Fragrant&Zesty Low-Carb Chicken with Herbs and Citrus Recipe
We all know that chicken goes well with basically anything.
But just to kick up a notch your chicken flavor, some aromatics are just better than others.
That’s why, in this keto recipe, I decided to bring the best herbs and aromatics to make this chicken taste incredibly delicious, without too much of a hassle.
This recipe is, in fact, very easy and quick. It requires you to use some spices but nothing crazy nor weird. These are spices you should have in your pantry already…
No carbs in this dish make it great for a ketogenic diet (especially if you are lifting and are on the ketogains macros!).
Pair it with a salad and some crème fraîche for even more delicious taste!
GIF Recipe
Simple Keto Chicken with Garlic, Rosemary, and Bay Leaves
Chicken is the bodybuilders most favorite.
Alright, alright, it’s chicken breast and this recipe is with chicken thighs.
Well, I LOVE chicken thighs and can’t help myself coming up with recipes to make them taste even more delicious!
Furthermore, as many of you, I like simple recipes: few ingredients, quick from pan to plate, little cleaning afterward.
Guess what, this one-pot recipe is all of that!
And it’s a keto recipe too!
*ROAR OF APPLAUSE* (thank you, thank you)
It uses mainly herbs that you should have in your kitchen available (if not, what are you even eating hahah) and other staple ingredients.
It uses wine, but as I always say, you don’t need the expensive stuff. Buy the cheap one and it keeps in the fridge forever (it’s for cooking!).
This super easy to make recipe provides almost 50g of protein per serving, 1g of carbs and 630kcal. What an amazing way to cut weight, if you ask me!
This goes great with a salad made of fresh lettuce, fennel, arugula, celery, and a couple of cherry tomatoes. With, it goes without saying, some tasty extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.
You don’t need to be a bodybuilder to appreciate this keto recipe. Given the high-protein content, though, this recipe is indicated for whoever does resistance training which means lifting weights. Also if you do calisthenics or gymnastic and you are on a ketogenic diet, this recipe is good for you too!
Besides being keto friendly, this recipe is also suited for the following diets: Paleo, Primal, LCHF.
You can replace the wine with beer, vinegar, chicken broth.
Without further ado, here’s the recipe!
GIF Recipe
Gordon Ramsay’s Muscle Building Pork Chops
Once, I found out Gordon Ramsay’s YouTube channel and I ended up spending the entire Sunday morning watching is cooking videos.
I was drooling over my keyboard.
The guy is a whizz and he’s incredibly passionate about cooking. You can see his heart is in there when he seasons the meat, chops up the onions, or sears a steak.
Given that pork chops is relatively high in protein and I’m bulking, I decided to give Gordon Ramsay’s pork chops recipe a try.
The recipe itself is rather simple though I never basted meat before so that was sort of tricky for me though I managed at the end. It’s a nice technique to bring more flavors and speed up the cooking so that the meat doesn’t dry up and you can give it a try with this recipe.
I wouldn’t recommend this recipe to someone who never cooked before. There are easier recipes that can provide you great taste as well.
The taste was great: rich, full of aromas from the herbs and butter, sweet and sour from the vinegar and the peppers. Some sour cream or crème fraîche would make a great topping for this one or even just some quality extra-virgin olive oil.
Despite being high in fat, it doesn’t have a high amount of calories: only 590kcal/serving. Since I am bulking, I ate 2 😄
How Can All That Fat Help Your Muscle Gains?
Olive oil and pork meat are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids which can increase anabolic hormone levels.
Pork and butter are also a source of saturated fatty acids which, as well, can increase levels of anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormones.
This will contribute to gaining muscle mass faster by increasing your testosterone levels in the long term.
Be sure to include polyunsaturated fatty acids in your diet as well such as omega-3s which you get from eating fatty fishes or by taking fish oil supplements for a proper balance.
Each serving will also provide 35g of protein which is a good high amount for people who want to build muscle and strength (you still need to train though 😜 ).
Reference
http://jap.physiology.org/content/82/1/49
GIF Recipe
Chicken Drumsticks with Cherry Tomatoes
You know when you open your fridge and you can find just a couple of ingredients and get discouraged?
That’s what happened to me before making this recipe.
I opened my fridge and I just had chicken and cherry tomatoes.
On top of that, I wanted to make something quickly.
That inspired me to create this one-pot very simple and easy recipe which also takes 10-15 min to make.
This recipe is great for a meal-prep too since you can make it in advance, store in the fridge, and reheat before eating.
It’s very high in protein and so low-carb that even people on the ketogenic diet can make it.
The taste is completely unexpected: sweet from the cherry tomatoes, sour from the wine and garlic, and great savoriness from the chicken blend together to give you a unique mouth-watering experience.
This makes a great post-workout or dinner when you are looking to pack some muscle mass with an high-protein meal.
Besides being Keto, this recipe is also Paleo, Primal, LCHF, and ofc IIFYM.
If you want to add more carbs, pair this with some rice or (oven baked) potatoes fries.
About the wine: it doesn’t to be the expensive stuff. I truly buy the cheapest there is and, once opened, it can last in the fridge basically forever. You can use wine for a lot of recipes to make them even more delicious so it’s not a waste!
Gif Recipe
Italian Cabbage Dumplings
You know, well, everybody knows that cabbage is good for you.
Right. But that taste…
I wanted to include some green cabbage in my diet and tried to think of how can I make this enjoyable and not a dread.
I thought: Chinese have been using green cabbage since forever and they make delicious stuff out of them!
Since I am not Chinese and I wouldn’t dare mess around with such a complex, rich, and ancient culinary art, I decided to give Chinese cabbage rolls an Italian spin so nobody gets offended. Though if you are Chinese and want to teach me how to make high-protein healthy cabbage rolls, please write me 🙂
So, what makes this dish “Italian”?
Besides the usual aromatics (onion, carrots, leek) I used red wine and fennel seeds. Fennel seeds really give a twist to this dish!
This has only 19g of carbs per serving which makes it ideal for someone on a LCHF diet or keto (when carbs are kept below 50g).
It’s also fairly high-protein. But if you want to increase the amount of protein without increasing calories, go for lean beef (here I used a fatty cut).
This dish can easily be boosted in protein to have 30-40g per serving just by using lean beef.
This dish has less than 500kcal per serving so it can be used for cutting as well (use lean beef in this case which will also increase the amount of protein per serving!)
If I had a broiler, I would have put some Parmesan cheese on top and gave them a couple of mins to become crunchy and even more delicious!
Gif Recipe
Stuffed Eggplants
My grandma (and mom) used to make this all the time: a big tradition in southern Italian cuisine.
The flavors are incredible and the way they combine makes you feel in Italy after a first mouthful.
Little that I realized, how high-protein and low-carb high-fat this dish can be!
Therefore, whenever I have some time and can find cheap eggplants, this dish is a must do for my post-workouts.
This is very filling too so if you are cutting you can make it as well.
So, there you have it, the authentic south Italian stuffed eggplants recipe adapted for muscle mass gains!
(I’m sure my grandma would kill me if she knew I posted her recipe hahah)
Gif Recipe
Smoothie Recipe for Strength: Creamy Avocado Pre-Workout
I always wondered: why do people love avocados?
They taste like nothing to me (and this could very well be that the ones we get here in the Netherlands are probably the worst).
Sure, the usual olive oil, salt, and pepper thing. I heard about that already. But, but…where’s mah protein?!?
So, one day, I thought: “what if I put an avocado in my pre-workout smoothie?
Honestly, I was doing just for the calories, I wasn’t expecting much of it.
WARNING: the following recipe will make you want more and more and more and more of it.
As I opened the blender to scoop the whole thing out, I was bewildered to see the consistency, thickness, and texture of this smoothie.
Never would I have predicted what I was going to experience as tasting a spoonful of this recipe.
My mouth watered, my brain starting shouting “holy moly what’s happening here? are we having sex?!”.
Yes my friend, what I was having was not your average foodgasm. This was a real thing.
After that, none of my smoothies lacked this fundamental ingredient, the avocado.
I would strongly suggest you try it as well, next time you make yourself a smoothie and be ready to experience pleasure.
Here you have it, a smoothie recipe for strength!
Gif Recipe
Crunchy Mackerel with Sauteed Mushrooms in Lemon Juice Sauce
I love mackerel. But its smell doesn’t love my house so I rarely cooked it.
Until I stumbled upon this method to avoid it smelling the entire house when cooking it in a pan.
Simply put a bowl with white vinegar just next to the stove.
When I read it I thought of another mambo jumbo technique you can find plenty of on the internet. But, hey, white vinegar is super cheap so why not trying!
It worked!!
Because I was afraid that the smelly smoke would contaminate my softboxes diffusers, I didn’t film it, unfortunately. But I could take nice pics to put on the website as you can see.
Why is this recipe a good post-workout?
Mackerel contains high amounts of omega3s which have an anabolic effect. This means that they can stimulate directly muscle protein synthesis which becomes synergistic with your workout.
How does it taste like?
Fatty fish cooked in a hot pan with olive oil is amazing because, when you sear it, the Maillard reaction takes place and the fish surface becomes super crunchy. Having the oil infused with garlic before searing the fish will infuse all that goodness into the fish.
Let me tell you what a match made in heaven is mackerel with olive oil, garlic, and lemon!
The parley then will completely remove the fishy taste creating a great balance with the lemon and all the other tastes.
I’m really proud of this simple yet succulent dish!