Dinner time!
Since I give you the nutritional analysis below, you can fit this meal into the Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet, Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet, or Paleobetic Diet.
The entree is a cross between stew and soup; stoup, if you will.
Ingredients:
2 lb (0.9 kg) stew meat, lean, bite-sized chunks (tenderized by the butcher if able)
1 garlic clove, finely minced
6 sprigs cilantro, de-stemmed, whole leaves
2 oz (58 g) sweet onion, diced (1/2 of a small onion)
1/4 of a medium-size green bell pepper, de-seeded, diced (medium bell pepper weighs about 5.5 oz or 155 g)
8 oz (227 g) canned tomato sauce
2.5 cups (590 ml) water
1.25 tsp (6.2 ml) table salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste (1/4 tsp or 1.2 ml?)
16 oz (454 g) fresh raw asparagus, no larger in diameter than your little finger, with any dry or woody stalk cut off and discarded
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
7.5 oz (213 g) raw blackberries
Instructions:
Stoup first. In a frying pan or electric skillet, place the stew meat, cilantro, garlic, bell pepper, onion, and cook over medium heat (350º F or 177º C) until the meat is done. Then add the tomato sauce, two cups of the water, one tsp of the salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer for two hours, then add a half cup water to replace evaporation loss.
Cooking stew meat. NOTE: this is double the amount the recipe calls for.
Meat is done and the “gravy” has magically appeared
Appearance after addition of the tomato sauce and 2 cups (480 ml) water
Now the asparagus. Preheat oven to 400º F or 204º C. Place asparagus on a cooking sheet covered with foil, brush the asparagus with the olive oil, then lightly salt (1/4 tsp?) and pepper to taste. (If you don’t mind cleaning up, just use a baking dish without the foil.) Roast in oven for 8–15 minutes; thicker asparagus takes longer. It’s hard to tell when it’s done just by looking; if it’s still hard, it’s not done. Click for another post I wrote on cooking asparagus and brussels sprouts.
Asparagus roasted at 400 degrees F for 12 minutes
Enjoy the berries for desert.
2.5 oz or 1/2 cup of blackberries
Servings: 3 [one serving is 1.5 cups (355 ml) of soup, a third of the asparagus (5 oz (140 g), and 2.5 oz (70 g) berries]
Nutritional Analysis:
40 % fat
12 % carbohydrate
48 % protein
590 calories
19 g carbohydrate
8.5 g fiber
10.5 g digestible carb
1,557 mg sodium
1,778 mg potassium
Prominent features: Rich in protein, B6, B12, copper, iron, niacin, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc
The fresh cilantro is a nice touch
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 