1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (32 page)

½ cup (50 g) grated Parmesan cheese

6 tablespoons (90 g) butter, melted

1 tablespoon (15 ml) water

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

In your food processor with S-blade attached, grind the almonds until they’re the texture of cornmeal. Add the Parmesan cheese and pulse to combine. Pour in the butter and the water and run the processor until a uniform dough is formed—you may need to stop the processor and run a butter knife around the bottom edge of the processor bowl halfway through.

Turn the mixture out into a 10-inch (25-cm) pie plate you’ve sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool before filling.

Yield:
8 servings

Each with 7 g protein; 5 g carbohydrate; 3 g dietary fiber, 2 g usable carbs

This is a wonderful, filling, fresh-tasting salad we never get tired of.

1 large head romaine lettuce

1 cup (60 g) chopped fresh parsley ½ cucumber, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

Greek Lemon Dressing (page 172)

¼ sweet red onion, thinly sliced into rings

12 to 15 Greek olives

2 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges

4 to 6 ounces (115 to 170 g) feta cheese, crumbled

Anchovy fillets packed in olive oil (if desired)

Wash and dry your romaine and break or cut it into bite-sized pieces. Cut up and add the parsley, cucumber, and green pepper. (You can do this step ahead of time, if you like, which makes this salad very doable on a weeknight.)

Just before serving, pour on the Greek dressing and toss the salad like crazy.

Arrange the onions, olives, and tomatoes artistically on top and sprinkle the crumbled feta in the middle. You can also add the anchovies at this point, if you know that everybody likes them, but I prefer to make them available for those who like them to put on their individual serving.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 16 grams of carbohydrates and 6 grams of fiber, for a total of 10 grams of usable carbs and 11 grams of protein.

The flavor contrasts in this salad are lovely, and I’ve kept the pear to a quantity that won’t add too many carbs.

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter

½ cup (60 g) chopped walnuts

10 cups (200 g) loosely packed assorted greens (romaine, red leaf lettuce, and fresh spinach)

¼ sweet red onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

2 teaspoons wine vinegar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon spicy brown or Dijon mustard

teaspoon salt

teaspoon pepper

½ ripe pear, chopped

cup (40 g) crumbled blue cheese

Melt the butter in a small, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the walnuts and let them toast in the butter, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.

While the walnuts are toasting—and make sure you keep an eye on them and don’t burn them—wash and dry your greens and put them in salad bowl with the onion. Toss with the oil first. Then combine the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper and add that to the salad bowl. Toss until everything is well covered.

Top the salad with the pear, the warm toasted walnuts, and the crumbled blue cheese; serve.

Yield:
4 generous servings

Each with 13 grams of carbohydrates and 6 grams of fiber, for a total of 7 grams of usable carbs and 10 grams of protein.

4 cups (80 g) fresh spinach

large, sweet red onion, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons (45 ml) oil

2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1½ teaspoons Splenda

¼ small onion, grated

teaspoon dry mustard

Salt and pepper

2 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, and crumbled

1 hard-boiled egg, chopped

Wash the spinach very well and dry. Tear up the larger leaves. Combine with the onion in a salad bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix up the oil, vinegar, tomato paste, Splenda, onion, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture over the spinach and onion and toss.

Top the salad with the bacon and egg; serve.

Yield:
2 generous servings

Each with 7 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, for a total of 5 grams of usable carbs and 2 grams of protein.

This salad is simply extraordinary! For my money, this is the best salad in this book. If you don’t try a single other salad recipe, try this one! It’s beautiful, too, and very nutritious.

1 pound (455 g) bagged, prewashed baby spinach

1 batch Sweet Poppy Seed Vinaigrette (page 171)

1 cup (170 g) sliced strawberries

3 tablespoons (25 g) slivered almonds, toasted

½ cup (60 g) crumbled feta cheese

Put the baby spinach in a big salad bowl. Pour on the dressing and toss well. Top the with strawberries, almonds, and feta and serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 8 g protein; 11 g carbohydrate; 5 g dietary fiber; 6 g usable carbs.

Worried about where you’ll get your potassium now that you’re not eating bananas? Each serving of this salad has more potassium than three bananas!

2 pounds (910 g) raw spinach

1 ripe black avocado

¼ cantaloupe

½ cup (15 g) alfalfa sprouts

2 scallions, sliced

French Vinaigrette Dressing (page 169)

Wash the spinach very well and dry. Tear up the larger leaves.

Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and the peel, and cut into chunks.

Peel and chunk the cantaloupe or use a melon baller.

Add the avocado and cantaloupe to the spinach, along with the alfalfa sprouts and scallions. Toss with the vinaigrette right before serving.

Yield:
6 servings

Each with 11 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and 5 grams of protein.

1 head romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and broken up

1 cup (70 g) sliced fresh mushrooms

½ cucumber, sliced

¼ sweet red onion, thinly sliced

½ pound (225 g) sliced salami, cut into strips

½ pound (225 g) sliced provolone, cut into strips Italian or vinaigrette dressing (bottled, or page 169)

2 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges

Make a big tossed salad from the lettuce, mushrooms, cucumber, onion, salami, and provolone. Toss with Italian or vinaigrette dressing and then add the sliced tomatoes and serve.

Yield:
3 servings

Each with 17 grams of carbohydrates and 6 grams of fiber, for a total of 11 grams of usable carbs and 36 grams of protein.