Polish Pickle Soup in One Pot

As I mentioned in my last post, I love pickles. When I saw a post on Tumblr mentioning pickle soup last night, I just had to try it. Many of the recipes I found used whipping cream, which would make it very much not carb friendly, so I searched for a vegan option and came across the recipe at http://ideliciate.com/quick-easy-polish-pickle-soup-vegan. This is a quick and easy low carb option, just 10g per cup. 

As always, I changed the recipe to include more spices to make the broth more flavorful and halved everything so I wouldn't waste much if I didn't like it. I didn't add salt as the bullion cubes are already loaded with sodium. I loved it and I will definitely be making it again!

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth (I used bullion cubes)
1 cup diced potatoes
1 diced carrot
Dried spring onions (to taste)
Minced garlic (to taste)
Ground pepper (to taste)
2 dill pickles (or to taste)
1/2 cup pickle juice (or to taste)

Directions:

1) Make the chicken broth with the bullion cubes and water, heat to dissolve the cube. You can also use prepared broth. The vegan version uses vegetable broth.

2) Add the onions, garlic and pepper.

3) Add the carrots and potatoes. Cook until they're soft, or about 15 minutes.

4) Add the pickles and pickle juice, then heat through.

Update:

The soup is good hot and cold!

If you try the recipe, let me know what you think of it in the comments!

Fried Cheesy Pickles

I love pickles. I love cheese. I don't know if I love them together but I'm about to find out! A couple of Facebook friends posted the recipe, which I, of course, altered slightly. They're very carb-friendly as cheese and pickles have just few carbs. I used what I had in the house, which was shredded cheddar and bread and butter pickles. I may have overdone it on the chili pepper but otherwise, they're actually delicious. I will be making these again and I don't have to worry about sharing, my kiddo strongly dislikes pickles! I can see putting other things in the middle, like ham and tomato, which would make for a nice appetizer or snack. There are more cooking experiments to come!

Ingredients:

Shredded cheese of choice
Sliced pickles of choice
Garlic powder, to taste
Red chili pepper, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400F. Spray the bottom of the muffin pan if  you're not using a non-stick pan.

2) Mix the cheese with the spices then spread some cheese on the bottom of the muffin pan.

3) Dry the pickles then put on top of the cheese.

4) Cover the pickle with the remaining cheese.

5) Bake for 15 minutes, or until crispy. 

6) Allow to cool. Put on a paper towel to absorb the excess grease then eat.

If you try the recipe, let me know what you think of it in the comments!