300 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes (6 page)

This is my slow cooker version of the ubiquitous hot artichoke dip that appeared in
500 Low-Carb Recipes
. Using a slow cooker, the dip stays hot till it's gone!

1 cup (225 g) mayonnaise

1 cup (100 g) grated Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, crushed

8 ounces (225 g) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 can (14 ounces, or 390 g) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

Add everything to your slow cooker, stir it up well, and smooth the surface. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 2 to 3 hours.

Serve with low-carb crackers and/or cut-up vegetables.

Yield:
8 servings, each with: 339 calories, 33 g fat, 11 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs. (Analysis is exclusive of crackers and vegetables.)

Hot Crab Dip

Hot crab, hot cheese, garlic—what's not to like?

1 cup (225 g) mayonnaise

8 ounces (225 g) shredded cheddar cheese

4 scallions, minced

1 can (6 ounces, or 170 g) crabmeat, drained

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 ounces (85 g) cream cheese, softened, cut into chunks

Combine everything in your slow cooker and stir together. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 1 hour. Remove the lid and stir to blend in the now-melted cream cheese. Re-cover and cook for another hour.

Serve with celery, pepper, and cucumber dippers.

Yield:
8 servings, each with: 372 calories, 37 g fat, 13 g protein, 1 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs. (Analysis is exclusive of vegetables.)

Artichoke-Spinach-Ranch Dip

Artichoke dip, spinach dip, and ranch dip are all so popular, combining them seemed destined for greatness!

1 can (14 ounces, or 390 g) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 package (10 ounces, or 280 g) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 cup (225 g) mayonnaise

1 cup (230 g) sour cream

1 packet (1 ounce, or 28 g) ranch-style dressing mix

2 cups (160 g) shredded Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, crushed

Spray your slow cooker with nonstick spray. Mix everything together in your slow cooker. Cover, set it to low, and let it cook for 3 to 4 hours. Keep the dip hot in the slow cooker to serve.

Yield:
12 servings, each with: 247 calories, 23 g fat, 7 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 3 g usable carbs. (Analysis is exclusive of vegetables and crackers.)

Buffalo Wing Dip

I wanted to come up with a hot dip that had all the flavors of Buffalo wings. This is how it came out, and it's awesome!

1 pound (455 g) cream cheese at room temperature

4 ounces (115 g) crumbled blue cheese

4 scallions, minced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup (225 g) cooked chicken, minced

1/2 cup (120 ml) Buffalo wing sauce

Turn on the slow cooker set to low and put the cream cheese in it. Dump in the blue cheese, too.

Mince your scallions fine—I used my food processor. Add them to the cheeses and crush in the garlic. Add the Worcestershire, too.

Mince your chicken quite fine. I used two skinned chicken leg and thigh quarters that I simply covered with water in my slow cooker and let cook on high for 3 to 4 hours. (I did this earlier in the day.) I stripped the meat off the bone and used my kitchen shears to snip across the grain, so it naturally came apart into little bits. If you don't want to work that hard, you could use canned chunk chicken, I bet—just drain it and mash it up good. Anyway, stir your teeny bits of chicken into the cheese mixture, which should be getting soft by now. Make sure it's all well blended and then put the top on the pot and let the whole thing cook for 3 to 4 hours.

An hour before your party, pour the buffalo wing sauce—I used
Wing
Time
brand—evenly over the cheese mixture and re-cover the pot. Let it cook for that last hour and then serve with celery sticks for dipping.

Yield:
This will serve a whole party, call it 15 people. Each will get: 164 calories, 14 g fat, 7 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 5 g usable carbs. (Analysis is exclusive of celery.)

Chicken Liver Pâté

If you like chicken livers, you'll like this, but you won't if you don't. I adore them myself and practically lived on pâté on fiber crackers for a few days after making this. You could also stuff this into celery stalks.

1/2 cup (80 g) finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 cup (70 g) sliced mushrooms

3 tablespoons (45 g) butter

1 pound (455 g) chicken livers

2 tablespoons (28 ml) heavy cream

2 tablespoons (28 ml) brandy

1 bay leaf, crumbled

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 tablespoon (4 g) chopped fresh parsley

3/4 teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal

1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a big, heavy skillet, start the onion, garlic, and mushrooms sautéing in the butter over low heat. While that's happening, halve the chicken livers where they naturally divide into two lobes. When the mushrooms have softened and changed color, add the livers and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they're sealed all over and the color of the surface has changed but they are not cooked through. Transfer the mixture to a food processor with the
S
-blade in place.

Add the cream, brandy, bay leaf, thyme, marjoram, parsley, salt or Vege-Sal, and pepper. Run the food processor until the mixture is finely pureed.

Spray a 3- or 4-cup (700 or 950 ml) glass casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the mixture from the food processor into the casserole dish. Place the casserole dish in your slow cooker. Carefully pour water around the casserole dish to within 1 inch (2.5 cm) of the rim. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 8 hours or until the mixture is well set. Turn off the slow cooker and let the water cool until you can remove the casserole dish without risk of scalding your fingers. Remove the casserole dish and chill the pâté overnight before serving.

You can simply scoop this from the casserole dish with a knife and spread it on fiber crackers if you like, but it's fancier to turn it out, slice it, and serve it on a bed of greens.

Yield:
8 servings, each with: 138 calories, 8 g fat, 11 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 4 g usable carbs.

I was astounded by how great a job my slow cooker did of roasting nuts! I got a little carried away, I confess. But then, I really like nuts! Make these often and keep them on hand, and you'll find yourself missing both chips and candy a whole lot less. This is one job where the size of the slow cooker matters. Use a 3-quart (2.8 liters) or, if you have a 5 1/2-quart (5 liters) cooker, double the recipe.

Dana's Snack Mix, Slow Cooker–Style

This is similar to a snack mix that appears in
500 Low-Carb Recipes
, and it's addictive. Thank goodness it's also healthy! You'll likely find shelled pumpkin seeds and raw, shelled sunflower seeds at your health food store. You can also find the pumpkin seeds in Latino groceries, labeled “pepitas.”

4 tablespoons (55 g) butter, melted

3 tablespoons (45 ml) Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 cups (276 g) raw pumpkin seeds, shelled

1 cup (145 g) raw sunflower seeds, shelled

1 cup (145 g) raw almonds

1 cup (100 g) raw pecans

1 cup (120 g) raw walnut pieces

1 cup (140 g) raw cashews

1 cup (145 g) dry-roasted peanuts

If you've got a little time, you can just put the butter in the slow cooker, turn it to low, and wait for it to melt. Otherwise, melt it on the stove or in the microwave and then transfer it to the slow cooker pot. Add the Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and onion powder. Stir it all together. Add the nuts and seeds. Stir well until all the nuts are evenly coated. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours, stirring once or twice if you're around.

Uncover the pot, stir the nut and seed mix up, and cook for another 45 to 60 minutes to dry the nuts and seeds. Let them cool before storing them in an airtight container.

Yield:
24 servings of 1/3 cup, each with: 279 calories, 25 g fat, 9 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 6 g usable carbs.

Blue Cheese Dressing Walnuts