1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (133 page)

Hull the strawberries and slice or cut them into quarters.

Mix the wine and the Splenda and pour the mixture over the berries. Add the cinnamon stick and refrigerate, stirring from time to time, for at least 12 hours (but 2 days wouldn’t hurt!).

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 8 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fiber, for a total of 5 grams of usable carbs and 1 gram of protein.

This is a classic sort of recipe.

½ grapefruit

½ teaspoon butter (optional)

Splenda

A touch of blackstrap molasses, if you like Ground cinnamon (optional)

Loosen the sections of the grapefruit by running a sharp, thin-bladed knife around each one. Sprinkle with the sweetener of your choice, plus cinnamon if you like, and broil a few inches (7.5 cm) from the flame for 10 minutes.

Yield:
1 serving

10.4 grams of carbohydrates and 1.4 grams of fiber, for a total of 9 grams of usable carbs from the grapefruit. Splenda has 0.5 grams of carbohydrates per teaspoon. Blackstrap has 1 gram of carbohydrates per ¼ teaspoon—and it’s so strong-flavored you won’t want to use more than this!

Some people like to cut the white core out and put butter in there.

It doesn’t get any simpler or more elegant than this.

4 fresh, medium figs

¼ cup (30 g) crumbled Gorgonzola

½ cup (60 g) chopped walnuts

Slice the figs in half, spread each half with a tablespoon of Gorgonzola, and sprinkle with ½ tablespoon chopped walnuts.

Yield:
4 servings of 2 halves

Each with 12 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, for a total of 10 grams of usable carbs and 9 grams of protein.

Note: Some people like to broil the figs for a few minutes first.

Because it’s so sour, rhubarb is low-carb. This is a simple, old-fashioned dessert.

1 pound (455 g) frozen rhubarb

½ cup (12 g) Splenda

½ cup (120 ml) water

teaspoon orange extract

Guar or xanthan

Place the rhubarb in a slow cooker and stir in the Splenda, water, and orange extract. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.

When the time’s up, the rhubarb will be very soft. Mash it with a fork to a rough pulp. Thicken the sauce to a soft pudding consistency with guar or xanthan and serve hot or cold.

This dessert is great with a little heavy cream or Whipped Topping (page 552).

Yield:
6 servings

Each with trace protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 3 g usable carbs. Analysis does not include whipped topping.

Well, Grandma’s version was a lot higher-carb than this! This is a charming, old-fashioned dessert.

4 cups (800 g) sliced peaches

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon (7.5 g) Splenda, divided

¼ cup (50 g) polyol sweetener

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

8 tablespoons (115 g) butter, divided

½ cup (60 g) almond meal

½ cup (65 g) vanilla whey protein powder

2½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C, or gas mark 5). Spray an 8 × 8-inch (20 × 20-cm) baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, combine the sliced peaches (I use unsweetened frozen peach slices, which saves lots of time and trouble, and since they’re going to be cooked, it makes no difference in the final texture), ¼ cup (6 g) Splenda, polyol sweetener, and lemon juice. Toss everything together and spread evenly in the pan. Dot with 2 tablespoons (30 g) of the butter.

In another mixing bowl (or use the same one if you like), combine the almond meal, protein powder, baking powder, the remaining 1 tablespoon (1.5 g) Splenda, and the salt. Stir together to evenly distribute ingredients.

Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons (85 g) of butter. Stir the butter into the cream. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix with a few swift strokes of your whisk or a spoon—you just want to stir enough to ensure that there are no pockets of dry ingredients lurking.

Spread the batter evenly over the peaches and bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is crisp and evenly golden brown. Serve warm.

Yield:
9 servings

Each with 14 g protein; 13 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber; 11 g usable carbs. Carb count does not include polyol sweetener.

Variation: Grandma’s Blueberry Cobbler. Swap 4 cups (580 g) fresh blueberries or 4 cups (620 g) unsweetened frozen blueberries for the peaches, and follow the recipe as directed.

Yield:
9 servings

Each with 13 g protein; 13 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber; 11 g usable carbs.

This is a short-cut, no-sugar-added version of a very famous dessert—and it’s scrumptious! You can use fresh peaches in this, if you’d prefer, but unlike the frozen ones, you’ll have to peel and slice them, which takes longer.

2 cups (500 g) frozen, sliced, no-sugar-added peaches

¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice, divided

¼ teaspoon orange extract

½ cup (12 g) Splenda

1 cup (110 g) raspberries—fresh or frozen with no sugar added

4 tablespoons (30 g) toasted slivered almonds (optional)

Don’t bother to thaw the frozen peaches. Put them in a microwaveable bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the lemon juice, the orange extract, and half of the Splenda and pour it over them. Cover (I just lay a plate on top) and microwave on high for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender.

While the peaches are poaching, put the raspberries, the remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of lemon juice, and the remaining Splenda in a food processor with the S-blade in place. Pulse a few times until everything is puréed together.

When the peaches are done, divide between 4 small serving dishes and divide the raspberry sauce between them. Sprinkle each dish with a tablespoon of almonds, if desired. Serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 17 grams of carbohydrates and 4 grams of fiber, for a total of 13 grams of usable carbs and 1 gram of protein. Add the optional almonds and each serving has 19 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of fiber, for a total of 14 grams of usable carbs and 3 grams of protein.

This also has a mere 68 calories, every one of them nutritious.

Now, this is not the traditional way to serve Peach Melba—the traditional way would include a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You could do this, of course, using one of the no-sugar-added ice creams, or Atkins Endulge, but since this is already in the upper range of the low-carb recipe spectrum, I’d probably only do this for a very special occasion. You could also serve this with vanilla yogurt and add only about 2.5 grams of carbs per ½ cup (120 ml) of yogurt.

Tip: Feel free to make the raspberry sauce all by itself—it’s great over melon, stirred into plain yogurt, or as an elegant quick dessert when combined with no-sugar ice cream.

These are delectable. You can serve them as is, with a little heavy cream, with Whipped Topping (page 552), or with a scoop of low-carb vanilla ice cream.

1 pound (455 g) frozen, unsweetened, sliced peaches

2 teaspoons lemon juice

cup (8 g) Splenda

2 tablespoons (30 ml) sugar-free imitation honey

½ teaspoon blackstrap molasses

2 tablespoons (30 ml) heavy cream

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter, melted

Guar or xanthan

Place the peaches in a slow cooker. (I didn’t even bother to thaw mine.)

In a bowl, stir together the lemon juice, Splenda, honey, molasses, cream, cinnamon, and butter. Pour the mixture over the peaches. Cover
the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 6 hours.

Thicken the sauce to a creamy consistency with a little guar or xanthan and serve hot.

Yield:
6 servings

Each with 1 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 7 g usable carbs. (Analysis does not include polyols or toppings.)

This is so light and flavorful! These are good without the cream cheese sauce, too.

2 pounds (910 g) strawberries

¼ cup (6 g) plus

2 teaspoons Splenda, divided

¼ cup (60 ml) balsamic vinegar

4 ounces (115 g) cream cheese, softened

4 tablespoons (60 g) plain yogurt

Remove the green hulls from the strawberries and halve them—if you have some really huge berries, quarter them. Place in a glass, plastic, or stainless steel mixing bowl. Sprinkle ¼ cup (6 g) Splenda over the berries and toss to coat. Now sprinkle on the balsamic vinegar and stir again. Stash the bowl in the fridge for at least a few hours, and a whole day would be fine.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, yogurt, and remaining 2 teaspoons Splenda together until very smooth—you can do this in advance, too, if you’d like.

Simply spoon the berries into pretty dessert dishes and drizzle some of the balsamic vinegar syrup in the bottom of the bowl over each serving. Top each serving with a dollop of the cream cheese sauce and serve.

Yield:
8 servings

Each with 2 g protein; 9 g carbohydrate; 3 g dietary fiber; 6 g usable carbs.

This will look fancy if you serve it on a pretty chip-and-dip tray. It’s good finger food for a party. You can drop the calorie count on this without increasing the carb count by using light (but not fat-free!) sour cream.

1 package (4-serving size) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding

1 cup (230 g) sour cream

1½ cups (360 ml) heavy cream

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

2 pounds (910 g) strawberries