It was a balmy 94 degrees outside when I made my meal plan for the week, so of course I decided that what I was currently craving was potato soup. I’m…kinda weird. The second most obvious issue here is, of course, that potato soup isn’t the least bit keto. But I was undeterred. I know you can make all sorts of stuff from cauliflower, including mashed potatoes, and if you can make mashed potatoes with cauliflower, how could potato soup be any different?
This is an Instant Pot recipe, but you can absolutely do it without one. Follow the rest of the instructions, but do it in a Dutch oven, and when you get to the point where the pressure cook occurs, just put the lid on and cook the cauliflower in the broth until it’s fork-tender, almost mushy. Also, while I call for chicken broth here, there’s no reason vegetable broth wouldn’t work for those of you who do vegetarian keto. Do your thing.
To start with this one, chop half of a medium onion, resulting in 1/3 cup of chopped onions. Chop two heads of cauliflower into florets, then set aside. Set the Instant Pot to saute and melt two tablespoons of butter. Once the butter starts getting foamy, toss in the onions and saute them until they start turning golden. Throw in a tablespoon of minced garlic and saute it for about 30 seconds, then add the cauliflower. Saute it for about five minutes, turning occasionally, until brown spots begin to appear. Pour in a cup of chicken broth, then seal the lid and pressure cook for three minutes with a manual release.
The cauliflower when it’s ready to be steamed.
When the lid can be safely removed, open it. Add the remaining half cup of chicken broth, and using a stick blender, puree the cauliflower. Once there are no large chunks left, add 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar, 1/2 cup of heavy cream, and 1/4 cup of sour cream. Continue using the stick blender until the texture of the soup is uniform. If needed, add extra liquids. At this point, taste for seasoning. I used a tablespoon of salt. Cauliflower sometimes takes a lot of seasoning to get beyond tasting bland. Your mileage may vary, though. I used a ton of pepper in here, because I love peppery potato soup.
The toppings are where you can get creative. I did some more shredded cheddar, green onions, bacon, and sour cream. But honestly, if you’d put it on a baked potato, you can do it here. Roasted broccoli florets and cheddar would be phenomenal. Top it with what you want. My macros here are without toppings, because I know you guys will want to try different things.
Loaded Faked Potato Soup
Ever had loaded baked potato soup? This is like that, only faked.
Set the Instant Pot to saute and add the butter. When the butter is foamy, add the onions and saute them until they start turning golden brown. Add the garlic and saute another 30 seconds. When the garlic is fragrant, add the cauliflower and saute for about 5 more minutes, turning occasionally, until the cauliflower begins to brown.
Add a cup of broth to the Instant Pot, put on the lid, and set to cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Use the manual release, then open the cooker when it's safe to do so. Add the rest of the broth and use an immersion blender to puree the cauliflower.
When the cauliflower gets smooth, stir in the cheese, heavy cream, and sour cream. Add the salt and pepper, then use the immersion blender to puree it and mix everything together. Serve in a small bowl with your desired toppings.
Macros for just the soup: 209 calories, 8 grams net carbs, 7 grams protein, 16 grams fat.
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Before going full keto, I ate a paleo diet for almost ten years. I was paleo before it was cool. I’m an OG paleo hipster. I’m not anymore, mainly because I do better with low carb, but also because I really, really love dairy. But being paleo for so long meant that I really didn’t eat much in the way of bread, for years. I still don’t, because I keep gluten-free even though I’m no longer officially paleo. My joints and tummy don’t like gluten at all, so I don’t eat it.
Needless to say, being both keto and GF means that my options for sandwiches are limited. And every now and then, you just want a dang sandwich. Thankfully, there are options. I’ve already extolled the virtues of 90-second bread, and it’s perfect for this recipe, which is incredibly easy and tastes awesome. Plus, it’s vegetarian! I know that there are vegetarian keto folks out there, so if you’re one of them, please let me know how you like this!
Start by making your favorite version of 90-second bread. I use the one from Wholesome Yum, but there are plenty out there, so if you’ve used a different one in the past and liked it, feel free to use it. I’m sure a standard low-carb bread would work too, but I’ve never tried them so I can’t vouch for certain. When it’s done, set it aside to cool a bit while you prep the interior of the sandwich. Slice up a roma tomato. You’ll use about 3-4 slices, depending on how big your tomato is and the size of the container you use for the bread. I used about half the tomato in mine. Then slice up about 2 ounces of fresh mozzarella. I use the kind that’s kind of a tube shape, and I make two approximately one-ounce slices, then cut each one in half. If you have square shaped bread, you can put the flat side of the half-circle on each side, and then have the round half in the middle.
This should cover most if not all of the bread. To assemble the sandwich, slice your 90-second bread in half to make two thin slices, then put the tomato on the bottom slice, then top it with the cheese, then put some basil pesto on the top slice before you put it on top of the sandwich. I used about a half tablespoon of pesto.
Melt a tablespoon of butter in a grill pan over medium-low heat, then carefully place the sandwich, pesto side down, on the pan. If you have a panini press, you can use it instead, but I’ve never used one so I’ll leave it for you to figure out how long it has to stay on there. While it’s in the grill pan, press it down with a spatula so you can get the nice grill marks like a real panini. Once the cheese starts to melt a bit, flip it carefully and do the same on the other side. This should take about six minutes total. You’ll want the interior to be warm and melty when it’s done, so make sure you don’t take it out until the cheese has melted. If it’s giving you trouble, you can put a lid on the pan for a minute to help it along.
Slice on the diagonal and serve immediately. If you’d like, my zucchini chips would be a perfect side dish for this.
Prepare your 90-second bread according to instructions. Set it aside to cool.
Slice the tomato and mozzarella. Slice the bread in half to create two thin slices. Place the tomatoes on the bottom slice, then add the cheese, then spread the pesto on the top slice before placing it on top of the sandwich,
Melt the butter in a grill pan over medium heat. Place the sandwich in the pan, pesto side down, and press it down with a spatula as it cooks. In approximately 3 minutes, or once the cheese begins to melt, carefully flip it and repeat on the other side. Cut on the diagonal and serve immediately.
Macros per serving: 520 calories, 7 grams net carbs, 20 grams protein, 45 grams fat.
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A great keto substitute for potatoes is daikon radish, and in this breakfast recipe, you’ll learn how to make a veggie hash with it. Top with scrambled or poached eggs for a wonderful vegetarian keto breakfast!
Pork chops were on sale this week. Family packs, buy one get one free. Now I have more pork loin chops than I know what to do with. Expect a few pork chop recipes in the coming weeks. I already have eight pork chops in the freezer because I couldn’t use all of them. Ouch. But again, I had to figure out something that would work for the kids, and breaded and fried is always a good option, so here we are.
This one starts off very similarly to my Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe. It’s just even simpler, so it’s a great meal for a busy weeknight. Plus, it’s a great way to get out your frustration. Start with 4 pork loin chops (about 6 ounces each) on a thick cutting board. You’ll need a meat tenderizer mallet as well. I like this one because of the grip on the handle that never gets slippery. Pound the crap out of these pork chops. You’ll want them pretty thin. I like to stick them with the pointy end to tenderize the meat. One of my kids has a problem with “chewy” meat, and he ate these just fine. So take everything that made you mad today out on these pork chops.
A pounded pork chop next to an untouched one for comparison.
This has my standard meat breading as well, with one addition. One egg beaten in a small bowl, then a half cup each of grated parmesan and pork rind crumbs mixed with a teaspoon of dried parsley, a half teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, ground mustard, and salt, and black pepper to taste. Once you’ve measured all that out and put it on the plate, zest half of a large lemon into the breading mix as well, and stir it all together with a fork. Keep the rest of the lemon on a cutting board for later.
Heat 1/4 cup of avocado oil in a large enameled cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is ready, dip a pork cutlet in egg and coat thoroughly with crumbs, then place gently in the oil. Repeat with another pork cutlet. Since they’re fairly large, you won’t want to put more than two in at a time. If you need, have the oven on warm so you can put the finished ones in there while you cook the rest. Cook each pork cutlet for 3-4 minutes per side, until they’re golden brown. Flip them very carefully with tongs so the breading doesn’t come off.
While the pork cooks, remember that lemon? Slice the non-zested half into thin slices to serve on top of the pork. You can also squeeze the zested half over them when they’re done if you really like lemon. Serve them with the veggie of your choice. I just used a quick zucchini ribbon salad. I got the basic idea of it from Recipe Runner, but I generally do my own keto tweak by increasing the olive oil and decreasing the lemon juice. It’s a great summertime side dish. When it’s cooler out, this would go really well with Brussels sprouts or broccoli and some mashed cauliflower.
Put the pork chops on a thick cutting board and pound them as flat as possible with a meat tenderizer.
In a small bowl, beat an egg. On a large plate, mix together the pork rind crumbs, parmesan, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, ground mustard, and parsley with a fork. Zest half of a large lemon over the plate and toss it with a fork again.
Heat 1/4 cup of avocado oil in an enameled cast-iron skillet over medium heat. When the pan reaches full temperature, dip a pork cutlet in the egg, then coat thoroughly with the crumb mixture. Place it gently with an oil, and repeat with another pork cutlet. Turn them gently with tongs after 3-4 minutes, when the breading turns golden brown. After another 3-4 minutes, remove them from the pan and repeat with the remaining two pork cutlets.
Slice the non-zested half of the lemon thinly and serve a slice on top of each pork cutlet. You can also juice the remaining lemon over the pork if you wish.
Macros for this recipe are an estimate based on how much of the egg and crumbs I used and how much oil was left in the pan afterwards. 458 calories, 1 gram net carbs, 42 grams protein, 31 grams fat.
Keyword easy, keto, low carb, pork, weeknight
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