Authors: Dana Carpender
Tags: #General, #Cooking, #Diets, #Health & Fitness, #Weight Control, #Recipes, #Low Carbohydrate, #Low-carbohydrate diet, #Health & Healing
When the chicken is browned all over, remove it to a plate and reserve. Some extra fat will have accumulated in the skillet. Pour off all but a couple of tablespoons (30 ml) and then add the turnips, carrots, and onion. Sauté them, scraping the tasty brown bits off the bottom of the skillet as you stir, until they’re getting a touch of gold, to.
Transfer the sautéed vegetables to a slow cooker.
Cut the cabbage into eighths and put it on top of the vegetables. Arrange the chicken on top of the cabbage. Sprinkle the garlic over the chicken and vegetables, making sure some ends up on the chicken and some down among the vegetables. Sprinkle the rosemary, thyme, basil, and bay leaves into the slow cooker, making sure some gets down into the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 6 to 7 hours.
Yield:
8 servings
Each with 36 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 4 g usable carbs.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 tablespoons (84 g) butter, divided
8 ounces (225 g) Camembert
cup (40 g) slivered almonds 4 scallions, thinly sliced
Place a chicken breast in a large, heavy, resealable plastic bag and pound it until it’s ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.
Melt 4 tablespoons (56 g) of the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Sauté the chicken until it’s golden on the first side.
While the first side of the chicken is cooking, divide the cheese into four equal portions, peel off the white rind, and thinly slice each portion.
Flip the chicken and lay a portion of cheese over each chicken breast.
Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (28 g) of butter in a small skillet and add the almonds. Stir until they’re lightly golden.
When the second side of the chicken is golden and the cheese is melted, place each breast on a serving plate and divide the almonds evenly over them. Scatter a sliced scallion over each breast and serve.
Yield:
4 servings
Each with 4 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber, for a total of 2 grams of usable carbs and 43 grams of protein.
If you’re the type of person who likes to multitask, this recipe is for you. If you can slice and peel the cheese while the first side of the chicken cooks and get the almonds toasting. You should be able to get the almonds done just in time to move hot almonds onto just-done chicken breasts.
There are plenty of vegetables in here, so you don’t need a thing with it, except maybe some bread for the carb-eaters in the family. And the gravy comes out a beautiful color!
2½ to 3 pounds (1.3 to 1.4 kg) cut-up chicken (I use leg and thigh quarters, cut apart at the joints.)
8 ounces (225 g) turnips (two turnips roughly the size of tennis balls), peeled and cut into chunks
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium carrot, sliced
½ medium onion, sliced
1 tablespoon (15 ml) chicken bouillon concentrate
12 ounces (360 ml) light beer
1 can (14½ ounces, or 410 g) tomatoes with green chiles
Guar or xanthan (optional)
Put the turnips, celery, carrot, onion, bouillon, and chicken in a slow cooker. Pour the beer and the tomatoes over the lot. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 8 to 9 hours.
When the time’s up, remove the chicken with tongs and place it on a serving platter. Then use a slotted spoon to scoop out the vegetables. Put 1½ cups (360 ml) of them in a blender and pile the rest on and around the chicken on the platter. Scoop out 1½ to 2 cups (360 to 480 ml) of the liquid left in the slow cooker and put it in the blender with the vegetables. Purée the vegetables and broth and thicken the mixture a little more with the guar or xanthan, if it seems necessary. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve as a sauce with the chicken and vegetables.
Yield:
5 servings
Each with 30 g protein, 10 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 8 g usable carbs.
The slow cooker method is hardly authentic, but the flavors come from an Ethiopian recipe—except that the Ethiopians would use a lot more cayenne! Increase it if you like really hot food.
1 cut-up broiler-fryer, about 3 pounds (1.4 kg)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon grated ginger
2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
½ cup (120 ml) water
Guar or xanthan
Place the everything but the guar or xanthan in a slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.
If you’d like to make this really stewlike, you can pick the meat off the bones when it’s done (which will be very easy), thicken the gravy with guar or xanthan, and then stir the chicken back into the liquid. Or you can just serve the gravy over the chicken. Take your pick.
Yield:
5 servings
Each with 34 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 2 g usable
This is almost a Moroccan
tagine
, but all the recipes I’ve seen call for some sort of starch. So I ditched the starch and just kept the seasonings, which are exotic and delicious.
3½ to 4 pounds (1.6 to 1.8 kg) chicken, cut up
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¾ cup (180 ml) chicken broth
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon (1.5 g) Splenda
1 tablespoon (16.5 g) tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and brown the chicken in the oil.
When the chicken is golden all over, remove it from the Dutch oven and pour off the fat. Put the chicken back in the Dutch oven and scatter the onion and garlic over it.
Combine the broth and the next 10 ingredients (through salt) and whisk together well. Pour over the chicken, cover the Dutch oven, and turn the heat to low. Let the whole thing simmer for a good 45 minutes.
Uncover the chicken and let it simmer for another 15 minutes or so to let the juices concentrate a bit. Serve each piece of chicken with some of the onion and juices spooned over it.
Yield:
4 generous servings
Each with 6 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber, for a total of 5 grams of usable carbs and 58 grams of protein.
This dish is a nice change from the usual beef stew. It’s light, flavorful, and your whole meal in one pot.
1½ pounds (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) cubes
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil, divided
8 ounces (225 g) sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cups (345 g) zucchini slices
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can (14 ounces, or 400 g) tomato wedges
¾ cup (180 ml) chicken broth
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon concentrate
1 tablespoon (3 g) poultry seasoning
Guar or xanthan
In a big, heavy skillet, heat 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the oil. Brown the chicken until it is golden all over. Transfer the chicken to a slow
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of oil in the skillet and sauté the mushrooms, onion, and zucchini until the mushrooms change color and the onions are translucent. Transfer them to the slow cooker, too. Add the garlic and tomatoes to the slow cooker.
Put the broth and bouillon in the skillet and stir them around to dissolve any flavorful bits sticking to the skillet. Pour into the slow cooker. Sprinkle the poultry seasoning over the mixture. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 4 to 5 hours. When the time’s up, thicken the liquid in the slow cooker with guar or xanthan.
Yield:
6 servings
Each with 11 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 10 g usable carbs.
This chicken stew comes from Senegal. Traditionally it is quite hot, so feel free to increase the cayenne if you like!
6 pounds (2.7 kg) chicken, cut up
3 large onions, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed
½ cup (120 ml) lemon juice
1½ teaspoons salt ½ teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste
¼ cup (60 ml) oil
8 cups (960 g) Cauliflower Rice (page 212)
In a slow cooker, combine the onions, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne. Add the chicken and toss so that all the chicken comes in contact with the seasonings. Cover your slow cooker and refrigerate overnight. (It’s a good idea to stir this a few times if you think of it, though I don’t expect you to get up in the middle of the night to do it!)
Using tongs, remove the chicken from the marinade. Pat it dry with paper towels and set it aside.
In a big, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Place the chicken skin side down and cook it until the skin is browned. (You’ll need to do this in batches, unless your skillet is a lot bigger than mine!) Don’t bother browning the other side of the chicken.
Transfer the chicken back to the slow cooker with the marinade. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.
Remove the chicken from the slow cooker with tongs. Put the chicken on a platter, cover it with foil, and put it in a warm place.
Ladle the onions and liquid out of the slow cooker into the skillet and turn the heat to high. Boil this hard, stirring often, until most of the liquid has evaporated. (You want the volume reduced by more than half.) Serve the chicken, onions, and sauce over the Cauliflower Rice.
Yield:
8 servings
Each with 45 g protein, 11 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 8 g usable carbs.
This takes some work, but boy, is it comfort food. You could make this with leftover turkey instead if you prefer. If you do that, put the cubed, cooked turkey in about 5 to 6 hours into the initial cooking time.
1½ pounds (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1’ cubes
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, chunked
2 medium turnips, cut into ½-inch (1.3-cm) cubes