1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (17 page)

½ cup (120 ml) white vinegar

3 tablespoons (20 g) mixed pickling spice

2 teaspoons Splenda

2 sprigs fresh dill, coarsely chopped

In a large saucepan over high heat, bring the water, sherry, peppercorns, bay leaf, and 2 teaspoons (12 g) of salt to a boil.

Add the shrimp and bring back to a boil. Cook 1 minute longer and drain.

In a large bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, vinegar, pickling spice, Splenda, dill, and the remaining 4 teaspoons (24 g) of salt. Add the shrimp and toss with this pickling mixture.

Cover the bowl and chill it and the platter you will serve the shrimp on in the refrigerator overnight.

To serve, drain off and discard the marinade and arrange the shrimp on the platter. Garnish with additional dill, if desired.

Yield:
This is enough for a party of a few dozen people, but the carb count will differ according to how big your shrimp are, of course! Figure 24 servings.

Each with less than 1 gram of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 12 grams of protein.

If it’s going to be a long party, it’s a good idea to set the platter or bowl on a bed of crushed ice in another container to keep the shrimp cold.

How easy is this? Yet your guests will devour it. If you can’t find the crab boil spices in the spice aisle at your grocery store, ask the fish guys. They should know where it is.

1 envelope (3 ounces, or 85 g) crab boil spices

12 ounces (360 ml) light beer

1 tablespoon (18 g) salt or Vege-Sal

4 pounds (2 kg) easy-peel shrimp or frozen shrimp, unthawed

Drop the crab boil spice net bag in your slow cooker and pour in the beer. Add the salt or Vege-Sal and stir. Add the shrimp. Add just enough water to bring the liquid level up to the top of the shrimp. Cover the slow cooker, set it to high, and let it cook for 1 to 2 hours or until the shrimp are pink through. Set the pot to low.

Serve the shrimp straight from the slow cooker with low-carb cocktail sauce, lemon butter, or mustard and mayo stirred together, for dipping. Or heck, serve all three. This is enough shrimp for a good-sized party, at least 15 or 20 people, if you’re serving it as an appetizer/party snack.

Yield:
20 servings

Each with 18 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, 0 g dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs. (Analysis does not include any dipping sauces.)

This quick, hot appetizer will impress your guests.

1 can (6 ounces, or 170 g) crab, drained

1 scallion, finely minced

½ pound (225 g) bacon

Duck Sauce (page 465)

Preheat the broiler.

Flake the crab, removing any bits of shell or cartilage. Stir in the minced scallion and set aside.

Cut all your bacon strips in half crosswise to make two shorter strips. Place a rounded ½ teaspoon or so of the crab mixture on the end of a bacon strip and roll the strip up around it, stretching the bacon slightly as you go. Pierce the bundle with a toothpick to hold. Repeat until all the crab and bacon strips are used up.

Broil about 8 inches (20 cm) from heat, turning once or twice, until the bacon is crisp—no more than 10 minutes. Serve with Duck Sauce for dipping.

Yield:
About 2 dozen servings

Each with only a trace of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 4 grams of protein. (Analysis does not include Duck Sauce.)

These hot appetizers are a throwback to the 1960s, but they’re darned tasty.

Pie Crust (page 520)

2 cans deviled ham, one the 4.25-ounce (120 g) size, the other the 2.25-ounce (60 g) size

¾ cup (180 g) Simple No-Sugar Pickle Relish (page 497)

2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard

Make your pie crust first, but don’t pat it into a pie pan. Instead, you’re going to use two 12-cup muffin tins. Spray them with nonstick cooking spray, nip off 1-inch (2.5-cm) balls of dough with your fingers, and press each one evenly over the bottom of a muffin cup.

Now, preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C, or gas mark 5). Mix together all the remaining ingredients and spoon about a teaspoon of the mixture into each muffin cup, spreading it with the back of the spoon.

Bake your Cocktail Ham Tartlets for about 20 minutes and then let them cool just a bit before using the rounded tip of a butter knife to loosen each one and lift it out to a serving plate. Serve warm.

Yield:
24 servings

Each with 6 g protein; 2 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber; 2 g usable carbs.

Boring old ground turkey does a Cinderella turn and comes to the party in this dish!

2 pounds (1 kg) ground turkey

2 eggs

4 scallions, minced

2 tablespoons (28 ml) soy sauce

¼ teaspoon orange extract

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon Splenda

¼ cup (60 ml) oil

1 cup (240 ml) low-carb barbecue sauce (your choice from the Sauces and Seasonings chapter, or purchased)

1 cup (110 g) cranberries (These are strictly seasonal, but they freeze well.)

¼ cup (6 g) Splenda

In a big mixing bowl, combine the turkey, eggs, and scallions.

In another bowl, mix together the soy sauce, orange extract, pepper, and 1 teaspoon Splenda and pour into the bowl with the turkey. Now use clean hands to smoosh it all together until it’s very well blended. Make 1-inch (2.5-cm) meatballs from the mixture.

Heat half the oil in a big, heavy skillet over medium heat. Brown the meatballs in a few batches, adding the rest of the oil as needed. Transfer the browned meatballs to your slow cooker.

In a blender or food processor with an S-blade, combine the barbecue sauce, cranberries, and ¼ cup (6 g) Splenda. Run it until the berries are puréed. Pour this mixture over the meatballs.

Cover the slow cooker, set to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours. Serve hot from the slow cooker with toothpicks for spearing!

Yield:
48 meatballs

Each with 4 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs.

Colombo is the Caribbean version of curry, and jerk is the notoriously fiery barbecue marinade from Jamaica. The heat of this recipe is best controlled by choosing your hot sauce wisely. If you use Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce, they’ll be spicy. If you use Jamaican Scotch Bonnet sauce or habanero sauce, they’ll take the top of your head right off!

FOR MEATBALLS:

1 pound (455 g) ground lamb

1 egg

¼ cup (40 g) minced onion

¼ teaspoon ground coriander

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

teaspoon anise seed, ground

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon dry mustard

2 teaspoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon Splenda

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil

1 bay leaf

FOR SAUCE:

¼ cup (40 grams) minced onion

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 tablespoon (6 g) grated ginger root

1 tablespoon (15 ml) soy sauce

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon (1.5 g) Splenda

2 cloves garlic, crushed

¼ cup (60 ml) low-carb ketchup

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lime juice

1½ teaspoons hot pepper sauce

To make the meatballs: In a big mixing bowl, add the lamb, egg, minced onion, coriander, turmeric, anise seed, minced garlic, dry mustard, lemon juice, Splenda, and salt. Using clean hands, moosh it all together till it’s well blended. Then make 1-inch (2.5-cm) meatballs, pressing them together firmly. Heat the oil in a big, heavy skillet over medium heat and brown the meatballs in two batches. Drop the bay leaf in the bottom of the slow cooker and then put the meatballs on top of it.

To make the sauce: Mix together the minced onion, allspice, ginger, soy sauce, thyme, cinnamon, Splenda, crushed garlic, ketchup, lemon juice, lime juice, and hot pepper sauce. Pour this sauce evenly over the meatballs. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 3 hours. Serve hot from the slow cooker. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Yield:
35 servings

Each with 2 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs.

Here’s an easy way to jazz up little cocktail wieners.

¼ cup (60 ml) Dana’s No-Sugar Ketchup (page 463) or purchased low-carb ketchup

¼ cup (6 g) Splenda

½ teaspoon blackstrap molasses

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup (60 ml) bourbon

½ pound (225 g) cocktail-size hot dogs

In a large bowl, stir together the ketchup, Splenda, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, and bourbon.

Put the hot dogs in the slow cooker and pour the sauce over them. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 2 hours. Then uncover and cook for 1 more hour. Serve with toothpicks for spearing.

Yield:
6 servings

Each with 5 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 4 g usable carbs.

If you can’t get cocktail-size hot dogs, use regular hot dogs cut in chunks. They’re not as cute, but they should taste the same!

Put these out at your next Super Bowl party and watch people eat!

1 pound (455 g) small smoked sausage links

¼ cup (60 ml) Dana’s No-Sugar Ketchup (page 463) or purchased low-carb ketchup

¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda

¼ teaspoon orange extract

¼ teaspoon guar or xanthan (optional)

Put the sausage in your slow cooker.

In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, lemon juice, Splenda, and orange extract. Thicken the mixture just a little, if you think it needs it, with guar or xanthan. Pour the sauce over the sausage. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 3 hours. Keep the sausages hot in the slow cooker to serve.

Yield:
8 servings

Each with 8 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs.