300 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes (46 page)

Scatter a little cilantro over each bowlful before serving.

Yield:
8 servings, each with: 209 calories, 8 g fat, 25 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 7 g usable carbs.

Chicken Soup with Wild Rice

Wild rice has more fiber and therefore fewer usable carbs than regular rice, either white or brown. And it adds a certain cachet to your soup!

2 quarts (1.9 L) chicken broth

2 carrots, thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup (80 g) chopped onion

1 pound (455 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch (13 mm) cubes

1/4 cup (40 g) wild rice

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Simply combine everything in your slow cooker, cover, set it to low, and let it cook for 6 to 7 hours.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 182 calories, 4 g fat, 25 g protein, 10 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 8 g usable carbs.

Chicken Minestrone

Here's a decarbed version of the Italian favorite. You'll never miss the pasta!

3 slices bacon, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium turnips, cut into 1/2-inch (13 mm) cubes

1 medium carrot, thinly sliced

2 small zucchini, quartered and sliced

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil

1 1/2 quarts (1.4 L) chicken broth

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) skinless chicken thighs, boned and cubed

1 tablespoon (6 g) Italian seasoning

1 can (14 1/2 ounces, or 410 g) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (15 ounces, or 425 g) black soybeans

Spray a big, heavy skillet with nonstick cooking spray and then start the bacon frying over medium heat. As some grease cooks out of the bacon, add as many of the vegetables as will fit and sauté them until they soften just a bit. Transfer the vegetables to your slow cooker and continue sautéing the rest of the vegetables, adding oil as needed, until all the vegetables are softened a bit and in the slow cooker.

Place the broth, chicken, Italian seasoning, tomatoes, soybeans, and salt and pepper to taste in the slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 7 to 8 hours.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 294 calories, 16 g fat, 21 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 6 g dietary fiber, 12 g usable carbs.

So Totally Inauthentic Malaysian-oid Pumpkin-Chicken-Tomato Soup

This started with a recipe for a Malaysian noodle dish called laksa. That wasn't happening, but the flavors looked really good, so I turned it into a soup, substituting for a few hard-to-get ingredients. The result is stellar!

1 1/2 pounds (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts, but I like the thighs here)

1 quart (950 ml) chicken broth

1 can (15 ounces, or 425 g) pumpkin purée

8 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons (24 g) grated ginger root

1 can (14 1/2 ounces, or 410 g) tomatoes with green chiles

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

1/4 cup (60 ml) fish sauce

2 tablespoons (28 ml) lemon juice

This is so simple! Cube the chicken and throw it in the slow cooker. Add everything else, whisk it all up, cover the slow cooker, and set it to low. Let it cook for 4 to 5 hours.

Yield:
5 servings, each with: 244 calories, 9 g fat, 27 g protein, 16 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 13 g usable carbs.

Spicy Chicken and Mushroom Soup

This is exotic and delicious.

3 tablespoons (45 g) butter

1 leek, thinly sliced (white part only)

8 ounces (225 g) sliced mushrooms

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons
Garam Masala
(see recipe
page 340
) or purchased garam masala

1 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 quart (950 ml) chicken broth

12 ounces (340 g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1/2 cup (120 ml) Carb Countdown dairy beverage

1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream

3 tablespoons (3 g) chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Melt the butter in a big, heavy skillet, over medium heat, and sauté the leek with the mushrooms until they both soften. Stir in the garlic,
Garam Masala
, pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg and sauté for another minute or two. Transfer to your slow cooker. Pour in the broth and add the chicken. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 6 to 7 hours.

When the time's up, use a slotted spoon to scoop roughly two-thirds of the solids into your blender or food processor. Add a cup (235 ml) or so of the broth and purée until smooth. Stir the purée back into the rest of the soup. (You may want to rinse the blender or food processor out with a little broth to get all of the purée.) Stir in the Carb Countdown and cream. Re-cover the pot and let it cook for another 30 minutes. Serve with cilantro on top. Or not, if you prefer—it's nice without it, too!

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 243 calories, 16 g fat, 18 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 5 g usable carbs.

Chicken and Fennel Soup

If you haven't tried fennel, you really should. It has an enchanting mild licorice flavor, and it is a favorite in Italian cuisine, especially. It looks sort of like celery with feathery leaves and a swollen bulb at the bottom. Be aware that some stores mislabel it as anise.

2 quarts (1.9 L) chicken broth

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon concentrate

2 fennel bulbs 1 onion

4 tablespoons (55 g) butter

6 cloves garlic 2 pounds (900 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 can (14 1/2 ounces, or 410 g) diced tomatoes, preferably petite diced

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 star anise

Dump the chicken broth in the slow cooker and turn it on to high; you may as well start it heating while you assemble everything else. Add the chicken bouillon concentrate, too, to start it dissolving.

Put your big, heavy skillet over medium heat and start melting the butter. Whack the stems off the fennel (save some tops for garnish) and trim the bottoms. Then cut them into chunks and throw them in your food processor with the
S
-blade in place. Peel your onion and chunk it and throw it in there, too. Pulse until everything's chopped medium-fine. Then dump it in the skillet. Sauté, stirring often, until everything's softened a bit.

While your veggies are sautéing, crush your garlic—you can add it to the fennel and onion or just throw it in the broth. You also want to cut your chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Okay, your veggies are softened. Scrape them into the slow cooker and stir in the chicken, too. Open the tomatoes and stir them in—don't drain them first—and add the juice, too.

Stir in the pepper, toss in the star anise, and re-cover the pot. Turn it back to low, let it all cook for 5 to 6 hours, and then serve with a garnish of fennel fronds.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 352 calories, 14 g fat, 43 g protein, 13 g carbohydrate, 4 g dietary fiber, 9 g usable carbs.

Turkey Sausage Soup