The Low-Carb Diabetes Solution Cookbook (17 page)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

In a large ovenproof skillet, brown the ground beef and onion.

Add the spinach and cook through until the meat is done. Add the cream cheese, heavy cream, Parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well, then spread evenly in the skillet.

Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until bubbly and browned on top.

My favorite one-dish skillet supper. Quick, easy, and flexible, too. Don't worry if you use a little less or a little more beef, or one more or less egg. It'll be fine!

1
1
/
2
pounds (680 g) ground beef

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

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

6 eggs

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1
/
3
cup (35 g) shredded Parmesan cheese

YIELD:
6 servings 406 calories; 29 g fat; 29 g protein; 5 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber per serving

In your large, heavy skillet over medium heat, start browning and crumbling the ground beef. While that's happening, drain the spinach well, chop the onion, and crush the garlic.

When the ground beef is half done, add the onion and garlic, and cook until the beef is done through. Pour off the extra fat if you like. Now stir the spinach into the beef. Let the whole thing cook for maybe 5 minutes.

Now, mix up the eggs well with a fork, and stir them into the beef mixture. Continue cooking and stirring over low heat for a couple of minutes, until the eggs are set. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve topped with the Parmesan.

Pepperoncini are hot-but-not-scorching pickled Italian salad peppers. You'll find them in the same aisle as the olives and pickles. They make this beef very special.

2 to 3 pounds (0.9 to 1.4 kg) boneless chuck pot roast

1 cup (120 g) pepperoncini peppers, with the vinegar they're packed in

1
/
2
medium onion, chopped

Guar or xanthan

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

YIELD:
6 servings (assuming a 2-pound /[0.9 kg]roast) 325 calories; 24 g fat; 24 g protein; 3 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber per serving

Put the beef in the slow cooker, pour the pepperoncini on top, and strew the onion over that. Put on the lid, set the slow cooker to low, and leave it for 8 hours.

When it's done, transfer the meat to a platter, and use a slotted spoon to fish out the peppers and pile them on top of the roast. Thicken the juices in the pot just a little with the guar or xanthan, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with the roast.

This is a meat loaf fit to serve to company! I adapted this from a recipe for a “zucchini mold” in a terrific Italian cookbook. It contained just a little beef. I thought, “How could more meat hurt?” I was right. It's wonderful this way, and very moist and flavorful. Note that this contains 5 grams of carbs per serving, so this counts as both your meat and your vegetable. By the way, if you'd like to cut the cooking time in half, cook this in a muffin tin, and call it Meat Muffins.

2 medium zucchini, chopped—about 1
1
/
2
cups (185 g)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Olive oil—a few tablespoons (40 to 60 ml) or as needed

1
1
/
2
pounds (680 g) ground chuck

3
/
4
cup (75 g) grated Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil

2 tablespoons (8 g) snipped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1
/
2
teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg

YIELD:
5 servings 521 calories; 41 g fat; 31 g protein; 5 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber per serving

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).

Sauté the zucchini, onion, and garlic in the olive oil for about 7 to 8 minutes. Let it cool a bit, then put it in a big bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

Using clean hands, mix thoroughly. This will make a rather soft mixture—you can put it in a big loaf pan if you like, or form it on a broiler rack. I form it on a broiler rack because I like the grease to drip off, but keep in mind if you do it this way that you won't get it to stand very high—about 2 inches (5 cm) thick. Bake for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the juices run clear, but it's not dried out.

A break from the usual Italian seasonings. This is adapted from a historic Roman stew recipe using spices from the Far East. Unusual and wonderful.

2 pounds (900 g) beef round, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes

1 large onion, chopped

2 cans (6
1
/
2
ounces, or 184 g, each) sliced mushrooms

1
1
/
2
cups (355 ml) beef broth

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon beef bouillon concentrate

1 teaspoon paprika

8 ounces (225 g) cream cheese

8 ounces (225 g) sour cream

YIELD:
8 servings 413 calories; 31 g fat; 28 g protein; 5 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber per serving

In your big, heavy skillet, over medium-high heat, brown the beef in the oil, working in a few batches. Transfer to a slow cooker.

Add the celery and garlic, then sprinkle the seasonings over everything. Now pour the canned tomatoes and the wine over everything. Cover the pot, set the slow cooker to low, and cook for 7 to 8 hours. You can thicken the pot juices a little if you like, but it's not really necessary.

This creamy gravy is fabulous! Noodles are traditional with stroganoff. You could serve this on tofu shirataki fettuccine, but you'd need to cut your portion a bit to allow for another gram or two of carbs from the noodles.

3 pounds (1.4 kg) beef stew meat in 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes

3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil

2 cups (200 g) sliced celery

4 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal

1
/
4
teaspoon ground cinnamon

1
/
4
teaspoon ground cloves

1
/
4
teaspoon ground black pepper

1
/
8
teaspoon ground allspice

1
/
8
teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 can (14
1
/
2
ounces, or 410 g) diced tomatoes

1
/
2
cup (120 ml) dry red wine

YIELD:
8 servings 369 calories; 17 g fat; 44 g protein; 5 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber per serving

Put the beef in your slow cooker. Put the onion on top, then dump in the mushrooms, liquid and all.

Mix the beef broth with the Worcestershire sauce, bouillon concentrate, and paprika, and pour over everything.

Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

When ready to serve, cut the cream cheese into cubes, and stir into the mixture in the slow cooker until melted. Stir in the sour cream, and serve.

This recipe originally called for an envelope of Italian salad dressing mix. Turns out that sugar is the first ingredient. So I looked up a few clone recipes and worked out the seasonings needed, and this is the result. Lemon pepper has a tiny bit of sugar in it, hence the “Next Step” classification. But this is low carb enough that you can have a crisp green salad alongside.

2 pounds (900 g) beef chuck

2 tablespoons (28 ml) olive oil

1
/
2
cup (120 ml) beef broth

1 tablespoon (18 g) beef bouillon concentrate

3
/
4
teaspoon lemon pepper

1
/
2
teaspoon dried oregano

1
/
2
teaspoon garlic powder

1
/
4
teaspoon onion powder

12 drops liquid stevia
*

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

*
Alternative Sweeteners

2 teaspoons Splenda or Stevia in the Raw

2 drops EZ-Sweetz Family Size

1 drop EZ-Sweetz Travel Size

YIELD:
6 servings 364 calories; 28 g fat; 25 g protein; 1 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber per serving

Trim the beef of all outside fat. Heat the oil in your big, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, and brown the beef on both sides. Transfer it to your slow cooker.

In the skillet, mix together everything else but the final salt and pepper, scraping up the nice brown stuff, so it dissolves. Pour this over the beef, cover the pot, and set the slow cooker to low. Cook for 6 to 8 hours.

When cooking time is up, season with salt and pepper to taste.

P
robably owing to ancient taboos, pork has a bad reputation it doesn't deserve. It's nutritious stuff, an especially good source of niacin and potassium. Yes, potassium. Your average pork chop has as much potassium as a banana, and I, personally, would rather have the pork chop.

Sadly, the low-fat frenzy of the past few decades has led to pigs being bred to be leaner and leaner, rendering too many cuts of pork dry and bland. This needn't worry us! We can eat the succulent, fatty bits, like shoulder and spareribs, with zero guilt. That these are also the inexpensive cuts is a bonus.

As for lamb, I puzzle over its status in this country. It's hugely popular in the rest of the world, yet many Americans have never even tried it. I grew up on lamb—lamb chops for a quick supper, roast leg of lamb for Sunday dinner, even lamb kidneys now and then. I love the stuff.

However, lamb can be pricey. I wait till whole legs of lamb go on sale, buy one, and have the Nice Meat Guys slice it into steaks for me. These lamb steaks are cheaper and meatier than chops, quick and easy to cook, and take to a wide variety of seasonings. If you're a lamb fan, you'll find some new ideas here. If you're on the fence, remember that gyros are made of lamb, and who doesn't love gyros?

This recipe comes first for a very good reason: It is hands down the cheapest, the easiest, and the best thing I know how to make in a slow cooker. Plus, it will feed a crowd. If you have a really huge slow cooker, feel free to scale up the recipe. By the way, that's not “Kahlua,” like the coffee liqueur, it's the slow cooker adaptation of a traditional Hawaiian dish.

3 pounds (1.4 kg) Boston butt pork roast

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 tablespoon (15 ml) liquid smoke flavoring

1 head cabbage

1
/
4
medium onion

YIELD:
8 servings 384 calories; 27 g fat; 33 g protein; 1 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber per serving

Take a carving fork, and stab your butt roast viciously all over. Do your best slasher movie imitation. You're making lots of holes to let the smoky flavor in.

Now sprinkle the salt all over the roast, hitting every bit of the surface, and rub it in a little. Do the same with the smoke flavoring.

Place your roast, fat-side up, in your slow cooker, cover it, set it to low, and forget about it for a good 7 to 8 hours, minimum. Then flip the roast, re-cover, and forget about it for another 7 to 8 hours.

About 1 to 1
1
/
2
hours before serving time, chop your cabbage fairly coarsely and mince your onion.

Haul out your pork—it will fall apart and smell like heaven—put it in a big bowl, and shred it with a fork. Scoop out a bit of the liquid from the pot to moisten the meat if it seems to need it. Then keep it somewhere warm (or you can rewarm it later in the microwave).

Throw the cabbage and onion in the remaining liquid and toss it to coat. Cover the pot, set the slow cooker on high, and let it cook for at least an hour—you want it wilted but still a little crunchy.

Serve the meat and cabbage together.

This quick-and-easy dish is the kind of thing you would gladly pony up for at a good restaurant.
Fauxtatoes
are a great side dish here. I use Boyajian brand maple extract; I got it through Amazon.com.

1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil

12 ounces (340 g) pork loin chops (2 thin-cut chops)

1
/
4
cup (40 g) minced onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

1
/
4
cup (60 ml) chicken broth

1
1
/
2
tablespoon (22 g) erythritol

1 tablespoon (15 ml) bourbon

5 drops maple extract

YIELD:
2 servings 225 calories; 12 g fat; 22 g protein; 2 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber per serving

Coat your large, heavy skillet with nonstick cooking spray, and put it over medium-high heat. Add the oil, and swirl it around to coat the bottom of the skillet. When the whole thing is hot, throw in your chops, and brown them on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.

Remove the chops from the skillet, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté in the residual fat for a minute. Add the broth, erythritol, bourbon, and maple extract. Stir this around with your spatula, scraping up all the yummy brown bits stuck to the skillet.

Throw the chops back into the skillet. Turn the heat down to low, and set a timer for 3 minutes. When it goes off, flip the chops, and set the timer for another 3 minutes. By this time, the liquid should have cooked down and become syrupy.

Put the chops on serving plates, and scrape the glaze with the bits of onion and garlic over them, then serve.

This sauce is to die for, and the cheese and sour cream add fat to the very lean pork loin. Pair with a tossed green salad with vinaigrette, for contrast.

1 pound (455 g) boneless pork loin, cut into 3 portions, about
3
/
4
inch (2 cm) thick

2 ounces (55 g) Camembert cheese

1 tablespoon (14 g) butter

3 tablespoons (45 ml) dry white wine, or better yet, hard cider

1 tablespoon (2.5 g) chopped fresh sage

1
/
3
cup (77 g) sour cream

1
1
/
2
teaspoons Dijon mustard

Ground black pepper, to taste

YIELD:
3 servings 333 calories; 20 g fat; 32 g protein; 2 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber per serving

One at a time, put the pieces of pork loin in a heavy resealable plastic bag, and pound with any handy blunt object until the meat is
1
/
2
inch (1 cm) thick. (No, it's not better to just cut them to that thickness to begin with; pounding tenderizes the meat.)

Using a very sharp, thin-bladed knife, cut the rind off your Camembert as thinly as possible, to leave as much of the actual cheese as you can. Cut the cheese into
1
/
2
-inch (1 cm) chunks, and reserve.

Coat your large, heavy skillet with nonstick cooking spray, and put it over medium-high heat. Add the butter. When the butter is melted and the pan is good and hot, swirl the butter around the bottom of the skillet, then lay your pork in it. Cook until lightly golden on both sides, but no more—it's easy to dry out boneless pork loin. Put the pork on a plate, and keep in a warm place.

Add the wine to the skillet, and stir it around with a spatula, scraping up all the flavorful brown bits. Add the sage, and stir again. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Now throw in those chunks of Camembert. Use your spatula to stir them around, and cut the chunks into smaller bits, until the cheese has completely melted. Whisk in the sour cream and mustard, season with pepper to taste, and it's done.

I originally wrote this to use an electric tabletop grill, and it works great that way. But if you've abandoned yours, you can do the pork in your skillet instead, before you cook the onions (or in a second skillet). Use an extra tablespoon (15 ml) or so of olive oil.

2 tablespoons (22 g) brown mustard, divided

1
1
/
2
pounds (680 g) boneless pork shoulder steaks (4 steaks, about
1
/
2
inch [1 cm] thick)

1 large red onion, sliced thin

1
1
/
2
tablespoons (22 ml) olive oil

1 tablespoon (15 ml) balsamic vinegar

YIELD:
4 servings 369 calories; 29 g fat; 23 g protein; 4 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber per serving

Preheat your electric tabletop grill. Spread 2 teaspoons of the mustard on one side of the pork steaks, flip them, and spread another 2 teaspoons on the other side. Grill for about 5 minutes, or until done through.

While that's happening, put your big, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, and start sautéing the onion in the olive oil. Forget about tender-crisp—you want your onion soft, and turning brown. When good and caramelized, stir in the balsamic vinegar. Set aside.

By now your pork is done. Spread the remaining 2 teaspoons mustard on the pork (an extra
1
/
2
teaspoon on each piece), divide the balsamic-onions mixture among the steaks, and serve.

Elegantly understated. This is another dish that you could serve to company, with no one thinking “diet.” With this dish at 4 grams of carbohydrate per serving, you'll want to choose your side dish with an eye to a very low carb count.

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter, divided

1 pound (455 g) boneless pork loin, cut into 4 servings

1 small onion, sliced

1
/
2
cup (120 ml) dry red wine

1
/
2
teaspoon beef bouillon concentrate

1 clove garlic, minced

1
/
4
cup (30 g) chopped walnuts

1
/
4
cup (15 g) chopped fresh parsley

YIELD:
4 servings 322 calories; 21 g fat; 23 g protein; 4 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber per serving

Coat your large, heavy skillet with nonstick cooking spray, and put it over medium-high heat. When it's hot, add 1 tablespoon (14 g) of the butter, swirl it around as it melts, then lay the pork in the skillet. Sauté until it's just golden on both sides. Remove the pork from the skillet, but keep it nearby.

Add half of the remaining butter to the skillet, and let it melt. Add the onion and sauté until it's getting limp. Spread the onion in an even layer in the skillet, and lay the pork on top.

Mix together the wine, beef bouillon concentrate, and garlic. Pour it over the pork, cover the pan with a tilted lid (leave a
1
/
4
-inch [6 mm] gap for steam to escape), turn the burner to low, and let the whole thing simmer for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, melt the remaining 1
1
/
2
teaspoons butter in a small skillet over medium heat, and stir the walnuts in it for 5 minutes, until they smell a little toasty. Remove from the heat and reserve.

When the timer beeps, add the parsley to the skillet. Let the whole thing simmer for another 5 minutes or so. Serve with the pan juices and a tablespoon (7.5 g) of walnuts on each serving.

Pork chops with a Japanese accent. How about serving the
Japanese Fried “Rice”
with this?

12 ounces (340 g) pork chops (2 chops, about
3
/
4
inch [2 cm] thick)

2 tablespoons (28 ml) soy sauce

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root

1
1
/
2
teaspoons dry sherry

1 tablespoon (14 g) coconut oil

YIELD:
2 servings 337 calories; 24 g fat; 27 g protein; 2 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber per serving

Lay your chops in a shallow nonreactive container—a glass pie plate is great. Mix together the soy sauce, ginger, and sherry, and pour over the chops, turning them once to coat. Let them marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.

Coat your large, heavy skillet with nonstick cooking spray, and put it over medium-high heat. Let it get good and hot, then add the coconut oil. Swirl it around the bottom of the skillet to cover. Now pick up your chops, let the marinade drip off (reserve the marinade), then throw 'em in the skillet. Brown them a bit on both sides, about 5 minutes each.

Pour the reserved marinade over the chops, turn the burner down, and let the chops simmer another 5 to 8 minutes, or until done through, then serve, scraping all the pan juices over them.

I rarely tire of pork steaks with just a little Cajun seasoning or barbecue rub, but this is very little extra trouble and seriously tasty. I'd probably serve coleslaw with this, but then I like coleslaw with anything.

2 pounds (900 g) pork shoulder steaks, no more than
1
/
2
inch (1 cm) thick

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil

1
/
4
cup (60 ml) chicken broth or
1
/
4
teaspoon chicken bouillon concentrate dissolved in
1
/
4
cup (60 ml) water

1 tablespoon (15 g) erythritol

1 tablespoon (11 g) spicy brown or Dijon mustard

5 drops maple extract

YIELD:
4 servings 437 calories; 34 g fat; 30 g protein; 1 g carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber per serving

Give your large, heavy skillet a shot of nonstick cooking spray and start it heating over high heat while you season the pork steaks with salt and pepper. In a minute or so, add the olive oil, swirl it around to coat the pan, and throw in your steaks. Cover them with a tilted lid.

Mix together everything else and place by the stove.

After about 5 minutes, flip your pork steaks and let them cook on the other side, again with a tilted lid.

When your pork steaks are almost done through, transfer them to a plate. Pour the mustard-maple mixture into the pan and stir it around, scraping up any tasty brown bits. Let it boil hard until it cooks down by about half. Put the steaks back in, flip them to coat, and let the whole thing keep cooking just a minute more until the sauce is the consistency of half-and-half. Plate the steaks, pour the sauce over them, and serve.

There's something about the New England–Mexican hybrid of maple and chipotle that is simply extraordinary. That this takes no more than 20 minutes is a bonus.