Alyson's Broccoli Salad Recipe, low-carbed!

Someone on facebook mentioned broccoli salad and I thought it sounded intesting.  After all, we LOVE broccoli!  While surfing for salad recipes, I came across Alyson's Broccoli Salad on allrecipes.com.  The data given says that it makes 6 servings--at 17.2 nC each.  I read through the ingredients and knew that I could low-carb it.  

Comparison--Alyson's recipe makes 6 servings @ 17.2 nC each.  The low-carbed version makes 18 servings at 6.4 nC each.  I think the main difference in the number of servings was that I used a bag of broccoli florets instead of a head of broccoli--that doubled the amount of broccoli in the recipe.  I also took the serving size to 1/3 cup.  My taste-test serving (pictured above) was 1/4 cup and it was PLENTY.  The salad is pretty dense and very filling.

Alyson's Broccoli Salad

Alyson's Broccoli Salad

Rated: Submitted By: JJOHN32 Photo By: cookin'mama Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Ready In: 30 Minutes Servings: 6

"Bacon sure does something wonderful for broccoli, and that 's the case with this great party salad. It 's fried up and crumbled and sprinkled on the fresh broccoli along with toasted sunflower seeds. Onions and raisins, also make an appearance."

Ingredients:

10 slices bacon 1 head fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces 1/4 cup red onion, chopped 1/2 cup raisins

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons white sugar 1 cup mayonnaise 1 cup sunflower seeds

Directions:

1.	Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2.	In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli, onion and raisins. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over broccoli mixture, and toss until well mixed. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
3.	Before serving, toss salad with crumbled bacon and sunflower seeds.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2012 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 11/22/2012

Now, let's low-carb it!

Most of the ingredients are already low carb.  That's good.  I debated about the raisins--you could use blueberries, strawberries, grapes, or cranberries instead.  If you are on Atkins, raisins are not Induction- or OWL-friendly.  Since I have been on Atkins for about 2 years and am fluctuating between Induction, OWL, and Pre-Maintenance, I went ahead and used raisins.  I used Splenda instead of sugar.

When I make a new recipe, I gather my ingredients first to make sure I have everything.  Here is what you need for the low carb version of Alyson's Broccoli Salad: 

• bacon 
• fresh broccoli
• red onion
• raisins--if you are on Atkins, use blueberries
• white wine vinegar
• Splenda
• mayonnaise
• sunflower seeds

 Check Alyson's recipe (above) for the amounts.

 My Notes:

• I don't eat pork, so I used turkey bacon.  It worked just fine.
• My son snacks on veggies, and we had a couple of bags of the pre-washed/pre-chopped broccoli in the house.  I used one of those instead of going out to buy a head of broccoli.
• I am not a fan of huge chunks of veggie in my salad, so I chopped the broccoli into small pieces--1/2-inch to 3/4-inch size "cubes."
• I didn't have red onion, so I used a white onion.  (Red onion would be prettier for serving, but the taste is not significantly different.)
• Instead of buying a box of raisins (being a low-carber, I don't keep them in the house), I bought a package of six small boxes.  It took 2 of them to equal 1/2 cup of raisins and I can take the rest to church for the snack table.  Raisins get hard, so I'll just buy another small package the next time I want to make this recipe.
• Using blueberries instead of raisins takes the carb count down to 2.6 nC per 1/3 cup serving.
• It turned out that I only had red wine vinegar or cooking sherry in the pantry, so I used the regular white vinegar.  
• I used Splenda instead of sugar.
• I used salted sunflower seeds.  The recipe doesn't specify which to use, but I got the impression that the toasted ones would be better than raw ones.  
• I made the salad the day before Thanksgiving and measured the bacon crumbles and sunflower seeds into a zip-lock bag.  I put the rest of the ingredients in a gallon-size zip-lock bag (for both mixing and storage).  When it was time to serve, I added the bacon and sunflower seeds to the broccoli mixture, resealed the bag, and shook things up until everything was evenly mixed.  Then I dumped the salad into a serving bowl 
• I used a glass bowl that has a lid--for easy storage and serving after our main meal. 

Using the ingredients and amounts above, I got 6 cups of salad.  I found that 1/4 of a cup was a lot of salad, but I based the nutritional information on a serving size of 1/3 cup.  This added a great 'sweet' taste to my Thanksgiving dinner.  The raisins are a little too sweet for me, so I'll use blueberries the next time I make it.

The full nutritional values for both low-carb versions are below.

One serving (with blueberries) = 2.6 net carbs

	Nutrition Facts   24 Servings Amount Per Serving   Calories 122.7   Total Fat 10.8 g       Saturated Fat 1.8 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 2.0 g       Monounsaturated Fat 1.1 g   Cholesterol 4.8 mg   Sodium 124.5 mg   Potassium 229.0 mg   Total Carbohydrate 4.7 g       Dietary Fiber 2.1 g       Sugars 0.5 g   Protein 3.5 g   Vitamin A 16.1 %   Vitamin B-12 1.1 %   Vitamin B-6 6.7 %   Vitamin C 79.7 %   Vitamin D 0.0 %   Vitamin E 19.7 %   Calcium 3.0 %   Copper 6.5 %   Folate 12.4 %   Iron 4.0 %   Magnesium 5.2 %   Manganese 12.0 %   Niacin 4.5 %   Pantothenic Acid     7.1 %   Phosphorus     10.7 %   Riboflavin 5.0 %   Selenium 9.4 %   Thiamin 4.0 %   Zinc 4.0 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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One serving (with raisins)= 6.4 net carbs

	Nutrition Facts (made with raisins)  18 Servings  (1/3 cup each) Amount Per Serving   Calories 175.1   Total Fat 14.4 g       Saturated Fat 2.4 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 2.7 g       Monounsaturated Fat 1.5 g   Cholesterol 6.4 mg   Sodium 166.3 mg   Potassium 336.2 mg   Total Carbohydrate 9.3 g       Dietary Fiber 2.9 g       Sugars 2.9 g   Protein 4.7 g   Vitamin A 21.4 %   Vitamin B-12 1.5 %   Vitamin B-6 9.5 %   Vitamin C 105.6 %   Vitamin D 0.0 %   Vitamin E 26.2 %   Calcium 4.2 %   Copper 9.2 %   Folate 16.6 %   Iron 5.9 %   Magnesium 7.2 %   Manganese 16.2 %   Niacin 6.1 %   Pantothenic Acid     9.4 %   Phosphorus     14.7 %   Riboflavin 6.8 %   Selenium 12.5 %   Thiamin 5.7 %   Zinc 5.4 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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PS: If you recall, this blog is primarily for my girls (who now live far away from home making their own lives) and my low-carbing friends.  To that end, I take you through the process of low-carbing a recipe when I use a pre-existing recipe as the basis for a low-carb dish.

Lo-Carb Cheese Beer Soup

I've seen several recipes for Cheese Beer Soup lately, and I thought they sounded good.  When I looked one up, it was 20nC  per serving!  Oh, my! I played around with a few recipes and came up with one that is a little under 8nC.  Yay!

Lo-Carb Cheese Beer Soup
Serves 10 @ 7.9nC each

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of diced carrots
1.5 cups of chopped onion
1.5 cups of chopped celery
2 cloves of garlic, minced
hot pepper sauce, to taste
salt
pepper
2 cans of chicken broth
2 cups of beer
1/3 cup butter
guar gum
2 cups of heavy cream
2 cups of water
4 cups of sharp cheddar (shredded)
1 TBS brown mustard
1 tsp dry mustard
6 slices of bacon--cooked and crumbled

In a large soup pot, combine the first 9 ingredients.  (Stop at the butter--you'll need it for the next step.)  Bring the veggies, broth, and beer to a simmer and cook until the veggies are soft.  

In a saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the water and cream.  Sprinkle guar gum over the cream sauce (not too much or it gels instead of thickening).  You'll need to keep stirring and testing for thickness.  When the white sauce is almost as thick as you want it to be, stir in the cheese.  

Once the cheese is melted (and the veggies in the other soup pot are soft), pour the cheese sauce into the veggie concoction and combine well.        

Serve with bacon crumbles on top.  Each serving will be about 1.5 cups.

Notes: I do not like beer.  I did not like this soup.  My son likes beer--he LOVED the soup.  I shared some with my neighbor (who is a chef and owns a restaurant).  He liked it.  I will make it again for my son, but one batch will last him a little while.

If you're like me, and enter your food into fitday or fatsecret, the nutritional value table is below.

	Nutrition Facts   10 Servings Amount Per Serving   Calories 475.1   Total Fat 40.5 g       Saturated Fat 25.3 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 2.0 g       Monounsaturated Fat 12.1 g   Cholesterol 139.8 mg   Sodium 902.5 mg   Potassium 442.3 mg   Total Carbohydrate 9.2 g       Dietary Fiber 1.3 g       Sugars 1.3 g   Protein 14.7 g   Vitamin A 74.0 %   Vitamin B-12 11.5 %   Vitamin B-6 8.8 %   Vitamin C 7.3 %   Vitamin D 8.6 %   Vitamin E 3.9 %   Calcium 39.0 %   Copper 8.7 %   Folate 8.0 %   Iron 5.9 %   Magnesium 7.7 %   Manganese 15.0 %   Niacin 14.7 %   Pantothenic Acid     5.0 %   Phosphorus     37.0 %   Riboflavin 18.4 %   Selenium 13.9 %   Thiamin 4.3 %   Zinc 13.8 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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Pumpkin Custard

I have never been a huge fan of pumpkin pie.  If I'm going to spend the carbs on sweets, I want pecan pie. Thanks to Linda, I can enjoy the taste of pumpkin pie without spending a lot of carbs!  Since I love custard, but only have a taste for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, I think this is a great choice for me.  The recipe is Linda's, but the pictures are mine. 

Pumpkin Custard
Makes 8 servings @ 5nC each
Please click on the link for ingredients and instructions.

I like to assemble my ingredients first.  That way, there are no rude surprises as I put things into the bowl.  Here are the ingredients required for Linda's Pumpkin Custard:

The recipe calls for you to mix the ingredients in the order given.  That's what I did--except for the salt, which I forgot.  I had to mix it in last.  I didn't want to spend the time looking for nutmeg (it was not in its place--alphabetical order), so I used McCormick's Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Since I really like cinnamon on my custard, I added a little extra cinnamon. 

Here is the custard--ready to go into the oven.  It will bake at 350*F for 45-55 minutes.  I'm using a square pan since my oven is still broken.  The toaster oven has worked well for me this holiday season--as long as I have small enough baking pans.  If my wall oven was working, I'd probably make this in individual cups--like I do my regular custard.

 

I put the custard in the oven about 10 minutes ago and the aroma is already heavenly!  Who needs air fresheners during baking season?

Finished product...can't wait to dig in, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow.  Come on, will power!

Here is the nutritional value given on genaw.com:

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 97 Calories; 7g Fat; 2g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 5g Net Carbs
With whipped cream: 200 Calories; 18g Fat; 3g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 91 Calories; 7g Fat; 2g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs
With whipped cream: 194 Calories; 18g Fat; 3g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs 

Low-Carb Pecan Pie

One of my favorite desserts (any time of year) is Pecan Pie.  I can rarely eat it, though, because it is so sweet.  If I decide to have a piece on Thanksgiving, I limit it to 1/2 a slice.  This year, someone shared a recipe for low carb pecan pie--and I am ALL over it!

If you're not familiar with the blog, Life with Lisa, I'm posting the link here.  I used her recipe--exactly--except that I backed my pie in a rectangular dish that fits in my toaster oven (my 'real' oven is still broken).

Lisa's Mom's Low-Carb Pecan Pie

Here is my crust (note the rectangular dish), the filling, and the pecans.  I have three steps left: 1) dump the pecans into the filling, 2) dump the filling/pecans into the crust, and 3) bake for 45 minutes at 350*F.

Here is my Pecan Pie--ready to go into the toaster oven.  Whoo-hoo!

I am only 10 minutes into the baking step--and the kitchen smells like heaven!

Finished product!

Notes:
Next time, I will bake the crust before pouring in the filling.

It's Thanksgiving...time for turkey and dressing!

It's been quite a while since I posted, but life has slowed down enough for me to get into the kitchen and try something new.  It's Thanksgiving week, so I decided to low-carb my granny's recipe for cornbread dressing.  As is my wont, I'll post the original recipe before I post the low-carbed version.

Granny's Cornbread Dressing
Serves: 25 (27.6 nC/serving)

Preheat the oven to 350*F.

Ingredients:
2 large rectangular pans of cornbread, toasted & cubed
8 slices of white bread, toasted & cubed
4 cups of chopped white or yellow onions
4 cups of chopped celery
4 cups of sliced green onions
4 boiled eggs, chopped
4 raw eggs, slightly beaten
1 "box" of sage
4 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 stick of butter 

Directions:
Put the cornbread cubes and bread cubes in a LARGE bowl.  In a cast iron skillet, melt the butter and saute the yellow onion and celery until the onion is clear. While the onions and celery are cooking, add the chopped boiled eggs and the green onions to the cornbread cubes.  Stir in the raw eggs.  Add the cooked onions and celery.  Stir well (it's OK if your cubes break down a little).  Mix in the sage--yes, the whole box (this makes a boat-load of dressing).  Add enough chicken broth to moisten the dressing--very moist is OK, but you don't want it soupy.  Press the dressing into a couple of greased baking pans and bake at about 350*F until the top is firm--we like it extra 'crunchy' so I use a shallow pan (like a deep-sided cookie sheet).  If you like moist dressing, bake it in a deep pan with less surface area.  This recipe fits quite well in a turkey roaster--and bakes well in one, too.  It's great for large gatherings.

Sometimes, I'm lazy--and I don't need to make dressing for 20-30 people.  I used to make Stouffer's cornbread stuffing (with broth instead of water) and add 1 boiled egg (chopped) and a couple of sliced green onions to the mixture after it was hot--when it sits to absorb the liquid.  Since I am now violently allergic to corn, I no longer cheat--even with Stouffer's.

Busy, busy, busy!

I have been very busy!  School has started, and I've been going in early so that I am prepared to teach all the little (OK, big) darlings.  Clock-in time is 6:40 and I've been clocking in by 5AM most days...I've been covering the assignments and grades for two vacancies (Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, and MathModels), so I have a lot more to do than prepare for my 5 sections of classes. 

I am avoiding sewing--I still have 2 bridesmaid dresses, 2 ghillie shirts (to go with kilts), and my own mother-of-the-bride dress to make before October 21st.  I'll be out of town for 9 days, in observance of the Biblical Fall holy days, so that takes time away from sewing. 

Relza was pacing the kitchen earlier this morning--at 6:30--telling me that I had dresses to make and needed to get off the computer.  I think she is getting anxious that I won't finish.  She is also anxious because she has an appointment to get her wisdom tooth (maybe teeth) pulled on Tuesday and she HATES needles.  (She hates needles so much that she gave her sewing machine to her future mother-in-law because IT has a needle on it. LOL )

I will post pictures, eventually, of the dresses.  For now, I'm just posting an explanation of why I haven't posted lately.