Category: Recipes

Delicious low-carb recipes, tried and tested.

Low-Carb Pizza

Emma10 Comments

low-carb pizzaLow-carb pizza for dinner? Anyone who follows a low-carb diet for diabetes is probably familiar with the work of Dr Andreas Eenfeldt.

The Swedish practitioner set up the Diet Doctor blog in 2007. The blog is now the most popular health blog in Scandinavia and the website offers all kinds of useful resources for those wanting to take up a low carb high fat diet. There are expert videos, how to courses and lots of recipes.

I decided to try one out this week – for low-carb pizza. This version uses aubergine slices to replace the bread. I adapted it slightly, but you can see the original recipe here.

Don’t forget that our book, The Diabetes Diet contains plenty of low-carb recipes and advice on how to adjust your medication when you embark on a low carb diet, which applies to those with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Low Carb Pizza

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 1 aubergine, medium to large
  • 200g minced beef (use pork or turkey if you prefer)
  • 200g tinned tomatoes
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • ½ small onion
  • 150g grated cheese – use a mix of mozzarella and cheddar for the best taste)
  • ½ tbsp. dried oregano
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Slice the aubergines length-wise about ⅓–½ inches (1 cm) thick. Coat with olive oil and bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until they turn a little in colour. Turn them half-way through cooking.

Fry the meat, finely chopped onion and garlic in pan until the onions have softened the meat is browned. Add the tomato sauce and seasoning. Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes or more.

Remove the aubergine slices from the oven and spread the meat mixture on top. Sprinkle with cheese and oregano. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Serve with a green salad.

Allow roughly 10-13g of carbohydrates per portion.

 

Spinach and Feta Crust-less Quiche

Emma4 Comments

low-carb recipesI’m writing this in the middle of a heat wave. In Scotland. Yup, you read that right. For the last ten days, the BBC weather forecast has looked topsy-turvy with the western upper half of the island illustrated with suns, while the eastern section down below shivers in wind and rain.

Ha!

Heat waves don’t go along with cooking, unless it’s barbecue. Most barbecue foods lend themselves well to a low-carb diet, but if you’re bored of burgers, a crust-less quiche is a delicious alternative.

I don’t bother with fresh spinach these days. Frozen spinach is much cheaper and easier to use. It’s already shrunk down so you don’t have to battle with an over-flowing pan as you try to get it to wilt.

frozen spinach

Allow roughly 4g of carbs per serving.

This goes well with a sliced tomato salad. Slice tomatoes finely and dress with shredded basil, some olive oil, salt and balsamic vinegar.

For the carb-eaters, serve with a baked potato or some crusty bread.

 

 

Crust-less Spinach and Feta Quiche

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 300g frozen spinach, defrosted
  • 150g feta cheese, crumbled
  • 8 large eggs
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp double cream
  • 4 spring onions, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

 

  1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees C. Lightly butter a Pyrex or equivalent dish.
  2. Spread the spinach evenly over the bottom of the dish. Mix the eggs, crumbled feta, salt, pepper, garlic powder and double cream together.
  3. Pour over the top of the spinach and sprinkle with the chopped spring onions, along with a little extra black pepper.
  4. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Take the foil off and bake for another 10 minutes to brown the top.

 

 

Spinach pic thanks to Karen Arnold on publicdomain pics.

 

Low-Carb Almond Chocolate Truffles

kaitiscotlandLeave a comment

Chokladbollar

 

Almond Chocolate Truffles

  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 50 g dark chocolate
  • 25 g butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups ground almonds
  • desiccated coconut

Heat the cream, add chocolate and stir until it is melted, add butter and stir until you have a truffle texture.
Add the vanilla and stir in the almond flour, you may need a bit more almond flour if the mixture is still too soft. Roll into balls. Dip the balls into the coconut flakes. Keep in the fridge. Eat. Enjoy.

Bacon and beef gratin

kaitiscotlandLeave a comment

minced-meat-179476_960_720

Bacon and Beef Gratin

  • Servings: 5-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 600g minced beef
  • 400g bacon, chopped
  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 3 cloves garlic crushed
  • 3 tablespoons chili sauce or sambal oelek (from Asian shop)
  • pepper
  • About 8 oz of mushrooms, sliced (enough to cover the bottom of an oven-proof dish)
  • 1 courgette cut into 2mm slices
  • Grated cheese
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 dl cream
  • 1 cup water
  • Pepper, little bit of bouillon powder

Melt butter, add onion and fry until translucent, add the bacon, continue frying for a few minutes, finally add the mince and fry it until browned, mix with all other ingredients and cook for around 10-15mins.

Grease an ovenproof dish with butter, place a layer of mushrooms in the dish, then top with the meat/bacon sauce, then top with sliced courgette and sprinkle cheese over that.

Whisk together the cream water, eggs, pepper and a little bouillon powder, pour evenly over the gratin.
Whisk together the casserole and pour this over the gratin evenly.

Bake in middle of oven for about 20-25 minutes at 225 degrees.

Making the Most of Herbs

Emma6 Comments

herbsThanks to the recent spell of good weather (in Scotland too!), we’ve got a glut of herbs. There’s something special about going out into the garden to pick herbs for a dish you’re making, but at the moment I can’t keep up with our herb growth rate.

I found a recipe for pork loin steaks the other day which neatly took care of some of the excesses. The delicious, tender results were an added bonus.

If you have any left-over herb paste, use it to baste fish or chicken, or dilute it slightly with more oil and a little vinegar, and use it in salads.

We got our pork steaks from the wonderful Nethergate Larder stall at the near-by Farmers’ Market, which runs at Loch Lomond Shores the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month.

Pork Loin Steaks with Herb Paste

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 4 pork loin steaks
  • Fresh basil (2-3 generous handfuls)
  • Flat-leaf parsley (1 generous handful)
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • 4tbsp rapeseed or olive oil, plus a tsp
  • 1 heaped tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper

Take the pork steaks out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree C.

Place the basil, parsley, lemon zest, 4tbsp oil, mustard, salt and pepper in a mini food processor or blender and whizz till you get a thick, green paste.

Brush the pork steaks with the tsp of oil and fry on each side for a minute to seal and colour the meat. Remove from the heat, brush with the herb paste so each steak gets a thick coating.

Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the individual steaks. Pork meat should be cooked through and the meat white, but be careful not to overcook the steaks.

Serve with salad and green beans.

Carbs – about 2g per serving.

 

 

Seasonally-Inspired Low-Carb Recipes for May

EmmaLeave a comment
seasonally-inspired low-carb recipes
Cute… and also darn tasty!

Need some seasonally-inspired low-carb recipe ideas for May?

Here at the Diabetes Diet, we are big fans of seasonal eating. Food is often cheaper – and it’s almost always more flavoursome.

What’s in season in May? Lamb, asparagus, spinach, prawns, cod, haddock, broccoli and crabs are a few of the seasonal ingredients low-carb dieters can make the most of.

Here are some seasonally-inspired low carb recipes that make the most of these delicious options:

 

You can’t let a seasonal round-up go past without mentioning asparagus. I think it’s better roasted or char-grilled than boiled. You can wrap it in Parma ham before roasting to make lovely low-carb canapés or why not try out some home-made Hollandaise?

Hollandaise is actually easier than you think to make – just pick the right recipe. Delia Smith’s foaming Hollandaise is a good one to try for the Hollandaise beginner.

Hollandaise Sauce

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • hollandaise2 large eggs, separated
  • 1tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1tbsp cider vinegar
  • 110g salted butter
  • Seasoning
  1. Put the egg yolks into a small food processor or blender along with the seasoning. Blend until combined.
  2. Heat the lemon juice and vinegar in a small saucepan. Let it start to bubble and then add to the egg yolks and blend well.
  3. Melt the butter in the same saucepan slowly – don’t let it brown. Begin to add slowly to the food processor (through the funnel) or blender. The process is similar to that you use when making mayonnaise.
  4. You will eventually end up with a smooth, buttery and lemon-y sauce. To make foaming Hollandaise – beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and fold them into the finished sauce. This will lighten the sauce and make it go further.

The finished sauce has negligible carbohydrates – about 1-2g per serving.

 

Find more low-carb recipes in The Diabetes Diet.

 

 

Zippy microwave chocolate cake

kaitiscotlandLeave a comment

Measuring_cupThis is a very easy and fast to make chocolate cake.
1/4 cup ground almonds

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons of granulated sugar substitute eg Splenda

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon water (or Da Vinci syrup)

1 egg

splash of vanilla essence

Method:

Mix in a 2 cup size pyrex  cup or jug – cover with plastic wrap – cut a small slit in covering – cook 1 to 3 minutes in microwave – should look dry on top.

Entire recipe has about  18 grams  carbs and 5 gms fibre

Seasonal Eating Ideas for Low-Carb Diets

Emma1 Comment

Need some low-carb inspiration? We’ve got some seasonal eating ideas for low-carb diets.

seasonal eating ideas for low-carb diets
Green goodness!

There are lots of good reasons to eat seasonally: firstly, it’s better for you because it’s fresher and tends to be more nutritious; it’s more environmentally-friendly because out-of-season fruit and veg is usually imported from far-flung destinations and has therefore contributed to a great deal of CO2 emissions; and finally because it tastes nicer.

In season now are: broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, spring onions, spinach, watercress, bananas, kiwi fruit, rhubarb, sorrell, lamb, cockles, langoustine, lobster, mussels, oysters, plaice, prawns, salmon and shrimp.

For some seasonal eating recipes, try our:

African lamb stew – aubergine and spices make this a delicious and nutritious dish.

Gluten-free moussaka – the traditional Greek dish gets a low-carb make-over.

Broccoli and Stilton soup – combine two great British ingredients and this is what you get, gorgeous green-y goodness.

Spicy fish soup – swap the haddock fillets suggested in this recipe for plaice.

Creamed spinach – serve with any roast meat or a steak.

Cauliflower cheese – this goes really well with thick slices of good ham.

 

 

 

Low-Carb Chocolate Chip Cookies

EmmaLeave a comment

no added sugar chocolate chipsWhile perusing the shelves of Holland & Barrett recently (a hobby of mine), I discovered these no-sugar chocolate chips.

I’m not much of a low-carb baker as the results are usually disappointing (perhaps apart from the low-carb fudge) and I’m not keen on the after-taste you get from sweeteners, but I thought I’d try out the chocolate chips in a cookie recipe and they turned out not ‘alf bad…

It is a mistake to think you are going to get comparable results to traditional baking and cookies when you try de-carbed baking, but you will get something that might help add a little more variety to your diet. The recipe is also gluten-free so will please any coeliacs you know.

I adapted this recipe slightly from one I found in the Low Carb High Fat diet book by Laura and Veronica Childs.

 

Low-Carb Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • Servings: 12 cookies
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • low-carb chocolate chip cookies2 cups almond flour
  • 2tbsp coconut flour
  • 6tbsp butter
  • 1 large egg
  • Pinch salt
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp Xanthan gum
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ cup granulated sweetener (I used Asda’s Stevia blend)
  • 2-3tbsp no-added sugar chocolate chips

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Melt the butter in the microwave, allow to cool slightly and mix with the egg, sweetener and vanilla extract.

Mix the ground almonds, bicarbonate of soda, Xanthan gum, coconut flour and the pinch of salt. Add the wet ingredients, the chocolate chips and mix well. You will get a sticky-ish dough.

Divide the dough into 12 equal-sized balls and flatten out to a cookie shape. Place on a cookie sheet or baking tray and cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until they are golden brown. Cool for five minutes on the tray before removing to a wire rack and cooling completely.

Each cookie has roughly 5g carbs and 3g fibre.

 

Valentine’s Day Steaks with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Emma2 Comments

sirloin steakOK, we couldn’t let Valentine’s Day go by without some kind of recipe… Valentine’s Sirloin Steaks with Mushroom Cream Sauce.

If you are looking for the sweet stuff, why not check out our recipes for tiramisu or peanut butter fudge?

But if you’re one of those people who doesn’t like to fall for marketing claims (it’s Valentine’s day so we need to eat chocolate, right?), why not try out our sort-of-pink sauce to go with steaks?! The claim’s tenuous I know (and not helped by my amateur photography), but I promise you this sauce was quite pink and pretty in real life.

 

Valentine Sirloin Steaks with Mushroom Cream Sauce

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • steak with mushroom sauce2 x 150-200g sirloin steaks
  • 150g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
  • 60ml red wine
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 150ml double cream
  • 25g butter
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Take your steaks out of the fridge, season each side with salt and pepper, and allow them to come to room temperature.
  2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring, for five to seven minutes until the mushrooms are browned and most of the water that comes off them has evaporated.
  3. Add the garlic and red wine, and bring to the boil. Allow most of the liquid to evaporate.
  4. Add the double cream and some seasoning, and bring to boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for three to four minutes.
  5. Heat a griddle pan to very hot (you don’t need to grease it but you can apply a little oil to the steaks instead) and add your steaks. Cook to your liking. Depending on the thickness of the steak, for a four-centimetre thick piece of meat roughly two minutes each side is rare, three minutes medium rare and four well done.
  6. Allow to rest, covered with foil for a few minutes and then plate up with salad and the sauce.

Carbs per serving – 6g, with 1 g fibre.