300 15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes (46 page)

Serve this with fish for a fast and elegant company meal. It's super-easy to double or even triple.

1 pound (455 g) asparagus

1/2 cup (115 g) mayonnaise

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1 scallion

1/4 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

Snap the ends off the asparagus where they want to break naturally. Put them in a microwave steamer or a Pyrex pie plate. Add a couple of tablespoons (28 ml) of water, cover, and nuke on high for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, assemble everything else in your food processor with the S-blade in place and run until the scallion is pulverized.

The standard way to serve this is to give everyone a puddle of sauce to dip their asparagus in. The fancy way is to spoon the sauce into a baggie, snip a teeny bit off the corner, and pipe artistic squiggles of sauce over your plates of asparagus.

By the way, if you nuke the asparagus earlier in the day and then chill it, this makes a nice salad.

Yield:
3 servings, each with 298 calories, 33 grams fat, 3 grams protein, 4 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams dietary fiber, and 2 grams usable carb.

Aparagus Parmesan

If you're paying really close attention, you'll notice that this is the asparagus from the
Asparagi All'uovo
(see
page 52
), without the eggs. It's a great side dish with a simple chicken breast.

1 pound (455 g) asparagus

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic or

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil Salt and pepper

1/2 cup (50 g) grated Parmesan cheese
^*

^*
Using good-quality cheese instead of the cheap stuff in the green shaker pays off here.

Snap the bottoms off the asparagus spears where they break naturally. Put the asparagus in a microwaveable casserole or a glass pie plate. Add a couple of tablespoons (28 ml) water, cover (use plastic wrap or a plate to cover a pie plate), and microwave on High for 3 to 4 minutes.

While the asparagus is cooking, stir the garlic into the olive oil.

When the asparagus is done, drain it. If you have 4 single-serving ovenproof dishes that are large enough to hold asparagus, they're ideal for this purpose—divide the asparagus between the 4 dishes. If not, you'll need to use a rectangular glass baking dish. Arrange the asparagus in 4 groups in the baking dish, like little stacks of cordwood.

Whether you're using the individual dishes or the single baking dish long enough to hold asparagus, drizzle each serving of asparagus with the garlic and olive oil. Salt and pepper lightly and divide the cheese between the servings. Put the asparagus under the broiler, about 4 inches (10 cm) from low heat. It'll need maybe 4 to 5 minutes. When the Parmesan cheese is touched with gold, serve.

Yield:
4 servings, each with 3 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 2 grams of usable carbs and 6 grams of protein.

Simple Grilled Asparagus

Something about the grilling process accentuates the flavor of this dish. Feel free to do this over your outdoor grill in the summer, by the way.

1 pound (455 g) asparagus

2 to 3 tablespoons (28 to 45 ml) olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat your electric tabletop grill.

Snap the ends off the asparagus spears where they break naturally. Place the asparagus on a large plate, drizzle the olive oil over it, and then turn it all about with clean hands, so each spear is coated with olive oil. Salt and pepper it.

Lay the asparagus on your grill. How much will fit at once will depend on how big a grill you have; mine will fit most of a pound (455 g). Let it cook for 5 to 6 minutes and then serve.

Yield:
4 servings, each with 3 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 2 grams of usable carbs and 1 gram of protein.

Asparagus Bacon Bundles

This dish tastes great and has a cool-looking presentation, to boot!

1 pound (455 g) pencil-thin asparagus

7 slices bacon

Preheat your electric tabletop grill.

Snap the ends off the asparagus spears where they break naturally. Divide the asparagus into 7 bunches and wrap a slice of bacon in a spiral around each bunch. (In other words, don't let the bacon overlap itself, but cover as much of the asparagus bundle as you can.)

Place the asparagus-bacon bundles on the grill. How many will fit will depend on how big your grill is; mine will just fit all 7. Close the grill, let them cook for 7 minutes or until the bacon is done through, and serve.

Yield:
7 servings, each with 2 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 1 gram of usable carbs and 3 grams of protein.

Blue Slaw

This is a really unusual twist on slaw.

4 cups (360 g) bagged coleslaw mix

3 tablespoons (45 g) plain yogurt

1 tablespoon (15 g) sour cream

1/4 cup (14 g) mayonnaise

2 tablespoons (16 g) crumbled blue cheese

Just mix everything together—that's all!

Yield:
4 or 5 servings. Assuming 4 servings, each will have 5 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, for a total of 3 grams of usable carbs and 3 grams of protein.

Hot and Sweet Mostly Asian Slaw

This is
mostly
Asian because of that hot wax pepper. You could use another mildly hot pepper in its place—an Anaheim, maybe, but that still wouldn't be Asian. It would still be good, though.

1 hot wax pepper (aka banana pepper)

1 medium carrot

1 bag (14 ounces, or 390 g) coleslaw mix

1/4 cup (4 g) minced cilantro

1/4 cup (60 ml) rice vinegar

1/4 cup (6 g) Splenda, or its equivalent in sweetness

1 tablespoon (15 ml) dark sesame oil

Split your pepper down the middle, remove the seeds, and slice it crosswise, very thin. Shred your carrot, too, and mince your cilantro. Throw them in a mixing bowl with the bagged coleslaw mix.

Mix together the vinegar, Splenda, and sesame oil and pour over the salad. Toss well and serve.

Yield:
4 servings, each with 73 calories, 4 grams fat, 2 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrate, 3 grams dietary fiber, and 7 grams usable carb.

Orange Green Salad

This one's good with anything Mexican or Southwestern in flavor.

8 ounces (225 g) bagged mixed greens—I like half romaine, half red leaf lettuce.

1/2 cup (8 g) chopped cilantro

1/4 sweet red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons (28 ml) orange juice

2 tablespoons (28 ml) white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic or

1/2 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

4 tablespoons (60 ml) oil—A bland oil like canola or peanut is best for this.