Authors: Dana Carpender
Tags: #General, #Cooking, #Diets, #Health & Fitness, #Weight Control, #Recipes, #Low Carbohydrate, #Low-carbohydrate diet, #Health & Healing
Also known as old-fashioned oatmeal, rolled oats are oat grains that have been squashed flat. These are available in every grocery store in the Western Hemisphere. Do not substitute instant or quick-cooking oatmeal.
Some of my recipes call for soy
powder
. None call for soy
flour
. If you use soy flour in a recipe that calls for soy powder, you won’t get the results I got. You also won’t get the right results with
soy protein powder
, also known as
soy protein isolate
. What is the difference? Soy protein isolate is a protein that has been extracted from soybeans and concentrated into a protein powder. Soy flour is made from raw soybeans that have simply been ground up into flour, and it has a strong bean flavor. Soy powder, also known as
soy milk powder
, is made from whole soybeans, like soy flour, but the beans are cooked before they’re ground up. For some reason I don’t pretend to understand, this gets rid of the strong flavor and makes soy powder taste quite mild. If your local natural food store doesn’t stock soy powder, they can no doubt order it for you; I recommend Fearn brand.
You should be aware that despite the tremendous marketing buildup soy has enjoyed for the past several years, there are some problems emerging. Soy is well known to interfere with thyroid function, which is the last thing you need if you’re trying to lose weight. It also can interfere with mineral absorption. It is also less certain, but still possible, that regular consumption of soy causes brain deterioration and genital defects in boy babies born to mothers with soy-heavy diets. For these reasons, although I do not shun soy entirely, I use other options when possible.
Gluten is a grain protein. It’s the gluten in flour that makes bread dough stretchy so that it will trap the gas released by the yeast, letting your bread rise. We are not, of course, going to use regular, all-purpose flour, with its high carbohydrate content. Fortunately, it is possible to buy concentrated wheat gluten. This high-protein, low-starch flour is absolutely essential to making low-carbohydrate yeast breads.
Buying vital wheat gluten can be a problem, however, because the nomenclature is not standardized. Some packagers call this “vital wheat gluten” or “pure gluten flour,” whereas others simply call it “wheat gluten.” Still others call it “high-gluten flour.” This is a real poser, since the same name is frequently used for regular flour that has had extra gluten added to it; that product is something you definitely do not want.
To make sure you’re getting the right product, you’ll simply have to read the label. The product you want, regardless of what the packager calls it, will have between 75 and 80 percent protein or about 24 grams in ¼ cup (30 g). It will also have a very low carbohydrate count, somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 grams of carbohydrates in that same ¼ cup (30 g). If your natural food store has a bulk bin labeled “high-gluten flour” or “gluten flour” but there’s no nutrition label attached, ask to see the bulk food manager and request the information off of the sack the flour came in. If the label on the bin says “vital wheat gluten” or “pure gluten flour,” you can probably trust it.
At this writing, the most widely distributed brand of vital wheat gluten in the United States is Bob’s Red Mill. More and more grocery stores are beginning to carry this line of products. If your grocery store doesn’t yet, you might request that they start.
The germ is the part of the wheat kernel that would have become the plant if the grain had sprouted. It is the most nutritious, highest-protein part of the wheat kernel, and it is much lower in carbohydrates than the starchy part that becomes white flour. A few recipes in this book call for raw wheat germ, which is available at natural food stores. Raw wheat germ should be refrigerated because it goes rancid pretty easily. If your natural food store doesn’t keep the raw wheat germ in the cooler, I’d look for another natural food store.
If you can’t get raw wheat germ, toasted wheat germ, such as Kretchmer’s, is a usable second-best. It’s widely available in grocery stores.
A few of these recipes, particularly some of the baked goods, call for wheat protein isolate. This is just what it sounds like—it’s a protein powder made from wheat. It has a high gluten content but also contains other proteins found in wheat. Wheat protein isolate has very little flavor and very little carbohydrate—just 1.5 grams per cup.
Wheat protein isolate is not widely distributed yet, but it is available through a few online sources. In particular,
www.locarber.com
and
www.carbsmart.com
both carry it.
Whey is the liquid part of milk. If you’ve ever seen yogurt that has separated, the clearish liquid on top is the whey. Whey protein is of extremely good quality, and the protein powder made from it is tops in both flavor and nutritional value. For any sweet recipe, the vanilla-flavored whey protein powder is best, and it’s readily available in natural food stores. Keep in mind that protein powders vary in their carbohydrate counts, so look for the one with the fewest carbohydrates. Also beware of sugar-sweetened protein powders, which can be higher in carbs. The one I use is sweetened with stevia and has a little less than 1 gram of carbohydrates per tablespoon.
Natural whey protein powder is just like vanilla-flavored whey protein powder, except that it has not been flavored or sweetened. Its flavor is bland, so it is used in recipes where a sweet flavor is not desirable. Natural whey protein powder is called for in some of the recipes that other folks have donated to my books; I generally use rice protein powder when a bland protein powder is called for.
Ketatoes is a low-carb version of instant mashed potatoes. It actually contains some dehydrated
potato, diluted with a lot of fiber. You simply mix the powder with equal amounts of water. Personally, I find Ketatoes made according to package directions unappealing—they smell good, but the texture is off. However, used in small quantities, Ketatoes mix allows us to give a convincingly potatoey flavor to a variety of dishes. I’ve used Ketatoes mix in a number of the recipes in this book. Be aware that Ketatoes come in a variety of flavors, but all my recipes call for Ketatoes Classic—that is, plain potato flavor.
If you can’t buy Ketatoes in your hometown, there are about a billion online merchants who would be only too happy to ship them to you.
A few recipes in this book call for beer. The lowest carbohydrate beers currently on the market are Michelob Ultra, at 2.8 grams per bottle, and Miller Lite and Milwaukee’s Best Light, both 3.5 grams per can. These are what I recommend you use. These are also what I recommend you drink if you are a beer fan.
Canned or boxed chicken and beef broths are very handy items to keep around, and it’s certainly quicker to make dinner with these than it would be if you had to make your own from scratch. However, the quality of most of the canned broth you’ll find at your local grocery store is appallingly bad. The chicken broth has all sorts of chemicals in it and often sugar, as well. The “beef” broth is worse, frequently containing no beef whatsoever. I refuse to use these products, and you should too.
However, there are a few canned and boxed broths worth buying. Many grocery stores now carry a brand called Kitchen Basics, which contains no chemicals at all. It’s packaged in 1-quart (960-ml) boxes, much like soy milk, and it’s available in both chicken and beef. Natural food stores also have good quality canned and boxed broths. Both Shelton and Health Valley brands are widely distributed in the United States.
Decent packaged broth won’t cost you a whole lot more than the stuff that is made of salt and chemicals. If you watch for sales, you
can often get it as cheaply as the bad stuff; stock up on it then. (When my natural food store runs a sale of good broth for 89 cents a can, I buy piles of the stuff!)
One last note: You will also find canned vegetable broth, particularly at natural food stores. This is tasty, but it runs much higher in carbohydrates than the chicken and beef broths. I’d avoid it.
A very useful addition to low-carb cuisine is this carbohydrate-reduced milk product, available in full-fat, 1%, and skim, not to mention an exceedingly yummy chocolate variety. To me, Carb Countdown tastes just like milk, and I’ve used it pretty extensively in these recipes.
I checked with the manufacturer, and Carb Countdown is nationally distributed, so you should be able to find it near you. However, if you cannot, try substituting half-and-half or equal parts of heavy cream and water. For that matter, if you’re on the South Beach Diet, low-fat milk is allowed; feel free to use it in place of Carb Countdown wherever I’ve specified it.
Various recipes in this book call for wine vinegar, cider vinegar, sherry vinegar, rice vinegar, tarragon vinegar, white vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and even raspberry vinegar, for which you’ll find a recipe. If you’ve always thought that vinegar was just vinegar, think again! Each of these vinegars has a distinct flavor all its own, and if you substitute one for the other, you’ll change the whole character of the recipe. Add just one splash of cider vinegar to the Asian Chicken Salad (page 159), and you’ve traded your Chinese accent for an American twang. Vinegar is such a great way to give bright flavors to foods while adding very few carbs that I keep all of these varieties on hand. This is easy to do, because vinegar keeps for a very long time.
As with everything else, read the labels on your vinegar. I’ve seen cider vinegar that has 0 grams of carbohydrates per ounce and I’ve seen cider vinegar that has 4 grams of carbohydrates per ounce—a huge difference. Beware, also, of apple cider–
flavored
vinegar, which is white vinegar with artificial flavors added. I bought this once by mistake. (You’d think someone who constantly reminds others to read labels would be beyond such errors, wouldn’t you?)
There are several recipes in this cookbook calling for either dry red or dry white wine. I find the inexpensive box wines, which come in a mylar bag inside a cardboard box, very convenient to keep on hand for cooking. The simple reason for this is that they don’t go bad because the contents are never exposed to air. These are not fabulous vintage wines, but they’re fine for our modest purposes, and they certainly are handy.I generally have both Burgundy and Chablis wine-in-a-box on hand. Be wary of any wine with “added flavors.” Too often, one of those flavors will be sugar. Buy wine with a recognizable name, such as Burgundy, Rhine, Chablis, Cabernet, and the like, rather than stuff like “Chillable Red,” and you’ll get better results.
These are becoming easier and easier to find. I can get them at every grocery store in town. If you can’t buy them at a local store, you can order them online. They keep pretty well. I’ve had them hang around for 3 or 4 weeks in a sealed bag without getting moldy or stale, so you might want to order more than one package at a time.
I use La Tortilla Factory brand because they’ve got the lowest usable carb count of any I’ve found, just 3 grams. They’re mostly made of fiber!
Beware: I have recently seen “low-carb” tortillas with deceptive packaging. The listed serving size turned out to equal only half of one tortilla. That’s not a serving, as far as I’m concerned!
Low in carbohydrates and high in healthy fats, protein, and minerals, nuts and seeds are great foods for us. Not only are they delicious for snacking or for adding crunch to salads and stir-fries, but when ground, they can replace some of the flour in low-carb baked goods. In particular, you’ll find quite a few recipes in this book calling for ground almonds, ground hazelnuts, and ground sunflower seeds. Since these ingredients can be pricey, you’ll want to shop around. In particular, natural food stores often carry nuts and seeds in bulk at better prices than you’ll find at the grocery store. I have also found that specialty ethnic groceries often have good prices on nuts. I get my best deal on almonds at my wonderful Middle Eastern grocery, Sahara Mart.
By the way, along with pumpkin and sunflower seeds, you can buy sesame seeds in bulk at natural food stores for a fraction of what they’ll cost you in a little shaker jar at the grocery store. Buy them “unhulled” and you’ll get both more fiber and more calcium. You can also get unsweetened coconut flakes at natural food stores.
Flaxseed comes from the same plant that gives us the fabric linen, and it is turning out to be one of the most nutritious seeds there is. Along with good-quality protein, flaxseeds have tons of soluble, cholesterol-reducing fiber and are a rich source of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), the same fats that make fish so heart-healthy.
Most of the recipes in this book that use flaxseed call for it to be ground up into a coarse meal. You can buy pre-ground flaxseed meal (Bob’s Red Mill sells it, among others), but I much prefer to grind my own. The simple reason for this is that the fats in flaxseeds are very stable so long as the seeds are whole, but they go rancid pretty quickly after the seed coat is broken.
Grinding flaxseed is very easy if you have a food processor. Simply put the seeds in your ood processor with the S-blade in place, turn on the machine, and forget about it for about 5 minutes. (Yes, it takes that long!) I have heard from a few people that a far better tool is an electric coffee grinder, though you’ll want to use one you don’t use for coffee or clean it meticulously of coffee residue before using it. You can then add your flaxseed meal to whatever it is you’re cooking.