Blueberry muffins

Recipe
Makes about 10

Ingredients:

• fresh blueberries (at least 1/4 cup)
• 1 c almond flour
• 2 T coconut flour
• 4 T xylitol
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/4 t ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 65 drops of liquid stevia (I measure 15 drops per t) (Paraguaya brand)
• 3 medium or large eggs

Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F). Reserve the blueberries. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add all the wet ingredients except and stir until mixed.

Spoon the batter into muffin trays. If you use silicon baking trays, greasing is not required. Bake for about 5 minutes, no longer than 7 minutes. Take the muffins out of the oven and put the blueberries on top, pushing slightly to break through the crust which has developed. There is no need to push them further in to the batter.

Return the muffins to the oven. Bake for a total of 15-20 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly depressed, or a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean.


Source

Like all my muffin recipes, the base ratio of coconut flour, almond flour, and eggs comes from Elana's Pantry. The rest of the recipe was developed through trial and error.

Notes

...and there was a lot of error when it came to the first batch of muffins, which had the blueberries in the batter from the start. They all sunk to the bottom, forming a bluish-purple mush. Once the muffins have begun to cook, the batter is capable of holding the berries in suspension.

As with the chocolate muffins, I recommend letting the muffins cool before eating them to allow the flavor to develop.

Ingredients like stevia, xylitol, and almond flour can differ by brand. You may want to look at the products I'm using and consider making modifications if my measurements sound odd to you.

The Greek yogurt I use is lowfat and has a live culture (which will of course be killed by baking, but live culture yogurts tend to be lower carb). It provides 4 g carbs per 100 g, and 57 kcal.

It should be possible to use frozen blueberries in this recipe, provided they are thawed and well-drained. There will be more streaking in the batter with frozen berries.

Chicken mole with almond-flour 'cornbread'

Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients (chicken mole):

• 2 chicken breasts
• vegetable oil (for pan-frying)
  
• 1 diced onion
• 2 cups of chicken bouillon
• 1 tin of diced tomatoes (or an equal quantity fresh), chopped
• 1 t oregano (or epazote)
  
• 1 green chili pepper
• 1/2 t ground cloves
• 1 T Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• almond flour
  

Ingredients ('cornbread'):

• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 T coconut flour
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or butter
  
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 c milk

Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F).

Heat some oil in a deep, lidded skillet and brown the chicken on all sides. Add all the other mole ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pan. Cook for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients for the 'cornbread'. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into a greased pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

When the chicken has cooked, remove it from the sauce. Process the sauce in a blender or food processor until it is as smooth as possible. Return the sauce to the pan and add the chicken. Add about 4 T of almond flour to thicken and flavor the sauce; more can be added if needed. Simmer for about 10 minutes before serving.

Source

The mole recipe is a variation of a recipe I have had for a long time (before I started keeping track of the origins of recipes). The original is much spicier.

The almond-flour 'cornbread' is simply an unseasoned variation of my muffin base, which has its origins in Elana's Pantry. I used the almond flour, coconut flour, and egg ratio from her cinnamon bun muffins, and altered the rest.

Notes

When I make this recipe without concern for carbs, I serve it with rice and beans rather than a sort of cornbread. The almond-flour 'cornbread' simply seemed like a suitable side for this main dish. It would probably go well with other dishes which would normally be served with cornbread.

Gado-gado

Recipe
Sauce serves 3

Ingredients (base): Incorporate any of the following ingredients

• eggs
• green beans
• carrots
• cauliflower
• broccoli
• bean sprouts
• cucumber
• cabbage
  

Ingredients (sauce):

• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 2 t soy sauce
• liquid stevia to taste
• 1 T lime juice
• 1/4 c coconut milk
• 1/4 c water
• red chili flakes
• 1 clove crushed (pureed) garlic
  

The base should be prepared in advance so that it has time to cool.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil. Fill a bowl with cool water (ice cubes may be added). Prepare the vegetables while waiting:

• Broccoli: cut into mid-sized florets
• Cabbage: cut in narrow strips
• Carrots: peel and cut in small rounds
• Cauliflower: cut into mid-sized florets
• Cucumber: peel and slice into rounds
• Green beans: cut into bite-sized pieces

Cook the vegetables briefly; they should retain a crispy texture. Don't mix the different types of vegetables when cooking, although the same water can be re-used for the next batch of vegetables.

• Bean sprouts: 30 seconds
  
• Broccoli: no more than 4 minutes
• Cabbage: 1 minute
• Carrots: 3 minutes
• Cauliflower: no more than 2 minutes
• Cucumber: do not cook
• Green beans: 3 minutes

Once the vegetables have cooked, remove them from the boiling water and put them in the bowl with the cool water to prevent them from cooking further.

Drain the vegetables and put them in the fridge until needed.

Hard-boil the eggs, if using them, and put them in the fridge until needed.

The sauce can be made just before serving.

In a small saucepan, add all ingredients except the water and stevia. Mix well. Add in the water. Bring the sauce to a light boil over medium heat, until it begins to thicken. Sweeten to taste with stevia.

The sauce can be served hot or cold, but the base should be served cold.

Arrange the vegetables and peeled, cut eggs on plates and drizzle with the peanut sauce.

Source

The recipe for the peanut sauce is slightly modified from one given by Cooking with Amy. The remainder of the recipe has been in my possession for so long that I no longer know where it originated, although I'm reasonably certain I got it off Usenet.

Notes

If carbs are not a consideration, you can add some boiled new potatoes as well.

This dish can easily be made vegan by eliminating the eggs.

I usually leave out the cauliflower and cabbage and use all the remaining vegetables. I like the sauce warm, to contrast with the cool vegetables. It's a refreshing summer dish on days when it seems too hot to cook.

A miracle of nature

One friend has suggested I must have discovered the secret of nuclear fission and am hiding it in my marrow, and another suggested I'm an autotroph. The doctor and dietician had no explanation but seemed less inclined to propose explanations.

After 2.5 weeks on a low-carb diet (the dietician checked over my eating record), with my usual exercise routine, I haven't lost any weight. Normally, she said, she first puts people on a healthy diet (which I had when I first saw her), and if that isn't effective, she tries the low carb diet, which has never before failed to deliver results. She gave me instructions for gradually re-introducing carbs into my diet, so I'm no longer low-carbing, although I still have a number of low-carb recipes to post. Then she sent me back to the doctor.

The doctor couldn't find anything medically wrong with me, but also doesn't know what could be causing this. She referred me to the obesity clinic (although I'm not technically obese), so in the next month or so I'll find out what some more experts have to say about it.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy the fact that I'm otherwise in better physical condition due to picking up exercise again, and continue to enjoy my (mostly healthy) food.

Chocolate muffins

Recipe
Makes about 12

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 T coconut flour
• 4 T xylitol
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t ginger powder
• 1/2 c Dutch process cocoa powder
• 1/2 c Greek yogurt
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 3 medium or large eggs
• 3 1/2 t liquid stevia (at 15 drops per t) (Now brand)
  
• milk
  

Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F). Mix the dry ingredients together. Add all the wet ingredients except the milk and stir until mixed. Add a few tablespoons of milk until the batter has a consistency of cake batter: it should be possible to both spoon and pour it, and if a spoonful of batter is removed, the hole will gradually fill in. 2-4 tablespoons is probably sufficient, but it depends on the size of your eggs.

Spoon the batter into muffin trays. If you use silicon baking trays, greasing is not required. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly depressed, or a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean.

Important: Leave the muffins to cool before eating them. They simply don't taste nice when they're warm.

Source

My experiments with almond-flour muffins were inspired by Elana's Pantry's cinnamon bun muffins. I retained the ratio of almond flour, coconut flour, and eggs from her muffins, and then began working on substitutes for the agave syrup. After a certain number of cinnamon muffins I began experimenting with other flavourings.

Notes

It should be noted that these are not the lowest carb of all the muffins I produced. Cocoa powder adds quite a few carbs (58 g per 100 g)! But sometimes you just need chocolate. I consider them an acceptable component of my low-carb diet, but you really should limit your intake.

The ginger doesn't create a gingery taste. It is just used to bring out the other flavours. You can also substitute 1/4 t cayenne pepper to achieve the same result (yes, I've tried this).

If you're not concerned about calories or carbs, I bet these would be great with some chocolate chips tossed in.

The muffins won't rise very much, and may sink a bit when cooling.

The Greek yogurt I use is lowfat and has a live culture (which will of course be killed by baking, but live culture yogurts tend to be lower carb). It provides 4 g carbs per 100 g, and 57 kcal.

Under normal circumstances I enjoy agave syrup, but for my low-carb diet I think stevia and a little bit of xylitol is better.

Ingredients like stevia, xylitol, and almond flour can differ by brand. You may want to look at the products I'm using and consider making modifications if my measurements sound odd to you.

I'll be posting some other (lower carb) muffin recipes in the future.

Courgette boats

Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 very large courgette (or 2 smaller ones)
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers (or romano peppers)
  
• 1 medium aubergine
• 2 toes garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  
• 150 g mozzarella cheese
• 3 T grated parmesan cheese
• 3 t coconut flour
• vegetable oil
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t dried thyme
• pinch of dried lavender
  
• salt
• black pepper
• liquid stevia (optional)
  

Pre-heat the oven to 180° C (350° F). Cut the courgette in half lengthwise. If it is very large, cut it in half to make shorter pieces. If the pieces do not lie flat with the skin side down, slice away a bit from the skin side so that it is stable when resting skin side down. Scoop out the inside of the courgette into a bowl. Leave enough flesh to hold the shape.

This image shows the courgette after it has been scooped out, and gives an indication of the size of the courgette.

Mince the onion and garlic and put them in a deep pan with some vegetable oil. Cook them gently until the onions are soft.

While the onions are cooking, chop the aubergine and peppers into bite-sized pieces. Cut the reserved interior of the courgette as well. Add the chopped vegetables and the tomatoes to the onions and garlic. Allow it to simmer until the aubergine and courgette pieces are still firm but cooked.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the herbs. Pour the vegetable mixture into a small mesh strainer and let it sit until the liquid has drained. (The liquid can be reserved to add to a soup or another dish.)

Add the grated parmesan to the vegetable mixture. Season it to taste with salt, black pepper, and a few drops of stevia. Stir in 1 t of coconut flour.

Use 2 t of coconut flour to flour the inside of the courgette boats, then spoon the filling in. Set the boats in a lightly greased baking pan. Slice the mozzarella and set it on top of the stuffed boats.

Put the boats in the oven until they are cooked but still firm enough to retain their shape, about 30 minutes. Briefly grill the boats if the mozzarella has not developed a brown crust.

Source

This dish wasn't inspired by any recipe in particular.

Notes

If you don't have basil, thyme, and lavender, you can use herbes de Provence in place of all three.

Coconut flour is exceptionally good at absorbing liquid; my baking pan didn't have any juice on it. If I wasn't practicing low-carb eating, I would probably have used cornstarch.

I don't care for the taste of tomatoes without some sweetener added, which is why I incorporate the stevia (I used 5 drops). You can easily leave it out.

Vermouth chicken with celeriac-carrot mash

Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients (chicken):

• 2 chicken breasts
• vegetable oil
  
• 1/2 chicken bouillon cube
• 1 shallot
• 1/4 cup dry vermouth
• 1/4 cup cream or cream substitute
• 1 t dried tarragon
• salt
• pepper
• coconut flour
  

Ingredients (mash):

• salt
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 smallish celeriac
• 2 T butter
• milk, cream, or cream substitute

Pre-heat the oven to 200° C (400° F). Pound the chicken at the thicker ends in order to make it more uniform and set it aside.

Finely chop the shallot. In a frying pan, with a bit of oil, lightly sauté the shallot until it is soft, then remove it from the heat. Put the shallot into a small baking dish. Add the chicken, the bouillon cube, and enough water to cover the chicken. Put the pan in the oven; baste or turn over the chicken from time to time.

Peel the carrots and chop them roughly. Do the same with the celeriac. Put them into a pan and fill with cold water just up to the top of the vegetables. Bring the pan to a boil and allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes, or until both carrots and celeriac feel extremely soft when you stick a fork through them. Drain the vegetables and return them to the pan. Add the butter to the vegetables.

Heat the frying pan again, adding some additional oil. Remove the chicken from the oven and lightly fry it on both sides before setting it aside. Deglaze the frying pan with the liquid in the baking pan. Add the vermouth, and allow it to reduce.

Puree the vegetables, using as much milk/cream as needed to get a smooth consistency. Salt to taste and set aside.

Add the cream to the frying pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add coconut flour gradually to the pan, no more than 1 T at a time, whisking after each addition. Wait briefly after each addition: coconut flour will gradually absorb liquid and change the consistency of the sauce. Continue until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Add the dried tarragon to the sauce.

Source

Inspiration for this recipe came from Christina Cooks.

Notes

I use a cream substitute with 85 calories and 4.5 g carbs.

Carrots have 9.6 g of carbs per 100 g and celeriac has 9.2 g. Vermouth is one of the lower carb alcohols, at 1.4 g.

If you are not on a low-carb diet, you can use cornstarch to thicken the sauce instead of using coconut flour. This will produce a somewhat smoother consistency.