Recipes

Hot Chocolate

This is very rich and thick. You could add another 1/2 cup of water and still have a creamy consistency. We just like it this way. This would make a great fat fast food, by the way.

13 1/2 ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
8 drops chocolate liquid stevia
8 drops vanilla liquid stevia
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Simply combine everything in a heavy bottomed saucepan, over low heat, and stir well. Heat through, and serve.

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Gingersnaps
Crisp and gingery-cinnamony, these cookies are nothing short of extraordinary.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup Splenda
1/4 cup sugar alcohol (I'd use erythritol now, but I originally used maltitol)
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses (or dark molasses)
1 egg
1 cup almond meal
1 cup vanilla whey protein powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

It seems like every time Dana mentions "Chicken Chips" in any blog entry or post on Facebook, someone will ask, "What are chicken chips???" (The other common question is about fat-fasting. We'll get to that shortly.) So we decided to give Chicken Chips a page of their own, with an easy link that can be quickly used pretty much anywhere.

Ingredients:

Chicken skin
Salt

This is what I had for supper tonight, though I only made a single serving, using a pan-seared chicken breast, and I shredded my own cabbage -- 1/4 head. Oh, and I didn't have sesame seeds. Still unbelievably tasty.

Reprinted by permission from 300 15 Minute Low Carb Recipes
by Dana Carpender copyright 2011 Fair Winds Press.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Really Truly Chicken Noodle Soup

9 cups chicken broth
1 medium carrot
2 medium celery ribs
1/2 medium onion
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon concentrate
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 packet tofu shirataki, fettucini width
salt and pepper

Creamy, Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

1/2 medium onion, diced fine
3 tablespoons butter
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cauliflower head (Mine was a big one; if you can only get little ones you might want to use a whole head.)
1 cup half and half
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
salt or Vege-Sal and pepper -- to taste
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
guar or xanthan

This was wonderful with a simple rib eye steak last night. It was just as good warmed up with a few slivers of leftover steak mixed in, and three fried eggs on top, for breakfast this morning. If I'd had more leftover steak, it would have made a great one-dish meal with a substantial quantity of leftover steak slivered up in it.

Pecan, Sun-Dried Tomato and Bacon Cauli-Rice

1/2 cauliflower head
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tablespoon butter
3 bacon slices
1 small onion
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, oil-packed -- chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Like so many people, I'm crazy about pork spareribs -- they're tender and juicy and bursting with flavor, and they're a good fatty cut, something I consider a virtue. Furthermore, they go on sale often; I rarely pay more than $2.39/pound, and stock the freezer when they drop to $1.99/pound.

This is what I just had for supper, and it was great. I'll definitely do this again. This is not only low carb but paleo, if you consider garlic and onion powder to be close enough for government work, as the old joke goes. Well, and some paleos eat vinegar, some don't -- you could swap it for lemon juice if you prefer.

Warm Chicken Liver Salad

1 clove garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
4 chicken livers
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

This started as a recipe for a Thai Rice Salad with broiled salmon, but I had leftover chicken in the house, and I sure wasn't going to use rice! I played with the dressing some, too -- the original was sweeter, so add another teaspoon of sweetener if you think it needs it. I think the salad would be improved by chopped dry roasted peanuts on top, but I was going for something that would please regular low carbers and those who eat closer to paleo, as well -- since peanuts are a legume, they're not paleo. But truly, they'd be great here, if you want to add 'em.

The whole idea here was to come up with a recipe that would work for low carbers and paleo/primal folks, both. The only switch needed is to sub real honey and maple syrup for the sugar-free versions. These are mildly sweet; you could add more stevia if you want them sweeter, or even add some Splenda if you like.

I think these would be great in a kid's lunch box. Or bag. Or whatever kids carry lunch in these days.

Cherry-Almond-Coconut Cookie-Snacky Things

2/3 cup almond butter
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons sugar-free pancake syrup

Over at the Facebook Fan Page, Susan Fortenberry Winkler expressed unhappiness that she didn't have a low carb meat loaf recipe, so I promised I'd post one here. This one is from The Glycemic Load Diet Cookbook, that I wrote with Dr. Rob Thompson.

I've been marinating chuck roasts again! This was fantastic. Truly, I'd rather have a well-marinated chuck than a sirloin or filet mignon. Much more flavor!

Marinated Chuck with Chipotle and Sherry

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons Splenda -- or other sweetener to equal 2 teaspoons sugar
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup dry sherry
1 chipotle chile canned in adobo, minced
2 teaspoons meat tenderizer
2 1/2 pounds beef chuck 1 1/2" thick

Ham, Gorgonzola, and Pecan Salad

1/2 cauliflower head -- a big one
1 cup pecan halves
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon ground dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 ounces ham, in 1/2" cubes
5 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese -- or other mild blue cheese -- you can buy five-ounce tubs already crumbled.
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350.

Our favorite cut of steak is ribeye, but sadly it's running $11.99/lb around here. That's just not in the budget. Happily, I can still get chuck for $3/pound and under. It's too tough to broil or grill as-is, but marinated and tenderized, it's wonderful -- tender and flavorful. This is my latest marinated chuck steak, and That Nice Boy I Married and I both thought it was wonderful.

Lime-ginger Marinated Chuck Steak

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon Splenda -- or other sweetener to equal 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons soy sauce