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
Caponata con Carne
Caponata is a classic Italian dish from the South.
It is sort of the Italian version of the French Ratatouille. Though Italians would definitely think that the Ratatouille is the French version of the Caponata.
The original recipe is truly amazing but it has two caveats for us, looking to get lean and strong: it has a disproportionate amount of calories and basically no protein whatsoever.
“Such a pity!” — I said to myself.
So I did something that is sort of illegal in Italy: I changed the traditional recipe.
I know, many grandmas are most likely turning in their graves as I cooked this.
But, if you can forgive me the biggest Italian sin, then this recipe should really be in your high-protein staples.
Mind you, it still has a lot of calories, but waaaaay less than the original. Which makes this a great recipe for a clean and healthy bulk.
Let’s talk about the mind-blowing taste. Bittersweet, flavorful, rich, and truly mouth watering. Each bite will call for the next.
You say that you can’t gain weight because you seem not to eat enough? Try this recipe and try to tell me that again! 😉
Given the relatively high amount of fiber, this dish is pretty satiating too!
This recipe is also low carb high fat (LCHF) so, if you happen to be on this diet, you’re good to go!
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
Mouth-Watering Italian Pork Sausage with Mushrooms and Ricotta
Pork sausage was on discount, therefore I bought 1.5 kg.
What to do with it?
Pork sausage is one of those foods that you can put together with anything and it will taste superb.
This does indeed in this amazing recipe I am presenting to you today.
It’s pretty low in carbs so perfect for a ketogenic diet or low-carb high-fat (LCHF).
If you don’t care about your carbs intake, this goes perfectly with pasta. I had it with some gnocchi and, boy, was this foodgasmic!
Trust me, it tastes way better than it looks 🙂
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
Sausage and Beans (Rural Italian Classic)
Have you ever heard of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill? They are famous Italian actors, famous for action-comedy movies such as “They Call Me Trinity”.
In this movie, there is an epic scene of almost 3 minutes in which the main character is eating a delicious beans course straight from the pan.
The scene is so well done that you start drooling right away.
Your brain goes: “MUST. HAVE. NOW.”
I tried to imagine how that recipe would be like and went about to re-create it. t was as delicious as in the movie.
It was as delicious as in the movie it seems to be.
This is a healthy, high-protein, low-carb recipe which is great for building muscles!
If you want to be as strong as Bud Spencer, you should try this recipe. It’s super easy!
This recipe is also gluten-free.
Note: the carbs indicated on the nutrition label are already net carbs (as in the style of European nutrition labels)
Gif Recipe
Hamburgers with Peperonata
No idea how to serve your hamburgers?
Problems getting your veggies in while on keto?
I decided to give these burgers a spin with a traditional Italian dish: peperonata!
Peperonata is sort of a slow-cooked dish with peppers and garlic served with black olives and capers. Traditionally everything is drenched in olive oil but for this recipe, I used the fat from the burgers and beef tallow.
Why beef tallow? I bought it and I was curious to try it 🙂
This recipe is high-protein so perfect for bodybuilders and powerlifters or whoever wants to put on some muscle mass.