Cooking

The approach of summer brings with it the availability of many wonderful seasonal varieties of fruit. Even if you’re a low carb dieter, you shouldn’t pass up the bounty of the season. Once you’re past “induction”, as long as you know the carb count of various seasonal fruits and are clear on what the portion size is for each you can most likely indulge in the sweet goodness summer has to offer and get lots of nutritional bang for your buck, too!

Spring!! It’s finally here…time to shake off the doldrums of winter, and take advantage of the season’s fresh fruits, veggies, and lighter fare.

If you’ve got a holiday meal coming up that has to be special, low carb and family-friendly, I’ve got some ideas for you. This spring menu is elegant, low carb, and surprisingly simple to prepare. You do all your preparations while the lamb roasts, and then finish up the side dishes while it rests. The dessert is almost instant, and a light, refreshing finale to a great meal. I’ve included a shopping list to get you started, and recipes for using up any leftovers. Happy Spring!

LCE is pleased to present guest author Karen M. Rysavy, author of Cooking TLC: Truly Low Carb Cooking.

Absolutely anyone - and by that, I mean YOU - can make traditional, "canned-off" jam or jelly. Even if you skip the canning part! 'Since it is now the season to do just that, here are step-by-step illustrated directions to help insure that you don't let late summer's abundance slip away - preserve it inexpensively for months to come, instead.

Cooking TLC: Truly Low Carb Cooking Volume 1 author: Karen Rysavy asin: 0971492913

While there are many delicious foods we enjoy on a lowcarb woe, beans aren’t generally one of them. After a few weeks of lowcarbing, many people really begin missing some of their favorite carby comfort foods and start looking for substitutes. In general, the lowcarb world has done a pretty good job at “subbing” many carby items but old fashioned goodies like “Navy” Bean Soup and Cheesy Bean Dip have all but disappeared.

I’m here to tell you that you can. Can what? Have beans! You can have bean soup, chili, and yummy mexican style beans dripping with cheese. How? With Eden Foods, of course! 

Every experienced lowcarber is familiar with the classic “mock mashed potatoes” in the form of a cauliflower puree. I’ve tried several recipes myself but have never found one that I really loved. They always seem too runny no matter how hard I tried to get all the water out.

Well, for those willing to try, I’ve got a new technique which should lead to some of the best tasting and best textured “cauli mash” you’ve ever had.

I'd like to share my technique for a favorite dish, 7-Bone Roast with Fresh Herbed Gravy. This just happens to be the perfect entree to serve with the cauli-mash and we have it often in our house. It's a great way to spend a Sunday evening.

Are you tired of having the same old thing every week? Tired of steak? Tired of salad? Tired of the same flavors? If you answered yes to any of these questions, grab your apron, peel some shrimp, and let’s get frying.

Frying? What frying, you say?

Deep-Fried Coconut Shrimp!

How can a person (namely me), forget one of her favorite dishes and let the last 10 years go by without making it once? How can that happen? I used to make this dish ALL THE TIME! Why did I suddenly stop? I have NO idea. However, I can tell you that I've recently re-discovered this past favorite and am happy to report that it converts to low carb VERY well. The mystery dish in question?

Chicken Divan, of course!

Are you guys ready for the 4th of July? Ready to munch on veggies and dip? Ready to down a few burgers dripping with cheese? Ready to guzzle water while everyone else is guzzling beer? Ready to enjoy your favorite low carb cheesecake while.....wait a minute! Cheesecake? Again?

Yes, yes, I know. You love cheesecake. So do I. But let's face the facts, we all need a little something different once in a while, right? We can't be eating cheesecake for dessert at every single family gathering for the rest of our lives can we?

Sawat dee kha! This phrase is the traditional "hello"greeting of Thailand. The Land of Smiles. Thailand is one of my favorite places to go because the people are kindest, the shopping is to die for and the food is colorful and bursting with flavor.

Chinese is actually my overall favorite Asian cuisine but nothing beats grilled up pork strips with a spicy sauce made of coconut milk, peanut butter, and nam pla (fish sauce). Actually, this dish is made in many Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. What I'd like to make for you today is my own low carb version of a classic Pork Satay with Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce. If you like peanut butter and coconut, you're sure to be in heaven!

I love fall. The weather is temperate, the fun of the holidays is around the corner, and I feel like cooking again. Cooking is one of my favorite things but when you live in the desert, summer just isn't the right time for it.

Lately, I've been thinking of my favorite fall comfort foods and decided I was ready for some baked brie with all the trimmings. Only this time, it was going to be fast because I was going to prepare the almonds and garlic on the stovetop and melt the brie in the microwave.

What could be better than preparing a yummy gourmet snack in under 15 minutes? Not one thing.  

A little high in carbs for everyday enjoyment, but these make a great special holiday treat.

One the greatest things about low carbing is being able to use full fat, delicious salad dressings. And with spring and summer just around the corner, I'm sure many of us will begin eating more and more of them and sometimes, even make them a meal.

I have a couple of favorite bottled salad dressings but sometimes, I'm in the mood for something a little more special.

I don't know about you guys, but I like having SOFT butter out on the counter at ALL TIMES. You're not supposed to do this because the butter CAN go rancid but I've always done it anyhow.

Then, I started feeling guilty. Here I am trying my best to improve my health and all the while eating "possibly tainted" creamy goodness. OK, I'll get a butterbell.

Well, that was a great idea until I saw how much butter they hold. I mean really, let's get SERIOUS. I use 1/2 that much butter in one sit down meal and I have 3 other people to consider. There was no way I was going to spend $30-$40 on something that was going to be a chore to keep constantly filled.

Pizza fans, this one is for you. My husband is a pizza lover from way back and ever since starting low carb in 2001, we've been trying to come up with a GOOD pizza substitute.

It didn't have to be perfect but it did have to have all the right flavor and a good "mouth feel" that would remind us of our favorite pizza joint.

A Fresh Idea for Strawberries

Strawberries are often the first fruit we low carbers add back into our daily eating plan and what a great choice they are. Fiber, vitamin C, potassium and even calcium are found in this little powerhouse of a food.

Whether you like your strawberries with whipped cream, over cheesecake or blended into a morning smoothie, they are probably a staple in your low glycemic household. But, as wonderful as all these options are, what else can a hungry low carber do with these declicious ruby jewels? Plenty.

What do you do when you get tired of shrimp scampi? Break out the champagne! Grab some extra large shrimp, a little shallot and tarragon and you'll be good to go.

This dish was a hit at my house, I hope you'll like it as well.

I LOVE scallops. They are less work than shrimp, cheaper than lobster, and taste great. One of my favorite ways of having them is scampi style with butter and garlic but, after a while, that can become a little boring and I long for something different.

A couple of months ago, we (my husband, two stepsons and I) were sitting around the living room getting ready to start a movie when the youngest (22) asked me if I had any dessert planned. Nope, not that night I told him, just a movie and a diet soda. Evidently, that didn't cut it.

All across the nation hamburgers, hot dogs, seafood and steaks are being cooked to perfection and plated up in America’s homes. But what’s missing? What else can we do to zip up these delectable delights and bring a little more flavor into our grilled meat perfection?

Compound butter.

When I first started low carbing, I really missed having popcorn at the movies and wished there was a crunchy, salty snack that would fit the bill while still being fairly low in carbs. Nuts and beef jerky were nice but they just didn’t quite cut it and I was left longing for something more.

This week, I’d like to cut to the chase. It's all about snacks and munchies, especially for the movies. One of my favorites? Marcona Almonds.

Of course, Marcona Almonds are VERY expensive. At last count, about $7.50 a bag at Trader Joe’s. When they were $5 a bag, I used to buy them now and then as a treat but now? I just can’t. I can’t justify $7 for a few measly nuts!

So what do you do? Make your own, of course! Here’s my solution to delicious (if overpriced) gourmet almonds…

The weather is finally cooling off and the holidays are just around the corner. You know what that means, time to make those favorite soups and stews that you just didn’t bother with during the summer months. One of my favorites? The classic French Onion Soup.

The beauty of this soup is that it’s easy. The only trick is letting the onions brown long enough to increase the depth of flavor in the finished product. Everything else is easy peasy!

So, grab your grandma’s vintage Hull or McCoy ovenware bowls and get ready for a winter treat.

Salmon is my favorite fish. I LOVE it. Grilled, poached or sautéed, I’ll eat it any way I can get it. Many times all I need is a spritz of lemon and a pinch of sea salt and I’m ready to dig in.

Then there are times when I feel like something special and decidedly uncommon. A dish you can’t get on a standard menu while dining out but yet is so sinfully simple to prepare. What am talking about? Grilled Salmon with Pomegranate Glaze!

These little gems can be prepared either sweet OR savory (or both!) and they’re quick and easy to do.

You'll Need:

• 2-3 large, low carb tortillas (Mission work best)
• Butter (you can use oil but if you really want them to taste good, use butter!)

Konjac? Shirataki? Konnyaku? Where am I—Japan?

Nope, you’re not in Japan. But, with access to exotic ingredients from all over the world, you almost could be. There used to be a time when the standard Joe didn’t know that a “latte” was a coffee drink and “wasabi” was the Japanese version of horseradish. Now, you can find lattes on every corner and get wasabi roots, wasabi in a tube and wasabi powder at your local grocer. My, how times have changed.

I am not Martha Stewart.

I am not Julia Child.

I'm not even Diane Sawyer watching Wolfgang Puck on Good Morning America. In fact, until I started low carbing, my kitchen was just that room between the den and the bathroom where I kept my beer and my Lean Cuisines. I mean, what would I, a singleton, need with a stove and oven? Everything I could ever want to eat could be nuked, or better yet, delivered.

And then, I became a low carber.

First, I had to become introduced to my kitchen.