Low Carb Recipes

By Jonathan Berohn

One of the main problems with sticking to a low carb diet is that the food can get very boring very fast.  Coming up with innovative and flavorful ways of eating healthy low carb foods is very important if you want to have any legitimate chance of making the low carb switch a long term proposition.

Anyway, without further ado, here are three of my wife’s and my favorite low carb recipes.

Smoked Salmon Spaghetti Squash

This first one is a great fall and winter recipe.  Spaghetti squash makes a great pasta substitute, and it tastes far better than the pasty cardboard that tries to pass for low carb pasta.  The smoothness of the sour cream and the tarragon really go well with the smoky flavor of the salmon, while the mustard gives it just enough pizzazz to be interesting.

  • 1 Spaghetti squash
  • 1 Package smoked salmon, diced (I like the cold smoked lox variety, not the hot-smoked stuff you can get from Alaska, but that can work, too)
  • 1 Yellow onion, diced small
  • 1 Package frozen peas
  • 1 T Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 Cup Sour cream
  • 1/4 Cup Dijon mustard
  • 1 t Tarragon
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

The first step is to cook up the spaghetti squash.  The easiest way to prepare it is to bake it whole in a 375-degree oven for about an hour.  It’s done when it’s tender enough to stick a fork into the skin fairly easily.  In a pinch, you can boil it for about half an hour or even cut it up and microwave it for about 10-15 minutes.  I’d avoid the microwaving if at all possible, though, as a spaghetti squash is a serious pain to try to cut up when raw.  One you’ve cooked the thing, though, it’s easy to cut in half, which is the next step.  After you cleave it in two, scoop out the seeds, then take a fork to it and pull out the strands—this would be your spaghetti part.  Set the strands aside for the time being.

For the sauce, sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat until the onion is clear (about 5 minutes).  Now stir in the sour cream and the mustard one spoonful at a time.  Add the peas, tarragon, and salt and pepper and let cook until the peas are thoroughly heated (again about 5 minutes or so). At this point, add the strands of squash you set aside and thoroughly toss in the sauce.  Then add the salmon, quickly toss to mix, and serve.  If you like your salmon a little more done, you can let it cook for an extra minute or so, but don’t go too long or the salmon will begin to crumble as you stir. This will serve 4.

Queema Korma (Indian Ground Lamb)

When most people think of Indian food, they tend to think of curries or Tandoori.  Here’s a very simple recipe that you cook on the stovetop that does not call for a heavy sauce.  That’s not to say it isn’t flavorful.  The lamb and the spices make an excellent combination, and a welcome detour from more traditional protein heavy fare.

  • 1 Pound Ground lamb
  • 1 Yellow onion, diced small
  • 1 Package frozen peas
  • 1 T Canola or vegetable oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Inch piece of fresh ginger, minced (In a pinch you can substitute 1 t ground ginger, but the taste will suffer; use the fresh if you can.)
  • 1-2 hot green chiles, diced (Optional, but really—if you don’t like it at least a little hot you might want to rethink the whole Indian food thing. As for choices, the green Indian cayennes are ideal, but serranos and even jalapenos work)
  • 1 t ground turmeric
  • 1 t ground cumin
  • 1 t ground corriander
  • 1 t garam masala (This is an Indian spice mix that you find at most grocery stores these days.  It’s better if you make your own, but premade works pretty well.)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

This really is an easy recipe to prepare.  The most time consuming thing is the chopping and mincing, but if you can do this in the food processor that can save you even more time (it’s perfectly OK to combine the garlic, ginger and hot peppers –in fact that’s often the first step in a lot of Indian cuisine).  From start to finish it should take you less than half an hour.

To start, sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat until the onion starts to brown (about 7 minutes).  Then add the garlic, ginger, and hot pepper(s) and cook for an additional 1 minute.  Add the lamb and brown it.  Then add the peas, spices, and salt and pepper, and cook until the lamb is done, stirring regularly.  Serve with the chopped cilantro as a garnish.

Traditionally, you would serve this dish with rice or a hearty Indian bread like Chapatti.  If you are feeling inspired, you could always make your own whole-wheat chapattis, but in the interest of time, you can serve whole-wheat pitas for a similar effect (Heat them in the oven for the best flavor).

To keep the carbs lower, you can also serve whole-wheat tortillas or lettuce leaf wraps instead of bread.  Both work well, although I must admit the lettuce would be my last choice.  If you do go with lettuce, try to find butter lettuce.  It works the best as a wrap and has a great deal of flavor for lettuce.  Serves 4.

Baked Tostadas

I love Mexican food of all kinds.  As you probably know, one problem with Mexican food is that the kind you get at most Mexican restaurants isn’t particularly good for you.  Here’s a low fat, low carb version of tostadas that will actually make you forget that it’s also healthy.

  • 1 Pound Ground lamb
  • 1 Can fat free refried beans (I like refried black beans in this dish, but pinto work fine—it’s a matter of what you like best)
  • 1 Yellow onion, diced small
  • 1 T Canola or vegetable oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 t ground cumin
  • 1 t ground coriander
  • 1 t dried oregano (use Mexican oregano if you can, but it’s not essential)
  • 1 t paprika
  • 1-2 hot green chiles, diced (optional, but again—as with the Indian food, you need to get with the program and spice things up a bit with Mexican food; bland Mexican food is just unnatural; as for choices, I like serranos or jalapenos here)
  • 1 diced tomato
  • 1 cup chopped or shredded lettuce
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese OR 1 cup crumbled queso fresco (go with the queso fresco if you can find it; it makes for a much more interesting—and authentic—tatse)
  • 6 whole-wheat tortillas.

To start, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Then bake the tortillas on a cookie sheet for about 5 minutes until they start to crisp up.  Flip them over and continue cooking until both sides are crisp. Set aside.

Next, sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat until the onion starts to brown (about 7 minutes).  Then add the garlic and hot pepper(s) and cook for an additional 1 minute.  Add the beef, spices, and salt and pepper.  Cook until the beef is done and set aside.

In a separate pan or pot, heat the refried beans until thoroughly warmed.  It’s best to do this at the same time as the meat, but if you don’t like multi-tasking in the kitchen you don’t have to.

Now it’s time to make the tostadas.  On each tortilla, spread about 1/4 cup of beans to give it a nice base layer.  Then add about 1/6 th of the meat and the cheese on top of that.  Place the tostadas back on the cookie sheet and bake them in the oven (350 again) for about five minutes or until the cheese melts (note: queso fresco will NOT melt like cheddar, so just stick with the 5 minute rule).

When you take the tostadas out of the oven, serve immediately with lettuce, tomato, and cilantro on top of the tostadas.  You can also serve sour cream and/or guacamole if you like.  I, of course, also like to smother them in hot sauce.  I really like Tabasco’s chipotle sauce on these.  I’m always of a mind that everything is better with a smoke, and the chipotle sauce is relatively mild enough that you can fairly safely serve it to guests.  Serves 4 comfortably.