Tag: slow cooker

KETO POWER!!

cookbooks, Healthy

Keto diets which while very similar to the Atkins Diet, both of which are based on drastically reducing carbohydrates in order to throw the body into ketosis meaning it turns to fat for fuel once its glucose stores are used up. But while Atkins was designed for weight reduction, the keto diet is being studied for its possible ability to reduce seizures in people with epilepsy, be heart healthy, protect brain functioning including increasing alertness and maybe treat or prevent conditions like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and certain types of sleep disorders. Two great books to help you learn about and incorporate keto into your diet are: The Keto Instant Pot Cookbook: Ketogenic Diet Pressure Cooker Recipes Made Easy and Fast By Urvashi Pitre and The One-Pot Keto Diet Ketogenic Cookbook: 100+ Easy Weeknight Meals for Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Sheet Pan, and More by Liz Williams.

Other Interesting Keto news.

Global Keto Diet Market to Grow 5.6% per Annum to $15.6 Billion Value by 2027

With more and more consumers becoming aware of its overall health benefits, the ketogenic diet has grown into one of the most popular diet plans over the years. According to DrJohn.org research, the global ketogenic diet market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% and reach a $15.6 billion value by 2027.

North America Holds the Largest Share of Global Keto Diet Market

In 2018, the global ketogenic diet market reached $9.6 billion in value. The expanding trend continued in 2019 with a 4.27% year-on-year growth rate. The 2019 data show that North America generates the most significant share of the global keto diet market revenue.

The rise of the ketogenic diet market in North America is primarily a result of the growing consumer awareness related to obesity and health issues. The recent surveys showed that besides the easy availability of keto-friendly products and the wide offer on the market, the consumers in the US and Canada have also started to adopt active diet habits to lose weight. At the same time, North American keto diet companies are constantly improving the quality of their products to fully accommodate the customers’ demands.

With the increasing number of consumers interested in keto-friendly products, Europe is the second-largest keto diet market in the world. According to the surveys, Europe is expected to generate 32% of the global keto diet market growth in the years to come.

Beverage Products Generate the Most Significant Market Revenue

One of the key drivers for the rapid global keto diet market growth is the increasing availability of keto products across different distribution formats. The 2019 surveys show that drink products are generating the most substantial part of the overall market revenue.

The low-carb and high-fat keto beverages are developed to help accelerate the metabolic state of ketosis, which improves the body’s efficiency while burning fat for energy. Today, the global ketogenic dieters are offered with an increasing number of new beverage products. Almond butter in to-go pouches, medium-chain triglycerides oil, nutritional drinks, and bone broth with keto-specific packaging are some of the most popular products on that list. Other significant revenue streams on the market are keto-friendly supplements and meals, sauces and condiments, sweeteners and dark chocolate.

The Keto Instant Pot Cookbook: Ketogenic Diet Pressure Cooker Recipes Made Easy and Fast

By Urvashi Pitre

Rockridge Press $10.30 (Amazon price)

Urvashi Pitre, who blogs at TwoSleevers.com and wrote the bestselling Indian Instant Pot Cookbook, offers an introduction to the Keto diet concept, the use of Instant Pots for those who are new to cooking with one and then shares a broad range of Keto recipes that are tasty.

Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

2 cups Cauliflower Rice (see note below)

2 tablespoons cream cheese,

at room temperature

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup grated sharp

Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground

Black pepper

In a heatproof bowl, mix the cauliflower, cream cheese, half-and-half, Cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper together. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil.

Pour 2 cups of water into the inner cooking pot of the Instant Pot, then place a trivet in the pot. Place the bowl on the trivet.

Lock the lid into place. Select Manual or Pressure Cook and adjust the pressure to High. Cook for 5 minutes. When the cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick-release any remaining pressure. Unlock the lid and carefully remove the bowl. Remove the foil.

Place the cooked cauliflower under the broiler, and broil until the cheese is brown and bubbling, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Per Serving Calories: 134; Total Fat: 11g; Total Carbs: 4g; Net Carbs: 3g; Fiber: 1g; Sugar: 2g; Protein: 6g

Note: Many grocery stores are now selling cauliflower rice in their frozen food sections. But if you want to make your own, here’s an easy way to do so. Place cauliflower florets in a blender with plenty of water, pulsing until the cauliflower is completely chopped up. Drain the mixture using a large strainer. It’s as easy as that.

The One-Pot Keto Diet Ketogenic Cookbook: 100+ Easy Weeknight Meals for Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Sheet Pan, and More

By Liz Williams

Rockridge Press $8.99

Roasted Asparagus, Bacon and Egg Bake

12 uncured bacon slices

16 to 20 asparagus spears, ends snapped off and discarded

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 large eggs

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

Preheat oven to 425° F.

In large cast iron skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon. Turn the slices with tongs every few minutes and cook until bacon is 75% cooked, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Drain the bacon grease from the skillet and discard, keeping 3 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan. Add the trimmed asparagus spears to the skillet, season with salt and pepper and toss until coated with fat.

Bake in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until the spears start of soften. Remove from the oven and turn the asparagus with tongs. Return the bacon to the skillet. Crack the eggs over the top of the bacon and asparagus.

Return the skillet to the oven and back for 5 to 7 minutes or until the eggs reach desired doneness.

Serve immediately with avocado slices.

The Indian Slow Cooker: 70 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes

Agate

              Known for her cookbooks which make Indian cooking easily accessible for home cooks, Anupy Singla says that her mother never taught her to cook.

              “She didn’t want me to get stuck in the kitchen like she did,” Singla tells me as we chat on the phone about her cooking.  So instead Singla, who was born in India but grew up outside of Philadelphia having moved to the U.S. when she was three, became a journalist working as a business reporter for Bloomberg News in Chicago and a morning reporter for Chicago’s CLTV. So far so good according to mom.

              But the flavors, tastes and the lessons she learned from her grandfather when she returned to visit her large family in Punjab, led her to leave journalism and focus on cooking. Singla is still writing though and now has several cookbooks including the recently released updated edition of her best-selling The Indian Slow Cooker: 70 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes (Agate 2018; Amazon price $13.36) as well as Indian For Everyone, which is a compilation of the most popular Indian recipes outside of India.  Besides that, her blog with the wonderful name of “Indian As Apple Pie”—because, as she says, her approach to Indian food is from an American point of view–has grown to include a wide selection of spices and spice blends that she makes as well. She also offers Spice/Bollywood Tours of Chicago’s Little India.

              In other words, her mother’s fears were unfounded.

              “It’s great to be in the kitchen, when you own it,” says Singla.

Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes

Aloo Gobi

Slow Cooker Size: 4- Or o- Quart

Cooking Time: 3 Hours on Low

Yield: 7 Cups

“Until I made this myself in the slow cooker, I refused to believe my mother-in-law when she said it was possible,” Singla writes in the introduction to this recipe. “I also wondered why I wouldn’t just make this dish on the stovetop, where it could sit for less time. After trying it once, I realized the answer: because I can now stick it in my slow cooker and go about my day. I don’t think twice about the kids near the stove or anything burning. My father—the real foodie of the family—also wouldn’t believe this dish could be made well in the slow cooker, so he just had to try it himself. He had me on the phone in excitement for half an hour after trying it for the first time.”

1 large head cauliflower, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 8 cups)

1 large potato (russet or yellow), peeled and diced (about 2 cups)

1 medium yellow or red onion, coarsely chopped

1 medium tomato, diced or pureed (optional)

1 (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and grated

3 cloves garlic, minced

3–4 fresh Thai, serrano, or cayenne chiles, stems removed, chopped or sliced lengthwise

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon red chile powder or cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 heaping tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Put all the ingredients except the cilantro in the slow cooker. Mix well.

Cook on low for 3 hours. Mix once or twice during cooking, especially in the beginning. Eventually the cauliflower will release enough liquid to prevent anything from sticking to the sides of the slow cooker.

Add the cilantro. Mix well but gently so as not to break up the cauliflower. Serve with roti or naan and a side of onion and cucumber salad.

To make this dish in a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker, halve all the ingredients and proceed with the recipe. Cook on low for 3 hours. A half recipe makes 4 cups.

Creamy Turmeric Corn Soup

Slow Cooker Size: 5-quart

Cooking time: 4 hours on high

Yield: 18 cups  

Singla notes at the beginning of this recipe that turmeric is a spice she likes to add wherever she can do so without the spice affecting the taste of her non-Indian dishes.

“Blending a tablespoon into this corn soup is a great way to get all the healing properties without altering the light, bright taste of corn,” she says. “Any more and it tastes too earthy. Use nuts like cashews rather than dairy to make it creamy.”

2 ½ pounds frozen yellow corn, defrosted

1 medium potato (any kind), peeled and diced

1 large shallot, minced

½ cup raw, unsalted cashews

1 tablespoon turmeric powder

2 tablespoons sea salt

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

10 cups water

Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker.

Cook on high for 4 hours. Remove 1 cup of the corn. (Carefully pick out any pieces of the potato and cashews that are removed and put them back into the slow cooker.)

Blend until smooth with an immersion blender or carefully in batches in a blender. Add back the corn you removed. Mix well and serve immediately.

To make this dish in a 3 ½-quart slow cooker, us a 2-pound bag of frozen corn, 2 teaspoons turmeric powder, and 7 cups water. Cut the other ingredients in half and proceed with the recipe, cooking on high for 4 hours. A half recipe makes 11 cups.

The recipes above are reprinted with permission from The Indian Slow Cooker: 70 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes, 2ed by Anupy Singla, Agate Surrey, 2018.