1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (72 page)

¼ cup (60 ml) soy sauce

2 tablespoons (30 ml) rice vinegar

¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon (1.5 g) Splenda

6 ounces (170 g) fresh snow pea pods, trimmed

cup (40 g) slivered almonds, toasted Guar or xanthan

Put the peaches, onion, pepper, celery, broth, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and Splenda in a slow cooker and stir them together. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 4 hours. (Or you could cook it on high for 2 hours.)

When the time’s up, turn the pot up to high while you trim the snow peas and cut them in 1-inch (2.5-cm) lengths. Stir them in and let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Now stir in the shrimp. If they’re uncooked, give them 10 minutes or until they’re pink through. If they’re cooked already, just give them 5 minutes or so to get hot through.

You can serve this over rice for the carb-eaters in the family, of course. If you like, you can have yours on Cauliflower Rice (page 212), but this dish is high-carb enough already that I’d probably eat it plain.

Yield:
6 servings

Each with 27 g protein, 13 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 10 g usable carbs.

This is a seafood classic!

8 ounces (225 g) bay scallops

1 tablespoon (15 g) butter

1½ teaspoons minced onion

½ clove garlic, crushed

½ cup (35 g) chopped mushrooms

Salt and pepper

¼ cup (60 ml) dry white wine

½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream

Guar or xanthan

cup (40 g) shredded Gruyere

Preheat the broiler to low.

In a medium-size saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for just a minute or so. Now add the mushrooms and sauté, stirring frequently, until mushrooms have changed color and are limp. Season a little with salt and pepper and add scallops and wine. Heat it to a bare simmer and let simmer just until scallops are opaque; do not overcook.

Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the scallops and mushrooms and divide between two large scallop shells or two ovenproof ramekins.

Turn up the heat under the liquid remaining in the saucepan and let it boil hard for just a minute or so to reduce. Turn heat back down and stir in cream. Now, using a whisk and the guar or xanthan, thicken the sauce up a bit. Add half the cheese and whisk until it’s melted.

Divide the sauce between the two shells or ramekins and divide the remaining cheese between the two servings. Run the shells or ramekins under a low broiler about 4 inches (10 cm) from the heat until the tops have gotten golden—just 4 or 5 minutes. Serve.

Yield:
2 servings

Each with 26 g protein; 6 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber; 6 g usable carbs.

This recipe is fast and simple.

2 cups (350 g) bay scallops

2 tablespoons (20 g) minced onion

½ red bell pepper, cut in matchstick strips

4 teaspoons olive oil

¼ cup (60 ml) Italian salad dressing (I used Paul Newman’s.)

Guar or xanthan

In a big skillet, sauté the onion and pepper in the olive oil for a couple of minutes. Add the scallops and sauté until they’re white all the way through. Stir in the salad dressing and simmer for a couple of minutes. Thicken a little if you like and serve. Cauliflower Rice (page 212) is nice with this, though not essential.

Yield:
2 servings

Each with 40 g protein; 11 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber; 10 g usable carbs.

My seafood-loving husband thought these were some of the best scallops he’d ever had.

24 ounces (680 g) sea scallops

¼ cup (60 ml) lime juice

3 tablespoons (42 g) butter

2 cloves garlic

Guar or xanthan

¼ cup (16 g) chopped fresh cilantro

Put the lime juice, butter, and garlic in a slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker, set it to high, and let it cook for 30 minutes.

Uncover the slow cooker and stir the butter, lime juice, and garlic together. Now add the scallops, stirring them around to coat them with the sauce. Spread them in a single layer on the bottom of the slow cooker. (If the sauce seems to pool in one or two areas, try to cluster the scallops there. In my pot, the sauce liked to stay around the edges.) Re-cover the pot, set it to high, and let it cook for 45 minutes.

When the time’s up, remove the scallops to serving plates. Thicken the pot liquid just a tiny bit with guar or xanthan and spoon the sauce over the scallops. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon (4 g) of cilantro.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 29 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 6 g usable carbs.

This stir-fry has a light, springlike flavor.

2 cups (350 g) bay scallops

10 asparagus spears

10 scallions

¼ cup (60 ml) canola oil

½ cup (60 g) shredded carrot

2 teaspoons soy sauce

Snap the bottoms off of the asparagus where the stalks break naturally. Slice on the diagonal into ½-inch (1.3-cm) pieces. Slice the scallions, too.

Heat the oil in a big skillet or in a wok, if you have one, over high heat.

Add the scallops, asparagus, scallions, and carrot. Stir-fry until the asparagus is tender-crisp and the scallops are cooked through. Stir in the soy sauce and serve.

Yield:
2 to 3 servings

Assuming 2, each will have 43 g protein; 18 g carbohydrate; 5 g dietary fiber; 13 g usable carbs.

I served this as a first course at a little dinner party, and everyone agreed they’d never had a better scallop dish, even at a restaurant. It’s a sterling example of how a few perfect ingredients
can combine to make something greater than the sum of the parts. By the way, you can use sea scallops instead of bay scallops if you like, but since they’re bigger, they’ll take longer to cook.

1½ pounds (680 g) bay scallops

4 tablespoons (56 g) butter

2 medium-size fresh jalapeños

3 tablespoons (45 ml) lime juice

3 tablespoons (12 g) chopped cilantro Guar or xanthan

Melt the butter in a big, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the scallops and sauté for a few minutes, stirring often. Meanwhile, split the jalapeños lengthwise and remove the stems, seeds, and ribs. Slice them lengthwise again, into quarters, and then slice them as thin as you can crosswise. Add to the skillet and sauté the jalapeños with the scallops until the scallops are cooked through—they should look quite opaque all over. (And wash your hands! You must always wash your hands after handling hot peppers or you’ll be sorry the next time you touch your eyes, lips, or nose.)

Stir in the lime juice and cook for another minute while you chop the cilantro. Thicken the pan juices slightly with the guar or xanthan and divide the scallops between serving plates, spooning the pan juices over them. Scatter the cilantro on top and serve.

Yield:
4 main-dish servings or 6 first-course servings

Assuming 4 servings, each will have 6 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 29 grams of protein.

This dish is fast, easy, tasty, and different enough to be interesting! You can use bay scallops if you prefer, but I think the big sea scallops make for a more impressive presentation.

1 pound (455 g) sea scallops

2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons paprika

½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce

½ lemon

¼ cup (16 g) chopped fresh cilantro

In a big, heavy skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat and swirl them together. Add the garlic, let it cook for just a minute, and then add the cumin, ginger, paprika, and hot pepper sauce. Now add the scallops and sauté, stirring frequently for about 5 to 7 minutes or until they’re opaque.

Squeeze the lemon over the scallops and transfer to 4 serving plates. Scatter 1 tablespoon (4 g) of cilantro over each plate and serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 19 g protein; 5 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber; 5 g usable carbs.

These are bacon-wrapped scallops, but they’re so different!

32 sea scallops (about a pound, or 455 g)

½ cup (120 ml) lemon juice

½ cup (120 ml) sugar-free pancake syrup

Barbecue rub—your choice; Classic Barbecue Rub (page 486) is good here

16 slices bacon

Put the scallops in a bowl. Mix together the lemon juice and pancake syrup, reserving some marinade for basting, and pour the rest over the scallops. Give them a stir. Then let them marinate for at least a half hour, and a few hours won’t hurt—stir them now and again while they marinate.

At least 30 minutes before cooking time, put 4 bamboo skewers in water to soak. Get your grill going before you assemble your kebabs.

Okay, time to make kebabs. With a fork or slotted spoon, lift the scallops out of their Marinade. Pat them dry with a paper towel and put them on a plate. Sprinkle them liberally with the barbecue rub.

Cut the slices of bacon in half. Wrap each scallop around its circumference with a half-slice of bacon, piercing with a bamboo skewer to hold. Put 8 bacon-wrapped scallops on each skewer.

Grill, turning once or twice, over a medium-hot fire—have a water bottle on hand to put out flare-ups. Baste once or twice with the reserved lemon-maple marinade, using a clean utensil each time. Cook until the bacon is done and the scallops are fairly firm.