1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (109 page)

8 ounces (225 g) Gruyère cheese, shredded

Run the cauliflower through the slicing blade of a food processor. Transfer it to a bowl and replace the slicing disc with the S-blade. Chop the onion and celery fine in the food processor.

With a hand blender or regular blender, blend the Carb Countdown and broth. Add the guar or xanthan and blend it until there are no lumps. Pour the mixture it into a saucepan and heat it over medium-low heat. (If you do have a hand blender, you may as well just dump the Carb Countdown and the chicken broth in the saucepan and use the hand blender to blend in the thickener in the pot to save a little dishwashing.) Stir in the dry mustard, salt or Vege-Sal, and pepper. When the sauce is hot, stir in the cheese, a little at a time, until it’s all melted. Turn off the heat.

Spray a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Put in a layer of cauliflower, a lighter layer of onion and celery, and then a generous layer of ham. Repeat these layers until everything’s gone and the slow cooker is full. Pour half of the sauce over the top. It won’t immediately flow down into the food in the slow cooker, so poke down into it several times with the handle of a rubber scraper or spoon, piercing the layers to the bottom. The sauce will start to seep down. When there’s more room on top, pour in the rest of the sauce and
poke down through the layers again. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 6 to 7 hours.

Yield:
8 servings

Each with 24 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 4 g usable carbs.

This is very down-home, which is often a good thing. My husband loves it. You can double this if you like, but the beans will take longer to microwave. Even doubled, though, it’s a good, fast supper!

6 ounces (170 g) cooked ham, cut into ½-inch (1.3-cm) cubes

1 tablespoon (28 g or 30 ml) butter or oil

2 cups (300 g) frozen cross-cut green beans

1 tablespoon (13 g) canned, crushed pineapple in juice

1 tablespoon (15 ml) low-carbohydrate barbecue sauce

¼ teaspoon grated ginger

½ teaspoon spicy brown mustard

Start to sauté the ham in the butter or oil over medium heat—you’re just browning it a little. While that’s happening, put the beans in a microwaveable casserole dish, add a couple of tablespoons (30 ml) of water, cover, and microwave on high for 7 minutes.

When the microwave goes “ding,” check that the beans are done; if they’re not, stir them and give them another 2 to 3 minutes. When they’re just tender, drain them and add them to the browned ham cubes in the skillet. Add the pineapple, barbecue sauce, ginger, and mustard and stir well. Let it cook for just a minute to blend the flavors and then serve.

Yield:
2 servings

Each with 13 grams of carbohydrates and 4 grams of fiber, for a total of 9 grams of usable carbs and 19 grams of protein.

Ham steak, about 2 pounds (910 g)

2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) oil

½ cup (120 ml) water

3 tablespoons (45 ml) prepared mustard

3 tablespoons (4.5 g) Splenda

¼ teaspoon blackstrap molasses

Salt and pepper

Put the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat and fry the ham steak until it is golden on both sides. Remove the ham from the skillet, set it on a platter, and keep it warm.

Pour the water into the skillet and stir it around, scraping up all the brown bits from the ham. Stir in the mustard, Splenda, molasses, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the ham and serve.

Yield:
5 servings

Each with 2 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 36 grams of protein.

Feel free to make these with turkey sausage, if you prefer.

1½ pounds (680 g) bulk pork sausage, hot or mild

½ medium onion, peeled and cut in a few chunks

½ Granny Smith or other crisp, tart apple, cut into a few chunks (no need to peel it)

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon pepper

Preheat an electric tabletop grill.

Put the onion and apple in a food processor with the S-blade in place and pulse until they’re chopped to a medium consistency. Add the sausage, thyme, sage, and pepper and pulse until it’s all well-blended.

Form into 4 burgers and put them on the grill. Cook for 7 minutes or until the juices run clear.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 7 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and 20 grams of protein.

Mmmmmmm! This is like revisiting my childhood in the New York City area!

1¼ to 1½ pounds (570 to 680 g) Italian sausage links, hot or mild

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

1½ large green peppers

1 large onion

1 clove garlic

Slice the sausage diagonally into ½-inch (1.3-cm) pieces and sauté it in the olive oil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, slice the peppers into medium-size strips and slice the onion about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. When the sausage is about half done, stir in the peppers, onion, and garlic. Cook until the sausage is well done and the onion is limp and translucent. Serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 7 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and 21 grams of p

1 pound (455 g) bulk pork sausage, hot or mild

1 small onion, chopped

¾ cup (90 g) shredded cheddar cheese

Crumble the sausage in a heavy skillet over medium heat. As the grease starts to cook out of it, add the onion.

Cook until the sausage is no longer pink and the onion is translucent. Pour off the grease, spread the sausage mixture evenly in the pan, and scatter the cheddar over the top. Cover and return to the heat for a minute or two until the cheese is melted and serve.

Yield:
3 servings

Each with 5 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 4 grams of usable carbs and 25 grams of protein.

Feel free to substitute turkey sausage, if you prefer it.

This one-dish meal is serious down-home comfort food. Feel free to make it with turkey sausage, if you prefer.

1-pound (455 g) roll pork sausage

1 apple

1 medium onion

1½ teaspoons chicken bouillon granules

1 cup (240 ml) water

Guar or xanthan

Salt and pepper to taster

1 batch The Ultimate Fauxtatoes (page 209)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

Slice the pork sausage into patties. Put them in a big, heavy skillet over medium heat. You’re going to cook them until they’re browned on both sides.

In the meantime, slice the apple and the onion thinly and have them standing by.

When the sausage patties are cooked, lay them in an 8 x 8-inch (20 x 20-cm) baking dish you’ve sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Now put the apple and onion slices in the skillet and sauté them in the sausage grease until they’re tender and turning golden. Spread the apples and onions on top of the sausage in the baking dish.

Put the chicken bouillon and the water in the skillet and stir it around, scraping up any tasty brown stuff stuck to the skillet. Thicken the whole thing to a not-too-thick gravy consistency with guar or xanthan, season with salt and pepper to taste, and pour this gravy over the sausage, apple, and onion.

Now spread the Ultimate Fauxtatoes in an even layer over the whole thing. Bake for 20 minutes and serve.

Yield:
4 to 5 servings

Assuming 4, each will have 24 g protein; 22 g carbohydrate; 9 g dietary fiber; 13 g usable

1 pound (455 g) bulk pork sausage, hot or mild

1 small onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cup (240 ml) chicken broth

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder

2 tablespoons (30 ml) Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon pepper

3 cups (450 g) Cauliflower Rice (page 212)

Brown and crumble the sausage in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the sausage is no longer pink, pour off the grease, add the remaining ingredients, and give the mixture a stir.

Turn the heat to low, cover the skillet, and let it simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.

Yield:
3 servings

Each with 16 grams of carbohydrates and 4 grams of fiber, for a total of 12 grams of usable carbs and 22 grams of protein.

A good recipe deserves a variation! Here’s my new, Greek-style version of meat-crust pizza.

2 pounds (910 g) ground lamb

½ medium onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1½ teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup (120 ml) pizza sauce (Ragu makes one with no sugar, but read the label!)

10 ounces (280 g) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and very well-drained

cup (35 g) sliced black olives

½ cup (120 ml) canned diced tomatoes, drained

2 cups (240 g) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup (150 g) crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

Plunk the first five ingredients in a large mixing bowl and use clean hands to moosh everything together really well. Pat out into an even layer in a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33-cm) pan and bake for 20 minutes. Pour off the grease.

Spread the pizza sauce over the meat layer. Spread the spinach evenly over the sauce and then top that with the olives and tomatoes. Spread the two cheeses over that. Turn the broiler to low and broil about 4 inches (10 cm) from the heat for about 6 to 8 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Yield:
8 servings

Each with 30 g protein; 7 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber; 5 g usable carbs.

Kofta kebabs are kebabs of curried ground lamb formed around skewers. It seemed to me that it would be easier just to make my seasoned lamb into burgers, so that’s what

2 pounds (910 g) ground lamb

1 cup (160 g) minced onion

2 tablespoons curry powder

¼ cup (60 g) plain yogurt