This vegetable-packed dinner is PCOS-friendly, loaded with protein, and should be a delicious option for keto diet followers and diabetics. You know your body and your nutrition requirements. Adjust as you see fit.
Easy Dinner Ideas are a Necessity in Today’s US Work Environment
South Florida is in some kind of late hurricane season weather chaos. It has been raining for days and this wind is wild. I was driving home from a client visit pondering what dinner options I would be able to construct from what already existed in the house. I remembered how much I LOVE the inside of egg rolls – I avoid the shells because of the carbohydrates and omega-6 heavy oils in which they are typically fried – and attempted to mentally inventory “egg roll in a bowl” ingredients. I was only missing cabbage, and the easy cheat for that was a 2 minute (or not) stop at Publix for a bag of shredded cabbage and carrots aka coleslaw mix.
Now that it’s the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the Publix parking lot was a joke. I watched one motorist physically get out of his truck and demand that the motorist in front of him explain why he was waiting for a parking spot while someone had already shifted into reverse. Glorious humanity.
Ingredients for Keto Egg Roll in a Bowl
No one wants to read nine paragraphs of text before getting to a recipe, so here it is (with why I love the individual ingredients following):
1 chopped onion
4 tablespoons ginger
2 tablespoons garlic
2 cups broth
1 lb ground beef (or meat/tofu you enjoy)
16 oz bag of coleslaw mix or shredded cabbages
(optional) Prepared German red cabbage (rotkohl/blaukraut)
Salt
Black Pepper
Red curry paste/chili powder/sriracha (if you like a little heat)
A little something in which to simmer veggies – water, oil, butter, ghee, broth
(optional finishing touches) fried eggs, scallions, tamari, sesame seeds
The Easy Recipe for Keto Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Saute over medium-high heat onions, ginger, and garlic in whatever you like – water, oil, broth. I used goat milk ghee (which I neglected to include in the ingredients photo).
- When the onions have commenced wilting, add enough broth to cover everything in the pan.
- Add salt, black pepper, and red curry paste/chili powder/sriracha for some extra kick.
- Add the ground beef (or ground turkey, chicken, or tofu).
- Cook until thoroughly done.
- Drop entire coleslaw mix bag into pan and stir.
- This step is optional, I’m slightly obsessed with German red cabbage (aka rotkohl and blaukraut). It gives a slightly sweet flavor and more color. Toss in about 4 teaspoons of cooked red cabbage.
- Add 2 cups of broth (chicken, beef, veggie, etc).
- Stir together ensuring to get the longest cooking ingredients blended well into the cabbage.
- Cover and let cook for a few minutes. I covered, turned the heat off, and let the cabbage steam for about 10 minutes because I like crunchier cabbage.
- Add two fried eggs on top for extra protein.
- Top with tamari, scallions, and sesame seeds, if you’d like.
Benefits of this Easy Dinner Idea
It’s fast, has fiber, helps with vegetable intake, sweet/hot/salty flavors, and it’s keto! So it works well for my PCOS-related insulin resistance and is a good pick for my barely diabetic grandmother. Side note: cabbage has Vitamin K. The coleslaw mix has fiber, potassium, and Vitamin C. Onion, garlic, and ginger are shown to have healing properties. Onion is a source of quercetin. Ginger is packed with antioxidants. Garlic is anti-inflammatory and improves immunity.
Research for the Readers
Additional Reading for My Fellow Science Nerds:
Onion: https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-onions
Ginger: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/ginger-benefits
Garlic: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/6-surprising-ways-garlic-boosts-your-health/