I was at lunch this week with my coworkers and several of them got scallops. I don’t eat seafood, but scallops always look good enough to make me wish I did. (I’ve tried them though, bleh.) So I thought I’d try to make a bean patty that mimicked a scallop.
(Please excuse the camera phone quality, I didn’t charge my camera batteries yesterday morning, as I was not expecting to decide to start a food blog.)
Ingredients:
1 large can of garbanzo beans (7g sugar in entire can)
1/2 large onion
1/4 cup bread crumbs (1g sugar) – I used Italian flavored because that’s what I had, but plain would probably be better
2 packets Sazon Goya seasoning (no sugar) – I like my food very very flavorful, if you like less use just one packet or a packet and a half
Drain the garbanzo beans and then put them in the food processor or blender and run until they are a paste. Add the onion (chopped into a few pieces to help it blend faster) and the seasoning. Run until well blended. Add the bread crumbs and mix well. Form the mixture into small patties. If the mixture is too soft to shape, add a bit more of the bread crumbs.
Place the patties into a hot frying pan, either non-stick or coated in cooking spray. Cook until they are a golden brown and flip them over.
After both sides cooked they were still a bit…floppy. So I thought I’d bake them a little bit.
I laid them in the baking dish and baked them at 375 F for about 15 minutes.
As a side for the “scallops” I turned to the thing I’d been craving for days: fettuccine alfredo. But of course the fettuccine was something I am no longer supposed to have. So instead, I went for green bean alfredo!
This was the simple part of the dish. I wasn’t up to make my own alfredo sauce tonight, so got a jarred sauce that had no sugar. I was surprised to see that many of them did! Warmed the sauce on the stove and poured it over frozen french cut green beans that I had cooked in the microwave. Sprinkled a bit of Parmesan cheese on top.
Finally the “scallops” came out of the oven. Dinner is ready!
Did I mention this was dinner for one? Oh well, good thing I like leftovers!
So, the final verdict?
The green beans are definitely in the library of quick and easy, low sugar side dishes. The scallops need some tweaking though. The flavor was wonderful. I loved them. But the texture was off, even after the baking. It was a mush patty with a slight crust on the outside. This one will require some more experimentation before I call it ready. They definitely taste good enough to overlook the texture though. Overall I’d give it a B+.
My sugar reading two hours after dinner was 114. And, perhaps more importantly, I was full.
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