1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (20 page)

Yield:
1 serving

5 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 4 grams of usable carbs and 22 grams of protein.

Here’s another way to use your Ropa Vieja (page 380)

cup (70 g) Ropa Vieja

1 ounce (30 g) Monterey Jack cheese

¼ black avocado, sliced

2 eggs

Warm your Ropa Vieja in the microwave, slice or shred your cheese, and slice your avocado; have everything standing by!

Now heat your omelet pan and add a little oil. Beat up your eggs, and when the skillet’s hot, pour them in and make your omelet according to Dana’s Easy Omelet Method (page 82). When it’s time to add the filling, put the cheese in first, then the Ropa Vieja, and then the avocado. Cover, turn heat to low, and finish cooking. Fold and serve.

Yield:
1 serving

Each with 29 g protein; 5 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber; 3 g usable carbs.

Canned asparagus is fine for this, but you may cook some up if you prefer or use leftover asparagus, should you have any.

1 tablespoon (14 g) butter

2 eggs

¼ cup (30 g) shredded Gruyère cheese

1 ounce (28 g) boiled or baked deli ham (or sliced leftover ham)

3 asparagus spears, cooked

Make your omelet according to Dana’s Easy Omelet Method (page 82), placing the Gruyère, ham, and asparagus over half of your omelet when you’re ready to add the filling. Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook until the cheese is melted (2 to 3 minutes). Follow the directions to finish making the omelet.

Yield:
1 serving

3 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 2 grams of usable carbs and 25 grams of protein.

Hey, don’t look like that! Some of us love liverwurst!

1 tablespoon (14 g) butter

2 eggs, beaten

2 ounces (55 g) braunschweiger (liverwurst), mashed a bit with a fork

2 or 3 slices ripe tomato

Make your omelet according to Dana’s Easy Omelet Method (page 82), spooning the mashed braunschweiger over half of your omelet and topping with the tomato slices when you’re ready to add the filling. Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook until heated through (2 to 3 minutes). Follow the directions to finish making the omelet.

Yield:
1 serving

4 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 19 grams of protein.

You can use either beef chili or turkey chili.It doesn’t matter—they both make a great omelet.

1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup (100 g) all-meat chili, warmed

2 tablespoons (8 g) shredded cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon (15 g) sour cream

Make your omelet according to Dana’s Easy Omelet Method (page 82), placing the chili over half of your omelet when you’re ready to add the filling. Top with the cheddar, cover, turn the heat to low, and cook until the cheese is melted (2 to 3 minutes). Follow the directions to finish making the omelet and top with the sour cream.

Yield:
1 serving

About 6 grams of carbohydrates (depending on your chili recipe), no fiber, and 33 grams of protein.

This falls somewhere between a blintz and an omelet—hence the name. These are not dirt-low in carbs, but they’re really yummy. They can be a special breakfast—you’ll want to add a little more protein on the side, maybe some ham—or even a light dessert.

1 cup (225 g) 4% or 2% cottage cheese

2 tablespoons (30 g) sour cream

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon (1.5 g) Splenda

4 eggs

¼ cup (30 g) vanilla whey protein powder

6 tablespoons (90 ml) low-sugar strawberry preserves

Put the cottage cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and Splenda in your food processor with the S-blade in place. Process until smooth.

Put the eggs and the protein powder in a blender and whirl for 20 seconds or so.

Heat an 8- or 9-inch (20- or 25-cm) nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Make sure it’s hot before you cook! Even though it’s nonstick, spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Now, pour in a small puddle of the egg mixture and swirl the pan to coat the whole bottom—the idea is to use just enough of the egg mixture to cover the bottom of the skillet with a thin but solid layer. Cook until the top of the egg is set—this takes only a minute or so—and then turn briefly. The protein powder makes this mixture very fragile, so be careful.

Lay the thin, eggy pancake on a plate, spread 1 tablespoon of the preserves on one half, and spoon 3 tablespoons of the cottage cheese mixture over it. Fold and serve. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Yield:
Makes 6

Each with 9 grams of carbohydrates and 11 grams of protein. You can cut the carb count of each serving 3 grams by using just ½ tablespoon of preserves in each one. Or you could thaw ½ cup (150 g) of frozen unsweetened strawberries, mash them with a tablespoon or two of Splenda, and use them in place of the preserves. This would save 5 grams of carbs per serving.

The frittata is the Italian version of the omelet, and it involves no folding! If you’re still intimidated by omelets, try a frittata.

¼ pound (115 g) bulk pork sausage

¼ cup (38 g) diced green pepper

¼ cup (38 g) diced sweet red pepper

¼ cup (40 g) diced sweet red onion

¼ cup (25 g) grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt-free seasoning, such as original flavor Mrs. Dash

8 eggs, beaten

Preheat the broiler.

In a large, oven-proof skillet, start browning and crumbling the sausage over medium heat. As some fat starts to cook out of it, add the green peppers, red peppers, and onion to the skillet. Cook the sausage and veggies until
there’s no pink left in the sausage. Spread the sausage and veggie mixture into an even layer in the bottom of the skillet.

In a medium bowl, beat the Parmesan cheese and seasoning into the eggs and pour the mixture over the sausage and veggies in the skillet.

Turn the heat to low and cover the skillet. (If your skillet doesn’t have a cover, use foil.) Let the frittata cook until the eggs are mostly set. This may take up to 25 to 30 minutes, but the size of your skillet will affect the speed of cooking, so check periodically.

When all but the very top of the frittata is set, slide it under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until the top is golden. Cut into wedges and serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 4 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 3 grams of usable carbohydrates and 17 grams of protein.

3 tablespoons (42 g) butter

1 cup (300 g) canned, quartered artichoke hearts, drained

4 ounces (115 g) fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ small onion, sliced

8 eggs, beaten

6 ounces (170 g) shredded Gruyère cheese

Preheat the broiler.

In a heavy skillet, melt the butter and sauté the artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and onion over medium-low heat until the mushrooms are limp.

Spread the vegetables evenly over the bottom of the skillet and pour the eggs over them.

Turn the heat to low and cover the skillet. (If your skillet doesn’t have a cover, use foil.) Let the frittata cook until mostly set (7 to 10 minutes).

Top with the Gruyère and slide the skillet under the broiler, about 4 inches (10 cm) from the heat. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes or until the eggs are set on top and the cheese is lightly golden. Cut into wedges and serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 7 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fiber, for a total of 4 grams of usable carbs and 26 grams of protein.

3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil

¼ pound (115 g) zucchini (about 1 really little zucchini), diced small

3 tablespoons (30 g) chopped onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ small green pepper, diced

½ small red pepper, diced

1 cup (300 g) canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 cup (110 g)

¼-inch (6-mm) ham cubes

¼ cup (15 g) chopped fresh parsley

10 eggs

1 tablespoon (5 g) oregano

cup (33.3 g) grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the broiler.

For this you need an oven-safe skillet—a big cast-iron skillet works great. Spray the skillet with nonstick cooking spray and put it over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and start sautéing the zucchini, onion, garlic, and peppers. When the vegetables are starting to soften, stir in the artichoke hearts, ham cubes, and fresh parsley. Let the whole thing continue cooking while you prepare the eggs.

Scramble up the eggs with the oregano and Parmesan.

Arrange everything in the skillet in an even layer and pour in the eggs. Cover the pan, turn the heat to low, and let the whole thing cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until all but the top is set.

Run the skillet under the broiler for 3 or 4 minutes until it starts to brown a little. Then cut frittata in wedges to serve.

Yield:
4 to 5 servings

Assuming 5 servings, each will have 20 g protein; 8 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber; 7 g usable carbs.

This recipe is very South of the Border. If you like chorizo (Mexican sausage), you might cook some up, drain it well, and keep it in a container in the freezer so you can whip up one of these omelets on short notice.

1 tablespoon (15 ml) oil