashed potatoes” for their clients on low-carb diets. Seriously? Really? Me thinks not.

Then I came across a simple cheesy recipe (all those in favor of lots of cheese, raise your hands) that got me to at least try it. Yum…simple, quick to make, and good for my diabetic clients.  But, let’s step it up a bit, shall we?

Kinda-Like-Polenta Cauliflower
Serves 6

1 medium head cauliflower
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
3T creme fraiche
1/4C low-fat milk
2T butter
5T shredded Fontina
3T freshly grated, good quality Parmesan
2, 1″ long twigs fresh thyme, stripped
1t salt
1t freshly ground black pepper
2T minced fresh parsley

Put a good size pot of water on to boil. Remove the leaves of the cauliflower, chop it up. Rinse in a colander. Peel and crush the garlic.

When the water boils, add the garlic and cauliflower; return to boil, cook for 10 minutes. Drain, return to hot pot; let sit 2-3 minutes to continue to dry out.

Add the cauliflower, butter, cheeses, thyme leaves to a food processor. Add about 1/2 the milk, puree. Add more milk to reach your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Plate, garnished with the parsley.

Changes I made: I substituted creme fraiche for cream cheese to lighten the dish some. I replaced cheddar with Fontina to add richness and added good quality Parmesan for tang and a bit more salt. The thyme I added just to give the dish a bit more depth. Depending on what I serve as an entrée, I can see swapping the Fontina for a bleu or perhaps a brie.

I also pureed this smooth, instead of slightly chunky. This greatly changed the mouth feel, giving it a more elegant polenta-like consistency.

Calories: 132, Satfat: 6.1g, Carbs: 4.71g, Fiber: .56g, Cholesterol: 29g

Kent McDonald is a Certified Personal Chef, specializing in diabetic diets, living and working in Phoenix, AZ. (c) All Rights Reserved, 2013.

Photo, courtesy Quinn McDonald

Seared Scallops with Crispy Proscuitto with Roasted Tomatoes and Smashed White Beans

I took a liking to Jamie Oliver from his very first “The Naked Chef” show.  Endlessly upbeat, Oliver keeps the food front and center and never lets you forget that great cooking is a) not magic, and b) a source of great fun and satisfaction.

Over the years, he, and his cooking, have matured greatly. Where once, seemingly all of his recipes started with “you take a pound of bacon”, he’s now leading the effort to bring truly healthy, delicious foods to those who need it most, school-age kids.

Last weekend, I prepared dinner for 4 women, members of  “gourmet club”. They wanted seafood as their entrée, scallops specifically. And all are diabetic.  This gem of Oliver’s fit the bill perfectly.

SEARED SCALLOPS WITH CRISPY PROSCUITTO WITH ROASTED TOMATOES AND SMASHED WHITE BEANS
Serves 4

4 large ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
salt and pepper
1 pinched dried oregano
extra virgin olive oil
8 slices proscuitto
1 small garlic clove, sliced very thin
1 small dried red chili pepper, crumbled*
4 anchovies, chopped small
1, 14oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
12 large sea scallops, cleaned, trimmed, tied off if you prefer
1 small bunch arugula, or peppery greens
2T fresh lemon juice
5T olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450F. Season the tomatoes, sprinkle with oregano. Drizzle with olive oil and roast, skin side down, for about 10-15 minutes. Place the proscuitto slices beside the tomatoes, continue to roast for another 10 minutes until the tomatoes are juicy and the proscuitto is crisp. Crumble the proscuitto and set aside.

In a fry pan over medium heat, add the garlic, chili pepper, anchovies and a good “glug” of olive oil, then cook for about one minute, stirring and breaking up the anchovies. Add the beans, cook for a few minutes, then add a wineglass of water to the pan. Bring to a boil, then lightly mash the beans to a coarse paste. Loosen this with a bit more water if needed. Finish off with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.

Pat dry and season the scallops, then sear in a hot skillet with a bit of olive oil for 2 minutes without touching. You’re looking for a sweetly caramelized skin. Turn, repeat. Remove to a boil, dress lightly with the lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste.

To plate, start with a “layer” of smashed bean puree, scatter over the tomatoes, proscuitto and scallops then finish with a sprinkling of greens.

* take care adding too much of this…it’s very easy for the chilies to overpower the flavor of the beans.

Calories: 420, Satfat: 1.67g, Carbs: 23.65, Fiber: 1.51

Recipe: Jamie Oliver, “The Naked Chef Takes Off”
Photograph, courtesy Quinncreative.com

Kent McDonald is a Certified Personal Chef, specializing in cooking for diabetics, living and working on Phoenix, AZ. (c) All Rights Reserved, 2013

Wild Mushroom Terrine

I’ve been swapping emails with an old friend whose husband is diabetic. She’s a good cook, but like most dieters, her hubby is focused on what he can’t eat. “Why is diet food soooo boring?” Oh, please…

This classic French dish is perfect as a side dish for an evening meal for two, or as a terrific first course for a party.

WILD MUSHROOM TERRINE
Services 6ish

1 pound wild mushrooms
4T butter, unsalted
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
2t Dijon mustard
4 medium eggs
1C creme fraiche, or sour cream if not available, NOT low fat
1 pinch nutmeg
2T parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 325F. Line 2, 8oz., or 1, one pound loaf pan with parchment paper.

Clean the mushrooms thoroughly, then roughly chop them to uniform size. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then saute the shallots and garlic. When you see the shallots taking on some color, add the mushrooms and saute for about 10 minutes. You want the mushrooms to give up their liquid. (If need be, saute the mushrooms in two batches).

Meanwhile, beat the eggs together with the creme fraiche and mustard. Add the nutmeg and parsley, season with salt and pepper.

Remove the mushroom mixture from the skillet with a slotted spoon, leaving the liquid behind, then divide into the pans. Pour the creme fraiche mixture over the mushrooms and bake for about 15 minutes, or until set. Let cool slightly, or chill for later. This is best served at room temperature.

Calories: 21, Satfat: 9.97, Carbs: 6.16, Fiber: 0.62, Sugar: 0

Recipe: Rachael Khoo, The Little Paris Kitchen
Photo, courtesy Quinncreative.com

Kent McDonald is a Certified Personal Chef, specializing in cooking for diabetics, living and working on Phoenix, AZ. (c) All Rights Reserved, 2013