300 15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes (26 page)

When the skillet's hot, add the bacon grease or oil and slosh it around and then throw in your steak. Set a timer for 5 to 6 minutes—your timing will depend on your taste and how hot your burner gets, but on my stove, 5 minutes per side with a 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick steak comes out medium rare. When the timer goes off, flip the steak and set the timer again. When time is up, devour immediately!

Yield:
4 servings, each with 403 calories, 33 grams fat, 24 grams protein, 0 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams dietary fiber, and 0 grams usable carb.

Rib Eye Steak with Wine Sauce

This is a classic.

1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) beef rib eye

2 shallots

1/2 cup (120 ml) dry red wine

1/2 cup (120 ml) beef stock, or 1/2 cup (120 ml) water and 1/2 teaspoon beef bouillon concentrate

1 tablespoon (15 ml) balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon brown mustard, or Dijon

1 tablespoon (4 g) dried thyme

3 tablespoons (42 g) butter

salt and pepper to taste

Cook your steak as described in
Pan Broiled Steak
.

In the meantime, assemble everything for your wine sauce—chop your shallots and measure the wine, beef stock, vinegar, mustard, and thyme together in a measuring cup with a pouring lip. Whisk them up.

When the timer goes off, flip the steak and set the timer again.

When your steak is done, put it on a platter. Pour the wine mixture into the skillet and stir it around, scraping up the nice brown bits, and let it boil hard. Continue boiling your sauce until it's reduced by at least half. Melt in the butter, salt and pepper, and serve with your steak.

Yield:
4 servings, each with 428 calories, 28 grams fat, 35 grams protein, 2 grams carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, and 2 grams usable carb.

Beef and Blue Rollups

This makes a nice, cool supper for a hot night. If you cut the rolls in pieces, they'd make good party food, too. Warning: My ingredients didn't come out exactly even, and yours may not either.

1 jarred roasted red pepper, drained

1 bunch watercress

1/2 small red onion, minced

1/3 cup (75 g) mayonnaise

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1 pound (455 g) sliced deli roast beef, not too thin

6 ounces (90 g) crumbled blue cheese

Drain your roasted red pepper and cut it into strips. Chop your watercress and red onion together; you can do this in your food processor if you like, but I didn't bother. If you do, put the onion in and pulse a few times before you add the watercress or the watercress will be pulp before the onion is fine.

Mix the mayo and the horseradish together.

Okay, it's assembly line time: Lay a slice of roast beef on your cutting board. Spread it edge-to-edge with the horseradish mayo, sprinkle it evenly with some blue cheese, and then sprinkle with onion and watercress. Place a strip of roasted red pepper across one narrow edge and roll the whole thing up around it. Repeat the process until you run out of ingredients! I got about a dozen rolls. I don't guarantee your ingredients will come out exactly even because I don't know how thickly sliced your roast beef is, which will determine how many rolls you'll get.

Yield:
I got 12 rolls, each with 164 calories, 11 grams fat, 14 grams protein, 3 grams carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, and 3 grams usable carb.

Everybody's heard of lamb chops, but lamb steaks are harder to find. However, I think they're better and I can get them cheaper than most lamb chops, too. Here's how: I wait until whole legs of lamb are on sale at my grocery store—at least a few times a year they go as low as $3.99 a pound. When they do, I buy one or two, and have the meat guy at the grocery store slice a smallish roast off either end (these make far more sense for small households than a whole leg of lamb), and slice the center into steaks 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick. I've never been charged for this service. When I get them home, I bag everything up and stash it in the freezer—where they don't last very long, since I'm hopelessly devoted to lamb!

However, if you prefer, you can make any of these lamb recipes with 1/2-inch thick (1.3 cm) lamb chops, instead.

Soy and Sesame Glazed Lamb Steaks

2 lamb steaks, 6 to 8 ounces (170 to 225 g) each, 1/2-inch (1.3 cm) thick

2 tablespoons (28 ml) olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic or 2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 scallions, minced

2 tablespoons (28 ml) soy sauce

1 teaspoon Splenda

6 drops or 1/4 teaspoon blackstrap molasses*

2 teaspoons sesame oil

* I keep my molasses in a squeeze container to make it easy to measure out very small quantities.

In a heavy skillet, start sautéing the lamb steaks in the oil over high heat. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes per side.

While the lamb is browning, prepare and combine the garlic, scallions, soy sauce, Splenda, molasses, and sesame oil.

Remove the lamb from the skillet, add the soy sauce mixture, and stir a bit. Replace the lamb in the skillet, turn it once to coat with sauce, and cook it for another 1 to 2 minutes per side. Serve, scraping the liquid from the pan over the lamb steaks.

Yield:
2 servings. Assuming each steak is 6 ounces (170 g), each will have 4 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 3 grams of usable carbs and 23 grams of protein.

Curried Lamb Steak

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon minced garlic or 2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 lamb steaks, 6 to 8 ounces (170 to 225 g) each, 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick

Melt the butter in large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the curry powder and garlic, stir, and add the lamb steak. Cover with a tilted lid and cook for 7 minutes. Turn, recover with a tilted lid, and cook for another 7 minutes. Remove the lamb to serving plates, scrape the curry butter over the steaks, and serve.

Yield:
2 servings. Assuming each steak is 6 ounces, each will have 2 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 1 gram of usable carbs and 23 grams of protein.

Barbecued Lamb Steaks

2 lamb steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each (170 to 225 g), 1/2-inch (1.3 cm) thick

1 tablespoon (15 g) plus 1 teaspoon (5 g) sugar-free ketchup

1 tablespoon (15 ml) plus 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cider vinegar

1 tablespoon (15 ml) plus 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard

Broil the lamb steaks close to the flame for 6 to 7 minutes. While the steaks are cooking, combine the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard.

Turn the steaks and broil the second side for 3 to 4 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the steaks and broil for another 2 to 3 minutes. Serve.

Yield:
2 servings. Assuming each steak is 6 ounces (170 g), each will have 4 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 23 grams of protein.

Whole pork loin is another largish cut of meat that often goes on sale at attractive prices. Again, if you buy a whole pork loin, the nice people behind the meat counter will be glad to cut it to your specifications. Keep in mind, however, that pork ages poorly in the freezer—use it up within two to three months, or it will taste nasty.

Pineapple Glazed Pork Loin

You can double this recipe if you like, but if your skillet's the size of mine, you'll have to cook it in two batches—which, of course, takes twice the time.

3/4 pound (340 g) boneless pork loin, cut about 1/2-inch (1.3 cm) thick*

1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 28 ml) olive oil

2 tablespoons (30 g) canned, crushed pineapple in juice

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

2 teaspoons Splenda

1 teaspoon spicy brown or Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon minced garlic or 2 cloves garlic, crushed

* Feel free to use thinish pork chops, instead.

First, pound the pork until it's about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the pork, covering it with a tilted lid. Give it 4 to 5 minutes per side.