LOW CARB FOODS & RECIPES
Q. “Bill, My low-carb diet is succeeding so far . . . but I'm particularly eager to have some options that work for my diet and are tasty, too! Of the 100s of recipes that you’ve shared, I suspect that you have a few favorites?” Dave F.
A. Sure do, Dave. Here are some that you’ll find on this site, listed here by “low carb ingredient,” with even more suggestions after the list.
Eggs: An all-time favorite recipe for eggs is Shakshuka, striped green or red. Plus, here’s a post and a vid on cooking eggs that might help, too.
Avocados: Check out the highly lauded low-carber avo in this recipe for Traditional Mexican Guacamole, as well as this Peach and Avocado Guac.
Asparagus: Here are Five Ways with Asparagus (for low carb, merely skip over the risotto and the pasta recipes), as well as my favorite aspara-grass recipe, Edna Lewis’s Skillet Asparagus. It is so yum.
Cauliflower: All the ingredients in this recipe for Cauliflower Pot Roast have “low carb” stamped all over them.
Eggplant: Yet again another low-carb vegetable shines in this recipe for Ajapsandali (the country of Georgia’s ratatouille), as well as in this recipe for the Indian eggplant dish called Baigan Bharta. Also, check out this all-veg Indian recipe, Subji. (For low carb, eliminating the potatoes does nada to the many tasties.) You’ll need three or four Indian spices—available at regular supermarkets anyway—but they’re great to have around in order to flavor other low-carb foods down the line.
Zucchini: One of the more clicked-on recipes on the site is Long Cooked Vegetables, centered on the great green zuke. “Looks like hell and tastes like heaven,” says one appreciater.
Chard: Red Chard Ribbons is one delicious way to eat this leafy green.
Alliums: All the alliums—garlic, onions, the leek, and more—are super low-carb. Check out these recipes using the Vidalia Onion (in the salad recipe, use a sugar sub such as stevia in equal measure).
Melon: Here are a couple of delicious recipes that Cook With Melon and that amp up the low-carb quotient by including berries.
And more: Ever tried baked ricotta for a sweet-savory low-carb dessert? This Summer Vegetables from the Middle Ages is a winner in the 2000s. (Just substitute a non-carbohydrate sweetener for the honey and dried cranberries for the raisins).
And even more, Dave: Low-carb animal and fish protein recipes abound on the site. Check out this chicken-meat recipe, one of my favorite recipe developments from the past: BSJ’s Yellow Chicken Salad. For fish and seafood: Colorado Striped Bass with Tomatoes, Seared Scallop Crudo, Braised and Glazed Umami Salmon, Sole Meunière, and Fish en Palillote (sans the rice).
More fish recipes here. Of the many recipes on the site using pork, my favorite low-carb one is a Korean dish called Bossam, and not only because you’re invited to eat many vegetables alongside it.
Of course, plain beef is low-carb, sometimes even keto. Many beef and lamb recipes on the site are here; one fave is a roast leg of lamb called by it s French name (and preparation), Gigot d’Agneau. Looking for highest protein, lowest carb beef? Roasting Prime Rib.
And, not to forget that low-carb vegetation. Find some all-vegetable dishes here. Other recipes under the “Vegetables/Fruit” tab can be rendered low carb, with little loss of flavor (in many instances), merely by eliminating the “white stuff” such as rice, potatoes or sweet potatoes.