Low Carb Gyozas

Gyozas, little dumplings full of ground meat and sometimes cabbage, the perfect accompaniment to sushi. They’re one of my favourite things to eat. The problem? They’re wrapped in carbs. My solution? Daikon.

Daikon is an Asian variety of radish, that’s long, white and doesn’t look like a radish. You can find it in most supermarkets. Now I know what you’re thinking, why a radish? Radishes are low carb and tasty, and while they do have a strong flavour, when cooked, they are more mild. They’re delicious roasted or added to soups and stews.

Sliced thin using a mandolin, daikon is the perfect wrapper. You have to use a mandolin here because the daikon needs to be super thin so it folds without cracking. Now daikon has quite a bit of water in it, so you need to dry it out, so that when you pan fry the gyoza, they brown. I slice up my daikon, then on baking trays lined with paper towel I lay the slices, sprinkle salt over and leave for about 20 minutes. This will draw out some of the water. Before using, just dab with paper towel.

Recipe

• 1 daikon, sliced and dried as stated above
• 1 pound ground pork or chicken
• 2 green onions, cut up
• 1 tsp each pepper, onion powder and garlic powder
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ginger power. You can use fresh.
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• optional: add a handful of finely shredded cabbage

Mix everything but the daikon together in a bowl. Then take a daikon slice, and add about a tsp of the meat mixture to half, then fold the daikon in half. Kind of squeeze it together so the daikon sticks to the meat and holds together.

At this point you can cook them or you can freeze them. I froze them because I got 72 gyoza. Just place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, then place in the freezer to flash freeze so they dont stick together before putting in a large zip lock bag.

To cook the gyoza, heat up a non stick pan with a little oil, then add the gyoza and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add water and cover and continue cooking until meat is cooked through. Don’t flip, and be careful when taking out of the pan because these are delicate. I like to serve mine with a mixture of soy sauce, water and rice wine vinegar. These taste just like regular gyoza, but without the carb laden guilt!

Yes that’s sushi. Low carb sushi. I’ll make a separate post for that.

Serving size is 10 gyoza, and for my batch I got 7 servings. That may change depending on how big your daikon is, so calculate your carbs based on the ingredients you use.

Nutritional Value per serving

Calories, 204.9; Fat, 13.9g; Cholesterol, 62.9mg; Sodium, 68.4mg; Sugar, og; Total Carbs, 2.2g; Fibre, <1g; Protein, 17.9g

Zucchini Ravioli

I LOVE pasta. I grew up eating pasta. My uncle married and Italian woman, so pasta was definitely a staple for our family. Italian food is my comfort food, but unfortunately pasta is off limits for me. Or is it?

Yes and no. I could have pasta of course, but it would spike my blood sugar horribly, even if I took insulin. There are low carb pastas and some are decent, but they’re also pretty pricey. A great alternative? Vegetables! Now of course, veggies aren’t pasta, but they can be just as satisfying if done the right way.

That picture above? That’s my zucchini ravioli. The filling tastes exactly like pasta wrapped ravioli and you don’t even really notice that it’s zucchini. They’re so filling and satisfying!

I thought I’d share my recipe. Now I know there are few out there, and I’m not claiming mine is the best, but I think it’s pretty tasty.

RECIPE

• 4 medium zucchinis
• 1 cup ricotta cheese, drained in a plain cotton cloth or cheese cloth (Don’t skip this, it helps with the water content of the dish)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp each of onion and garlic powder
• 1 tbsp dried parsley

In a bowl, mix everything except the zucchini. Set aside.

Now for the zucchini. You’re going to make strips. To do this I like to use this kind of peeler

You’re going to cut each end off the zucchini and then cut it lengthwise

Now, you’re going to peel strips along the cut edge. You’ll need 4 strips per ravioli and I usually get 5 raviolis per zucchini.

Lay 2 strips, over lapping a little bit onto your work surface, then lay 2 strips across the first pieces. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of the filling to the centre.

And now just fold it all up. I start with the bottom and work counter clockwise.

I find it best to put the ravioli onto a tray or plate lined with paper towel, and then I put paper towel on top and let them sit for a bit. You can even make them ahead of time and put them in the fridge. The paper towel draws out some of the water from the zucchini, which helps keep them from being too watery.

On to the cooking..

You can totally bake these, in a dish alone or topped with a little tomato sauce. Not too much sauce though, because zucchini, when cooked, has a lot of water that releases. Which is why I like to pan fry my raviolis. Just take a non stick pan over medium heat, I add a little oil, and add each ravioli. Make sure the end side is facing up, it makes it easier to flip. Cook for about 5 mins, maybe more. I wait until it gets browned. Then gently, with a spatula and a dinner knife, flip the ravioli over. Cook until browned. Place on plate and let sit for a minute or two; you might notice some liquid on your plate. I just dab it off with some paper towel. I add a spoonful of sauce, another reason I like to fry is I can determine how much sauce I get, and some parmesan cheese. Serve it with some kind of meat and you have yourself a healthy, yummy “pasta” dish.

Recipe makes 4 servings. Each serving is 4 raviolis

Nutritional Value per serving

Calories, 195; Fat, 11.6g; Cholesterol, 42.5mg; Sodium, 310.5mg; Sugar, 4.7g; Total Carbs, 6.7g; Fibre, 1g; Protein, 16.1g

Please note that the nutritional value is based on the specific brands I used, different brands may have different values.