Quick and Easy Cucumber in Greek Yogurt Sauce

Having 2 somewhat aged yet still serviceable cucumbers I swore to my wife that I would eat, I riffed off a recipe I read *somewhere* this past year and made the following cucumber salad.

Ingredients:

  • 2 peeled cucumbers, cut lengthwise into quarters, then (more or less) cubed
  • 1 or 2 containers of the 7oz. Fage Greek yogurt (I actually used maybe 10 oz. because I was using up an already-opened half-container – one *or* two would work fine, depending on how creamy you’d like it to be)
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 scallion, chopped thin
  • 2 teaspoons dried dill
  • 2 teaspoons salt (or more to taste)
  • 12 turns of the pepper mill
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic (I have the kind that comes in a jar – fresh garlic might require less)

Except for the cucumbers and scallion, I mixed the ingredients above together for about 2 minutes, then poured over the cucumbers which I had put in a 2-quart container. I mixed gently, then chilled.

This came out pretty good, though next time I might add a bit more dill – you can easily over-dill a dish in my opinion so I wanted to show some restraint here. I would probably not use the balsamic vinegar again. Instead I would use an apple cider vinegar or other lighter-colored vinegar as the dark balsamic, if I had used any more, would have turned the mixture a somewhat unpleasant brownish color which would have detracted from it’s ‘curb appeal’.

I’d say that this serves 4, and each serving would be:

Calories: 160
Fat: 10g
Sat fat: 3g
Carbs: 10g
Net Carbs: 9g (really 6g*)
Protein: 8g

*Note that Greek yogurt contains ‘sham carbs’ – the carbs listed on the label are higher than what the yogurt really contains because the carb counts is of the *milk that makes the yogurt* – once the yogurt is fermented, some of those sugars get turned into lactic acid which doesn’t count as a ‘carb’.

Quick & Easy Low Carb Oatmeal Substitute

[Haven’t written in a while and for those regular readers curious how the diet’s going: awful. I plan on writing more in the new year but for now here’s a recipe]

Recipes of this sort have been knocking around the low carb and Paleo sites for a while now and having the ingredients sitting around looking for a use, I thought I would come up with my own super-simple version.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons almond meal
  • 4 tablespoons coconut flakes
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 drops of EZ-Sweetz

You can see that the prep time for the above was about a minute. 2 minutes in the microwave, and you’re done. I did have to mix it, slicing up the mixture with my spoon as the egg had set and made it hold together. I also added a bit more almond milk, making it probably closer to the 1/2 cup mentioned above.

The result was pretty damn good if you ask me. Considering I was eating a tasty, hot and filling breakfast in less than 5 minutes, I’d say I must consider this as worthy of being added to my list of regulars. This wouldn’t be half-shabby as a dessert as well.

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 360
Fat: 30g
Sat fat: 11g
Carbs: 11g
Net carbs: 6g
Protein: 15g