Gado-gado

Recipe
Sauce serves 3

Ingredients (base): Incorporate any of the following ingredients

• eggs
• green beans
• carrots
• cauliflower
• broccoli
• bean sprouts
• cucumber
• cabbage
  

Ingredients (sauce):

• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 2 t soy sauce
• liquid stevia to taste
• 1 T lime juice
• 1/4 c coconut milk
• 1/4 c water
• red chili flakes
• 1 clove crushed (pureed) garlic
  

The base should be prepared in advance so that it has time to cool.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil. Fill a bowl with cool water (ice cubes may be added). Prepare the vegetables while waiting:

• Broccoli: cut into mid-sized florets
• Cabbage: cut in narrow strips
• Carrots: peel and cut in small rounds
• Cauliflower: cut into mid-sized florets
• Cucumber: peel and slice into rounds
• Green beans: cut into bite-sized pieces

Cook the vegetables briefly; they should retain a crispy texture. Don't mix the different types of vegetables when cooking, although the same water can be re-used for the next batch of vegetables.

• Bean sprouts: 30 seconds
  
• Broccoli: no more than 4 minutes
• Cabbage: 1 minute
• Carrots: 3 minutes
• Cauliflower: no more than 2 minutes
• Cucumber: do not cook
• Green beans: 3 minutes

Once the vegetables have cooked, remove them from the boiling water and put them in the bowl with the cool water to prevent them from cooking further.

Drain the vegetables and put them in the fridge until needed.

Hard-boil the eggs, if using them, and put them in the fridge until needed.

The sauce can be made just before serving.

In a small saucepan, add all ingredients except the water and stevia. Mix well. Add in the water. Bring the sauce to a light boil over medium heat, until it begins to thicken. Sweeten to taste with stevia.

The sauce can be served hot or cold, but the base should be served cold.

Arrange the vegetables and peeled, cut eggs on plates and drizzle with the peanut sauce.

Source

The recipe for the peanut sauce is slightly modified from one given by Cooking with Amy. The remainder of the recipe has been in my possession for so long that I no longer know where it originated, although I'm reasonably certain I got it off Usenet.

Notes

If carbs are not a consideration, you can add some boiled new potatoes as well.

This dish can easily be made vegan by eliminating the eggs.

I usually leave out the cauliflower and cabbage and use all the remaining vegetables. I like the sauce warm, to contrast with the cool vegetables. It's a refreshing summer dish on days when it seems too hot to cook.

Courgette boats

Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 very large courgette (or 2 smaller ones)
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers (or romano peppers)
  
• 1 medium aubergine
• 2 toes garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  
• 150 g mozzarella cheese
• 3 T grated parmesan cheese
• 3 t coconut flour
• vegetable oil
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t dried thyme
• pinch of dried lavender
  
• salt
• black pepper
• liquid stevia (optional)
  

Pre-heat the oven to 180° C (350° F). Cut the courgette in half lengthwise. If it is very large, cut it in half to make shorter pieces. If the pieces do not lie flat with the skin side down, slice away a bit from the skin side so that it is stable when resting skin side down. Scoop out the inside of the courgette into a bowl. Leave enough flesh to hold the shape.

This image shows the courgette after it has been scooped out, and gives an indication of the size of the courgette.

Mince the onion and garlic and put them in a deep pan with some vegetable oil. Cook them gently until the onions are soft.

While the onions are cooking, chop the aubergine and peppers into bite-sized pieces. Cut the reserved interior of the courgette as well. Add the chopped vegetables and the tomatoes to the onions and garlic. Allow it to simmer until the aubergine and courgette pieces are still firm but cooked.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the herbs. Pour the vegetable mixture into a small mesh strainer and let it sit until the liquid has drained. (The liquid can be reserved to add to a soup or another dish.)

Add the grated parmesan to the vegetable mixture. Season it to taste with salt, black pepper, and a few drops of stevia. Stir in 1 t of coconut flour.

Use 2 t of coconut flour to flour the inside of the courgette boats, then spoon the filling in. Set the boats in a lightly greased baking pan. Slice the mozzarella and set it on top of the stuffed boats.

Put the boats in the oven until they are cooked but still firm enough to retain their shape, about 30 minutes. Briefly grill the boats if the mozzarella has not developed a brown crust.

Source

This dish wasn't inspired by any recipe in particular.

Notes

If you don't have basil, thyme, and lavender, you can use herbes de Provence in place of all three.

Coconut flour is exceptionally good at absorbing liquid; my baking pan didn't have any juice on it. If I wasn't practicing low-carb eating, I would probably have used cornstarch.

I don't care for the taste of tomatoes without some sweetener added, which is why I incorporate the stevia (I used 5 drops). You can easily leave it out.