I’m excited to launch a new series of little cookbooks that I call Low Carb 15. Simply, it is a little cookbook with fifteen recipes covering one subject or category with delicious adapted to low carb recipes. Since it is almost Cinco de Mayo, I launched with one of my favorite food types — Mexican Food!
I love it and have had to come up with adapted recipes to help keep me in maintenance mode. I sure don’t want to go back up in weight and it is a struggle all the time to not fall off the low carb path and indulge in some of the great food out there. Sure, I do fall off now and then, but I always try to snap back to the low carb intake. But it’s my mission to these days to try to adapt as many recipes for favorite foods to a low carb version.
This booklet has fifteen great recipes for tried and enjoyed Mexican and Tex-Mex food. It includes two recipes for soup, two for desserts, one for a spicy cheesy cornbread made with low carb flours, and the rest are main course items. A few of the recipes have been posted on this blog, but there are several new, never posted ones that are exclusive to this book.
The booklet is only available on eBook. At the moment, it is available from Smashwords (see widget above) andAmazon Kindle. It will be available on iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Kobe soon.
So check it out and treat yourself to a copy. If you like it, please review it. Thanks. And happy Cinco de Mayo!
Enchiladas are spicy and very tasty and are a part of my childhood onward. I love the many varieties, but sometimes I don’t have time or the patience to make the rolled ones. The easiest way to make enchiladas is into a casserole rather than rolling each one individually. It doesn’t come out as pretty, but it tastes as good. This low carb version uses low carb flour tortillas (3 nc each) that are not pre-fried briefly in oil, although you could do that if you would like to add a fried bread flavor to the dish.
1 lb Ground Beef
3/4 cup Onion, chopped
4 Low Carb Tortillas (6″)
4 oz. can Green Chiles, chopped
10 oz. can Red Enchilada Sauce
2 teaspoons Taco Seasoning
1 teaspoon red Chile Powder
1 cups shredded Cheddar Jack or 4 Cheese Mexican Cheese
1 tablespoon Butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F.)
Prepare a casserole dish by spraying with cooking spray or rubbing oil on the bottom and sides.
In a large skillet, lightly brown the ground beef, breaking it into small pieces. Drain any fat off. Add the Taco Seasoning and 2 tablespoons of water and mix into the ground meat until it is blended. Remove the meat to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and sauté the onions until they are tender. Mix the meat into the onions. (If you wish, you can sauté the onions first, then add the ground beef and cook it all together, then stir in the seasoning mix.)
Put the enchilada sauce in a small pan and add the Chile Powder to it to give it a little more flavor and cook for a few minutes.
Pour about 2 oz. of sauce on the bottom of the casserole pan, then place a tortilla on top. Spread another 2 oz. of sauce on top of the tortilla, then put 1/3rd of the ground beef mixture on top, then put 1/4 of the cheese on top of that. Add the next tortilla and repeat with sauce, beef and cheese, then add the third tortilla and repeat again. For the top level, put the last tortilla on, top with remaining sauce and cheese.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the cheese it melted and just toasted on top. Serve with sour cream and a green salad or Spanish Cauli-rice or Roasted Cauliflower topped with turmeric.
Makes 6 servings.
Nutrition Info: (per serving)
Calories: 396 Fat:25 g Net Carbs: 7.2 g Protein: 34.4 g
Right about now, everyone is looking at their Mexican food recipes in anticipation of the coming celebration of Cinco de Mayo (5th of May for those who don’t know). Originally a celebration of the Mexican-Americans in the west to celebrate freedom and democracy during the Civil War, the Mexican state of Puebla now celebrates the same day commemorating the Battle of Puebla. However, there are other parts of the world where it is also celebrated because all you need is a small excuse to have a great party, right?
And really, you need no excuse in order to enjoy the great flavors of Mexican and Spanish food. So here are my offerings for Cinco de Mayo, but feel free to enjoy them any time you have a craving for something with a bit of bite or a sweet that’s a little out of the ordinary.
1 pound Ground Beef
10 oz. Enchilada sauce (about 3 net carbs per 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
4 taco size Low Carb FlourTortillas (3 Net carbs each)
1/2 cup Onions, chopped
1/2 cup canned Green Chili Peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon Red Chile Powder
1 cup Zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick
In a skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until onion is just tender. Remove to a bowl. Add ground beef and cook, breaking into small pieces, until it is lightly browned. Drain any liquid off. Add 1/8 cup enchilada sauce and stir to mix. Add onions back to the pan and add green chiles.
To make as a casserole:
Assemble the layers in a deep 9 inch round casserole dish beginning with 1/8 cup of enchilada sauce. Place a tortilla on top, then spread another 1/4 cup of sauce on top, then 1/3 of the meat mixture over the top of that. Arrange zucchini slices in a circle then top with 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese. Place another tortilla on top of that, then top with 1/4 cup sauce, then meat mixture, remaining zucchini slices distributed evenly around the outer circle and top with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Place another tortilla on top and repeat with 1/4 cup sauce, the remaining meat and 1/2 cup cheese. Top with tortilla, spread remaining sauce over the top and sprinkle cheese over it.
To make as individual enchiladas, as pictured:
Warm a low carb flour tortilla and place on a plate. Spread two tablespoons of red enchilada sauce over the tortilla. Spread 1/4 of the meat mixture on top, 1/4 of the zuchinni slices on top of that and sprinkle a tablespoon of cheddar cheese on top. Roll the tortilla into a flute and placed into a lightly sprayed baking pan, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining three tortillas. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas and top with the rest of the cheese.
Enchilada loaded and ready to roll up.
Bake in 350 degree (F) oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly. Cut into six slices. Top each serving with a fried egg if you would like. Serve with Mexican Style Cauli-Rice as a side dish or a nice green salad.
Nutrition Info: Per enchilada – 4 servings
Calories: 516 Fat: 39.8 g Net Carbs: 8 g Protein: 31.3
When made in a casserole, this can make 6 servings with each servings being:
Calories: 333 Fat: 20.5 g Net Carbs: 7 g Protein: 20.8 g
Light and Refreshing Orange Flan
Flan is a light custard dessert that is very popular in Mexican restaurants. It is also very easy to make. The trickiest part in converting this to low carb is the caramel sauce that is made from burnt sugar. Sugar substitutes don’t really melt the same way and I hesitated to get them too brown. But with the light sugary sauce, this is a delicious orange flan (Flan de Naranjas). It was inspired by a recipe that used orange zest in the custard and I thought the best orange flavor is in the pulp, so this one uses the orange pulp in it.
1/3 cup sugar substitute
1 teaspoon butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar substitute
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees (F.)
If using Splenda or Equal, these sugar substitutes don’t melt well, so add 1 tablespoon water to a small sauce pan or skillet with the 1/3 cup of Splenda or Equal. Sugar alcohol will melt without water added. It gets gummy, then melts. Be sure to do this over low heat. Bring the melted sugar sauce to a light golden brown rather than a dark caramel. Remove from heat and stir butter into the sauce.
Divide into five1/2 cup ramekins. Place ramekins in a baking dish large enough to allow 1 inch of water up the sides. You can also make this as a large flan in a 2 1/2 cup flan dish or casserole dish.
Separate the orange segments in 1/4 of a large orange, remove any membrane and chop the orange into small pieces or process in a food processor to get a nicely chopped pulp. Should make about 1/4 cup of orange bits.
Stir cream, coconut milk, water, eggs, sugar substitute, orange extract and chopped oranges together and measure 1/2 cup into each ramekin. Or pour all of it into a flan mold. If you use a mold, stir to make sure the orange pieces are distributed in the dish.
Sugar sauce in the ramekins. I used one two serving ramekin so just doubled the sauce and the custard mix in that one.
Carefully, to avoid getting water in the dishes, add warm water to the pan to come up to 1 inch.
Bake for about 1 hour until a thin knife (I use a citrus knife) inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove the ramekins or mold from the pan and cover the top with plastic wrap, allowing the wrap to touch the surface of the flan. Chill 3 1/2 to 4 hours before serving.
To un-mold, loosen the edges with a thin bladed knife and lift up the bottom a little. Put the serving plate on top of the ramekin or mold and flip. The flan should drop right out. If it doesn’t, put hot water in a bowl and set the ramekin or mold in it for about 10 seconds and try again to un-mold it.
Deliciously topped with Cool Whip and orange pieces.
Spoon any melted caramel over the top of the flan. Serve with dollop of whipped cream or Cool Whip on top, if you wish, and top with an orange segment or pieces of orange.
Makes 5 servings
Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 196.6 Fat: 10 g Net Carbs: 2.5 g. Protein: 5.6 g
