Salads

[LowCarbingIn2024]

I'm hoping when the weather starts to get a bit nicer to enjoy more salads

This worked really well for me last summer, and I need the boost at the moment.

Happy to share some of our favourites, if wanted?

And I would LOVE to know your favourite interesting salads to inspire me as the days start to get longer.

Thank you and please 🙏

mixture of following ingredients.

Grilled Aubergine
Courgette
carrot
Cucumber
Lettuce
Radish
Spring onion
Tomato
Artichoke hearts
Kidney beans
Raw mushrooms
Salt, pepper and olive oil
parsley
peppers
grilled meat
chopped cheese
fried halloumi

Smoked salmon
Mozzarella
Olives
Chopped apple
Chopped grapes
Chopped tomatoes
Spinach or rocket leaves
Home made vinaigrette

I did a really nice warm salad the other day with roasted broccoli, chick peas and feta. I've also done warm salads with roasted sweet potato, peppers, mushrooms, cucumber and feta.

Just a heads up though @LivingDeadGirlUK - chickpeas and sweet potato are not low carb.

Whats your definition of low carb? I'm prediabetic so looking to move away from bread/pasta/white potatoes. Sweet potato and chickpeas are listed on DiabeticsUK as better alternatives to these.

Well ...

Potatoes are 20.6g carbs per 100g, and sweet potatoes are 17.2g, And chickpeas are 15g carbs per 100g. So in that sense they are 'better' alternatives. But that's still quite a lot of carbohydrate.

There's no one definition of low carb, unless you're following a specific plan, like Keto.

But as an example, if you were doing Keto, or Atkins induction, you'd only be allowed 20g carbs in the whole day.

@LivingDeadGirlUK my purpose in eating low carb as I get older is to keep my blood sugar stable and avoid food cravings which lead me to overeat. . I find that many carbs I would formerly eat freely, now set up a craving for more. Avoiding them helps keep my blood sugar more stable and yes, my life happier.

The most reliable guide for me for foods which I can eat freely and for which have no problem moderating my intake tend to be those below 5g carbohydrate per 100g.

This might be an age related thing, I'm mid sixties now and find my tolerance for high carb food has fallen off a cliff. I was delighted when diabetics.co.uk first started mentioning low carb eating as a way to keep blood sugar stable but found their approach does not really work for me. Your mileage may vary.

Sorry, pressed send too soon

I found my way to low carb exactly because I was diagnosed by my local GP surgery as 'pre-diabetic' in routine weight/blood tests. After two years of low carbing I feel great and am routinely given a clean bill of health by annual repeats of those same tests.

Hope you find what works for you.

Thanks very much for your replies @FinallyHere and @BIWI the GP sent me a direct link to the diabetes UK website along with my diagnosis so its been my first source of information so far!

I don't really want to follow a 'plan' as such, while weight loss would be an advantage I'm trying to make lifestyle changes rather than diet, but I obviously need to do more (I was on the cusp of prediabetes previously and cut out sweet treats, thought this would be enough but alas no!).

Ottolenghi has great salads that are incredibly substantial, low carb and not lettuce at all.

I think @LivingDeadGirlUK that if you're not low carbing for weight loss, then those foods are probably OK occasionally - but obviously will depend on the impact they have on your blood sugar. Do you use/have you got a glucose monitor? That would help you to see what foods impact you the most.

www.dishoom.com/journal/dishoom-chilli-broccoli-salad-recipe/

Hope this link works! This salad is absolutely gorgeous. For a low carb version I leave out the dates of course, and use Stevia in the dressing. So tasty and fresh. I'm making it in a few diary's time alongside murgh chicken and a cauliflower and spinach curry 😊

Days obviously 🙈

That looks really tasty, I have been looking into dressings as they seem to make or break a salad. Just in the middle of prepping my lunch salads for next week, I have roasted a cubed sweet potato, as it does need using up, but I've taken on board PP's comments.

I think I'm going to have to add meat to keep me full, I do a desk job but do walk for my commute, I don't think I'm going to stay full on just veggies and nuts.

Was sad about having nothing to snack on last night and my other half made me some lettuce cups with brie, salami and chili jam, was really nice.

I also significantly reduce the amount of pistachio nuts. Maybe a third of the recommended amount in the recipe. Still tastes amazing.

Yeah they are delicious but a bloody pain to shell!

We love a roasted goats' cheese, bacon and pecan salad. Copied from many chèvre chaud salads in French mountain restaurants.

Choose a small round goats cheese pp that is totally surrounded by skin. Slice in half and roast cut side up until golden.

Place in a bed of raw spinach, add a few chopped cherry tomatoes and sprinkle over crispy cooked bacon bits and pan seared pecan nuts.

Dress with olive oil, seasoning and red wine vinegar.

My keto coronation chicken.
Make the dressing by gently cooking chilli powder and cumin in oil to make a paste. Turn off the heating and add yoghurt. When cooked further add equal amount of mayo.

Toss with the chicken and serve on leaves and cucumber.

I had Caesar salad today which was lush. Obvs avoid the croutons but otherwise the dressing is just mayo, lemon juice, anchovy, garlic, mustard, wostershire sauce and parmesan or other hard cheese. Recipes easy to find online.

Or a good old Delia Caesar salad. I add chicken to ours. Delish

www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiSxML-mMeEAxW3QEEAHVIXB4kQFnoECBsQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.deliaonline.com%2Frecipes%2Fcollections%2Fdelias-summer-collection%2Fmixed-leaf-caesar-salad&usg=AOvVaw2JVhAMWUjkQxWFP5x7Z6k-&opi=89978449

Without the croutons, naturally 😂😂.

My basic salad is made up of rocket (or any leaves), cucumber, tomatoes (I particularly like different coloured ones), any type of onion, a couple of different colour of peepers, beetroot and sometimes avocado.

I then vary the protein bit and add prawns, salmon and eggs, chopped up ham with a little blue cheese, tuna, tinned salmon or chicken.
I use a lot of black pepper, and the smallest amount of low calorie dressing and or low calorie salad cream I can get away with.

This is genuinely massive, takes ages to munch through and I lost a tonne of weight last year eating it about five times each week.

Ambitious kitchen fb has some lovely salads.

Fillet of Beef Salad

This salad recipe is, ironically, from a book of low fat recipes! Although apparently there are 13g fat in one portion.

I usually use more steak than the recipe calls for, I don't always use fillet but choose a fattier steak, and I fry it in oil, so doing all these things adds more fat. But I'll post the recipe as it's printed, along with my comments in italics:

Ingredients

175g fillet steak
Worcestershire sauce
1 small cauliflower
175g broccoli
250g cherry tomatoes
125g French beans, topped and tailed

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil I use extra virgin olive oil, as I prefer it
1 tablespoon good quality wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon grated fresh horseradish As you rarely see fresh horseradish, I use a teaspoon of creamed horseradish sauce instead
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives I generally don't bother with these!

Method

Trim the steak, if necessary, and sprinkle it lightly with Worcestershire sauce. Dry-fry it in a non-stick pan for a total of six minutes, leave it to get completely cold.

The frying time is entirely up to you - I generally only fry for around 2-3 minutes, as I like the steak to be rare when I add it to the salad.

Cut the cauliflower and broccoli into florets, and cook them till they are half-tender - about 5 minutes for the cauliflower and 2-3 (max) for the broccoli. Refresh in cold water and drain well.

Wash the tomatoes and remove the stalks Doh! Does anyone not do this with tomatoes?!

Cook the French beans for 2 minutes, refresh them in cold water; drain them well.

Mix together the ingredients for the dressing, except the chives, very well.

You can prepare the salad up to this point in advance, but don't complete it until a maximum of 30 minutes before serving.

To serve, cut the fillet steak into strips the size of your little finger and mix them with the vegetables. Add the dressing and half the chives and stir gently. Pile into a serving dish and garnish with the remaining chives.

Taken from The Low Fat Gourmet, by Caroline Waldegrave. A Sainsbury Cookbook

Second hand edition available from Amazon

Thank you all.

These are great.

Please keep them coming.

Sharing this here with the poster's consent

Thank you @LilianaVikavanovich

https://ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/grilled-red-cabbage-with-gorgonzola-and-grapes?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_campaign=crucifers&_kx=wguO335JlWqmCcX_m-lbhnnCIDa-yWXtQ5facrQBqGk.W7DD6V
this came through my emails this morning , I have a red cabbage in the fridge, I usually just make coleslaw with it , my infamous red Christmas coleslaw was a thing of beauty , but beetroot and dried cranberries aren’t compliant , so giving this a go tonight ( minus the grapes and brown sugar , obviously ! )
Grilled red cabbage with gorgonzola and grapes | Ottolenghi Recipes

The cabbage is baked for hours, then grilled with cheese until everything is intensely soft and seductively unctuous. Browse online for more.

https://ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/grilled-red-

Another cheeky question while I'm here..

I might have managed to add a picture (not necessarily! I'm quite rubbish).

I bought this for my husband last year. It's very American somehow, and most dishes are incredibly sweet, but we just leave that element (fruit, honey, etc) out.

But we're a bit bored of it now.

Can anyone recommend a good salad book?

Thank you 🙏