300 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes (48 page)

The jarred roasted red pepper and Alfredo sauce make this a whole lot easier than it tastes. Read the labels on the Alfredo sauce to find the lowest carb brand.

1 pound (455 g) frozen green beans, cross-cut

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/3 cup (60 g) jarred roasted red pepper, drained and chopped

1/2 cup (125 g) jarred Alfredo sauce

1/4 cup (30 g) coarsely crushed pork rinds

Don't thaw the green beans, unless you want to speed the whole thing up by at least an hour. Throw everything but the pork rinds in your slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.

Coarsely crush the pork rinds and sprinkle over green beans just before serving.

Yield:
5 servings, each with: 148 calories, 8 g fat, 10 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 6 g usable carbs.

Green Bean Casserole

28 ounces (785 g) frozen green beans, unthawed

1 cup (70 g) chopped mushrooms

1/4 cup (45 g) roasted red pepper, diced

1/4 cup (40 g) chopped onion

2 teaspoons dried sage

1 teaspoon salt or Vege-Sal

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup (235 ml) beef broth

1 teaspoon beef bouillon concentrate

1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream

Guar or xanthan

3/4 cup (83 g) slivered almonds

1 tablespoon (14 g) butter

Combine the green beans, mushrooms, red pepper, and onion in your slow cooker.

In a bowl, mix together the sage, salt or Vege-Sal, pepper, nutmeg, broth, and bouillon. Pour the mixture over the vegetables. Stir the whole thing up. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.

When the time's up, stir in the cream and thicken the sauce a bit with guar or xanthan. Re-cover the slow cooker and let it stay hot while you sauté the almonds in the butter until golden. Stir them into the beans.

Yield:
8 servings, each with: 191 calories, 14 g fat, 7 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate, 4 g dietary fiber, 8 g usable carbs.

Creamy, Cheesy Mustard Green Beans and Mushrooms

Try this with a roasted ham!

4 ounces (115 g) mushrooms, chopped

1/4 medium onion, chopped

1 pound (455 g) frozen green beans, thawed

1/4 cup (45 g) jarred roasted red pepper, diced

1 cup (115 g) shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream

1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard

Coat your slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray, dump in the mushrooms, onion, green beans, roasted red peppers, and cheese, and stir it up.

Combine the cream, beef bouillon concentrate, pepper, and mustard and stir until the bouillion is dissolved. Pour over the veggies.

Cover the slow cooker, set to low, and let it cook for 4 hours. Stir before serving.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 247 calories, 21 g fat, 7 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 6 g usable carbs.

Basic Artichokes

2 artichokes

1/4 cup (60 ml) lemon juice

Using kitchen shears, snip the pointy tips off the artichoke leaves. Split the artichokes down the middle, top to bottom, and scrape out the chokes.

Fill your slow cooker with water, add the lemon juice, and put in the artichokes. Cover the slow cooker, set it to high, and let it cook for 3 to 4 hours.

Drain the artichokes.

Serve the artichokes with the dipping sauce of your choice, such as lemon butter, mayonnaise, aioli, chipotle mayonnaise, whatever you've got. If you have a big slow cooker, feel free to cook more artichokes!

Yield:
2 servings, each with: 68 calories, trace fat, 4 g protein, 16 g carbohydrate, 7 g dietary fiber, 9 g usable carbs.

Maria's Slow Cooker Asparagus

Here's another recipe contributed by my pal and recipe tester Maria.

1 pound (455 g) asparagus spears

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice

Cut off woody ends of the asparagus. Place trimmed asparagus on the bottom of your slow cooker. (If you're using a round cooker, you may need to cut them to fit.) Sprinkle the asparagus with the rosemary and garlic and pour the lemon juice on top. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 2 hours or until the asparagus is tender.

Yield:
4 servings, each with: 17 calories, trace fat, 1 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 3 g usable carbs.

Spinach Parmesan Casserole

This is a lot like creamed spinach, only less—well, creamy.

20 ounces (560 g) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
*

1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy cream

1/2 cup (40 g) shredded Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons (20 g) minced onion

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir it to blend very well. Spray a 6-cup (1.4 L) glass casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Put the spinach mixture in the casserole, smoothing the top.

Place the casserole dish in your slow cooker and carefully pour water around it up to 1 inch of the rim. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 4 hours.

Uncover the slow cooker and turn it off at least 30 minutes before serving time so the water cools enough that you can remove the dish without scalding yourself.

^*
Make sure your spinach is very well drained. It's best to put it in a colander and press it as hard as you can, turning it several times.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 109 calories, 8 g fat, 7 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 2 g usable carbs.

Macadangdang

Long-time readers know that I'm a big fan of Peg Bracken and her cookbooks. This is my decarbed version of Macadangdang Spinach Medley, which appeared in Peg's
I Hate To Cook Almanac
. It's named for her Aunt Henry Macadangdang, who married a Filipino gentleman of that name. I found the name so charming and euphonious, I thought I'd just call this version Macadangdang. My husband rates this a perfect 10, and I like it, too!

1/2 head cauliflower

10 ounces (280 g) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

2 tablespoons (28 g) butter

1/2 cup (80 g) chopped onion

1 clove garlic, crushed

4 eggs

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

1 1/2 teaspoons salt or Vege-Sal

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup (50 g) grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup (115 g) shredded mozzarella cheese

Run the cauliflower through the shredding blade of your food processor. Place the resulting
Cauli-Rice
in a mixing bowl. Drain the thawed frozen spinach really well (I actually squeeze mine) and add it to the
Cauli-Rice
.

Melt the butter in a medium skillet, over medium-low heat, and sauté the onion until it's just translucent. Add the garlic, sauté for another minute or two, and then dump the whole thing in the bowl with the cauliflower and spinach.

Add the eggs, Carb Countdown, salt or Vege-Sal, pepper, and Parmesan and stir the mixture up quite well. Put it in a 1 1/2 to 2 quart glass (1.4 to 1.9 L) casserole dish that you've sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Cover the dish with foil and place it in your slow cooker. Pour water around it up to 1 inch of the rim. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 2 1/2 hours.

Open the slow cooker and remove the foil. Sprinkle the mozzarella over your
Macadangdang
, put the foil back on, recover the pot, and let it cook for another 20 minutes to melt the cheese. Then turn off the pot, uncover it, take off the foil, and let the whole thing cool just to the point where you can remove it from the water bath without scalding yourself, around 20 more minutes.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 198 calories, 14 g fat, 13 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 3 g usable carbs.