THEMATIC Thursdays: Nerc* Crusts

Kids, NRC doesn't stand for Nuclear Regulatory Commission (at least not on this blog). It stands for No Refined Carbs. 

Back a few recipes, I featured a summertime no-bake cheesecake, with an almond meal and oat-bran crust, as a solution to making that recipe with the standard graham-cracker crust. But, that is, quite frankly, a dessert crust, and would not work for, say pizza. Other grains you could use besides oat-bran might include amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat (true buckwheat contains no wheat)**, and mixing them with butter, oil and some kind of very sturdy fruit, such as raisins, dried cranberries or dates, might work for a pie--but again, not for pizza.

**(I don't bake these flours--just throw them in and mix. Transmuting them with heat monkeys with vitamin content and moves these toward 'refined-carb' territory)

BUT...how about cauliflower? Huh? Yes, a very clever Navy wife has created a tremendously appealing recipe that would work great for a pizza. On her blog, Joyful Abode, she mixes cauliflower, mozzarella cheese and eggs to create what looks like a real solid, brown, crunchy crust.

Problem solved!

Nerc = "not eating refined carbs"

RECIPE #2: Quick Quirky Quesadillas

This is a tasty quasi-Mexican snack that can actually serve as dinner or lunch, if you make enough of them. A great party hors d'oeuvre, too. Low in refined carbs, the beans and cheese offer some protein. Joe V., from Northridge, California, at my New England university, made these often. Thanks, Joe--whereever you are.

Once again: Five steps, five ingredients, less than 25 minutes, less than five bucks.

1. You will need: refried beans, preferably fat-free; Monterey Jack cheese, enough eighth-inch thick slivers as big as the first joint of your thumb for each mini-quesadilla; your choice of salsa; tortilla chips, preferably salt-free and plain.


2. Place foil over a cookie sheet, and spread the chips evenly in rows on the sheet.


3. With a knife, spread a smear of refried bean on each chip. Take a teaspoon or even an iced-tea spoon, which works better, and take just a spoonful, a tiny dollop, of salsa, and place it on top of each bean-smeared chip.


4. Take the knife, and carve off small slivers/chunks of cheese - make sure they are petty flat, so they will sit nicely on top of the salsa-and-cheese mixture on each chip. Place a cheese sliver on each chip.


5. Pop the cookie sheet in the oven for about 7-12 minutes at 325 degrees--or whatever will take the chips to the point where the cheese melts nicely over the top of the salsa-and-bean mixture. Once cheese is melted, remove from oven, place the mini-quesadillas on a plate; they are very small and won't take more than a minute or two to cool down--they are best warm. Eat up!



 


NOTES: You can choose any version of refried beans (i.e. with or without Jalapenos, etc.), any version of salsa, from mild to hot and any type of cheese--although Monterey Jack is traditional, and may work best. If you want to get fancy you can place a tiny dollop of sour cream on top of each of the finished quesadillas. Experiment with different kinds of salsas and cheese to give this your own signature. These are very filling.