Receta Book Review: Quick Keto Meals + Giveaway
Martina Slajerova is one of the most productive keto bloggers and authors out there. Her super-popular KetoDiet blog which accompanies her KetoDiet app, contains dozens of delicious low-carb recipes. The app also helps you plan and monitor your progress with your low-carb and/or keto diet.
Martina has also written many cookbooks. The KetoDiet Cookbook, Sweet and Savory Fat Bombs (my favorite!) are two examples of her brilliant books. You can read my review for the KetoDiet Cookbook here and for the Sweet and Savory Fat Bombs here.
Her new book (which has been on the market for a while, though) hits the spot when it comes to eating keto or low-carb as part of a busy modern lifestyle. Often, when you’re on a ketogenic or low-carb diet, it’s difficult to find quick and easy recipes to keep you on track. When it takes hours to cook healthy meals — and even to find the ingredients for those meals! — it’s easy to fall off the low-carb wagon and grab an unhealthy, sugary snack.
That’s why I’m especially delighted to find Martina’s Quick Keto Meals in 30 Minutes or Less so helpful. All the recipes are easy to make and, as the name suggests, they are all ready to eat in 30 minutes or less. And it’s more than just recipes; there are great tips in the book as well! If you’re taking the first steps on your low-carb and keto journey, you’ll learn exactly what to eat and what to avoid. There’s even a food pyramid that looks very different from the “official” recommendations. This food pyramid is made for ultimate health—unlike the official food pyramid, which was created as a marketing tool for the food industry, not as a means of supporting people’s health.
For this post, I’ve chosen to prepare an especially easy recipe with only 5 ingredients: Chorizo Egg Muffins, which appears on page 76. It has some unexpected ingredients in addition to chorizo and eggs: kale and pumpkin puree! (Don’t worry: they work perfectly together!) The pumpkin makes the muffins deliciously moist and lends them a rich, autumnal flavor, too. Personally, I’m a huge pumpkin fan—which is why I have several recipes featuring pumpkin, from breakfasts to soups, dinners, muffins, pies, bars, desserts and even drinks). And that’s another reason I chose to try this pumpkiny recipe first.
Preparing the Chorizo Egg Muffins
The ingredients in these muffins are all easy to obtain. Kale — the all-time super food! — grows right in my garden. Pumpkin, however, doesn’t. (But don’t blame me for not trying! on my previous post, I planted several varieties of pumpkin, and they blossomed beautifully, but no pumpkins grew from the blossoms.)
That means I have to rely on the frozen, roasted pumpkin roasted pumpkin in my freezer. You can choose canned pumpkin, too, but just make sure it’s 100% pumpkin—preferably organic—without added sugar.
Now all I was lacking was chorizo and eggs, both of which I got from the nearest grocery store. The recipe calls for manchego cheese or cheddar cheese as an optional ingredient, and I planned to make one batch with manchego. Here in Europe it’s easy to get a hold of since it’s Spanish, but if you can’t find it, never fear: I bet cheddar cheese will work just as well, especially if you’re after a heartier, cheesier version of these muffins.
Then I started to prepare the muffins. First, I fetched some kale from my garden.
I steamed the kale for 5 minutes.
Then I cooked the diced chorizo for 2 minutes on a hot, dry skillet.
I added the steamed kale and cooked it for another minute.
I let the chorizo and kale cool down while I was combining the pumpkin and eggs in a bowl.
An electric mixer worked well for blending the eggs and the pumpkin puree together. In the video, I use a gravy whisk, which worked really well, too.
Then I added the chorizo and kale mixture to the bowl with the eggs and pumpkin puree…
Plus some salt…
…and pepper, too.
Again, short mixing but this time I used a spoon to combine everything well. I didn’t use cheese in this batch since I wanted to try the basic recipe, but if you’re using cheese, now is the right time to add it.
I spooned the mixture into a silicone muffin pan. I love all things mini, so I used a mini muffin pan and was prepared to reduce the baking time. The mixture looks really fluid, but don’t despair; it will solidify while baking.
Then I put the filled muffin pan into the oven.
After 15 minutes the muffins looked perfect. (For regular-sized muffins, the recipe recommends 20-25 minutes in the oven.)
After removing the muffins from the oven, I let them cool until they were warm, not hot, since I prefer my savory muffins warm rather than fridge-cold.
Excitedly I took a bite of one muffin. I was eager to see how the combination of chorizo, kale and pumpkin worked together. It was a huge success! The muffin was unbelievably tasty. You could really taste the pumpkin, too, which made them even more delicious!
I had made Sugar-Free Sweet Chili Sauce from homegrown chilis and it was a perfect match for these muffins: nothing beats the combo of sweet, savory and spicy!
Here is the recipe. Enjoy!
Print Chorizo Egg Muffins from Quick Keto Meals Book
Author: Martina Slajerova
3.5 oz = 100 g Spanish chorizo or pepperoni
3.5 oz = 100 g chopped parboiled kale or fresh kale
6 large pastured eggs
1 cup = 240 ml unsweetened pumpkin puree
Salt and pepper
Optional: 1/2 cup = 120 ml grated manchego or Cheddar cheese
Optional: Sriracha sauce, greens, sliced avocado
Preheat the oven to 360 °F (180 °C, or gas mark 4).
Dice the chorizo and place on a hot dry pan. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes to release the juices and crisp it up.
Add the parboiled kale and cook for another minute. (If using fresh kale: Cover with a lid and cook for 5 to 7 minutes over medium-low heat.) Remove from the heat and set aside.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and mix with the pumpkin puree.
Add the chorizo and kale. Season with salt and pepper, and mix until combined. Add the grated cheese (if using).
Spoon the mixture into a muffin tray (a silicone tray works best). Use a ladle to distribute the mixture evenly among 10 muffin cups. (Or, bake in a skillet to make a frittata.)
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, and set aside to cool slightly before serving.
Serve with Sriracha sauce (Elviira's note: for a sugar-free option, try my Sugar-Free Sweet Chili Sauce), greens, or sliced avocado, if you like.
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
4.5.2.16
http://www.lowcarbsosimple.com/book-review-quick-keto-meals-giveaway/
Images, text and recipe fully copyrighted by Low-Carb, So Simple
And here is the video on how to prepare these muffins:
Nutrition information per serving (2 muffins): Total carbs: 5.3 g | Fiber: 1.7 g | Net carbs: 3.6 g | Protein: 13.2 g | Fat: 13.7 g | Energy: 198 kcal
Final thoughts
This Chorizo Egg Muffin recipe was just one example of the quick and easy recipes Martina’s Quick Keto Meals book offers. There’s no doubt that you’ll find your new favorite recipes and keto staples in the 100 recipes the book contains. Next, I’m going to treat myself to Sloppy Joe Lettuce Cups, Creamy Broccoli Soup, Speedy Keto Crackers, and Blackberry Lemon Mousse. To celebrate the fall season, I’m definitely going to make some Chewy Pumpkin and Chocolate Chip Cookies! And last but not least, as Martina is the queen of fat bomb recipes, her No-Bake Blondie Fat Bombs are a must-try. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
If you want to make your keto lifestyle easy, you simply have to get this book!
Giveaway
Even better, I’m giving away a copy of Martina’s fantastic Quick Keto Meals book. Please comment below for a chance to win! In your comment, please mention what your all-time favorite keto snack is.
The giveaway closes on 15th September 2017, after which the name of the winner will be drawn randomly from my famous Hello Kitty hat. I’ll shoot a video on that!
Related posts:
Savory Cheddar Cheese Muffins
Book Review: The KetoDiet Cookbook (Vegetarian Stuffed Avocado)
Elviira’s Krunchy Grain-Free Granola (Dairy-Free)
Gluten-Free Low-Carb Flat Bread, Focaccia or Pizza Crust