300 15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes (22 page)

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 (28 ml) dry sherry

1 tablespoon (15 ml) soy sauce

2 teaspoons grated gingerroot

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic or 1 clove garlic, crushed

1 1/2 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 up to form a lip.

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

Fit a rack—a cake-cooling rack works nicely—into a large skillet. Pour about 1/4 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!

Three Ridiculously Easy Things To Do with Catfish

(Plus One That's Only a Tiny Bit More Complicated)

You'll notice a certain similarity between these three recipes, but they all taste quite different—and quite good! Personally, I think coleslaw (with sugar-free dressing, of course) would make an ideal side dish with any of these recipes, but then again, I'm inordinately fond of coleslaw. Despite the butter, all three of these recipes come in at under 300 calories per serving, as well as being very low carb.

Lemon-Pepper Catfish

1 pound (455 g) catfish fillets

Lemon pepper

3 to 4 tablespoons (42 to 55 g) butter

Sprinkle both sides of the catfish fillets liberally with lemon pepper and let them sit for 5 minutes. Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy skillet. Add the catfish, sauté for about 5 minutes per side or until cooked through, and then serve.

Yield:
3 servings, each with 1 gram of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 25 grams of protein.

Old Bay Catfish

1 pound (455 g) catfish fillets

Old Bay Seasoning*

3 to 4 tablespoons (42 to 55 g) butter

* This is a widely available sprinkle-on seasoning; look for it in your grocery store.

Sprinkle both sides of the catfish fillets liberally with Old Bay Seasoning and let them sit for 5 minutes. Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy skillet. Add the catfish, sauté for about 5 minutes per side or until cooked through, and then serve.

Yield:
3 servings, each with just a trace of carbohydrates, no fiber, and 25 grams of protein.

Creole Catfish

1 pound (455 g) catfish fillets

Creole seasoning

3 to 4 tablespoons (42 to 55 g) butter

Sprinkle both sides of the catfish fillets liberally with Creole seasoning and let them sit for 5 minutes. Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy skillet. Add the catfish, sauté for about 5 minutes per side or until cooked through, and then serve.

Yield:
3 servings, each with 2 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 25 grams of protein.

Crunchy Creole Catfish

That's nice alliteration, huh? If you have some crushed BBQ pork rinds on hand, this is a tasty elaboration on the previous catfish recipe.

1 pound (455 g) catfish fillets

Creole seasoning

1/3 cup (80 g) crushed barbeque-flavor pork rinds

3 tablespoons (42 g) butter

Sprinkle the catfish fillets liberally on both sides with Creole seasoning. Spread the pork rind crumbs on a plate and dip both sides of each fillet in the crumbs to coat. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat and sauté the fillets for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until cooked through and crispy.

Yield:
2-3 servings, each with 2 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber and 46 grams of protein.

Oysters en Brochette

Oysters are an oddity in the world of animal protein, in that they actually contain a few carbs of their own. Still, they're quite nutritious (loaded with zinc) and many people love them. This makes an elegant appetizer or a very light supper.

6 slices bacon

24 mushrooms

16 large oysters

Butter (optional)

Lemon wedges (optional)

You'll either need metal skewers for this or you'll need to think far enough ahead to put 6 bamboo skewers in water to soak for a few hours before you begin cooking.

Either way, simply skewer a slice of bacon near the end and then skewer a mushroom. Fold the strip of bacon back over, skewering it again, then add an oyster, and fold and skewer the bacon again—you're weaving the bacon in and out of the alternating mushrooms and oysters, see?

Lay the skewers on a broiler pan and broil them close to the heat with the broiler on Low for about 10 minutes. Turn once or twice until the oysters are done and the bacon's getting crisp. You can baste these with butter while they're broiling if you like, but it's not strictly necessary. Serve one skewer per customer as a first course, with lemon wedges if you like.

Yield:
3 servings, each with 8 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and 10 grams of protein.

White Clam and Bacon Pizza or Omelet Filling

My husband really loved his White Clam and Bacon Omelet!

4 slices bacon

1 tablespoon bacon grease (15 g) or olive oil (15 ml)

3 tablespoons (30 g) minced onion

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 can (6 1/2 ounces, or 180 g) minced clams

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 cup (15 g) chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup (58 g) 6 cheese Italian shredded cheese blend or shredded mozzarella

Lay your bacon on a microwave bacon rack or in a Pyrex pie plate and give it 4 to 6 minutes on high in the microwave.

Over medium heat, melt the bacon grease (this would be from bacon you cooked some other time—you are keeping your bacon grease to cook with, right? If you don't have bacon grease, use olive oil) in a medium-sized skillet and start sautéing the onion. While that's happening, open and drain the clams and chop your parsley.

When the onion's translucent, add the garlic, drained clams, and Italian seasoning and keep cooking until most of the residual liquid cooks away. Stir in the parsley and give it just another minute.