300 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes (51 page)

Add the thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, red pepper, and cheese. Stir it all up until it's well-combined. Cover, set to low, and let it cook for 4 hours.

Yield:
8 servings, each with: 169 calories, 13 g fat, 8 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 4 g usable carbs.

Mushrooms Stroganoff

Even That Nice Boy I Married, not a mushroom fan, loved this. He actually asked for the leftovers to take for lunch! This is great over steak or chicken, but try it in omelets, too.

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) sliced mushrooms, button, crimini, and portobello

1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream

1/4 cup (60 ml) Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal

1/2 teaspoon pepper

I used 1/2 pound (225 g) of each kind of mushroom, but just one or two kinds is fine. Buy them sliced—so much easier! Dump all your mushrooms in the slow cooker, and if you're using different kinds, stir them together.

Stir everything else together, pour over the mushrooms, cover the pot, and set to low. Cook for 5 to 6 hours.

Yield:
12 servings, each with: 87 calories, 8 g fat, 2 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 3 g usable carbs.

Curried Mushrooms Malabar

This recipe is for fans of the exotic.

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) sliced mushrooms—portobello, crimini, button, or a combination

1 can (13 1/2 ounces, or 380 ml) coconut milk

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon (8 g) grated ginger root

1 tablespoon (11 g) mustard seed

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal

Dump the mushrooms in the slow cooker. Measure everything else and stir it together well. Pour it evenly over the mushrooms, cover the pot, and set to low. Cook for 4 hours and then serve.

Yield:
12 servings, each with: 92 calories, 8 g fat, 2 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 4 g usable carbs.

Baked Beans

This has a classic baked bean flavor and will be appreciated at any barbecue. I wouldn't attempt this recipe without a slow cooker. Do you have any idea how long it takes to cook soybeans soft? But with your slow cooker, you can just forget about them for 12 hours. If your health food store can't get you black soybeans (they're lower carb than white soybeans), you can order them from
www.locarber.com
.

2 cups (372 g) dry black soybeans

2 cups (475 ml) water

1/2 cup (80 g) chopped onion

1/2 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

3 tablespoons (45 g) low-carb ketchup (see recipe
page 332
)

1 tablespoon (9 g) dry mustard

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda

2 cups (475 ml) water

3/4 pound (340 g) smoked ham hocks

Put the soybeans in a big, nonreactive bowl and cover with the first 2 cups (475 ml) of water. Let them sit until the water is absorbed. Then put your soaked beans in the freezer overnight. (The freezing water will help break cell walls in the soybeans, making them soften faster when you cook them.)

When you want to cook the soybeans, thaw them and pour off any soaking water. Put them in your slow cooker. Add the onion, molasses, ketchup, dry mustard, and Splenda. Pour the additional 2 cups (475 ml) of water over all and stir it up. Now dig a hole in the center with a spoon and plunk the ham hock down in it. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let cook for 12 hours.

Fish out the ham hock with tongs, remove and discard the skin and bone. Chop the meat and stir it back into the beans before serving.

Yield:
10 servings (5 cups total), each with: 286 calories, 15 g fat, 8 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate, 11 g dietary fiber, 1 g usable carbs.

Slow Cooker “Risotto” with Mushrooms and Peas

Okay, it's not really risotto. But it's got a lot of the same flavors, and it cooks while you do something else.

8 ounces (225 g) mushrooms, crimini or portobello, sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter

2 tablespoons (28 ml) olive oil

1 tablespoon (2 g) dried oregano

1/2 head cauliflower

1 cup (100 g) grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups (195 g) frozen peas

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup (80 ml) dry white wine

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules

1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream

1 tablespoon (15 ml) balsamic vinegar

2 ounces (55 g) cream cheese

Start the mushrooms and chopped onion sautéing in the butter and olive oil. Use the edge of your spatula to break the mushrooms up into smaller pieces as you sauté them. When the onion is translucent and some liquid has cooked out of the mushrooms, stir in the oregano. Remove from heat.

Run the cauliflower through the shredding blade of your food processor.

Coat your slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Dump in the cauliflower, mushrooms and onion, peas, Parmesan, and pepper. Stir to combine.

In a 2-cup (475 ml) glass measuring cup, measure the wine. Add the cream, bouillon concentrate, and balsamic vinegar and whisk until the bouillon concentrate is dissolved. Pour this mixture into the cauliflower mixture and stir the whole thing up. Now pack it down and smooth the top. Put the cream cheese on top.

Cover the slow cooker, set to low, and let cook for 4 hours. When it's done, stir in the cream cheese until everything's evenly coated and serve.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 362 calories, 31 g fat, 10 g protein, 11 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 8 g usable carbs.

Bavarian Cabbage

This is great with the
Sauerbrauten
on
page 126
!

1 head red cabbage

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium Granny Smith apple, chopped

6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup (235 ml) water

3 tablespoons (4.5 g) Splenda

2/3 cup (160 ml) cider vinegar

3 tablespoons (45 ml) gin

Whack your head of cabbage in quarters and remove the core. Then whack it into biggish chunks. Put it in a big mixing bowl. Add the onion, apple, and bacon to the cabbage. Toss everything together. Transfer the mixture to your slow cooker. (This will fill a 3-quart [2.8 L] jobbie just about to overflowing! I barely got the top on mine.)

In a bowl, mix together the salt, water, Splenda, vinegar, and gin. Pour the mixture over the cabbage. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 6 to 8 hours.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 80 calories, 3 g fat, 2 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 6 g usable carbs.

Foil Packet Side Dishes

This is a nifty little technique: You wrap your vegetable side dish in a foil packet and then drop it in the slow cooker right on top of your main dish, whatever it may be. You get two dishes, with only the one slow cooker to wash.

However, since most vegetables cook more quickly than the main dishes do, you'll need to put them in later. That means these side dishes won't work for days when you're out from breakfast until supper. They're ideal, however, for those days when you're in and out of the house all day. Just make up the packet at the same time you put your main dish in to cook and stash it in the fridge. Then drop it in the slow cooker on one of those quick trips through the house, between picking up the dry cleaning and taking the kid to gymnastics.

I haven't tried it, but I'm betting using frozen vegetables would add a good hour to these cooking times, maybe more.

Hobo UnPotatoes Slow-Cooker Style