VLCD Recipes

While I go through this protocol, I'll be doing some pretty intense experimenting with food. There's only so many times I can eat cumin seasoned chicken and lettuce, after all. With that being said, when I find a recipe that's particularly filling, flavorful, and well within the bounds, I'll be sharing it here. I can't tell you how many recipes'll pop up here, but I'm sure you'll find something you like.

Ground beef and cabbage
100 grams lean ground beef (5%)
2 cups diced cabbage (approx 1/4 of the cabbage head)
1/2 cup water
Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce

In a 10 inch non stick skillet, add cabbage and ground beef, and mix well. Add water, and turn heat onto medium high. Dash Frank's Hot Sauce over mixture, five times or to taste, and mix well to distribute. Let cabbage and beef mixture cook at a high simmer until water is evaporated, approx ten minutes or until cabbage and beef is cooked through, stirring occasionally. If cabbage is not at the desired tender level, add another 1/4 of water and let simmer until soft enough.

Drain any excess water, spoon into a bowl, add more Frank's Hot Sauce to taste, and serve hot.

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Spicy Chicken
100g chicken pieces
5 dashes Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1.5 tsp VLCD safe mustard
Dash of water

Cut the chicken breast, skinless and free of all fat, into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces. Mix in separate small bowl the Frank's and Mustard until well blended, then add dash of water and mix again.

In non stick skillet, place diced chicken so all pieces are touching the pan surface. Turn heat onto medium, and let sizzle for twenty to thirty seconds. Add Frank's/mustard mixture, coating pieces thoroughly. Stir chicken in sauce until well coated.

If you have a pan that tends to gather sauce at one end, push all the chicken and sauce into that corner, and stir frequently. Let cook for about five to 8 minutes, depending on diced chicken size, and then turn heat off.

Serve immediately, or let cool and package away for lunch the next day; it reheats really well.

Caution: Don't overcook the chicken. At such a small size, each piece can become overly dry and develop a papery taste. The Frank's sauce helps to keep the chicken moist, but only cook the chicken long enough to ensure complete doneness. You can test the doneness by splitting the largest piece in half with your fork. If it splits easily, and all pinkness is gone, turn off the heat, and let the chicken rest for a minute.

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Shrimp and Fennel Soup
100g shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup diced fennel
1 cup VLCD safe beef broth, fat and sugar free, low sodium (Health Valley Fat Free Beef Broth)
Red Pepper Flakes
Garlic Powder OR 1 clove fresh garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper

In a small simmering pot, add beef broth, cleaned shrimp, and fennel, and stir. Add garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste (go easy on the red pepper if you've never used it) and stir well.

Cover pot, and heat over medium high heat until broth boils, then reduce to medium low and cook about five minutes or until shrimp turn pink and are done.

Garnish with pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

Notes: You can swap out the fennel for onion as well. I'd recommend cutting back on the black pepper and red pepper flakes though, as the onion will make the broth slightly spicier. You can also swap out the shrimp for ground beef, crumbled and raw into the broth. The simmering will cook the beef, and it turns into little mini meatballs, kind of. If you use your imagination ^_^

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Chicken with Asparagus
100g chicken, diced
2 cups raw asparagus, cut into inch long pieces
1/2 cup water
cumin
black pepper
red pepper flakes
garlic power, or one small to medium fresh garlic clove, finely minced

In a 10-inch skillet, add chicken, asparagus, and water. Add spices and garlic to taste, and blend well. Turn heat on medium high, and let simmer uncovered for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Chicken should be cooked through, but still tender, with almost all water evaporated.

Serve hot immediately, with black pepper to taste.

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Sauteed Shrimp
100gn shrimp, peeled and deveined
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 fresh garlic clove, finely minced
black pepper
red pepper flakes

In a non stick skillet, add shrimp, lemon juice, garlic, and spices to taste. Over medium high heat, saute the shrimp in the lemon juice until cooked all the way through, approx five to eight minutes.

Serve immediately with black pepper to taste.

Notes: You can add a couple tablespoons of water to the lemon juice if the flavor is too potent, or not enough liquid to avoid burning the shrimp. Also acceptable as a substitute for both the water and the red pepper flakes would be several dashes of Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

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Spiced Flounder
100g flounder fillet
1 large fresh clove of garlic, finely minced
basil
onion powder
black pepper

Tear off a twelve inch long piece of tin foil, and lay on a flat surface. Place half of the finely minced garlic in the center, spread out over a three inch surface. Place flounder (if in two pieces, then place next to each other, if in one solid piece, break in half and place next to each other) over the top of the minced garlic. Sprinkle remaining garlic, basil, black pepper, and onion powder over the top of both pieces, evenly.

Fold tin foil over the fillets so the middle seam overlaps, and the ends are tucked and rolled in to create a pocket. Place tinfoil in skillet, seam side up, and let cook over medium high heat for five to eight minutes. Steam should come out through the middle seam. Don't flip over.

Check fish five minutes in, by unraveling one end of the pocket and pulling apart the tinfoil, and looking for flakiness in the fish. If the fillet flakes easily with the fork, then fish is done. Turn off heat, rewrap the tinfoil, and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove from tinfoil, and place on plate with black pepper to taste, and lemon juice if desired.