I have started this thread for any low carbers/low GI'ers/sugar free folks as holiday season is now upon us (well in the USA anyway). I will get us started, and please can you contribute with your own ideas too. I think we need to compete with the indulgent sugary confections going on in that other thread!!!
I have four things to share today. All take some time to prepare, but well, its the holiday's so you have time don't you?
LOW CARB CREPES
I'm very much in awe of @FatDog and her low carb pancakes, and so she has inspired me to see if I could make some crepes as they are so versatile this time of year with sweet and savoury, and as I discovered yesterday, lasagne sheets - whoop whoop!!! Recipe is courtesy of Danielle Walker, and if you are interested, 10 crepes is enough pasta sheets for a lasagne that serves 8......
Ingredients.
6 large eggs
3 tablespoons of coconut flour (sifted)
2 teaspoons of melted coconut oil.
Coconut flour is about twice the price of other specialty flours in the UK, but you need far less as it really absorbs liquid, so I guess it is cost effective in the long run!
Method.
You blend the eggs, flour and oil together, but then let it sit at room temperature for a good 15 minutes to let the coconut flour do its thing. If you don't let it sit, you just end up with an omelette, so after 15 mins you will see it thicken up like proper batter. You need only a smidging of oil in a non stick pan and I found it better actually cooking without the added oil. I used a quarter cup of batter per pancake on a medium heat, poured it in and swirled it around my pan (25cm/10in) until the base was completely covered.
Cal and carb count. This mixture makes 10 crepes and comes in at a bargain 56 calories and 1g of carbs per crepe.
RICOTTA CHEESE
Jamie Oliver is right. For some odd reason its really hard to get decent ricotta in the UK. Courtesy of Maria Elia, this is so easy to make I can't quite believe I have not had a go at this before. You need a muslin cloth and a piece of string. Reminds me of summer.........
Ingredients
Litre of full fat goats milk. I used fresh, not UHT, but I'm sure it would be fine.
Half teaspoon of sea salt plus more for seasoning
5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Tablespoon of dried mint (optional)
Method
Heat milk and salt over a LOW heat (or you will burn the milk onto the bottom of the pan) and heat until it reaches 87 degs (I don't have a thermometer so did it until just to the boil). Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Stir just once. Don't be tempted! Leave to sit for 5 mins, the curds will separate. They are very fine curds and they rise to the top.
Line a small colander or sieve with a muslin, leaving enough overhang so you can bring the sides together. Ladle rather than pour the curds and whey into the lined colander placed over a large deep bowl and leave to drain for about half an hour. You then bring the corners of the cloth together and tie with string, making a loop at the top. Leave to drain for a couple of hours, depending upon how dense you want it. I hung mine from the tap so it could drip into a bowl in the sink for 4 hours.
Remove the bundle of cheese and place in a bowl. Add the mint and season, but you can also add other things such as lemon rind, chillis, dill. Mix well. Refrigerate for up to 3 days, although best eaten within 24 hours. You can also make this sweet by adding a little sugar
cinnamon and a drop of rose or orange water or pour honey over the top and serve with some figs. 
Cal and carb count 644 calories and 53g of carbs for a whole cheese. It makes about a 200g piece and depending upon what you do with it, is enough for four people as it is rich.
KALE, MUSHROOM AND WALNUT LOAF
This is a nordic recipe which I found in the UK edition of Red magazine. It makes absolutely loads. You need either a very large two litre loaf tin, or two, two pound loaf tins. I put mine in a cake tin with deep sides. This is a low GI dish and is not suitable for those with gluten sensitivities or if you follow a grain-free diet. However your veggie mates will enjoy this served with cranberry relish as an alternative to the standard nut loaf.
Ingredients
150g spelt (the whole grain not the flour)
3 tbspn olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
300g mushrooms diced
600g kale, finely chopped (I only had 400g and it turned out fine)
150g walnuts chopped
1-2 tsp grated nutmeg
6 eggs
500ml low fat greek yogurt (I used full fat)
100g rolled oats
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C/375F. Boil the spelt in water for about 15 mins, drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the onion, garlic, mushrooms and kale for 5 mins. Please note that I blitzed mine in the blender first so it was very finely chopped, I also made sure there was no water in it at the end of the cooking time. Turn off the heat and add the spelt, walnuts, nutmeg and seasoning and mix. Beat the eggs with the yoghurt and stir into the pan along with the oats.
Pour the mixture into 2L baking tin lined with baking parchment and bake for 45 mins (mine took an hour). Turn it out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before slicing and serving with roast veg and cranberry relish. It also tastes nice cold spread with butter
Cal and carb count 242 cals and 22g. Makes 12 large portions
SUGAR FREE PEAR AND BERRY CRISP (grain free crumble).
It's not the lowest carb dish in the world, but as about as guilt free as it comes at this time of year. Thanks again to Danielle Walker for this one. I have had this cold for breakfast as well as a hot desert.
Ingredients
3lb's pears, peeled, cored and sliced
2 cups blackberries
1 cup blueberries
1 tbpsn lemon juice
2 teaspoons coconut flour
0.25 tspn sea salt
0.25 cinnamon
0.25 allspice
Topping
2 tablespoons coconut oil in solid form
1 cup of almonds
1 cup of pecans
4 pitted dates
3 tbspns shredded, unsweetened coconut
1.5 tspn cinnamon
0.25 tspn sea salt
Method
Preheat oven to 375F/180C.
Place pears and berries in a bowl and add the lemon juice coconut flour, salt, cinnamon and allspice and stir to combine. Pour into a baking dish.
Blitz together the topping ingredients until they look like oats/breadcrumbs and spread topping evenly over the fruit mixture.
Bake for 35 mins or until the juices are bubbling in the corners of the dish and the crisp is brown and crunchy.
Cal and carb count. 389 cals per portion and 44g of carbs. Makes 8 large portions.
I have four things to share today. All take some time to prepare, but well, its the holiday's so you have time don't you?
LOW CARB CREPES
I'm very much in awe of @FatDog and her low carb pancakes, and so she has inspired me to see if I could make some crepes as they are so versatile this time of year with sweet and savoury, and as I discovered yesterday, lasagne sheets - whoop whoop!!! Recipe is courtesy of Danielle Walker, and if you are interested, 10 crepes is enough pasta sheets for a lasagne that serves 8......
Ingredients.
6 large eggs
3 tablespoons of coconut flour (sifted)
2 teaspoons of melted coconut oil.
Coconut flour is about twice the price of other specialty flours in the UK, but you need far less as it really absorbs liquid, so I guess it is cost effective in the long run!
Method.
You blend the eggs, flour and oil together, but then let it sit at room temperature for a good 15 minutes to let the coconut flour do its thing. If you don't let it sit, you just end up with an omelette, so after 15 mins you will see it thicken up like proper batter. You need only a smidging of oil in a non stick pan and I found it better actually cooking without the added oil. I used a quarter cup of batter per pancake on a medium heat, poured it in and swirled it around my pan (25cm/10in) until the base was completely covered.
Cal and carb count. This mixture makes 10 crepes and comes in at a bargain 56 calories and 1g of carbs per crepe.
RICOTTA CHEESE
Jamie Oliver is right. For some odd reason its really hard to get decent ricotta in the UK. Courtesy of Maria Elia, this is so easy to make I can't quite believe I have not had a go at this before. You need a muslin cloth and a piece of string. Reminds me of summer.........
Ingredients
Litre of full fat goats milk. I used fresh, not UHT, but I'm sure it would be fine.
Half teaspoon of sea salt plus more for seasoning
5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Tablespoon of dried mint (optional)
Method
Heat milk and salt over a LOW heat (or you will burn the milk onto the bottom of the pan) and heat until it reaches 87 degs (I don't have a thermometer so did it until just to the boil). Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Stir just once. Don't be tempted! Leave to sit for 5 mins, the curds will separate. They are very fine curds and they rise to the top.
Line a small colander or sieve with a muslin, leaving enough overhang so you can bring the sides together. Ladle rather than pour the curds and whey into the lined colander placed over a large deep bowl and leave to drain for about half an hour. You then bring the corners of the cloth together and tie with string, making a loop at the top. Leave to drain for a couple of hours, depending upon how dense you want it. I hung mine from the tap so it could drip into a bowl in the sink for 4 hours.
Remove the bundle of cheese and place in a bowl. Add the mint and season, but you can also add other things such as lemon rind, chillis, dill. Mix well. Refrigerate for up to 3 days, although best eaten within 24 hours. You can also make this sweet by adding a little sugar
cinnamon and a drop of rose or orange water or pour honey over the top and serve with some figs. Cal and carb count 644 calories and 53g of carbs for a whole cheese. It makes about a 200g piece and depending upon what you do with it, is enough for four people as it is rich.
KALE, MUSHROOM AND WALNUT LOAF
This is a nordic recipe which I found in the UK edition of Red magazine. It makes absolutely loads. You need either a very large two litre loaf tin, or two, two pound loaf tins. I put mine in a cake tin with deep sides. This is a low GI dish and is not suitable for those with gluten sensitivities or if you follow a grain-free diet. However your veggie mates will enjoy this served with cranberry relish as an alternative to the standard nut loaf.
Ingredients
150g spelt (the whole grain not the flour)
3 tbspn olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
300g mushrooms diced
600g kale, finely chopped (I only had 400g and it turned out fine)
150g walnuts chopped
1-2 tsp grated nutmeg
6 eggs
500ml low fat greek yogurt (I used full fat)
100g rolled oats
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C/375F. Boil the spelt in water for about 15 mins, drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the onion, garlic, mushrooms and kale for 5 mins. Please note that I blitzed mine in the blender first so it was very finely chopped, I also made sure there was no water in it at the end of the cooking time. Turn off the heat and add the spelt, walnuts, nutmeg and seasoning and mix. Beat the eggs with the yoghurt and stir into the pan along with the oats.
Pour the mixture into 2L baking tin lined with baking parchment and bake for 45 mins (mine took an hour). Turn it out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before slicing and serving with roast veg and cranberry relish. It also tastes nice cold spread with butter
Cal and carb count 242 cals and 22g. Makes 12 large portions
SUGAR FREE PEAR AND BERRY CRISP (grain free crumble).
It's not the lowest carb dish in the world, but as about as guilt free as it comes at this time of year. Thanks again to Danielle Walker for this one. I have had this cold for breakfast as well as a hot desert.
Ingredients
3lb's pears, peeled, cored and sliced
2 cups blackberries
1 cup blueberries
1 tbpsn lemon juice
2 teaspoons coconut flour
0.25 tspn sea salt
0.25 cinnamon
0.25 allspice
Topping
2 tablespoons coconut oil in solid form
1 cup of almonds
1 cup of pecans
4 pitted dates
3 tbspns shredded, unsweetened coconut
1.5 tspn cinnamon
0.25 tspn sea salt
Method
Preheat oven to 375F/180C.
Place pears and berries in a bowl and add the lemon juice coconut flour, salt, cinnamon and allspice and stir to combine. Pour into a baking dish.
Blitz together the topping ingredients until they look like oats/breadcrumbs and spread topping evenly over the fruit mixture.
Bake for 35 mins or until the juices are bubbling in the corners of the dish and the crisp is brown and crunchy.
Cal and carb count. 389 cals per portion and 44g of carbs. Makes 8 large portions.
