300 15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes (57 page)

This is good on chicken, beef, fish—just about anything!

1/2 cup (120 ml) soy sauce

1/4 cup (60 ml) dry sherry

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda

1 tablespoon (8 g) grated fresh ginger

Simply combine all of the ingredients and refrigerate until use.

Yield:
Makes just over 3/4 cup (175 ml), or almost twelve 1-tablespoon (15 ml) servings, each with about 3 grams of carbohydrates, no fiber, and no protein.

Apple Walnut Dressing

This dressing has no grain of any kind in it and still tastes great. Serve with a simple poultry or pork dish.

4 tablespoons (55 g) butter

1 crisp, tart apple (I use a Granny Smith because I like the flavor, but one with a red skin would look prettier.)

2 large stalks celery

1 medium onion

1 cup (100 g) shelled walnuts

8 ounces (225 g) sliced mushrooms

3/4 teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal

1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat.

Quarter the apple and trim out the core, whack each quarter in half (making eighths), and drop them in your food processor with the S-blade in place. Whack each stalk of celery into 4 or 5 big chunks and throw them in, too. Quarter the onion, peel it, and throw it in and then dump in the walnuts. Pulse the food processor until everything's a medium consistency.

Dump this mixture, along with the mushrooms (which we're assuming you bought already sliced—if not, just chop 'em with everything else), into the butter in the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and sauté everything for a minute or two, stirring. Then cover it and let it cook for 10 minutes, uncovering every 3 minutes or so to stir the whole thing again.

Stir in the salt and poultry seasoning, let it cook for another minute or two, and serve.

Yield:
6 to 8 servings. Assuming 6 servings, each will have 9 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams of fiber, for a total of 6 grams of usable carbs and 6 grams of protein.

If you're fond of coffee, try laying in a supply of either flavored coffees (the kind you actually brew,
not
the General Mills International Coffees, which contain sugar and other objectionable ingredients) and sugar-free coffee flavoring syrups (Da Vinci Sugar Free is probably the most widely available; look at your local gourmet coffee take-out joint, but Torani and Monin O'Free are also fine). Combine these with some heavy cream, if you like, to make an endless array of coffee drinks. Use decaf if you find that caffeine after dinner keeps you awake.

Here are some ideas to jump-start your coffee creativity

Irish Coffee

I included this in
500 Low-Carb Recipes
, but it seemed too classic to omit here.

1 shot (1 1/2 ounces, 45 ml) Irish whiskey
^*

6 ounces hot coffee (170 ml)

Splenda to taste

Whipped cream (See
Whipped Topping
recipe,
page 31
)

^*
You may as well use cheap, blended whiskey for this; use Jamieson's or Bushmill's, and you'll make my husband cry.

The traditional glass for this is a stemmed Irish coffee mug, but I wouldn't bother running out and buying them unless you're exceedingly fond of Irish coffee. Just put the shot of whiskey in a large mug, pour the coffee over it, add Splenda to taste, and top with a good dollop of whipped cream.

Yield:
1 serving. If you use 2 teaspoons of Splenda and a couple of tablespoons (28 g) of whipped cream, you'll get just 2 grams of carbohydrates, no fiber, and no protein.

Whipped Topping

This seems as good a place as any to repeat my favorite recipe for making whipped cream—the instant pudding in this recipe gives it a lovely, mild sweetness and a glorious texture. By the way, don't try to whip cream in your blender or food processor—it won't work. Use an electric mixer, an egg beater, or that old standby, the whisk. I think an electric mixer is best. Use this in coffee drinks, over berries, or anywhere else you think a little whipped cream might be nice. This recipe makes a lot; feel free to halve it.

1 cup (235 ml) heavy whipping cream, well chilled

1 tablespoon (15 g) sugar-free vanilla instant pudding powder

Simply whip the two together until you have fluffy, gorgeous whipped cream. Don't overbeat, or you'll get sweet vanilla butter.

Yield:
This is enough for a crowd—2 cups (455 g), or 16 servings of 2 tablespoons (28 g), each with only a trace of carbohydrates, no fiber, and no protein.

Café Chantilly

This is a classic!

1 tablespoon (15 ml) cognac

4 ounces (120 ml) brewed coffee

Unsweetened whipped cream (just whip chilled heavy cream by itself with an electric mixer)

Just stir the cognac into the coffee, top with a dollop of whipped cream, and serve.

Yield:
1 serving, with just 1 gram of carbohydrates, no fiber, and no protein.

Each serving has only 65 calories!

Mexican Coffee

Traditionally, this is made with pilloncillo sugar—Mexican brown sugar—and milk, but that's too many carbs for us. Here's the reduced-carb version.

6 ounces (170 ml) brewed coffee

2 to 3 tablespoons (28 to 45 ml) heavy cream

2 teaspoons Splenda

2 drops blackstrap molasses
^*

Tiny pinch ground cinnamon

Tiny pinch ground cloves

^*
It helps to keep your blackstrap in a squeeze bottle. I buy my blackstrap in bulk from my health food store and keep it in one of those “honey bears.”

Pour the coffee and stir in the cream, Splenda, and molasses. Sprinkle the spices over the top and serve.

Yield:
1 serving, with 3 grams of carbohydrates, the merest trace of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.

Café Vienna