Low-Carb
109 recipes found
Pesto-Filled Deviled Eggs
Deviled eggs may be old fashioned, but I will always have a weakness for them. I’m always experimenting with fillings for these perfect little protein packages. Pesto, mixed with half of the hard-cooked yolks, is pungent and rich. I particularly like the basil-mint version. Serve these as an hors d’oeuvre or as part of a light lunch.
Brined Pork Chops With Fennel
Pork and fennel — both fennel seed and the bulb-shaped vegetable — are often companions, and the combination of flavors is quite delicious. For best results, let the chops soak for at least a few hours, preferably overnight, in a quickly made brine.
Dried Porcini Consommé
A refreshing and light soup that can be an appetizer or full first course. I could drink this refreshing consommé for lunch every day. It makes a very light and satisfying appetizer soup or first course.
Poached Eggs in Red Wine (Oeufs en Meurette)
Oeufs en meurette is a classic French dish of poached eggs covered in a rich red wine sauce filled with lardons, mushrooms and onion. When the writer Michael Harlan Turkell was working on his book “Acid Trip: Travels in the World of Vinegar,” he picked up a tip from the French chef Bertrand Auboyneau of Bistrot Paul Bert in Paris. A generous amount of red wine vinegar, added to the sauce, lightens and brightens the dish, all the while emphasizing the flavors of red wine. Use the best-tasting vinegar you can get your hands on, since there's enough of it here to really redirect the taste of the sauce. To turn the recipe into a full, hearty meal, just poach two eggs for each person, instead of one, and add a side of simply dressed salad greens.
Endive Leaves With Crab Rillettes
Canned lump crabmeat is transformed in these light, slightly spicy rillettes. I have been pleased with the canned lump crabmeat I have been finding lately at Trader Joe’s. It is fresh and perfect for both crab cakes and for these light, slightly spicy rillettes, which I serve on endive leaves. You can also stuff cherry tomatoes with the rillettes, or mini bell peppers, or just serve them on croutons or crackers. You have a choice here of using a combination of Greek yogurt and crème fraîche, or all Greek yogurt. In the spirit of rillettes, which would be much fattier than these if they were more authentic, I vote for the yogurt/crème fraîche combo, but if you want to keep calories down use all yogurt.
Mini Bell Peppers Stuffed with Goat Cheese
This side dish is a way to take advantage of the mini sweet peppers that are showing up by the bag in supermarkets. They should be roasted briefly and not peeled. My oldest brother, Dan, and his wife, Margaret, hosted a wonderful party in Minneapolis in May to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The savory food on the gorgeous vegetarian buffet was catered by the well-known Minneapolis restaurant Lucia’s, whose chef/owner, Lucia Watson, is a friend of the family. One of my favorite items was minipeppers stuffed with goat cheese, the inspiration for this recipe. Mini sweet peppers have begun to proliferate in supermarkets; the ones I’m finding come in 12-ounce bags, roughly 12 to a bag (though they range in size, some being about two inches long, others about three), usually a mix of red and yellow. They are thin skinned, with very small seedpods and membranes. I roast them briefly to soften them and sweeten the flavor. There is no need to peel them, and they should not be roasted so long that the skin loosens. You will probably have a little filling left over, but it’s nice as a spread so it won’t go to waste. These will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Bay Leaf Chicken With Orange Parsley Salad
In this quick-cooking dinner, boneless chicken thighs are marinated with bay leaves, mustard seeds, orange zest and Worcestershire sauce, and roasted at high heat until golden-edged and juicy. Then, just before serving, it all gets topped with an herb salad flecked with sweet oranges. It’s light, fresh and very savory. You can substitute boneless chicken breasts instead, just halve them crosswise before marinating, and start checking them after 12 minutes of roasting.
Omelet Mousseline
This omelet is fluffier and lighter than the classic. It uses Auguste Escoffier’s technique: whipping the egg whites and then gently folding in the yolks. A small amount of heavy cream enriches the omelet, making it a good candidate for a final sprinkle of powdered sugar – or a jam filling. Served sweet or savory, it’s an ethereal dish that truly melts in the mouth. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master.
Uncooked Tomato and Mint Sauce with Poached Eggs
This dish turns summer tomatoes into a salsa cruda that can also work well with most any kind of fish. My friend and colleague Clifford A. Wright serves this delicious salsa cruda with grilled salmon. It’s also wonderful with most other fish, grilled, oven-roasted or pan-cooked, and it makes a terrific sauce for foods like cooked grains, the vegetarian burgers I published a few weeks ago or simply cooked green vegetables. One of my favorite uses is in a Mediterranean huevos rancheros: poach an egg, set it on a lightly charred corn tortilla, sprinkle the egg with a little salt and pepper if desired and spoon on the sauce.
Tostadas With Beans, Cabbage and Avocado
Beans are traditionally fried in lard, but I use a small amount of grapeseed or sunflower oil instead, and rely on the broth from the beans for flavor. This is a great buffet dish for a Mexican dinner party. I prefer to toast the tortillas using the microwave method, but you can also deep-fry them.
Smoked Sardines Rillettes
Canned smoked sardines are easy to come by, and if you eat fish (especially if you are trying to find ways to eat more fatty fish because of their high omega-3 values), they should be a staple in your pantry. Look for Pacific sardines, which are a Best Choice on the Monterey Aquarium Seafood Watch list. (Atlantic and Mediterranean are poor choices.) Like the other rillettes posted on this week’s Recipes for Health, you can use these as a spread for bread or crackers, or as a filling for peppers or endive leaves or cherry tomatoes. The rillettes also go well with lentils, like the smoked trout rillettes featured earlier this week. The crème fraîche is optional but recommended (you could substitute olive oil or yogurt); I like the way it loosens and enriches the mixture.
Steamed Clams in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Include mollusks in your seafood week. Clams are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, low in calories, and very high in iron.
Parmesan Disks
Grilled Chicken On Skewers
Snapper With Seville Orange Juice, Pine Nuts And Olives
Warm Hummus
In this comforting Turkish version of hummus the chickpea purée is warmed in the oven and topped with pine nuts. In the authentic version, a generous amount of melted butter would be drizzled over the top before baking. I have substituted a moderate amount of olive oil for the butter.
Curried tuna in endive sheaves
Cooked Tomatillo Salsa
Spinach and Yogurt Dip
A food processor transforms a great Middle Eastern spinach dish into a spread. In the traditional dish the spinach is topped with the garlicky yogurt. Here everything is blended together.
Peanut Dukkah
This is one of my favorite dukkahs. I like it with vegetables and with pita, and on its own as a snack.
Pickled Broccoli Stems
Kids and adults love these crunchy, garlicky pickles. One of my signature dishes, these are always on my coffee table for dinner guests to snack on because my son eats broccoli several times a week, and this is the perfect destination for the stems. If you buy your broccoli with the stems attached (as opposed to the crowns only), you’ll now feel like you’re getting a lot for your money.
Hazelnut Dukkah With Fennel Seeds and Mint or Thyme
Some versions of dukkah, like this one, are herbal as well as spicy.
Coconut Dukkah
Adding coconut to dukkah introduces a sweetness to the nutty/spicy Middle Eastern mix. Serve it with crudités and flatbread, or sprinkled over a carrot purée.
Pumpkin Seed Dukkah
Because I associate pumpkin seeds with Mexican food, I decided to add some mild chili powder to this mix. You can substitute Aleppo pepper if you want to keep with the Mediterranean theme. I love this mildly spicy, nutty dukkah with everything, including on its own.