1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (64 page)

Cut the tomatoes in half across the equator and squeeze them gently to get rid of the seeds. Dice them fairly fine. Seed the jalapeño, if you’re using it, and dice it fine, too. Cut the avocado in half, remove the seed, peel it, and cut it into dice as well. Put all of these vegetables and the diced red onion in the bowl with the fish. Throw in the fresh herbs, too. Squeeze the last lime over the whole thing, season with salt and pepper, toss gently, and serve.

Yield:
8 appetizer servings

Each with 16 g protein; 5 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber; 3 g usable carbs. This analysis assumes you discard all but about ¼ cup (60 ml) of the lime juice used to marinate the fish.

Not only is this simple, but it’s lightning-quick, too.

1 fillet (about 6 ounces, or 170 g) mild white fish

1 tablespoon (14 g) butter

1 tablespoon (3.8 g) minced fresh parsley

Wedge of lemon

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over low heat. Add the fish fillets and sauté for 5 minutes on each side or until the fish is opaque and flakes easily, turning carefully.

Transfer to serving plates, top with the minced parsley, and serve with a wedge of lemon.

Yield:
1 serving

Trace of carbohydrates, no fiber, and 31 grams of protein.

4 (6 ounce, or 175 g) fish fillets, such as tilapia, cod, or orange roughy

4 tablespoons (56 g) butter

2 teaspoons minced garlic or 4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons grated ginger

2 teaspoons spicy brown or Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon (15 ml) water

In a large, heavy skillet, start sautéing the fish in the butter over medium-low heat; 4 to 5 minutes per side should be plenty. Remove the fish to a plate.

Add the garlic, ginger, mustard, and water to the skillet and stir everything together well. Put the fish back in, turning it over once, carefully, to make sure both sides get acquainted with the sauce. Let it cook for another minute or so and then serve. Scrape the sauce out of the skillet over the fish.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 1 gram of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 31 grams of protein.

1 fillet (about 6 ounces, or 170 g) of mild, white fish

2 tablespoons (30 ml) Aioli (page 479)

1 tablespoon (6.3 g) grated Parmesan cheese

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

Spray a shallow baking pan (a jelly roll pan is ideal) with nonstick cooking spray. Working right on the baking pan, spread a fillet thickly with Aioli and sprinkle ½ tablespoon of Parmesan over that. Turn the fillet over carefully and spread Aioli and sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on other side. Bake for 20 minutes and serve.

Yield:
1 serving

1 gram of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 32 grams of protein.

Microwaving is a great way to cook vegetables and a great way to cook fish—so it’s a natural way to cook combinations of the two.

12 ounces (340 g) fish fillets—whiting, tilapia, sole, flounder, or any other mild white fish

10 asparagus spears

2 tablespoons (30 g) sour cream

1 tablespoon (15 g) mayonnaise

¼ teaspoon dried tarragon

½ teaspoon Dijon or spicy brown mustard

Snap the bottoms off the asparagus spears where they break naturally. Place the asparagus in a large glass pie plate, add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of water, and cover by placing a plate on top. Microwave on high for 3 minutes.

While the asparagus is microwaving, stir together the sour cream, mayonnaise, tarragon, and mustard.

Remove the asparagus from the microwave, take it out of the pie plate, and set it aside. Drain the water out of the pie plate. Place the fish fillets in the pie plate and spread 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the sour cream mixture over them. Re-cover the pie plate and microwave the fish for 3 to 4 minutes on high. Open the microwave, remove the plate from the top of the pie plate, and arrange the asparagus on top of the fish. Re-cover the pie plate and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes on high.

Remove the pie plate from the microwave and take the plate off. Place the fish and asparagus on serving plates. Scrape any sauce that’s cooked into the pie plate over the fish and asparagus. Top each serving with the reserved sauce and serve.

Yield:
2 servings

Each with 4 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, for a total of 2 grams of usable carbs and 33 grams of protein.

This dish also packs in 949 mg of potassium!

This is more of a method for grilling a wide variety of fish fillets and adding a simple but elegantly piquant sauce. The main element of this recipe is the sauce. Ingredient amounts are not important, so you can vary to taste. The resulting mixture should be something you spoon over the fish, not a pourable sauce. (Our tester said he used 2 tablespoons of each of the following for 1 pound [455 g] of fish fillets, and it worked very well.) This is a very piquant sauce, not for the timid of palate, but most delicious!

As for grilling the fish, some people prefer to do it in the Spanish style of first sprinkling salt on the fillets, letting them sit for 15 minutes or so, rinsing and drying them, brushing them with olive oil, and grilling them on a cast-iron griddle. Swordfish and sea bass are wonderful this way; so are tilapia fillets (which are much cheaper).

Grilled fish of your choice

Garlic, finely chopped

Parsley, flat-leaf preferable, finely chopped (or half parsley, half cilantro)

Anchovies, finely chopped (if omitting, salt to taste)

Capers, drained

Fresh lemon juice

Olive oil

Mix the garlic, parsley, anchovies, capers, lemon juice, and olive oil, spoon over grilled fish, and serve.

Yield:
4 servings

If sauce is made with the suggested 2 tablespoons of each ingredient and 1 pound (455 g) fish, each serving will have 23 g protein; 2 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber; 2 g usable carbs.

I made this with tilapia, and while it was quite tasty, it was also fragile. If you’re willing to pay the difference for a firmer fish like orange roughy or cod, it will be easier to handle.

12 ounces (340 g) fish fillets

2 tablespoons (30 ml) dry sherry

1 tablespoon (15 ml) soy sauce

2 teaspoons grated ginger

½ teaspoon minced garlic or 1 clove garlic, crushed

1½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 or 2 scallions, minced (optional)

Lay the fish fillets on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil and turn the edges of the foil up to form a lip.

Mix together the sherry, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil.

Fit a rack—a cake-cooling rack works nicely—into a large skillet. Pour about ¼ inch (6 mm) of water in the bottom of the skillet and turn the heat to high. Place the foil with the fish on it on the rack. Carefully pour the sherry mixture over the fish. Cover the pan tightly.

Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until the fish flakes easily. Serve with minced scallions as a garnish, if desired.

Yield:
2 servings

Each with 2 grams of carbohydrates, no fiber, and 31 grams of protein.

Each serving has only 195 calories!

1½ pounds (680 g) orange roughy fillets, cut into serving-sized pieces

1 teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal Pepper

¼ medium onion, very thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lemon, or 2 tablespoons (30 ml) bottled lemon juice

¼ cup (56 g) butter, melted

Paprika

Minced fresh parsley (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C, or gas mark 3). Spray a shallow baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Arrange the fish in the prepared pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Scatter the onion over the fish.

In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and butter and pour over the fish and onions. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley (if using) and serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 2 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 25 grams of protein.

This is my favorite fish recipe, and it’s very, very simple to make. Kids will probably like it, too.

1½ pounds (680 g) orange roughy fillets

¼ cup (30 g) low-carb bake mix

Pinch of salt or Vege-Sal

3 to 4 tablespoons (42 to 56 g) butter

Mix the bake mix with the pinch of salt (about
teaspoon). Dip the fillets in the bake mix, covering them lightly all over.

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Sauté the “floured” fillets in the butter for 5 to 7 minutes per side or until golden brown. Serve just as it is or with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 1 gram of carbohydrates, no fiber, and 25 grams of protein.

1 pound (455 g) flounder fillets, 4 ounces (115 g) each

4 tablespoons (56 g) butter, divided

2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice

teaspoon orange extract

1 teaspoon Splenda

cup (45 g) almonds