Tag: low carb main courses

Lamb in almond sauce #low-carb

Emma3 Comments
woman using a pestle and mortar

My husband bought me a new pestle and mortar this week—mainly because we are watching Celebrity MasterChef on the Beeb and every time I spot one of the stars pounding their garlic, I sigh and wish out loud that I had such a big one…

Cue the delivery of a weighty package. I crushed eight cloves of garlic in it at once to celebrate. Vampire-proofed to the max, what else could I do? How about a lamb curry where I roasted whole spices and then pounded them to dust?

This lamb curry in almond sauce is a recipe I adapted from the Spice Sisters Indian cookbook. The whole spices are cumin and fennel seeds, and cardamom, all of which will scent your kitchen beautifully as you roast them. Serve your curry with cauliflower rice or this low-carb naan bread. Normal rice and naan bread will keep the carb-lovers in your family happy.

Lamb in almond sauce

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 500g diced lamb
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1tbsp grated ginger
  • 2-3 chillies, chopped
  • 1tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1tbsp fennel seeds
  • 6-8 cardamom pods, split and seeds removed
  • 1tbsp turmeric
  • 1tsp ground black pepper
  • 1tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1tbsp salt
  • 1tbsp garam masala
  • 200ml passata
  • 1tsp lemon juice
  • 4tsbp natural yoghurt
  • 2tbsp ground almonds mixed with 50ml water
  • 1tbsp rapeseed oil
  1. In a small pan, dry-fry the cumin, fennel and cardamom for a few minutes. Pound to a powder in a pestle and mortar. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the meta in batches until it is browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and add the onions.
  2. Fry until translucent. Add all the other ingredients (except the lamb and the lemon juice) and bring to a simmer. Cook for ten minutes and then use a hand-held blender to make the sauce smooth.
  3. Add the lamb back in, pop on a lid and allow to gently simmer for 30 minutes. Add the lemon juice at the end.
  4. Allow 15g carbs per portion.

The golden rule with curry is it almost always tastes better the next day.

Healthy Low-Carb Recipes for Chilling and Grilling — Nourishing World Blog

Emma3 Comments

Some party and outdoor recipe ideas for low-carb courtesy of the Nourishing World Blog.

With the Summer Party season about to get underway, I wanted to share some great keto-Friendly Summer recipes. My Daughter and I recently did another round of the 21-Day Detox and found a few new healthy recipe favorites. This Buffalo Wing Sauce is keto friendly, Paleo and Whole30 friendly. My daughter ate this almost every […]

via Healthy Low-Carb Recipes for Chilling and Grilling — Nourishing World Blog

Chicken Caesar Salad – crouton-free

Emma7 Comments

picture of chicken caesar saladEaster greetings to you all… here’s an idea for lunch or dinner for you. Now, Caesar salad without the croutons?! C’est sacrilege, surely? But if you follow a low-carb diet, the concept of tearing up the rule book on food is one you embrace.

I’m back from a terrific few days in the Scottish Borders (abbey-visiting a-plenty), and my favourite meals while there was a Chicken Caesar salad I had in the Townhouse in Melrose. Now that one did feature croutons, albeit small ones, but the dressing and the juicy chicken made it stick out.

I decided to re-create it at home. Issue one—chicken breast, a dry and often flavour-free meat. Issue two—my husband hates anchovies and they’re are often added to the salad or at least the traditional dressing.

Poached, not fried or roasted chicken

To avoid dry chicken, I poached mine in chicken stock (I used two cubes) with a handful of sage and thyme added to the cooking liquor. And to make an anchovy-free dressing*, I found an American recipe online and adapted it.

Here it is—crouton-free Chicken Caesar Salad suitable for low-carb and gluten-free diets.

Chicken Caesar Salad

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

<em>A fresh, light recipe that is still filling and perfect for a late spring or summer dinner</em>.


Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts (the best quality you can afford)
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • Handful fresh sage leaves and several thyme twigs)
  • 3 rashers smoked back or streaky bacon
  • 2 Little Gem lettuces
  • 10 baby plum or cherry tomatoes
  • 30g Parmesan shavings

Dressing

  • 4tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1tsp Dijon mustard

Steamed green beans to serve (and boiled new potatoes for your carb-lovers).

  1. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer and add the breasts. Depending on their thickness, they will take 10-15 minutes to cook, but you shouldn’t have any pink meat remaining.
  2. Meanwhile, wash the Little Gem lettuces and pull off the outer leaves. Use them to line a wide bowl so you have a ‘tray’ for your salad. Shred the rest of the leaves finely, slice the tomatoes and put in a bowl with the lettuce. Add the Parmesan shavings. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and toss the salad to coat it evenly with the dressing.
  3. Grill the bacon until crispy. Once the chicken is cooked, chop or slice it and add to the plate. Top with the grilled bacon (one and half slices each).

About 5-7g carbs per serving.

Please note—the dish is high in protein and protein can affect your blood sugar levels after a few hours. Test your blood glucose accordingly. Our book The Diabetes Diet outlines how to deal with the protein content in meals.

 

*Ssh, don’t tell my husband one of the main ingredients in Worcestershire sauce is… you guessed it, anchovies.

Happy Chinese New Year – low-carb Chinese style recipe

Emma5 Comments

It’s Chinese New Year and the Year of the Pig—all hail the pig, supplier of many good things in our household—so I thought this week’s recipes ought to include a stir-fry.

Traditionally, stir-fry recipes include rice or noodles. You could use cauliflower rice if you wanted (and there’s a great recipe here) or those zero noodles, but I find a load of vegetables and protein filling enough. I adapted a Dana Carpender recipe for a low-carb Hoisin sauce, and I went with tofu as I’m trying to watch my carbon footprint these days.


  • 150g cabbage, shredded
  • 150g mushrooms, sliced
  • 75g courgette
  • 1 red pepper, de-seeded, ribs removed and sliced
  • 100g celery, chopped
  • 1tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1pkt Cauldron marinated tofu pieces (160g)*

Sauce

  • 4tbsp soy sauce
  • 1tbsp Splenda or other granulated sweetener
  • 2tsp rapeseed oil
  • ½tsp Chinese five spice
  • 2tbsp sugar-free and salt-free peanut butter
  • 2tsp cider vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic

For the sauce, blend the ingredients together and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large work, and add the celery, red pepper and courgette. Cook for three minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for another two minutes. Finish with the cabbage and cook till this softens.

Add the tofu and about half the sauce and mix well.

Allow about 10g carbs

*Feel free to replace the tofu with chicken, pork or beef Stir-fry this first in oil until cooked. Set aside, cook your veggies and then stir back in.

Low Carb Lamb Curry

Emma5 Comments

lamb curry spices on the Diabetes DietWant to add another lamb curry to your low-carb repertoire? You’re in the right place. Lamb lends itself to all kinds of spices such as cinnamon, cumin and chillies, and it makes a rich, comforting dish perfect for ‘dreich’ days such as the one I’m writing this on—rain, gusty winds and dark before 4pm.

Serve it with cauliflower rice or just eat in a bowl with a spoon. I like spicy food, so I leave the seeds in chillies and add a generous amount of chilli flakes. If you prefer a softer flavour, remove the seeds and hold back on the chilli flakes.

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 500g lamb mince
  • 1tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 3 onions, chopped finely
  • 2 green chillies, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2tsp grated ginger
  • 100ml Greek yoghurt
  • 2tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp mild curry powder
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1tsp chilli flakes

Dry fry the cumin seeds in a small sauce pan for a few minutes and then pound to a powder in a pestle and mortar.

Heat the oil in large saucepan or frying pan, and add the onions. Fry for a five minutes until softened, and add the lamb, chillies, chilli flakes, garlic, turmeric, cinnamon sticks and ginger. Cook, stirring and breaking up the clumps with a wooden spoon for five minutes until the mince is browned. Add the yoghurt and tomato puree and bring to a simmer. Cook for ten minutes until the sauce has thickened. Add salt to taste.

15g carbs per portion

Slow Cooker Low-Carb Beef Pot Roast

Emma7 Comments

slow cooker pot roast beef recipe by Emma Baird of the Diabetes DietSeasonal eating is valuable, I know but here’s a confession… I don’t mind eating soup and stew all year round, even though the dishes are usually associated with autumn and winter.

Can you blame me? Imagine meat and vegetables soaked in lusciously thick and flavoursome sauces, or onions, carrots and celery melded together and used as the basis for the best soup in the world. [Cauliflower cheese soup, since you ask.]

That said, it’s now the tail end of autumn in the UK and I’m digging into beef stews a-plenty. The miracle of carrots and beef is a flavour combination you can’t beat. Cut those carrots in big chunks, nestle them in your stew and leave to bubble away for hours. I could almost fish them out and eat them as a soup with the juices from the stew.

Recently, I adapted a Mary Berry recipe for pot roast. Mary’s method used suede or turnip as we know it in Scotland. I’m not that fond of it (sorry Rabbie*) and I decided to substitute celeriac. It worked a treat.

One of the rules of stews and casseroles is that they improve the day after cooking. This depends on your self-discipline. If you’ve had a pot of stew simmering on your stove for a few hours or cooking away in your slow cooker, your whole home will smell heavenly and resistance will require added steeliness.

Slow cooker Beef Pot Roast with Winter Vegetables

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1.2kgs (roughly) beef topside or brisket
  • 4 onions, cut into wedges
  • Half a celeriac, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 3-4 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 150ml white wine
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • Salt and pepper

Put the oil in a large frying pan or wok and add the beef. Cook over a high heat, turning occasionally until it is browned all over. Place in your slow cooker along with the vegetables tucked all around the meat, and pour the wine around. You might want to add up to 100ml water, but the vegetables will give off a lot of water anyway.

Cook on slow for eight hours. Add plenty of salt and pepper and dot with a little butter to serve. The dish goes well with steamed cauliflower or broccoli.

Allow about 10-15g carbs per serving.

*Scotland’s national dish is haggis, neeps (turnips) and tatties, and it’s traditionally eaten on January 25 to celebrate Robert Burns’ birthday.

Slow Cooker Sugar-free Pulled Pork

Emma10 Comments

can of diet coke on The Diabetes DietRegular readers will know—I’m upfront about my addiction to a certain fizzy drink. I have, however, never cooked with it before*.

Fair enough. Why would I? I’ve seen recipes that use the regular version for glazing ham or even chocolate cakes. I did try something this weekend though, using the sugar-free kind. I love pulled pork—it’s the most flavoursome thing you can do with the meat. It’s cheap, easy and a crowd-pleaser. I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s tried it and didn’t love it.

Most recipes quote quite a bit of sugar in the sauces for pulled pork. My version uses a big fat zero, unless you include the natural sugars in onions and tomatoes. Try it and see!

Slow Cooker Sugar-Free Pulled Pork

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 1.5-2kg pork shoulder
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 can diet cola
  • 3 tbsp hot smoked paprika
  • One small onion, finely chopped
  • 100ml cider vinegar
  • 1tbsp rape seed or olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • Salt and pepper

Cut the skin off the pork shoulder. Slice into strips and put it in the fridge. This will make your crackling.

Heat a wok or large frying pan and add the pork shoulder. Sear all over. Place in your slow cooker and top with boiling water. Mix in two tablespoons of the paprika and cook on slow for 10 to 12 hours.

Half an hour before the pork finishes cooking, heat your oven to 200 degrees. Mix the pork strips with a little salt and half a tablespoon of the paprika. Place on a wire rack over a tray and cook at the top of the oven.

Make the sauce 15 to 20 minutes before you want to serve your pork. Blend the onion, tomatoes and garlic together and add half a tablespoon of paprika. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the tomato mix with the vinegar and the diet cola. Bring to the boil turn to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. The sauce should be a little thicker, and smooth.

Remove the pork from the slow cooker, place in a rectangular dish and use two large forks to shred. Add the sauce and mix well. You’ll need plenty of salt and pepper.

Serve with the crackling and home-made coleslaw.

About 5g carbs per portion.

 

 

*Partly thanks to those conspiracy theories that went round in the 90s about Gulf War Syndrome.

Sausage, Pepper and Red Lentil Casserole

Emma9 Comments

Plate of sausage casserole on The Diabetes DietProving once again, a low-carb diet can be plant-based*, I bring you the sausage, pepper and red lentil casserole!

My ‘beef’ (see what I did there) with the hi-jacking of the term ‘plant-based’, is that it’s assumed to mean vegan, whereas I’d argue you can eat meat, fish and eggs and still have most of your diet made up of plants.

Sausages and lentils have a long dating history. The French twin them together for cassoulets as lentils soak up meat juices and add cheap bulk to a dish. Bulk’s important to me. Who wants a small bowlful of food when you can have a big one?

The better quality your sausages, the better the finished dish. The casserole is great with buttered cauliflower or broccoli. Or you could add another 250-300ml of vegetable or chicken stock to turn it into soup.

And a cheeky helping of grated cheese on top always adds extra deliciousness.

Sausage, red pepper and lentil casserole

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • Two peppers, insides removed and chopped
  • 100g celery, sliced finely
  • 100g mushrooms, sliced
  • 75ml red wine
  • Four, good quality pork sausages, each cut into chunks
  • 75g chorizo, sliced
  • 75g red lentils
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 400g tinned, chopped tomatoes
  • 1 chilli, chopped (optional)
  • 1tsp smoked paprika
  • Salt and pepper

Put everything into your slow cooker, stir well and put on the high setting for four hours.

The mix makes a soupy casserole because it’s done in the slow cooker. You might want to take the lid off yours for the last 20 minutes to get rid of some of the excess liquid.

To make the recipe on the stove, use a large saucepan. Place the chorizo slices in the pan, then turn on a gentle heat so the oils from the sausage run out. Add the other sausages, celery, peppers, mushrooms and garlic, mix well and cover. Cook over the gentle heat for ten minutes. Add the tomatoes, lentils, red wine, chilli and paprika, stir well and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for a further 30 minutes, mixing from time to time.

In both instances, add salt and pepper to taste.

Each portion has 17g carbs and 4g fibre.

*And also that my food styling and photography skills get no better.

 

Lamb, Hummus—an Ethical Eating Experience?

Emma17 Comments

a picture of chunks of lamb marinating in a dish by The Diabetes DietCan you be an ethical carnivore? I asked the question in a post a few weeks ago as I’ve been reading The Ethical Carnivore – My Year Killing to Eat by Louise Gray.

The one-time vegetarian in me wants to feel that the food choices I make cause minimal suffering and don’t impact the environment as negatively as factory farming does. At the same time, I like following an omnivorous diet and think that is the best possible health choice.

So, what to eat?

Eat less meat

I believe in what small-scale producers do. They deserve our support, but their products are expensive and more of an effort to seek out. As many people have discovered before me, the answer is to eat less meat, which is what most people did in years gone by, and buy the best quality you can sourced from farms that treat their animals with respect and dignity.

Chicken, pork and beef are all problematic unless you buy them from farmers’ markets and small co-operatives because of the ways they are farmed before they are killed. The same applies to dairy. As for fish, most of the stuff in supermarkets comes from fish farms and/or is sourced from far-away countries, making it an environmentally unfriendly choice.

Unlike Louise Gray, I can’t bring myself to directly kill anything, hypocritical as that is. But I’m open to eating a lot less meat, trying out plenty of low-carb vegetarian dishes and including more beans and pulses in my diet.

Lamb – the ethical choice

I’m also happy to continue eating lamb, as the production of lamb doesn’t lend itself easily to factory faming. And there are sound arguments for it here. If you want to eat lamb in this country, it can be a challenge sourcing the UK stuff (an irony that appals me as a farmer’s daughter) because most supermarkets import New Zealand lamb.

Nevertheless, if you do find it, lamb lends itself to many delicious dishes, including this one – lamb with home-made hummus. This amount makes enough for two to three dinners.

a pot of hummus made by The Diabetes DietFor truly velvet-y hummus, you should take the skins off the chickpeas. I’ve done it—once—and it makes quite a difference. But it’s a tedious job. Skins-on chickpeas will still make a fabulous-tasting dish.

Lamb with Hummus

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 2 lamb leg steaks, chopped into equal sized chunks
  • Juice of a lemon
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • I green chilli, sliced finely
  • 1 tbsp sumac
  • Rapeseed oil
  • 1 tin chick peas, drained
  • 3tbsp tahini
  • Salt and pepper

Mix the chopped meat in a bowl with a tablespoon of the lemon juice, salt and pepper, the sumac, chilli and one of the cloves of crushed garlic. Set aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes, though a couple of hours will benefit the dish.

Blend the garlic, lemon juice and tahini in a food processor so a minute or so to get it as smooth and combined as possible. Add the drained chickpeas and two tablespoons of rapeseed oil. Mix well. Add a tablespoon of water if you feel the mix is too thick. You can also use a hand blender to make the dish.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add the meat. Cook over a high heat—the meat will take about five to ten minutes.

Serve with the hummus.

My carb-loving husband made his own flat breads to go with this, but it’s fine just as it is with a salad on the side—perhaps a Greek one to continue the Mediterranean theme.

Allow about 8-10g carbs per serving.

 

 

Crust-less Pizza

Emma8 Comments

This is based on Nigella Lawson recipe I adapted – Meatzza. Basically, you use mince to create a base, and top with the traditional pizza favourites, tomato sauce and mozzarella.

Nigella’s recipe uses porridge oats. I swapped these for ground almonds. They are there to give the base substance. I also changed the herb from parsley to thyme. Serve with a green salad, or to keep the Italian theme going you could try this Keto garlic bread recipe on the Diet Doctor website.

Crust-less Pizza

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

  • 500g minced beef
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 3tbsp ground almonds
  • 50g grated Parmesan
  • 1tbsp thyme leaves
  • 1tsp salt
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
  • 1tsp dried oregano
  • 125g ball of Mozzarella
  • Fresh basil

Grease a 28-cm baking tin. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C.

In a bowl, mix the meat with the garlic, ground almonds, half the grated Parmesan, thyme, salt and eggs. Do this with the tips of your fingers so you don’t overhandle the meat, as too much handling makes it tough.

Press the meat into the tin. Drain some of the liquid off the tinned tomatoes. Mix with the oregano and spread it over the meat crust. Slice the Mozzarella and put it on top, along with the rest of the Parmesan.

Cook in the oven for 25 minutes. Top with the fresh basil and serve.

Serves 4. 5g carbs and 1g fibre per serving.