300 15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes (15 page)

2 ounces (55 g) pork rinds

1/2 medium onion

1/4 cup (15 g) parsley

1 can (14 ounces, or 390 g) salmon

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons brown mustard

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

2 tablespoons (16 g) coconut flour

4 tablespoons (55 g) butter

Put your big, heavy skillet over medium-low heat and get it warming.

Throw the pork rinds in your food processor and pulse until they're reduced to crumbs. Dump them half of them in a mixing bowl and half on a plate.

Now throw the onion and parsley in the food processor and chop those together, too. Add them to the mixing bowl.

Add the canned salmon to the bowl and break it up, picking out any bones. Add the eggs, mustard, garlic, and coconut flour and work everything together well.

Throw half the butter in the skillet and slosh it around as it melts. Now make the salmon mixture into four patties and coat them on both sides with the reserved pork rind crumbs. Fry in the butter until they're well-browned on the bottom. Add the rest of the butter to the skillet as you flip them and brown the other side. Serve!

Yield:
4 servings, each with 391 calories, 25 grams fat, 33 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams dietary fiber, and 3 grams usable carb.

You'll find that most of these recipes depend upon the ubiquitous boneless, skinless chicken breast. There's a reason for this: It's nearly impossible to cook chicken on the bone in 15 minutes or less! And even with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, it's helpful, in a fair number of recipes, to pound them a little to make them thinner and an even thickness all over. This is very easy to do and takes no more than 15 to 30 seconds per breast—time well spent if it cuts 5 minutes off the cooking time. Once you've beaten a chicken breast flat a few times, you'll wonder why you've never done it before.

Lemon Chicken

This Vietnamese-influenced dish has a subtle lemon-garlic flavor that combines beautifully with the spicy tart-sweet dipping sauce. And even including making the dipping sauce, this is done within our 15-minute time limit!

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 tablespoon (15 ml) plus 1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon juice

2 teaspoons garlic

1 tablespoon (1.5 g) plus 1 teaspoon (0.5 g) Splenda

2 teaspoons fish sauce (nuoc mam)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Oil

Nuoc Cham
dipping sauce (see
page 292
)

First, put the chicken breasts, one at a time, in a heavy zipper-lock bag and use any blunt object available to beat them until they're 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick all over. Put them on a plate after they're beaten into submission.

Mix together the lemon juice, garlic, Splenda, fish sauce, and pepper and pour the mixture evenly over the chicken breasts, turning them to make sure all sides get coated. Heat a tablespoon or two (15 to 28 ml) of oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add the chicken breasts. Sauté for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until cooked through.

While the chicken is sautéing, throw together the
Nuoc Cham
—this takes maybe two minutes!

In the last minute or so, pour the lemon juice mixture remaining on the plate into the skillet, turning the breasts to once again make sure both sides are coated. Heat for 1 minute and remove to serving plates. Serve with a little pool or dish of
Nuoc Cham
to dip bites of chicken in.

Yield:
4 servings, each with 6 grams of carbohydrate, a trace of fiber, and 38 grams of protein.

Singing Chicken

This is another Vietnamese dish, and it is definitely for those who enjoy breathing fire. I'm a big fan of hot food, and this dish had me sweating by halfway through the meal. Delicious! It's droccoli goes nicely with this.

2 to 3 tablespoons (28 to 45 ml) vegetable oil, preferably peanut

1 tablespoon (8 g) grated gingerroot

1 teaspoon minced garlic or 2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut crosswise into thin slices*

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda

1/4 cup (60 ml) soy sauce

1 teaspoon fish sauce (nuoc mam)

3/4 cup (175 ml) dry white wine

1 fresh jalapeño, or 2 or 3 little red chilies, finely minced

1 teaspoon pepper

Guar or xanthan

* This is easiest if the meat is half-frozen.

Have the chicken sliced, the ingredients measured, the pepper minced, and everything standing by and ready to go before starting to cook—once you start stir-frying, this goes very quickly.

Put a wok or heavy skillet over high heat. Add the oil, let it heat for a minute or so, and then add the ginger and garlic. Stir for 1 minute to flavor the oil. Add the chicken, and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the Splenda, soy sauce, fish sauce, white wine, jalapeño, and pepper, stirring often, for 7 to 8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Thicken pan juices very slightly with guar or xanthan and serve.

Yield:
3 or 4 servings. Assuming 4 servings, each will have 4 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 39 grams of protein.

Crispy Skillet BBQ Chicken

Add some slaw made from bagged coleslaw mix, and supper is served.

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast

Sprinkle-on barbecue dry rub or “soul” seasoning

1/2 cup (120 g) crushed barbecue-flavor pork rinds

2 tablespoons (28 ml) oil

One at a time, pound the chicken breasts until they're about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick all over. If necessary, cut the breasts into 4 servings. Sprinkle both sides of each piece liberally with the seasoning. Then sprinkle each side of each serving with 1 tablespoon (15 g) of the pork rind crumbs and press them onto the surface with a clean palm.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and sauté for 5 to 6 minutes per side or until crispy and cooked through. Serve. This is great with any sort of salad or coleslaw as a side.

Yield:
4 servings. This has no carbs to speak of (maybe a tiny trace from the seasoning), no fiber, and 44 grams of protein per serving.

Aegean Chicken

The minute I told my sister about this, she started hounding me for the recipe.

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil

4 ounces (115 g) kasseri cheese, sliced

8 tablespoons (64 g) tapenade

1/4 cup (60 ml) dry white wine

2 cloves garlic

One at a time, pound the chicken breasts till they're 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick all over. Cut the breasts into 6 servings, if necessary. Sauté them in the olive oil over medium-high heat. When they're turning golden on the bottom, turn them and lay the slices of kasseri over them. Let them cook another 2 to 3 minutes or until
the cheese is starting to melt. Spread the tapenade over the breasts and add the wine to the skillet. Let the whole thing cook for another minute or two, just to warm the tapenade and make sure the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken to serving plates, add the garlic to the wine left in the skillet, stir the whole thing and let it boil for a minute or so, and pour it over the chicken before serving.

Yield:
6 servings, each with just 2 grams of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and 40 grams of protein.

Cashew Crusted Chicken

Since cashews are a relatively high-carb nut, this is just a light coating—but very flavorful. You can find raw cashews at most health food stores.

2/3 cup (93 g) raw cashew pieces

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 egg

2 to 3 tablespoons (28 to 42 g) butter

First, put the cashew pieces in a food processor with the S-blade in place and grind them to a fine texture. Dump them out onto a plate and add the salt, pepper, and paprika, mixing the whole thing well. Set aside.