300 15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes (55 page)

Oh, man, is this good. Start saving your bacon grease! This is great on any salad. It is especially good with the
Spinach Salad with Maple Glazed Bacon, Nectarines, and Feta
(see
page 257
).

2 tablespoons (28 ml) olive oil

2 tablespoons (28 g) bacon grease

2 tablespoons (28 ml) cider vinegar

2 teaspoons spicy brown or Dijon mustard

1/2 shallot

2 teaspoons sugar-free pancake syrup

1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt

Simply assemble everything in your blender or food processor and run until it's creamy. Pour it over your salad and toss.

Yield:
3 to 4 servings, assuming 3, each will have 166 calories, 18 grams fat, trace protein, 1 gram carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 1 gram usable carb.

Sprinkle-on seasonings are a simple way to vary “chicken again, chops again, steak again” and the like. There are many good varieties to choose from in your grocery store, and I urge you to put together a modest collection! However, if you'd like to make your own, they're very little work for a lot of result—plus, when you make sprinkle-on seasonings yourself, you know that they're sugar-free. Here are some I've come up with that I like.

Many-Pepper Steak Seasoning

This adds real zing to a steak without covering up the flavor. Make this up, keep it in a shaker, and you'll be ready to cook a really special steak at a moment's notice.

1 tablespoon (7 g) onion powder

3 tablespoons (27 g) garlic powder

3 tablespoons (21 g) paprika

1 tablespoon (3 g) oregano

1 1/2 tablespoons (9 g) pepper

2 teaspoons lemon pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne—or more if you like it really hot!

Simply combine everything well and put it in a shaker. Sprinkle liberally over both sides of a steak before broiling or grilling.

Yield:
This is enough to season 12 to 15 steaks. Assuming 15 steaks, each will have 3 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, or for a total of 2 grams of carbs to a whole steak—and that steak is likely to be 2 or more servings, so figure 1 gram per serving—and no fiber or protein.

Dana's Chicken Seasoning

This is wonderful sprinkled over a chicken breast before grilling or as a table seasoning for any poultry. (It's also great sprinkled over whole or cut-up chicken before roasting, but that doesn't fit into our 15-minute time frame.)

3 tablespoons (54 g) salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all the ingredients thoroughly and store in a salt shaker or the shaker from an old container of herbs. Simply sprinkle over chicken before roasting; I use it to season at the table, as well.

Yield:
Makes just over 1/4 cup (55 g). In the whole recipe, there are only 7 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and no protein—so the amount of carbohydrates in the teaspoon or so you sprinkle over a piece of chicken is negligible.

Cajun Seasoning

This sprinkle-on seasoning will liven up chops, steaks, chicken, fish—just about anything!

2 1/2 tablespoons (18 g) paprika

2 tablespoons (36 g) salt

2 tablespoons (18 g) garlic powder

1 tablespoon (6 g) black pepper

1 tablespoon (7 g) onion powder

1 tablespoon (5 g) cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon (3 g) dried oregano

1 tablespoon (3 g) dried thyme

Combine all the ingredients thoroughly and keep in an air-tight container.

Yield:
Makes 2/3 cup (90 g). In this whole recipe, there are 37 grams of carbohydrates and 9 grams of fiber, for a total of 28 grams of usable carbs and no protein. Considering how spicy this is, you're unlikely to use more than a teaspoon or two at a time. One teaspoon has 1 gram of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and no protein.

Jerk Seasoning

Sprinkle this over chicken, pork chops, or fish before cooking for an instant hit of hot, sweet, spicy flavor.

1 tablespoon (5 g) onion flakes

2 teaspoons ground thyme

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon (7 g) onion powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda

Combine all the ingredients and store in an air-tight container.

Yield:
Makes about 1/3 cup (30 g). If you use 1 teaspoon, it will have 1 gram of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber, and no protein.

Wonderful Memphis-Style Dry Rub BBQ

A
Low-Carbezine!
reader who didn't supply his or her name sent this recipe, so we refer to them simply as the Mystery Chef. This is great on ribs, chops, or chicken and far lower-carb than barbecue sauce.

1 tablespoon (7 g) paprika

2 teaspoons chili powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and store in a salt shaker. Sprinkle on both sides of whatever meat you're cooking, and grill.

Yield:
This makes enough for 3 1/2 pounds (1.6 kg) of ribs, or about 3 servings. If, indeed, 3 of you eat all of this recipe, each will get 2 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 1 gram of usable carbs, no fiber, and no protein. By contrast, your average commercial barbecue sauce has between 10 and 15 grams per 2-tablespoon (32 g) serving—and who ever stopped at 2 tablespoons (32 g)?

Southwestern Steak Rub

1 tablespoon (8 g) chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon Splenda

Just mix everything together and sprinkle liberally on both sides of a steak before pan-broiling. This is enough for a couple of good-sized steaks. It would be good for seasoning burgers, too.

Yield:
The whole batch contains 43 calories, 1 gram fat, 2 grams protein, 8 grams carbohydrate, 3 grams dietary fiber, and 5 grams usable fiber.

Chili-Cocoa Rub

I was originally going to use this recipe in the context of Chili-Cocoa Rubbed Steak. Then I tried this rub on pork and chicken and realized it was way too good to limit that way. Make this up, keep it in a shaker by the stove, and use it to improve all manner of things! It's the best rub I've come up with in a long time.

1/4 cup (72 g) salt or Vege-Sal

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda granular

1 tablespoon (15 g) erythritol

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

3 tablespoons (27 g) garlic powder

1 tablespoon (7 g) onion powder

3 tablespoons (21 g) cumin

2 tablespoons (23 g) chili powder

2 tablespoons (12 g) pepper

Stir everything together and store in a used spice-shaker bottle. Use on steaks, pork chops, burgers, ribs—you name it. It's so good!