Category: Recipes

Delicious low-carb recipes, tried and tested.

Spicy Fish Soup – A Low-Carb Super Healthy Recipe

EmmaLeave a comment
Dem bones, dem bones, demo bones make damn fine stock.
Dem bones, dem bones, demo bones make damn fine stock.

Ever since abandoning vegetarianism (it was fun while it lasted, but not the best option for my health), I have been obsessed with home-made stock…

When I first added it to recipes, I couldn’t believe how much flavour it adds to a dish. And it’s so good for you because you get the vitamins and minerals from the bones and vegetables if you have cooked your stock for long enough.

Home-made stock is what makes home-made soup really special – and the reason why you can never buy a factory-made soup that tastes anywhere near as good. Nope, even those expensive cartons can’t measure up to good, home-made soup.

A new recipe I tried recently was a spin on another dish I make for myself frequently – spicy prawn curry. If I add this, instead of this and I up the quantity of this, I’ll get… You know the kind of thing keen cooks like to do. The result is this lovely soup, which is perfect for this time of year.

The obvious point to make is that I have used chicken and not fish stock for this recipe. I think of chicken stock as a universal stock – you can use it for any dish and you are more likely to have the basis of chicken rather than fish stock. Allow roughly 5g of carbs per serving.

Spicy Fish Soup

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 300g white fish fillets (I used haddock)Whitefish_Fillet
  • 50g creamed coconut
  • 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
  • 200ml home-made chicken stock
  • 1tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 sticks celery, chopped
  • 1tsp crushed dried chillies
  • 1rtsp turmeric
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1tbsp grated ginger
  • Salt and pepper

Chop the creamed coconut into small pieces.

Melt the coconut oil in large saucepan and add the celery. Cook gently for five minutes until softened.

Add the tinned tomatoes, stock, dried chillies, turmeric, ginger and chopped creamed coconut and bring the mixture to the boil. Turn down the heat and leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes. The mixture should reduce somewhat and you’ll be left with a spicy, fragrant and thickened liquid.

Chop the fish fillets into big, even-sized chunks (about 2ins chunks) and add to the soup. Leave the heat on for a minute or so and then turn off the heat and cover the saucepan for a lid. Leave for five minutes – this should be enough to cook the fish through.

 

Fish pic thanks to My Friend in Food.

 

 

A Solution to Chocolate Cravings for Low-Carbers?

Emma2 Comments
The evidence!
The evidence!

Ah, Christmas… Someone somewhere in the land of global food production decided that Christmas should be synonymous with chocolate.

From chocolate Santas to selection boxes and low-priced giant boxes of Quality Street, Celebrations, Miniature Heroes et all, chocolate is all around us.

[And as soon as it’s over, watch your supermarket rush to stock up on Easter eggs and chocolate bunny rabbits.]

I tried a new recipe out over Christmas that I found on Maria’s Mind, Body, Health – a ketogenic lifestyle website – which was billed as a kind of fudge recipe.

I didn’t find the recipe gave a fudge-like texture or taste (unlike this recipe here), but stored in the freezer it does take on chocolate-like consistency, including a snap when you break it apart.

This recipe doesn’t make large quantities (and like many low-carb sweet recipes, it is pricey to make) but it is very rich and pretty calorific, thanks to the large amounts of fat it contains. I’ve suggested that it will give you roughly six servings, with a carb count of approximately 6g per serving.

Low-Carb Chocolate

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

It looks like chocolate, it tastes like chocolate...
It looks like chocolate, it tastes like chocolate…

  • 250g coconut oil (1 cup)
  • 75mls full-fat coconut milk (1/4 cup)*
  • 2-3tbsp granulated sweetener (about ¼ cup)
  • 3tbsp unsweetened cocoa or cacoa powder
  • Pinch salt
  • 1/2tsp vanilla extract
  1. Line a small, square baking tray (about 8ins or 20cm square) with baking parchment.
  2. Place the coconut oil and coconut milk in a large non-metallic bowl and microwave for 20-30 seconds, just to soften the oil sufficiently.
  3. Mix well with an electric mixer and add the sweetener, vanilla extract and salt. Add the cocoa or cacoa powder and mix gently with the mixer switched off until it is mostly mixed in and then put the mixer back on and mix until well combined. You should have a very glossy, smooth mix.
  4. Pour into the prepared tray and tap gently to even it out. Place the tray in the freezer and leave for about an hour/one hour and 15 mins.
  5. Tip the “chocolate” out of the tray and break into pieces. Store it in small bags in the freezer. You can eat it straight from the freezer (eating it so cold also minimises the after-taste you get from sweeteners).

*To avoid wasting coconut milk (which you usually buy in tins), buy creamed coconut and make up the amount you need. 100g creamed coconut dissolved in 400ml boiling water makes 400ml coconut milk, so roughly 20g creamed coconut will make 75ml.

Of course, you could always buy yourself some very strong plain chocolate – 85 percent cocoa solids chocolate is much lower in sugar than normal, commercial chocolate for example – but where’s the fun in that?! In addition, this recipe gives you dairy-free, gluten-free and soya free chocolate.

 

A Low-Carb Boxing Day Recipe to Perk You Up

EmmaLeave a comment
Dazed, confused, missing your teeth..? Oh dear...
Dazed, confused, missing your teeth..? Oh dear…

Morning – is anyone feeling a little fragile this a.m. thanks to too much seasonal indulgence yesterday..?!

The Diabetes Diet has the perfect solution for you – a low-carb breakfast packed with vitamins and minerals, and very delicious too. With its kick of spice, this dish will help blow away the cobwebs and have you firing on all cylinders once more.

This recipe serves one, but can obviously be doubled up.

Huevos Rancheros

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • eggs2 large, free range eggs
  • 1 green pepper, diced
  • 1tbsp butter
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • Pinch dried chilli flakes (add more or less, according to how spicy you like your food
  • ½ tin chopped tomatoes (roughly 200g)
  • 2tbsp grated strong cheese (Parmesan or a mature cheddar)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a small frying/omelette pan and add the diced peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened (about five minutes).

Add the tomatoes, garlic and chilli flakes. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer and leave, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. You should be left with a thick sauce. Make two indentations in the mixture and crack the eggs in. Leave until the whites are set – about five minutes. (You may need to move the whites around a little to cook.)

Add a little salt and pepper and top with the grated cheese. Place under a pre-heated grill until the cheese is melted.

This is delicious with some salad on the side or on top of steamed broccoli. Allow roughly 10-15g carbs per serving.

 

Hangover picture courtesy of Static Square Space and eggs picture thanks to Pixabay.

Low-Carb Chocolate Fudge

Emma1 Comment
Peanut butter, sweetener and cocoa powder.
Peanut butter, sweetener and cocoa powder.

Tis the Season to… Find your will power challenged by sugary temptation..?

If ever there was a time of year that is challenging for the low-carb dieter it is this one. The traditional treats of Christmas – cake, mince pies, pudding and an awful lot of chocolate – are all jam-packed with carbs and sugar.

A little wavering off course is perfectly acceptable, but if you do want to stay as low-carb as you can then low-carb baking and low-carb “treats” are the way to go.

A lot of the food that is around at this time of year is perfectly suitable for low-carbing and delicious anyway – hams, turkey, sausages wrapped in bacon, smoked salmon, fish starters and lots of cheese.

There are lots of recipes online for low-carb fudge, but most of them are American and they often use ingredients that aren’t commonly available here. I did, however, find this recipe on a Keto website and all the ingredients are easily available.

The recipe didn’t specify whether you should use smooth or crunchy peanut butter, so I went for smooth as I thought that would mimic the texture of fudge more closely. Meridian do a smooth peanut butter that has no salt or sugar in it and you’ll find this in health food shops. I chose Truvia as my sweetener, but Splenda could be used too.

This quantity makes about 55 pieces. Count roughly 2g of carbs for each piece. Although it isn’t as sweet as conventional fudge, it is very rich indeed. Low-carb fudge usually needs to be kept in the fridge – and this recipe is no exception. I recommend bagging the fudge up in small quantities and storing in the freezer.

 

Low-Carb Chocolate Fudge

  • Servings: makes 55 pieces
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Don't eat it all at once...
Don’t eat it all at once…

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 250g cream cheese
  • 1 cup smooth sugar and salt-free peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup cocoa (I used Bioglans Superfoods Cacoa Powder, but ordinary sugar-free cocoa powder is fine)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sweetener
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  1. Line a square baking tray (about 9-ins square) with baking parchment – you will need to line the sides of the pan too.
  2. Place the first three ingredients in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave in bursts of 30 seconds until the three ingredients are soft enough to beat together.
  3. Beat together well – the best way to do this is with a hand mixer, as the mix will separate out alarmingly if you use a wooden spoon.
  4. Add in the vanilla extract, sweetener and cocoa powder and mix well until it is combined.
  5. Put the mix into the lined tray. The easiest way to do this is tip it into the pan and use a palette knife to spread out evenly.
  6. Chill either in the fridge overnight) or place in your freezer for an hour or so until it has firmed up. Please note, this will not firm up as much as conventional fudge does and you will need to keep it in the fridge.

 

Low-Carb Recipes Around the Web

Emma8 Comments

cookingIf you are anything like me, you’re probably pretty happy to stick to some tried-and-tested low-carb recipes, but what if you want variation or want to try out low-carb versions of your favourite dishes to keep you on the straight and narrow low-carb life?

Luckily, we live in the information super age (sometimes a bad thing – step forward Google self-diagnosis…) and low-carb recipes are really easy to find.

So, if I’m in the mood to experiment in the kitchen, here is where I look…

BBC Good Food has a great selection of tried and tested low-carb recipes. I particularly like the prawn and chorizo frittata and the seafood curry.

The website uses easy-to-find ingredients and users often rate the recipes and make comments about additions they made, or substitutions, which can be very useful. And the measurements are UK ones, which you don’t often get in a low-carb recipe search.

Allrecipes.co.uk (you can also check out allrecipes.com if you want American measurements) is another site offering a great selection. I like the Cobb Salad and the lasagne recipe that uses courgette strips instead of pasta to make this popular classic.

The Food Network website has an extensive collection, as you might expect. There aren’t carbohydrate counts included for recipes, though, and look out for sometimes liberal interpretations of “low-carb”. I love spicy food, so the sound of this chicken satay definitely appeals.

If Christmas is on your mind (yikes, how am I going to resist roast potatoes/stuffing/mince pies/chocolate – insert your carb of choice), then lowcarbdiet.co.uk has a whole section with lots of ideas – from indulgent breakfasts to dips, starters, main courses and puddings. There’s a very helpful carb count for each recipe too.

There are numerous bloggers offering wonderful low-carb recipes, as you might expect. Here are links to just a few of them…

Where do you go to find low-carb recipes? We’d love to know…

 

Pic thanks to Nemo on Pixabay.

 

Key Lime Pie

kaitiscotland2 Comments

While in Key West Florida I had the opportunity to try Key Lime Pie. The real McCoy is made with a wheat base, 2 cans of condensed milk, 6 egg yolks, Key Lime juice and cream to garnish. Not so brilliant for the old blood sugars eh?

I have made low carb versions before but I do think the genuine Key Lime Juice added a bit of zing to the dish. Here is my version.

For the base:

 

Switch on the oven to 200 degrees.

2 cups ground almonds (200g)

1 cup whey protein powder plain or vanilla

10 teaspoons granular sugar substitute

One teaspoon ground cinnamon

200g very soft unsalted butter

Stick all this in your food mixer. When it is a soft dough take it out and form it into a pie crust. This did bottom and sides of a 12 inch base with 2 inch sides.

Put this in an oven at 210 degrees for 5 minutes then take it out.

Now put the oven back to 170 degrees.

For the lime layer:

The creamy part of one can of coconut milk

1 cup of double cream

6 egg yolks

2 tablespoons granular sugar sweetener

120 mls of Key Lime Juice (if you don’t have this use regular lime juice and include the grated zest)

Whisk the sugar substitute and eggs together.

Add the coconut cream and the double cream.

Finally add the juice.

Put it in the pastry shell and cook for 15 minutes.

Now make the meringue.

Meringue is not traditional for Key Lime Pie, but I use it because I don’t want to see it go to waste. If you know you will use them for egg white omelettes or macaroons for instance you can omit this layer.

6 egg whites.

2 tablespoons granular sugar substitute.

½ teaspoon cream of tartar.

½ teaspoon vanilla extract.

Whisk the egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla till in peaks. Fold in the sugar substitute with a metal spoon.

Take the pie out of the oven.

Put the meringue on top, a large spoonful at a time.

The lime will still be very wobbly.

Put back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

When it is ready, switch off the oven and allow it to cool at its own pace.

You may leave the oven door open very slightly but if you take the pie right out your meringue may collapse.

Once cold, chill in the fridge and serve with cream.

This pie keeps in good condition for a week in the fridge.

Best Creamed Spinach

kaitiscotland3 Comments

Okay, Popeye never had spinach like this, but I’d bet he would if he could!

I’m just back from a holiday in Florida. At the Gaylord Palms Orlando, Hickory Steak House, I’m pleased to say I had the best creamed spinach ever. It was so good, that it quite put the roast rack of lamb in the shade. I didn’t get the recipe from the chef, but the waitress said she thought they put Gruyere in it, so I made it with this when I got home, and holey moley, it worked.

Melt unsalted butter in a pan. An ounce or so.

Fry finely chopped white onion in it. A tablespoon or so.

A very easy option, I have learned from my student son Steven, is to keep frozen diced onion in the freezer. You can get it in most frozen supermarket sections. Just take out as much as you need at the time. Saves on crying over your onions.  If you prefer to cut them from scratch, chewing some strongly smelling mint chewing gum works the best of anything else I’ve tried.

Add a clove or two of minced garlic.

To do this, get your clove of garlic. Chop off both ends. Crush the clove under a wide knife. Peel the skin off. Now finely chop.

Get a bag (per person!) of spinach from the supermarket. Microwave it for the very brief it says on the instructions. Let it cool a bit.

When all softened up nicely in the frying pan, add grated Swiss Gruyere cheese about an ounce, and a good swig of double cream, about two tablespoons.

Switch off the heat. Allow the cheese to melt.

Meanwhile squish out as much water from the cooked spinach as you can and chop it roughly with a pair of scissors into the pan.

Swirl it round and allow it to heat very gently.

Serve.

You will probably be having this with meat of some kind if you are following our diet.

You can easily make this while your steaks, leg of lamb, roast chicken or whatever is resting, prior to being scoffed.

Low-Carb Granola

Emma4 Comments
Bored of this? Surely not...
Bored of this? Surely not…

Are you bored of bacon and eggs for breakfast yet..?! While we might be able to put forward a compelling case as to why it is impossible to get bored of bacon and eggs, we do understand that from time to time, variety is necessary.

Step forward low-carb granola! This is perfect if you’re craving crunch (often missing from low-carb regimes) and it will certainly provide you with a nutritious and filling breakfast.

For other low-carb breakfast ideas, why not check out the Diabetes Diet?

Low-carb Granola

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 1 cup flax seeds

    Eating this granola might make you slightly nutty...
    Eating this granola might make you slightly nutty…
  • 1 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup chopped almonds
  • 125g of butter, melted
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  1. Chop the nuts in a food processor to the size you like. In a large roasting pan, mix together flax seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut and nuts. Drizzle with melted butter.
  2. Stir in cinnamon, vanilla power and sugar substitute. Toast in the oven at 325 degrees for half an hour, stirring every 5 or 10 minutes.
  3. For breakfast, add thick Greek yoghurt mixed with a little flax oil and double cream, and top with a few berries and toasted flaked almonds.

Makes 10 servings, roughly 13g total carbs per serving (9g fibre) and 11g protein. Check your yoghurt and berries for the appropriate carb counts.

PUDDING IDEAS FOR GRANOLA

  • Granola is good mixed with melted better as a chilled cheesecake base. To do this chop to a very fine consistency.
  • It also makes a good crumble topping.
  • Mix some with extra ground almonds – about half and half, maybe some extra coconut too. Use raspberries as the base or stewed rhubarb or stewed apples and bake about 15 mins. This is good with low-carb custard, low-carb vanilla ice cream or lots of double cream.

Walnuts pic – flickr

Bacon and eggs pic – Wikipedia

Venison Burgers

EmmaLeave a comment

Our local butcher was running a special offer on venison recently – venison sausages, venison mince and diced venison for £10 – so we stocked up. It seemed like a seasonal thing to do and venison is local to Scotland, abundant and good for you (high in protein and stacked full of vitamins and iron).

You pick up loads of ideas from reading food blogs (and there are so many good ones out there!) so I had spotted a seasoning mix for burgers on The Migrant Chef’s Blog. It was for beef burgers, but no reason for the mix not to be used for a venison version I reckoned. This is my adapted version.

Venison Burgers

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Venison Burgers – makes four

Frozen venison mince (de-frost fist obviously...)
Frozen venison mince (de-frost first obviously…)
  • 454g (1lb) minced venison
  • 1½ tbsp hot paprika
  • 1tsp Liquid Smoke (or 1tsp sugar)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp freshly grounded black pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme, or mixed dried Italian herbs
  • ½ tsp cumin

Measure out all of the seasonings and place the venison in a bowl. Mix with the seasonings (the easiest way to do this is by hand) so that everything is combined well. Shape the mix into four burgers (if you make burgers on a regular basis, it is worth investing in a burger press which can be bought at Lakeland and other kitchen stores).

Chill the burgers for half an hour in the fridge.

Heat a griddle pan on the hob until very hot (spray lightly with oil to stop the burgers sticking). Cook each burger for three-to four minutes on each side – I find it best not to repeatedly turn the burgers as that makes them stick and disintegrate. Less cooking time means a rarer burger, so this is up to your personal preference.

Serve your burgers topped with guacamole or finely sliced onions fried in butter, and a hearty salad

burger pressWhy is venison good for you?

  • It has more protein than any other red meat (so it’s satiating)
  • It is richer in iron than beef, so it is good for your energy levels
  • It has lots of B vitamins – B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin), which help to regulate metabolism; and vitamin B6 and B12, which might lower homocysteine build-up in the blood, therefore lowering the risk of heart attacks and strokes.