Vegetarian Low Carb Recipes

[BIWI]

Asparagus Frittata (serves 2)

250g/9oz asparagus, trimmed and cut into 5cm/2in pieces
4 eggs
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
225g/8oz spring onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil

• Cook asparagus in boiling water until tender (7-10 minutes)
• Whisk the eggs and add the cheese and the spring onions
• Pre-heat the grill
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan that can go under the grill
• Put in the asparagus; stir-fry for a minute, then pour in the eaten eggs, moving the asparagus around gently to make sure the egg mixture gets right through, and that the grated cheese is well distributed
• Let the frittata cook over a moderate heat for a few minutes until the underside is cooked and lightly browned, then put the pan under a hot grill for a minute or two until the top is set and golden brown

5.5g carbs per serving

Recipe from Rose Elliot's "The Vegetarian Low-Carb Diet Book"

Just popping in to say I've recently tried hazelnut milk - it's much nicer than almond milk, IMO, and still low carb.

(Apologies for delayed response!)

LSA is a mix of ground linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds. It's a popular health food in Australia - sold in pre-mixed, pre-ground packets.
I bought a ridiculously large amount when I first started cutting carbs. Part of my motivation for adapting this recipe was to use it all up!! Because I'm trying now to balance omega 3s and 6s better and this mix isn't great. I don't even know the proportions of each seed / nut. I've used up all my LSA now so next time I make zucchini loaf I'll try it with linseed and a smaller amount of almonds I've ground myself.
Turns out I haven't yet internalised bootcamp principles so I will be back on board for the next one!!

Following

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a50968/greek-feta-dip-recipe/?fbclid=IwAR3agYV1dXmQAYazbiGSiRc-0kvpQNzKmA8jWZ7jMxHI6lTTGUToZTPGiL8_aem_th_AerLbIXpJO3-Z7Aivdepi5cvQa_0m6AdTa_vZXm4yvL8j9EQ4c_1bQWYp83wiPJJqkE

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1680915372371921?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V

Tzatziki

My very garlicky version which reminds me of the lovely tzatziki we get served at Hotel Meganisi on Meganisi (which we used to go to regularly: Greece like it used to be ). It certainly seems to stop the mozzies (or midges in Scotland ) biting

Coarsely grate half a cucumber. Put in a sieve with a sprinkling of salt. Leave to drain, pressing down on it periodically. If it's a home grown cucumber with a thick skin, then peel it before grating.

Crush/finely chop at least 5 garlic cloves.

Mix cucumber and garlic with 2-3 generous spoonfuls of FF Greek yoghurt, a wee bit of EV olive oil and a squirt of lemon juice. Plus a pinch of pepper. Refrigerate until required.

You can add in a small amount of freshly chopped mint if you want/have it.

Vegetarian low-carbers, what do you eat for breakfast? Most of these (delicious looking) recipes are more suited to dinner when there's more time to prep. I want something that can be thrown together easily in 15 minutes or less.

I've been having omelettes but I'm not a huge fan of eggs and getting very sick of it. When I google low carb veggie breakfasts it's eggs, eggs, eggs. Any ideas?

I'm not always veggie but I make an effort to do a few veggie days per week...

Speedy non-egg breakfasts are usually either a smoothie (berries, nut milk, whey protein powder, cocoa/cacao powder, peanut butter, etc) or a mozzarella salad - avocado, mozarella, tomatoes, cucumber, EVOO and cider vinegar to dress! HTH :)

This looks delicious and low-carb - I'm going to try it this weekend:

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/jul/17/parmigiana-recipe-courgette-mozzarella-parmesan-layered-bake-rachel-roddy

@ItsNotRocketSalad - for HFLC breakfasts, it helps to get out of the "cereals" mentality started by Mr Kellogg.

Think continental: eg ham (though I know this is on the veggie recipe thread ) and cheese.

Or leftover food from the night before: I often cook extra veg (baby sweetcorn or brussels microwaved in butter, buttery green beans with chopped garlic) just so that I have yummy cold leftovers for breakfast.

Or almond muffins (cheesy or vanilla): you can make a batch and then split and toast as required. Recipe is earlier on this thread.

Full fat Greek yoghurt with a splash of cream and cinnamon or vanilla powder or 100% cocoa to taste. You can also add a few berries if you want.

@ItsNotRocketSalad

Eggs, fried or boiled.

Eggs with salad
Eggs with mushrooms
Eggs with avocado
Eggs with tuna and tomato

Omelette with peppers
Omelette with mushrooms
Might sprinkle some cheese

Cottage cheese with cucumber,radish and spring onions

Greek yoghurt (full fat - 10%) with berries or nuts/seeds

Fried mushrooms and tomatoes - could add some cottage cheese or add grated cheese on the top

... or anything leftover from the night before!

As @prettybird says, there's no need to think about breakfast requiring 'special' foods. It's just a meal like any other. (Although I also appreciate you're talking about the need for speed)

I also forgot about the low carb granola that's on this thread. You can have it on its own or with FFGY and/or cream and/or berries.

I'm not sure where posters got the idea I'm in a cereal mindset! I'm open to any kind of food for breakfast (except eggs, and heavy garlic I suppose, for the sake of others ) but I'm struggling to find quick and easy breakfasts that don't require cooking.

Berry smoothies and almond muffins sound fab, going to try those.

Celeriac sort of hash brown:

ingredients:
celeriac
onion or shallot
oil or butter
1 egg
cheese of choice

Grate some celeriac (depends upon the size. About one third or one half of it’s a small one).
Chop a little bit of onion or shallot - really small amount.
Fry the chopped onion and grated celeriac in butter or oil of choice with salt and pepper.
When it’s cooked through, stir in 1 egg.
Top with grated cheese and put under the grill until the cheese goes all crispy and good.

Thank you for these amazing veggie recipes! Lots of food for thought in here. Will come back and add some of mine

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/guests/blanche-vaughans-baked-eggs-with-spinach-and-blue-cheese

https://www.funfoodfrolic.com/palak-anda-curry/

Hi @BIWI as requested here is the recipe. I made it with frozen spinach and ordinary butter instead of ghee, my dh had it with rice abd I had on its own. It was delicious and I will definitely be making it again.

Leeks and halloumi, with lime. Recipe from years ago, I'm afraid I've no idea where it came from

Soften a large leek in olive oil, until it has begun to go soft and caramelise
At the same time, griddle or fry a sliced pack of halloumi until it is a bit crispy
Mix the two together, squeeze lime juice over (prob half a lime) and add cumin seeds according to taste, I think I usually put a teaspoon or so on.

As I said on the bootcamp thread it's greater than the sum of its parts, the perfect combo of sweet and salty.

From Nigel Slater in the Guardian, Feb 2024

Obvs tomatoes can be a bit carby so maybe best for maintenance

Aubergines, tomatoes and tofu

Remove and discard the stalk from 1 large aubergine (a good fat one will weigh about 400g). Cut it into small dice, about 1cm, then put it in a colander, sprinkle with salt and set aside. Cut in half 250g of cherry tomatoes. Peel 3 cloves of garlic and crush to a rough paste using a pestle and mortar and a pinch of salt.
In a shallow pan or wok, warm 3 tbsp of groundnut or vegetable oil, then add the diced aubergine and leave to sizzle for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring from time to time so they colour lightly and evenly. Stir in the garlic paste, then the tomatoes and continue cooking over a moderate heat, covered with a lid.

Stir in 1 level tsp of Chinese five spice powder, 1 tsp of yellow mustard seeds and then scatter over 250g of firm tofu and continue cooking. Chop a handful of coriander leaves and 12 large mint leaves. Lift the lid, check the seasoning and scatter the chopped coriander and mint. Stir very lightly – you don’t want to mash the tofu – then divide between 2 shallow bowls. Enough for 2

You could steam some rice to go with this, but I like it with soft, doughy bread, such as a bap.

Resist stirring the vegetables once you have introduced the tofu, so it doesn’t break up too much.

If tofu isn’t your thing, try paneer broken into small pieces, or button mushrooms, cut in half and added with the aubergine, rather than at the end.

Here's she spinach egg curry recipe, from the link posted by FrumpyUnicorn

Spinach Egg Curry Recipe

Spinach Egg Curry is a delicious Indian curry with boiled eggs in green gravy. This egg curry recipe is wholesome, nutritious, and finger-licking good.

Ingredients

For the spinach puree:
▢ 1 kilogram fresh spinach leaves
▢ 1 green chili (optional)

Ingredients for the gravy:
▢ 6 hard boiled eggs
▢ 2 tablespoon ghee
▢ 1 whole bay leaf (tej patta)
▢ 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
▢ 1 cup chopped onion
▢ 2 tablespoon finely chopped ginger & garlic
▢ Salt to taste
▢ 1 teaspoon red chili powder
▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
▢ 1 teaspoon Garam Masala ( see recipe )

Ingredients For Tempering:
▢ 1 tablespoon ghee
▢ 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
▢ 2 whole dry red chilies

Method

Blanch & Puree Spinach:

• Boil water in a large saucepan with a pinch of salt. In another bowl, keep ice-cold water ready. Set aside.
• Add cleaned, washed spinach leaves in the boiling water. Cook for 40 – 50 seconds or till the spinach leaves turn tender. Turn off the heat.
• Drain the water and immediately transfer the blanched spinach in ice-cold water. This blanching step helps in retaining the green color of the spinach leaves.
• Blend the blanched spinach leaves and green chili to a smooth puree. Keep aside while preparing the gravy.

Boil Eggs:

• Place eggs in a large saucepan. Fill the saucepan with water till the eggs are immersed. Season the water with salt. Bring water to a boil over high heat. Boil the eggs for about 6 – 7 minutes over medium-high heat
• After 6 minutes, place the eggs under cool running water to stop the cooking process. This method also helps to peel the eggs easily. Peel and slice the eggs into equal halves. Keep aside.

Prepare Gravy:

• Heat ghee in a deep saucepan over medium flame. Add bay leaf, cumin seeds, and chopped ginger and garlic. Fry till garlic turns light golden in color.
• Next, add the chopped onion. Fry over low heat till onion becomes golden in color.
• Add the spinach puree and mix nicely. Season with salt and spices. Stir to combine. Cook for 1 – 2 minutes.
• Slice the boiled eggs and fold gently in the spinach gravy. Simmer the curry for 1 – 2 minutes while you prepare the tempering.

Prepare Tempering (Tadka):

• Heat ghee in a small pan. Add cumin seeds and dry red chili in the hot ghee. Fry for 1 – 2 seconds or till the aroma of cumin seeds is released. Pour this tempering over the spinach curry.
• Serve Palak Anda Curry warm with naan ( see recipe ), chapati or steamed basmati rice. (Obviously none of these if you're low carbing!)

Recipe Notes:
Blanching spinach leaves help retain its nutrients and the bright green color.
After adding the spinach puree in onion masala no need to cook the curry for too long as spinach is already cooked.
If you prepare, add a tablesoon or so of cream in the curry to make it more creamy and rich.
Tempering curry before serving is optional. You can add dry red chilies while roasting the ginger and garlic.
You can subsitute eggs with paneer, tofu, chickpeas, potato or soya chunks.
If the consistency of the curry seems too thick, add ¼ Cup of water to get the desired consistency.

Nutrition
Calories: 307kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 309mg | Sodium: 351mg | Potassium: 1585mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 24144IU | Vitamin C: 75mg | Calcium: 304mg | Iron: 9mg

Cauliflower purée
serves 4

From Jose Pizarro's book 'Basque', where it features in a recipe for Beef Cheeks in Red Wine.

It's so delicious I often serve this as a side:

1 cauliflower, broken into florets
500mL full-fat (whole) milk
50g unsalted butter
Sea salt and white pepper

• Put the florets into a pan and cover with the milk. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until tender.
• Drain, reserving the milk.
• Use a hand blender and whiz with 50mL–100mL* of the reserved milk and the butter until smooth and glossy.
• Season with salt and white pepper. Serve the beef on a good dollop of cauliflower purée, and top with some of the red wine sauce.

*I've never used this quantity, but play it by ear, till you get the texture you want.

Been meaning to post this halloumi recipe for ages... adapted from one of the meat recipes on the back to school bootcamp I think. Quantities not precise!

Packet of halloumi
Box of mushrooms
Rose harissa
Sour cream/cream
Courgettes

Fry small pieces of halloumi in olive oil until start to brown
Add chopped mushrooms and stir
Add teaspoon of rose harissa
Stir in sour cream/cream
Serve on courgetti or courgette pieces fried in oil

And also made this "pasta" dish which I realise is similar to the halloumi one but another quick and easy option

Konjac pasta
Box of mushrooms
Bag of spinach
Red pesto
Cream

Chop and fry mushrooms in olive oil
Add bag of spinach and stir until wilted
Mix in some pesto
Rinse the Konjac pasta and mix in with the sauce
Stir in the cream

Adapted from todays post on the Bootcamp thread, my approach to any Bootcamp compliant veg is to slice, drizzle with goose or duck fat and air fry

I love the taste of aniseed so one of my most favourite things are air fried fennel

Slice the fennel bulb into rings (as you would for an onion) core and all. Melt a spoonful of duck or goose or whatever fat, use a silicon pastry to brush the melted fat over the pieces of fennel and air fry until the edges are slightly singed.

This method is an easy way to use whatever I have in the fridge. I try to eat the 'Zoe' project recommended thirty different kinds of veg each week so always add a few extra veg to my regular food shop each week.