300 15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes (53 page)

Many of these condiments, sauces, dressings, and seasonings are called for in other recipes in the book. Others are not but are included because they offer great, easy ways to season the simple slabs of protein—chicken breasts, fish fillets, steaks, chops, and so on—that are the staples of quick low-carb cooking.

You'll find some new recipes here, plus a few I've repeated from
500 Low-Carb Recipes
—the ones I thought would be most helpful for making quick and varied meals.

Dipping sauces are an increasingly popular way to add variety to simple foods—even McDonald's offers dipping sauces with their McNuggets! Each of these dipping sauces is called for in another recipe in this book, but feel free to use them any way you like.

“Honey” Mustard Dipping Sauce

Great with the fried
Chicken Tenders
(see
page 90
) or with a simple chicken breast or pork chop.

1/4 cup (60 g) mayonnaise

2 tablespoons (22 g) spicy mustard

1 teaspoon Splenda

Simply combine everything and you're all set.

Yield:
Makes a little more than 1/3 cup (about 85 g), or enough for about 4 people eating
Chicken Tenders
. Each serving has 1 gram of carbohydrates, no fiber, and 1 gram of protein.

Apricot Ginger Dipping Sauce

Also great with
Chicken Tenders
(see
page 90
)—or anything else you might use the “Honey” Mustard Dipping Sauce on—only it tastes a lot different.

1/4 cup (60 g) mayonnaise

1 1/2 tablespoons (30 g) low-sugar apricot preserves

1 teaspoon grated gingerroot

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic or 1/2 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon Splenda

3/4 teaspoon soy sauce

Simply combine everything.

Yield:
Makes just under 1/3 cup (about 85 g), or enough for about 4 people eating
Chicken Tenders
. Each serving has 3 grams of carbohydrates, with a trace of fiber and protein.

Asian Dipping Sauce

This is perfect with the
Lettuce Wraps
on
page 101
, but it's also good with
Chicken Tenders
(see
page 90
), or whatever you have on hand.

1/4 cup (6 g) Splenda

1/4 cup (60 ml) water

2 tablespoons (28 ml) soy sauce

2 tablespoons (28 ml) rice vinegar

2 tablespoons (30 g) Dana's No-Sugar Ketchup (see
page 309
) or commercial sugar-free ketchup

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons dry mustard

2 teaspoons chili garlic paste

Just assemble everything in a blender and run it until everything's well combined. If you don't use it all up at once, keep in a tightly sealed container in the fridge and it will last a week, at least.

Yield:
Makes roughly 3/4 cup (170 ml), or 6 servings of 2 tablespoons (28 g) each. Each serving has 3 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.

Nuoc Cham

This sweet-tart-spicy dipping sauce is purely Vietnamese and absolutely wonderful! It's essential for the
Lemon Chicken
(see
page 83
) and the Vietnamese
Chicken Salad
(see
page 173
), but once you try this, you'll think of all sorts of ways to use it.

2 tablespoons (36 g) fish sauce

2 tablespoons (28 ml) lime juice

1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar

3 tablespoons (4.5 g) Splenda

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

1 teaspoon chili garlic paste

Simply combine everything in a small dish.

Yield:
About 1/3 cup (85 g), or 4 or 5 servings. Assuming 4 servings, each will have 4 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and a trace of protein. (And approximately 15 metric boatloads of flavor!)

Stir-Fry Sauce

If you like Chinese food, make this up and keep it on hand. Then you can just throw any sort of meat and vegetables in your wok or skillet and have a meal in minutes.

1/2 cup (120 ml) soy sauce

1/2 cup (120 ml) dry sherry

2 cloves garlic, crushed, or 1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons (16 g) grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons Splenda

Simply combine everything and store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

Yield:
Makes 1 cup (225 g). Use about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons (23 to 28 g) per serving of stir-fry. Each serving contains 2 grams of carbohydrates, no fiber, and no protein.

Easy Remoulade Sauce

This is good on anything fishy or seafoodlike.

1 cup (225 g) mayonnaise

2 tablespoons (22 g) spicy brown or Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons (28 ml) lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried tarragon, crumbled

2 tablespoons (18 g) capers, drained and chopped a bit

Just stir everything up, and you're good to go!

Yield:
Makes about 1 1/3 cups (310 g), or 5 servings of just under 1/4 cup (55 g) each. Each serving has 1 gram of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.

Lemon-Basil Cream Sauce

This dish is so summery!

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

4 ounces (115 g) cream cheese

1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream

1 lemon

2 tablespoons (5 g) minced fresh basil

salt and pepper

Put a saucepan over lowest heat. Melt the butter and start the garlic sautéing in it—be careful it doesn't brown at all. Just sauté it a couple of minutes over very low heat.

Cut the cream cheese into small chunks and add it to the pan along with the heavy cream. You can goose the heat up a tiny bit, but keep it quite low. Scorching is a big no-no.

While the cream warms and the cheese melts, grate a teaspoon of zest from your lemon and mince your basil.

Go stir your sauce! When the cheese is melted and it's all smooth, add the lemon zest and squeeze in the juice of the lemon. Now stir in the basil.

Salt and pepper to taste and serve over tofu shirataki fettuccini, chicken breast, shrimp, sole—you name it.