1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (88 page)

Turkey legs are a convenient cut to grill or barbecue. They cook relatively quickly and are a nice one-serving size—they taste great, too!

3 turkey legs

½ cup (120 ml) olive oil

cup (80 ml) red wine vinegar

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

Wood chips or chunks, soaked for at least 30 minutes

Put the turkey legs in a big resealable plastic bag. Mix everything else together. Reserve some marinade for basting and pour the rest into the bag, press the air out of the bag, and turn the bag a few times to coat. Stash in the fridge and let the turkey legs marinate for several hours.

Okay, it’s cooking time! Get a charcoal or gas grill going; you’ll want a medium fire. Pour the marinade off. Add the wood chips or chunks to the grill. Smoke the legs over indirect heat in a closed grill. Baste every 15 minutes or so with the reserved marinade, using a clean utensil each time you baste. Turn and then close the grill again. They’ll take about an hour.

Yield:
3 servings, 1 leg per person

Even if you used all the marinade you’d get only 3 grams of carbohydrate per serving, with a trace of fiber. As it is, I’d count no more than 2 grams, and maybe 1. About 47 grams of protein—it depends on the size of you legs!

This dish has a spicy, rich Southwestern flavor.

3 turkey legs

1½ teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon dried, powdered sage

1 teaspoon minced garlic or 2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon turmeric

1 or 2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, plus a couple of teaspoons of the sauce they come in

8 ounces (225 ml) tomato sauce

1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce

Guar or xanthan

6 tablespoons (45 g) shredded queso quesadilla (optional)*

Plunk the turkey legs in a slow cooker. (If you can fit more, feel free. My slow cooker will only hold 3.) Put the cumin, chili powder, sage, garlic, red pepper flakes, turmeric, chipotles, tomato sauce, and Worcestershire sauce in the blender, run it for a minute, and then pour the mixture over the turkey legs. Cover, turn the slow cooker to low, and leave it for 5 to 6 hours.

When it’s done, remove each turkey leg to a serving plate, thicken the juices in the pot with guar or xanthan, and spoon over the turkey legs. If you like, sprinkle 2 tablespoons (7 g) of shredded cheese over each turkey leg and let it melt for a minute or two before serving.

Yield:
3 servings

Each with 8 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and— depending on the size of the turkey legs— 40 to 50 grams of protein.

Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapeños. They’re very different from regular jalapeños, and they’re quite delicious. Look for them, canned in adobo sauce, in the Mexican foods section of big grocery stores. Since you’re unlikely to use the whole can at once, you’ll be happy to know that you can store your chipotles in the freezer, where they’ll live happily for months and stay pliable enough that you can peel one off when you want to use it. Queso quesadilla is a mild, white Mexican cheese. Monterey Jack is an acceptable substitute.

This fruity sauce really wakes up the turkey roast!

3 pounds (1.4 kg) turkey roast

2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil

½ cup (80 g) chopped onion

1 cup (110 g) cranberries

¼ cup (6 g) Splenda

3 tablespoons (45 ml) spicy mustard

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 peach, peeled and chopped

If your turkey roast is a Butterball like mine, it will be a boneless affair of light and dark meat rolled into an oval roast, enclosed in a net sack. Leave it in the net for cooking so it doesn’t fall

In a big heavy skillet, heat the oil and brown the turkey on all sides. Transfer the turkey to a slow cooker.

In a blender or food processor with the S-blade in place, combine the onion, cranberries, Splenda, mustard, red pepper, and peach. Run it until you have a coarse purée. Pour the mixture over the turkey. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 6 to 7 hours.

Remove the turkey to a platter, stir up the sauce, and ladle it into a sauce boat to serve with the turkey. You can remove the net from the turkey before serving, if you like, but I find it easier just to use a good sharp knife to slice clear through the netting and let diners remove their own.

Yield:
8 servings

Each with 31 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 3 g usable carbs.

2 Cornish game hens

½ cup (120 ml) lime juice

½ cup (120 ml) lemon juice

¼ teaspoon orange extract

1 tablespoon (1.5 g) Splenda

1 cup (240 ml) tequila

¼ medium onion, minced fine

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

2 tablespoons (30 ml) Worcestershire sauce

1 whole jalapeno, seeded and minced fine

Wood chips or chunks, soaked for at least 30 minutes

I like to put everything but the hens in a blender and whiz everything up (and don’t forget to wash your hands after handling that jalapeno!). Put the hens in a nonreactive container just big enough to hold them. Reserve some marinade for basting and pour the rest of it over the hens. Turn them once or twice to make sure that the hens are coated and make sure some marinade gets inside the body cavities. Stick the whole thing in the fridge for at least 3 or 4 hours, and all day won’t hurt a bit.

A couple of hours before dinnertime, get the grill going for indirect cooking (put the coals on one side of the grill or light only one side). Add the wood chips or chunks and place the hens on the grill. Baste the hens every 30 minutes or so with the reserved marinade using a clean utensil each time. Smoke the hens for about 2½ hours or until their leg joints move freely. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat (but not touching the bone) should register 180 to 185°F (85°C). Remove the birds from the grill and allow them to sit for 5 to 10 minutes before carving.

While those birds are resting, bring the reserved marinade to a boil, and boil it hard for at least 3 or 4 minutes. Thicken it a little with guar or xanthan, if you like, and serve as a sauce with the hens.

Yield:
This is 2 hefty but elegant whole-bird servings, or 4 more reasonable but less picturesque servings.

Assuming 2 servings, you’ll get 16 grams of carbohydrate and 1 gram of fiber—if you consume all of the marinade. If you just have a spoonful or two, you can figure on getting 2 or 3 grams of usable carb; 59 grams of protein.

Duck is unbelievably rich—but what a special-occasion treat! If you’d like, you can cook chicken the same way, for a less-expensive, lower-calorie dish.

1 duck, cut into 4 servings

¼ cup (60 ml) soy sauce

2 tablespoons (40 g) low-sugar orange marmalade

¼ teaspoon orange extract

2 teaspoons Splenda

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons grated ginger

2 tablespoons (30 ml) white wine vinegar

4 tablespoons (32 g) sesame seeds

Before we get to the recipe, let’s talk about cutting up the duck. My grocery store didn’t have duck in stock, so I asked them to order a couple for me. They came in whole and frozen. I let my duck thaw, and it then took me about 5 minutes to cut it up using my trusty Kmart shears—not a big deal. However, if you’d prefer, you could ask the nice meat guys at your grocery store if they could order you a cut-up duck, or alternately, let the duck thaw there and cut it up for you. If you choose this last option, however, don’t take your duck home and refreeze it—just arrange for it to be ready to pick up the day you want to cook it.

Okay, time to cook your duck! Light a charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill. Mix together the soy sauce, orange marmalade, orange extract, Splenda, garlic, ginger, and vinegar in a bowl. Tear off 4 sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil, each big enough to wrap one of your pieces of duck. Put a piece of duck on a piece of foil and bend up the edges enough that the sauce won’t run off. Spoon about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of sauce over the piece of duck, smear it around a little with the back of the spoon, and wrap the foil around the piece of duck—fold opposite edges to the middle, roll down, and then roll the ends in. Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of duck and pieces of foil.

Grill the duck packets over a medium fire for about 40 minutes, turning halfway through.

In the meantime, toast the sesame seeds by putting them in a small, dry skillet and shaking them over a hot burner until they start to make little popping sounds. Remove from heat.

Okay, 40 minutes is up. Retrieve the duck from the grill and carefully unwrap each piece. Put the unwrapped duck back on the grill skin-side down for 5 minutes or until the skin is crisp. Remove to serving plates, top each with 1 tablespoon (8 g) of sesame seeds, and serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each serving will have 4 grams of carbohydrate and 1 gram of fiber, for a usable carb count of 3 grams; 39 grams of protein.

pound (150 g) hamburger patty

1 tablespoon (8 g) crumbled blue cheese

1 teaspoon finely minced sweet red onion

Cook the burger by your preferred method. When it’s almost done to your liking, top with the bleu cheese and let it melt. Remove from the heat, put it on plate, and top with onion.

Yield:
1 serving

Only a trace of carbohydrates, no fiber, and 27 grams of protein.

These are truly great; my husband and I couldn’t stop talking about how well this recipe worked out! Of course, since I have to keep cooking new stuff, we won’t get to eat these again till 2012. But still, they’re just amazing.