Teriyaki!

Have I mentioned how wonderful I find 2-pot cooking with 2 ingredients on the menu? Talk about SIMPLE!

Teriyaki is a wonderful flavor, and it's easily done without all the sugar and additives you may read on a bottle of commercial stuff. I whipped this sauce up in about one minute, with a few more minutes of cooking to reduce it to a saucy consistency.

This sauce is super with chicken, fish,shrimp, or beef! Today I had chicken on the menu for lunch, so this is how it turned out, served on a bed of steamed chard:

Good as Yen Lui's, eh?

TERIYAKI

Pour 1/3 c. water into small fry pan. Add about 1/8 tsp. EACH of garlic powder, onion powder, dry ginger, chili powder, and 1-2 T. of low sodium soy sauce (I prefer Tamari, which can be found gluten-free). A good alternative to soy sauce is Bragg's Liquid Aminos.

Bring to boil, stir in 4 oz. raw chicken breast cut into 1/2" pieces or less. Stir a bit while the chicken cooks, about 2 min. Remove chicken to serving bowl, reserving sauce in pan. Lower heat a tad, and continue to simmer sauce about 2-3 minutes more, until reduced and thicker.

Remove pan from heat, THEN stir in 1/2 packet (your taste) of SweetLeaf plain stevia powder.
Never add stevia while cooking, it will get bitter. Play with the seasonings in this sauce; sometimes I add Chinese 5-Spice powder instead of the garlic and onion powders.

My preferred soy sauce (which does have a small amount of alcohol for preservation):

Add the chicken back to sauce and stir briefly to reheat. Pour over steamed greens.

A dish fit for the Emperor! A nice accompaniment: 1/2 c. cold apple sauce (my raw apple sauce recipe will be posted later).

A NOTE on greens: when I find my system "backing up" for more than a day or two, rather than resort to any sort of laxative I have a big serving of steamed leafy greens - preferably CHARD or KALE! Loaded with fiber and other good things, these natural brooms efficiently help sweep things clean.

Orange Prawns

One thing I really do like about oranges and seafood - the color effectively zips up a potentially bland plate - and as a cooking instructor, I'm all about presentation! The other thing I like about oranges and seafood - the citrus notes also give delightful zing to fish, especially white fish. (Again, noting that oranges are not on Siemen's protocol; listed on other sites.)

This is so simple it's embarrassing.

Tear up about 1 1/2 c. cold crisped lettuce, place on colorful serving plate. Cut one orange into slices. Peel the slicesSqueeze enough slices to make about 2 T. juice, and put into small fry pan with 1/4 c. water. Using one or two orange slices, chop coarsely and add to water. Cut the remaining slices into quarters, set aside.

Season water/juice with powdered ginger, some garlic and onion powder. Bring to boil, then add 4 oz. raw, peeled prawns (I like the 41-50 count, they are medium size and you feel like you are getting more to munch rather than the big guys!). Cook 1 minute, then flip over and cook additional minute, until opaque. Don't overcook, it's easy to do at high heat.

Plate the hot shrimp on the lettuce, drizzle with some pan juice making sure to get all the bits of orange.

Garnish with the remaining orange quarters.

See how fast that was?! Took longer to peel the prawns than to put the whole dish on the plate!

Sweet Ginger Shrimp

I love things wrapped in lettuce leaves! Especially crunchy Butterhead lettuce out of our raised bed lettuce garden, cold and crispy from the frig. This tangy shrimp recipe is punchy with ginger and a sweet orange sauce.

Mix in small fry pan:
1/4 c. water, 2 T. fresh lemon juice, 2 T. fresh orange juice, 2 T. Braggs Liquid Aminos, 1/4 tsp. dry ginger powder, pinch of chili seasoning, large dash of garlic and onion powders, dash of seasalt and ground pepper. Add stevia to taste, not TOO sweet

Bring to boil, slide 4 oz. peeled prawns (41-50 count, which are medium size) , cook about 1 min. until turning opaque on sides. Turn each shrimp over, turn off heat and let set in pan juices while asssembling plate. The shrimp won't overcook this way.

Lay cleaned whole lettuce leaves on plate. Put shrimp in a small bowl. Turn up heat under pan, let pan juices simmer a few minutes more to thicken. Pour into another small bowl. Set the shrimp and sauce bowls on plate with lettuce.

This is the fun part! Put one or two shrimp in the lettuce leaf, spoon on some sauce, fold the END up on the lettuce to keep the sauce from escaping, and take a good bite! Be sure to lean over the plate, the sauce will try to run away! For small leaves and one shrimp, I just fold it over and eat it in one bite - yummers!

NOTE: Oranges are not on the Siemen's protocol, but are listed on other sites. I wanted to try it, as oranges and seafood are a good pairing. It didn't seem to bother the wt. loss, but I won't use oranges often.

Napa Shrimp

I've found I often really love crinkly crispy Napa cabbage in place of lettuce with the shrimp.
A mixed salad of allowed veggies might include a bit of tomato and cucumber, a pinch of snipped chives or green onion. It makes a colorful meal!

Napa embraces the ACV vinegrette - great flavor! Sometimes I'll prepare for the day by getting the greens chopped/torn into my favorite bowl the night before; covered and refrigerated, it does save a few more moments on a time-eating day.

# 1 Go-to recipe

A quick calendar scan of the coming week on Sunday evening: hmmm, a couple busy times in there. Not to worry. Make sure there's crisp lettuce and small pink shrimp in the frig.

One of the things I'm really really enjoying about this eating protocol is how SIMPLE it is. Two items to prep, twice a day. Not counting fruit - other than washing or cutting. I mean, how hard is it or how long does it take to whack a grapefruit in half?!

This salad is probably my favorite thing of all time.

I'm blessed to live right on the bay where we have a seafood processing business just blocks away. Fresh fish and shrimp, at my beck and call. I keep a few measured (weighed) out packages in the freezer, but get to use fresh most of the time. Lucky me!

These succulent little pink shrimp get a good rinse in the seive, then drained a few moments while I tear up lettuce from my garden that has been previously washed and rolled in a towel then refrigerated to stay crisp.

Dressing? Easy breezy. A simple vinaigrette. 2 T. organic apple cider vinegar, 3-4 T. water, some stevia to taste, makes a nice sweet-sour type dressing. I throw in some dried herbs, which ever are calling my name at the time, a dash of seasalt and grind of pepper. Wah-la.

The little cup came with shrimp in it one day. It measures 1/2 c. With the lid, it makes a great little shaker for mixing this dressing. I use about half on one salad, pop on the lid and the rest goes into the refrigerator for the next salad.

The melba toast is kinda fun. Sometimes I break it up and drop the little croutons over the salad, other times I just munch little nibbles inbetween bites of salad. One slice of melba doesn't look like much - it's amazing how satisfying it is.

I love to supreme grapefruit. Cutting off the outer rind, then dividing each segment by peeling off the membrane. Grapefruit is good ice-y cold from the frig, but sometimes I prefer it room temp - the flavor really comes through. I always take several good whiffs of the rind before composting it. Grapefruit has got to be the most refreshing scent of all the fruits!

So there's my #1 meal. Shrimp Salad with Grapefruit and a melba. Usually with a cup of green tea.

THIS IS MY IDEA OF SIMPLE!!!

And oh-so-good!