1001 Low-Carb Recipes: Hundreds of Delicious Recipes From Dinner to Dessert That Let You Live Your Low-Carb Lifestyle and Never Look Back (56 page)

1½ cups (175 g) shredded mozzarella, divided

½ cup (50 g) grated Parmesan cheese

A pinch or two of dried basil ½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Oil

1 cup (240 ml) sugar-free pizza sauce

Toppings as desired (sausage, pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, or whatever you like)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

Sprinkle the zucchini with a little salt and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Put it in a strainer and press out the excess moisture.

Beat together the strained zucchini, eggs, protein powder, ½ cup (60 g) of mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, salt, and pepper.

Spray a 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33-cm) baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and spread the zucchini mixture in it.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until firm. Brush the zucchini crust with a little oil and broil it for about 5 minutes until it’s golden.

Next, spread on the pizza sauce and add the remaining 1 cup (120 g) of mozzarella and other toppings. (If you’re using vegetables as toppings, you may want to sauté them a bit first.)

Bake for another 25 minutes and then cut into squares and serve.

Yield:
4 generous servings

Each with 14 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, for a total of 12 grams of usable carbs and 22 grams of protein. (Analysis does not include toppings.)

This recipe has a sunny summer flavor!

6 smallish zucchinis

½ cup (120 ml) olive oil

¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Salt and pepper

Split your zucchinis in half lengthwise and cut off the stems. Put them in a large resealable plastic bag. Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic and pour the mixture into the bag. Press out the air, seal the bag, turn it a few times to coat the zucchini, and throw it in the fridge until you need it.

When grilling time comes, pull out the bag, pour off the marinade into a bowl, and throw the zucchini on the grill. Baste them with the lemon dressing and grill them until they get soft and have brown grill marks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

Yield:
6 servings

With the marinade, this comes to 7 grams of carbohydrate per serving, and 2 grams of fiber, but you’ll discard much of that. I’d say 4 grams of carbohydrate, with those 2 grams of fiber, for a usable carb count of 2 grams; 2 grams protein.

You pronounce this oh-so-French dish “rat-a-TOO-ee.”

¾ cup (180 ml) olive oil

3 cups (450 g) chopped eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes

3 cups (350 g) sliced zucchini

1 medium onion, sliced

2 green peppers, cut into strips

3 cloves garlic

1 can (14½ ounces, or 410 g) sliced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (4 ounces, or 115 g) sliced black olives, drained

1½ teaspoons dried oregano

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the eggplant, zucchini, onion, peppers, and garlic.

Sauté for 15 to 20 minutes, turning with a spatula from time to time so all the vegetables come in contact with the olive oil. Once the vegetables are all starting to look about half-cooked, add the tomatoes (including the liquid), olives, oregano, salt, and pepper.

Stir it all together, cover, turn the heat to low, and let the whole thing simmer for 40 minutes or so.

Yield:
8 servings

Each with 11 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fiber, for a total of 8 grams of usable carbs and 2 grams of protein.

You want to use your largest skillet for this dish— possibly even your wok, if you have one. This amount of veggies will cause even a 10-inch (25-cm) skillet to nearly overflow. And don’t be afraid to toss in a little more olive oil if you need it while sautéing.

When you use Parmesan cheese instead of bread crumbs to “bread” the eggplant slices, it becomes Eggplant Parmesan Squared! This takes a little doing, but it’s delicious, and it’s easily filling enough for a main dish.

½ cup (60 g) low-carb bake mix or unflavored protein powder

2 or 3 eggs

1¼ to 1¾ cups (125 to 175 g) grated Parmesan cheese

1 large eggplant, sliced no more than ¼ -inch(6 mm) thick

Olive oil for frying

1 clove garlic, cut in half

1½ cups (360 ml) sugar-free spaghetti sauce

8 ounces (225 g) shredded mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

Put the bake mix on a plate, break the eggs into a shallow bowl and beat well, and put 1 to 1½ cups (100 to 150 g) of Parmesan cheese on another plate.

Dip each eggplant slice in the bake mix so each side is well dusted.

Dip each “floured” slice of eggplant in the beaten egg and then in the Parmesan so that each slice has a good coating of the cheese. Refrigerate the “breaded” slices of eggplant for at least half an hour or up to an hour or two.

Pour
inch (3 mm) of olive oil in the bottom of a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, letting it sizzle for a minute or two before removing. Now fry the refrigerated eggplant slices until they’re golden brown on both sides (you’ll have to add more olive oil as you go along.)

Spread ½ cup (120 ml) of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9 × 11-inch (23 × 28-cm) roasting pan. Arrange half of the eggplant slices to cover bottom of pan. Cover with the mozzarella and top with the remaining eggplant. Pour on the rest of the spaghetti sauce and sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

Yield:
6 servings

Each with 13 grams of carbohydrates and 4.5 grams of fiber, for a total of 8.5 usable carbs and 24 grams of protein.

How many eggs and how much cheese you will need depends on how big your eggplant is.

I think this makes a particularly good side dish with chicken or fish.

1 bag (1 pound, or 455 g) frozen green beans, French cut or crosscut, thawed

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

¼ teaspoon pepper

Over high heat, stir-fry the beans in the olive oil until they’re tender-crisp. Stir in the garlic, lemon juice, and pepper. Cook just another minute and serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 9 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and 2 grams of protein.

Okay, truly country-style green beans are cooked for a billion hours with bacon or a ham hock, but these are much quicker. And this version tastes very good and down-home.

1 pound (455 g) frozen “cut” green beans

3 slices bacon

4 ounces (115 g) sliced mushrooms

½ tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

Put the beans in a microwaveable casserole dish with a lid, add a couple of tablespoons (30 ml) of water, cover, and microwave on high for 7 minutes.

Cut the bacon into little pieces and put it in a large, heavy skillet—I use kitchen shears to snip t right into the pan—and start cooking it over medium-high heat. When a little grease starts to cook out of the bacon, add the mushrooms and butter and cook it all together, stirring frequently, until the bacon is starting to get crispy and the mushrooms have softened and changed color.

Somewhere during this process, your microwave is going to go “ding!” When it does, go check the beans. Chances are they’ll still be underdone in the center, so stir them up and give them another 4 to 5 minutes.

When the beans are tender-crisp, pull them out of the microwave, drain them, and stir them into the bacon and mushrooms. Stir in the lemon juice, let the whole thing cook together for just another minute or two to combine the flavors, and then serve.

Yield:
4 or 5 servings

Assuming 4 servings, each will have 10 grams of carbohydrates and 4 grams of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and 4 grams of protein.

These are fab!

4 cups (600 g) cross-cut frozen green beans, unthawed

¼ cup (40 g) chopped onion

4 slices cooked bacon, drained and crumbled

cup (80 ml) low-carb barbecue sauce (see
Chapter 13
or use purchased sauce)

Put the green beans in a slow cooker. Add the onion and bacon and then stir in the barbecue sauce. Cover the slow cooker, set it to high, and let it cook for 3 hours. (If you prefer, set it to low and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.)

Yield:
6 servings

Each with 3 g protein, 8 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 6 g usable carbs.

3 tablespoons (42 g) butter

1 bag (1 pound, or 455 g) frozen, crosscut green beans, thawed

¼ cup (30 g) finely diced celery

¼ cup (40 g) finely diced onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon dried rosemary, slightly crushed

½ teaspoon dried basil, slightly crushed

Salt

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the beans, celery, onion, and garlic to the skillet and sauté until the beans are tender-crisp.

Stir in the rosemary and basil and sauté another minute or so. Add salt to taste and serve.

Yield:
4 servings

Each with 10 grams of carbohydrates and 4 grams of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and 2 grams of protein.

2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil

2 cups (300 g) frozen green beans, thawed