Keto Sesame Zoodles with Roasted Pork

This delicious, low carb, Keto-friendly recipe is a revision of one I shared several years ago (here). Instead of using asian noodles, I used spiralized zucchini. The zucchini is barely cooked - basically it’s just heated through in the sauce just before serving so it maintains its structural integrity and ever-so-slight crunch. If you don’t have leftover roasted pork loin to add, just omit it and serve the zucchini doused in the tasty sesame sauce as a side dish.

Do you have a spiralizer - there’s just something zen about spiralizing veggies. I love-love-love using it.

Just for the fun of it, I decided to challenge myself and see if I could eat the entire bowl using only chopsticks. I had a great time slurping away and I’m happy to report I was able to finish my lunch without the use of a fork or spoon! I hope you’ll give this yummy recipe a try. Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• spiralizer https://amzn.to/3BfxHVm

• Japanese chopsticks https://amzn.to/3LogPAx

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Keto Sesame Zoodles with Roasted Pork

makes 2 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 medium zucchini, spiralized into “zoodles”

• 6 ounces cooked pork loin, sliced into matchsticks

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons canola oil

• 1/2 teaspoon chili oil (or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)

• 2 scallions, sliced thin on the diagonal, green tops reserved for garnish

• Garnish with crushed red pepper flakes or Sriracha (optional)

Directions

1. Heat garlic, soy, rice vinegar, oils, and white scallion parts until bubbly, add pork to heat through, then stir in the spiraled zucchini; stir well to combine.  

2. Remove from heat and garnish with green scallion tops. If desired, serve with crushed red pepper flakes and/or sriracha.

Keto stats: 460 calories, 21g protein, 40g fat, 11g carbs, 4g fiber, total 7g net carbs.

Black Forest Dutch Baby

Ugh… we’re having a snow day here in Virginia so I was looking online for some recipe inspiration and I stumbled upon a yummy looking Chocolate Dutch Baby (or German pancake), which got me thinking… what if I took that chocolate idea and elevated it a bit by adding sweetened whipped cream and a delicious cherry topping? That was it - I decided making a Black Forest Dutch Baby would be part of my snow day activities! So glad I did because it’s definitely a treat worth trying, snow day or not.

We’ll start by making the cherry topping. In a skillet over medium-high heat, combine tart cherries, sugar, cornstarch, and a salt. I used tart cherries I stashed away in the freezer this past spring, but if you have fresh tart cherries, you can certainly use ‘em.

Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to boil; continue cooking for a full minute, then turn off the heat.

mmmm… set the yummy cherry topping aside until needed.

The Dutch Baby (German Pancake) is really easy to make… just preheat an oven-proof skillet in your hot oven, melt the butter in the skillet and swirl it all around, then pour the excess melted butter into the a blender with all the other dutch baby ingredients, give it a whirl, and pour the batter into the prepared skillet. For some reason I didn’t get any photos while I was making the chocolate dutch baby, but you can see exactly how it’s done here in my Vanilla Dutch Baby post from a few years ago. The only difference, besides this one being chocolate instead of vanilla, is that this recipe is made in a smaller skillet.

The Dutch Baby will puff up in the oven and collapse almost immediately upon removal. To serve, cut the dutch baby into 4 wedges and top with sweetened whipped cream and the cherry topping. Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• 9-inch cast iron skillet https://amzn.to/2ROOgn4

• pure almond extract https://amzn.to/2VRjqJB

• really good dutch processed cocoa powder https://amzn.to/3oHW09H

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Black Forest Dutch Baby

makes one 9-inch skillet, 4 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cherry Topping:

• 1 1/2 cups (140g) tart cherries, fresh or frozen, pitted

• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 tablespoons (6g) cornstarch

• pinch of fine salt

• 1/16 (6 drops) pure almond extract

Chocolate Dutch Baby:

• 2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter

• 2 large eggs (100g), room temperature

• 1 tablespoon (12.5g) granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 3 tablespoons (25g) all purpose flour

• 1 1/2 tablespoons (7.5g) dutch processed cocoa powder, sifted

• 1/4 cup (61g) whole milk

Directions

To make the cherry topping:

1. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cherries, sugar, cornstarch, and salt; bring to a boil, stirring constantly; continue cooking for a full minute.

2. Remove from heat and stir in pure almond extract; set aside until needed.

To make the chocolate dutch baby:

1. Preheat oven and 9-inch cast iron skillet in the center of a 425F oven.

2. In a blender, combine the eggs, sugar, salt, flour, cocoa, and milk; set aside until the next step.

3. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and add the butter.

4. Swirl pan until butter is completely melted and coats the entire pan; pour excess butter into batter and mix to combine.

5. Slowly pour the batter into the hot, buttered skillet and return to the oven; bake for 12-15 minutes or until the dutch baby puffs up (it will deflate almost immediately when removed from the oven so don’t be alarmed when this happens).

6. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before topping with cherry topping and lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Note

• Try not to pour all the batter into the skillet in one spot - the force of the pour will remove the butter coating in the pour spot and the pancake will inevitably end up sticking. To avoid this, I like to hold an upside down serving spoon a few inches over the skillet and pour the batter slowly over the back of the spoon while moving the spoon around the skillet. This helps diffuse the force of the pour.

cherry topping adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum from Real Baking with Rose; chocolate dutch baby adapted from Deb Perelman from Smitten Kitchen.